Maybe it is the “economy,” maybe college football in its push to become more streamlined and protective has dulled creativity, and maybe there are just too many other ways to promote brands on college campuses these days, but it appears that the grassroots and creative ways that schools used to hype Heisman Trophy and All-American candidates are dead. A look at the official Heisman site shows still pictures, a brown background and a total of three press releases in the past year…a search for the three finalists does not turn up one promotion close to last year's student driven Booty's For Booty campaign for the former USC star. There were no large scale consumer promotions in New York or anywhere else promoting Heisman week like there have been in years past. Lack of spendin.? probably. But that doesn’t mean that the stories that could be created by college promotion and sports communication offices couldn’t have brought attention to some athletes who maybe would have found their way onto blogs, newspapers and even TV and radio with creativity and forethought. The Gordie Lockbaum, Joe Dudek, and Joey Harrington promotions where worthy athletes were pushed to great exposure appear to be a thing of the past. Hopefully there are some enterprising young media relations and promotions people who see the opportunity in promotion and brand building going forward and find ways to make Heisman Hype fun and effective, both for exposure and cost, once again.?Lack of a large budget means challenges the creative spirit, and the creative spirit is what should drive innovative promotion, not the other way around.
Some good reads…The Wall Street Journal had a good piece on how the NBA has thrown their assistance into building a Presidential hoops court at the White House, while bowlers worry that the elimination of the bowling alley will kill their sport…maybe a little too much overstatement but a good read…USA Today had a good piece on how texting has helped the NFL in crowd control (maybe a good security promotion could be coming her.)…with the Bowl season beginning today, the Washington Post has a solid profile on Navy's Eric Kettani.
