AD Fields Addresses Marketing Question on Forum

[msusportsinfo]

http://www.msubobcats.com/sports/2009/1 ... forum.aspx

[BozCatFan]

This was an EXCELLENT question.

IMO, however, MSU is completely out of touch with marketing and external affairs. The bottom line is that attendance, game atmosphere, and overall community interest in Bobcat Basketball has been in steady decline since PF arrived. This answer sounds nice but their focus should be on addressing the game experience and working their way out to the community from there.

PF has done a great job with the budget and getting coaches and players with high integrity. Unfortunately Dr. Yarnell and other administrators at MSU appear to have little regard for anything other than budget and keeping MSU athletics out of the police reports.

PF and Co. have zero interest in thinking outside the box.

[TrueCat]

Seems like someone has an axe to grind...

[grizzh8r]

Seems like someone has an axe to grind...

Care to offer any examples that what BozCatFan said is not true? How else do you explain the dwindling population of the student section, other than the very short-sighted tailgating restrictions? Oh wait, my bad; you're perfectly fine with that load of BS too. The student section was PACKED for pretty much every game up to 2006, when Coach Kramer basically was MSU's de-facto marketing agent. Attendance has declined since that season, with at team that has produced very similar records. Even the booster side's attendance has lagged in the past few seasons. I won't even mention Bobcat Basketball. They had the golden opportunity this year to get more attendance for basketball, with the friday-saturday home games. Talk with local businesses about offering special lodging and meal rates on those Friday and Saturday nights. Do some advertizing with the local and state TV broadcasters with live action clips - they had another golden opportunity to do something like that with the Will Bynum dunk from the 2009 tourney. It really wouldn't take all that much, but they consistently fail to generate any interest and/or support from more local and state individuals and businesses.

Are you really satisfied with the status-quo? If so, I sure hope there aren't very many MSU fans that share your love of mediocrity...

[BozCatFan]

Seems like someone has an axe to grind...

How so? There is no reason why the Brick can't be at capacity for games, the Cats being promoted in every business around town, and games that have something to offer besides the game itself. If me pointing out facts about attendance and opinion about how they aren't being aggressive enough in their marketing somehow indicates an Ax to Grind than I'm proud of it. If pointing out that PF is more budget oriented than marketing oriented, which is fact, indicates an Ax to Grind than so be it.

I have nothing against MSU athletic department staff. I honestly think they are doing their best but the problem is at the university's executive level where the level of demand to see better marketing for Athletics appears to be minimal. Unless enough people stand up and demand excellence then we are going to get what we've always gotten...marketing mediocrity.

[BozCatFan]

Are you really satisfied with the status-quo? If so, I sure hope there aren't very many MSU fans that share your love of mediocrity...

Thank you, finally someone with some nads to actually agree with me!

[oldcatfan]

Grizzh8r: Saying "someone has an axe to grind" doesn't imply they are lying--people can tell the truth and still have an axe to grind. Asking someone to point out inaccuracies in a post to prove they don't have an agenda doesn't make sense--still sounds like he has an axe to grind. But that's okay because that is what this board is for. Just say it.

But, what it does sound like is someone went in to make a pitch to MSU Athletics for a job or a project and got turned down. I highly doubt that anyone would walk into the marketing director's office, ask "how can I help?" and they would show you the door.

[Hawks86]

What takes nads is actually sending the AD an email using your real name. MSU athletics is doing much better than in the recent past but I'll agree that they need to aggressively pursue marketing plans to increase attendance

[The Butcher]

Grizzh8r: Saying "someone has an axe to grind" doesn't imply they are lying--people can tell the truth and still have an axe to grind. Asking someone to point out inaccuracies in a post to prove they don't have an agenda doesn't make sense--still sounds like he has an axe to grind. But that's okay because that is what this board is for. Just say it.

But, what it does sound like is someone went in to make a pitch to MSU Athletics for a job or a project and got turned down. I highly doubt that anyone would walk into the marketing director's office, ask "how can I help?" and they would show you the door.

Perhaps the "axe to grind" is the loathing in the lack of marketing efforts to get additional support from community members…

[TrueCat]

I think PF's post addressed the new efforts the department has put forth in the last few years in the community.

[SonomaCat]

If anyone has good ideas to improve MSU's marketing efforts, and they donate the money to fund that idea, I have no doubt that MSU will put that idea into action.

[whitetrashgriz]

just speaking in general terms, but is it possible to have a good idea, but not spare money to fund said idea, and still be allowed to make suggestions? i understand many whine and complain without any constructive criticism. but i also believe that there are probably people out there without pockets of money that have good ideas and are willing to volunteer their time. the message i seem to be hearing time and time again is that unless you have the cash...your opinion doesn't matter. i would hope that if someone took the time to contact the marketing department with a great idea, that they wouldn't automatically dismiss it because the idea didn't come with a check. as i said, this isn't a specific question, but more of a blanket question. i wonder if some of our lack of progress in the athletic department could be due to the fact that they refuse to listen to ideas, or refuse the help of volunteers if they don't come with cash attached? again, i have no knowledge of this being the case, but everytime someone makes a suggestion or has criticism, all i hear is, "if you give the money", or "if you write the check" they'll be happy to listen. just curious if that is the ONLY way to offer ideas that may be very good?

[Old Skool Cat]

If anyone has good ideas to improve MSU's marketing efforts, and they donate the money to fund that idea, I have no doubt that MSU will put that idea into action.

If it is a great idea and would help the betterment of the athletic program, why should one person fund it? Isn't that what a budget is for? Can't a person suggest an idea without being told they need to they need to open up their wallet? I get real tired of hearing this response, as I suggest many others do as well.

