Marketing Branching Out

[WuDrWu]

Did anyone catch the email blast about WSU sponsoring the #67 car driven by Josef Newgarden and owned by Sarah Ficher Hartman Racing?

GoWichita (obviously in coordination with co-owner Wink Hartman) is also involved. I'm not a big racing fan at all, and it's not exactly like sponsoring Helio Castroneves or one of the Andrettis, but it's still kind of cool to see WSU on national tv.

Race time is 1:30 on ABC this afternoon.

I'm too stupid to be able to insert the car from the email received Friday. Hopefully someone else can...it's pretty cool.

[Kung Wu]

[Kung Wu]

Here's a goshockers.com article on it too:

http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7500&ATCLID=208482960

[Kung Wu]

Did anyone catch the email blast about WSU sponsoring the #67 car driven by Josef Newgarden and owned by Sarah Ficher Hartman Racing?

GoWichita (obviously in coordination with co-owner Wink Hartman) is also involved. I'm not a big racing fan at all, and it's not exactly like sponsoring Helio Castroneves or one of the Andrettis, but it's still kind of cool to see WSU on national tv.

This is one of those rare disagreements, fortunately it's a petty one. :) I just don't see how this further's WSU's mission at all. And it's practically impossible to measure the effectiveness of it from a marketing perspective. I just have to believe that marketing money could have been better spent elsewhere. I guess I'm old. LOL

[WuDrWu]

I agree with @Kung Wu: that I don't see how this furthers much about anything for WSU.

I was thinking though that it's possible that WSU is kind of "along for the ride" so to speak and the WSU logo is more of a Wink Hartman gratuity, so to speak. Perhaps WSU isn't really "out" anything here.

Also, we are talking about the ad, so it's effective, at least on some level.

[rZ]

The optimist in me says that, if done right, it can further WSU's mission. WSU does have an active racing club sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers. Sponsoring a car could work to attract those who may see WSU as a school with aviation focused programs.

http://www.wichita.edu/thisis/home/?u=formulasae

That being said, I'm more of a realist who thinks that Doc and Kung Wu are correct.

[fastbow]

Newgarden doesn't suck. I could think of worse cars to sponsor.

[The Mad Hatter]

I don't know if there is any value, but I think that it is far more likely to have value after our Final Four run than it would have before. If no one had heard of WSU or seen Wu Shock recently, I don't think people around the nation would have even noticed the WSU emblems. However, when people are recently aware of your success, having those little reminders that keep you on the mental radar of those already at least a little familiar with you is probably a good thing.

For comparison, if we were talking about Butler being the school to do this, I know seeing a Butler Bulldog logo somewhere is likely to be far more noticeable and memorable for me after they made their Final Four runs than it ever would have been before.

[MoValley John]

Here's a goshockers.com article on it too:

http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticl...CLID=208482960

I think it's pretty cool, but the goshockers.com article is not correct in their belief that Wichita State probably being the first to sponsor a race car. The first was Nebraska in 1997. Trev Alberta footed the bill. Since then, Florida and a few others have. I believe Wisconsin has also sponsored a car.

From what I understand, these cars haven't done much if anything for raising awareness or branding. What they have done is to give the universities another avenue in which to market products to their fans. Die cast Wichita State replica cars will be on shelves soon enough. And there is a possibility of selling ten thousand or more. They make great conversation pieces on desks and the university retains a large portion of the royalties.

As I said, it won't do much to market the school, but what Shocker fan wouldn't shell out thirty bucks or so for a quality replica car? Pretty cool!

[MoValley John]

Here is a dated article on the Trev Alberta car. http://articles.dailypress.com/1996-...ka-all-america

Many southern schools did follow suit. As I said in my previous post, the car thing didn't do much for branding but is cool as hell for the fans. If you are beyond a bandwagon fan, you have no business calling yourself a diehard fan and not owning an Ertyl, limited edition Shocker car!

[pogo]

I own a genuine limited edition Ezra Brooks Wheatshocker decanter. Is that similar to an Ertyl limited edition Shocker car?

[Rlh04d]

As long as it didn't cost too much, I don't see how it could hurt. And anything that keeps the WSU logo in the public eye is good for the program.

[Kung Wu]

Here is a dated article on the Trev Alberta car. http://articles.dailypress.com/1996-...ka-all-america

Many southern schools did follow suit. As I said in my previous post, the car thing didn't do much for branding but is cool as hell for the fans. If you are beyond a bandwagon fan, you have no business calling yourself a diehard fan and not owning an Ertyl, limited edition Shocker car!

Damn you. Now I want one.

[MoValley John]

Damn you. Now I want one.

Sorry. Then again, I'm not! You'll get this cool-ass Shocker car that you can show off to all your K-State buddies, they will be pissed!! It will be a limited edition, so your cheap-ass Shocker friends that wouldnt spring for a car will jealous as hell, too!

In the end, Wichita State gets money for the sale of every car and you have something that your boys will fight over when you die. That and your extensive baseball card collection.

You know K-State will never get a car, so life is good, real good!

[MoValley John]

I own a genuine limited edition Ezra Brooks Wheatshocker decanter. Is that similar to an Ertyl limited edition Shocker car?

No.