Saturday Rutgers will take on Florida International University in Piscataway, New Jersey but despite the result, the two biggest gains in popularity for the school may have been made away from any court or playing field this past week. First, on Tuesday nigh.s Jay Leno Show on NBC, award winning documentarian Michael Moore sported a Rutgers hat for his time on stage with Jay. Then later in the week, urban designer Mark Ecko announced that he was creating a line of Rutgers-themed apparel in honor of his alma mater. Moore has been wearing the Rutgers caps as a tribute to Scarlet Knights grad Ann Sparanese, who started the letter writing campaign to save his first book .Stupid White Men. which criticized President Bush, while the limited edition Ecko line pays homage to the designe.s time spent in New Brunswick on the Rutgers campus (he is an alumnus) and will be sold online at Shopecko.com.
Now neither of these were the result of a promotional push by the school, but what can such ancillary publicity mean for the Rutgers bran. Lots. As Rutgers fights for attention on the sports pages, the ability to reach even the casual fan and keep their athletic product top of mind is key. In past years the schools athletic marketing department has gone all out with.State of Rutger. brand awareness campaigns, but in these challenged times the campaign has been scaled back. Therefore the exposure that a national TV appearance, and the guerilla support and recognition that can be created by a pop culture brand like Ecko, or a media magnet like Moore, is invaluable for the school. Will it put more butts in seats or increase donations to athletics or academic programs like highly visible and successful me.s and wome.s athletic programs will d. No. But what this type of exposure does is create buzz and watercooler talk for a school which does.t have a great deal of social media spin these days, and the buzz is created for free. Can Rutgers capitalize on the buzz with some fun promotions geared toward students with the Ecko gear, or find a way to lure Moore to a football or hoops game for more attentio. Probably worth pursuing, even with the controversy that could go with such an offer. However one thing is for sure, the State University of New Jersey got an unexpected double pop of casual consumer promo this week, and in these challenging times, that type of pop is great, whether it is intended and targeted or happens by chance.
Some other good reads…Friday's New York Times has an interesting piece on Beach tennis’ push to get more exposure...Brandweek had a good piece on New Balance's push with new sneaker branding opportunities…Media Post had a good piece on Jack Daniels’ continued successful activation in the digital space…and Ad Age's Rich Thomaselli had a look at the fallout of Serena Williams’ US Open tirade.