[Hawks86]

If anyone has good ideas to improve MSU's marketing efforts, and they donate the money to fund that idea, I have no doubt that MSU will put that idea into action.

If it is a great idea and would help the betterment of the athletic program, why should one person fund it? Isn't that what a budget is for? Can't a person suggest an idea without being told they need to they need to open up their wallet? I get real tired of hearing this response, as I suggest many others do as well.

I'm sure they would listen to all ideas and implement if they could, without a person having to get out their wallet. If it's an idea that they could not implement at this time because of budget constraints then I'm sure they wouldn't argue with a person wanting to take on the fiscal responsibility of making their idea happen. IMO

[whitetrashgriz]

If anyone has good ideas to improve MSU's marketing efforts, and they donate the money to fund that idea, I have no doubt that MSU will put that idea into action.

If it is a great idea and would help the betterment of the athletic program, why should one person fund it? Isn't that what a budget is for? Can't a person suggest an idea without being told they need to they need to open up their wallet? I get real tired of hearing this response, as I suggest many others do as well.

I'm sure they would listen to all ideas and implement if they could, without a person having to get out their wallet. If it's an idea that they could not implement at this time because of budget constraints then I'm sure they wouldn't argue with a person wanting to take on the fiscal responsibility of making their idea happen. IMO

now that makes sense to me and is very understandable. i have no knowledge of the athletics budget...nor do i want to. i've just always been curious about this because it seems as though everytime someone criticizes something or someone in the department, the answer is always to write a check. and i agree donating money is a great idea and very helpful. i donate what i can as a poor student. however, i would be dissapointed if i learned that writing a check is the only way to convey a thought. it'd also be troubling to learn that the only people's ideas that are being heard are those fortunate enough to be rich. i'm not quite there yet.

[SonomaCat]

Obviously, if somebody comes forward with a great idea that works within the existing budget, I'm sure MSU would adopt it. That goes without saying.

The point I was making (which I didn't think needed to be explained) was that many of the grand ideas we'd all like to see put into place do cost money ... and MSU doesn't have the luxury of lots of money laying around unspoken for.

So while great ideas are no doubt certainly always welcomed, it's also quite silly to criticize MSU for not magically implementing every idea with no financial assistance from us. So if we want MSU to spend more money on things we'd like to see ... writing a check is by far the best way to make that a reality. Otherwise, most ideas simply aren't practical (due to a lack of money).

[whitetrashgriz]

well clearly i am a complete idiot for needing this explained. why do you have to talk down to people? i asked a legitimate question, and acknowledged that i didn't understand the answer. i guess it should have went withou saying, but for me i guess it didn't. i was basically asking if anyone with FIRSTHAND experiences had issues with msu turning down good ideas and even volunteer services because they didn't come with a check attached. maybe i was dreaming this, but i could have swore that just this week someone posted that msu wouldn't even accept some free volunteering from them. sorry again that my moron self wasn't able to put all these difficult concepts together. i should have known better than to ask a question on this topic knowing full well what type of response i would get. my fault.

[SonomaCat]

well clearly i am a complete idiot for needing this explained. why do you have to talk down to people? i asked a legitimate question, and acknowledged that i didn't understand the answer. i guess it should have went withou saying, but for me i guess it didn't. i was basically asking if anyone with FIRSTHAND experiences had issues with msu turning down good ideas and even volunteer services because they didn't come with a check attached. maybe i was dreaming this, but i could have swore that just this week someone posted that msu wouldn't even accept some free volunteering from them. sorry again that my moron self wasn't able to put all these difficult concepts together. i should have known better than to ask a question on this topic knowing full well what type of response i would get. my fault.

I do get a little annoyed when I have to write follow-up posts to debunk statements that misrepresent what I wrote. I think most people would. Sorry if my post was too proactive in letting that be known. It's not about you and Old Skool's posts in particular ... it's a cumulative thing. I just happened to vent my frustration in this thread.

I hate the idea of having to write small books for each post to make sure I cover each and every scenario, and assumed that we were all on the same page about items that would already fit into the existing budget.

It's also kind of hard to claim that you were merely asking a question ... seeing as how there are no question marks or any sentences that are phrased as questions anywhere in your post. But that's not really a major point either way.

[Hawks86]

Just wondering if any of these disagreements have anything to do with the poli forum?

[whitetrashgriz]

It's also kind of hard to claim that you were merely asking a question ... seeing as how there are no question marks or any sentences that are phrased as questions anywhere in your post. But that's not really a major point either way.

what? are we talking about the same post here? here are just a few of my sentences....

"just speaking in general terms, but is it possible to have a good idea, but not spare money to fund said idea, and still be allowed to make suggestions?"

"as i said, this isn't a specific question, but more of a blanket question. i wonder if some of our lack of progress in the athletic department could be due to the fact that they refuse to listen to ideas, or refuse the help of volunteers if they don't come with cash attached?"

"just curious if that is the ONLY way to offer ideas that may be very good?"

so i don't understand what part of my post was not a question. i don't recall being disrespectful to anyones opinion. i said in plain english that i had no idea of how our budget works, and how donations affect that. but based on some posts on this board, as well as someone just this week saying that he wasn't allowed to volunteer, (which fyi i had a hard time believing) i was simply curious if others experienced the same thing. if in fact the only way to accomplish anything is by personally writing a check. that's all i asked. i don't think it warranted comments like, "it goes without saying" or "i didn't think it needed explaining". to me you may as well said, "you're an idiot and this drivel is not worth my time". it's frustrating because many of us try hard to be respectful to one another, and for the most part we are all adults. most adults don't appreciate being talked down to like they are idiots. again...sorry for any confusion my post caused.