“Owning myself is a way to be myself.” – Oprah Winfrey
I lied to you and I’m sorry. But, let me explain…
As I sit here in the lobby of the player hotel at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, IN, I can’t help but see athlete brand after athlete brand step through the front door. These individuals, once walking and talking billboards for some of the nation’s strongest NCAA football programs, are now focused on building their own personal brand. Suddenly the attention shifts to the name on the back of the jersey, rather than the front…and it’s those NCAA programs that embrace this seemingly counter idea, who will find the advantage.
This is where I mislead you.
One thing I suggest in my book, Brands Win Championships, is to avoid focusing an NCAA program’s marketing efforts on a single player or coach. Reason being, once those individuals leave, so do, in many cases, the newfound followers you gained during their era. I will always recommend building a marketing platform around your program’s overall brand, fueled by athletes and coaches, not the other way around.
However, as it relates to your athletes, my tune changes as soon as they leave school by way of graduation or early entry into a professional draft. At that point, it DOES behoove an athletic program to emphasize the stature of their now former players. What they have become and represent is a direct reflection on the University and their former program. The more success that athlete finds in the professional ranks, the more value assigned to the program from which he or she graduated.
I realize this information is nothing new to you, but I might have a suggestion that is. Brand marketing and the idea of creating ones own brand is not something a typical NCAA athlete is focused on or exposed to during their college career. However, equipping an athlete with the tools necessary to build said brand prior to graduation is of mutual benefit to both the athlete and the school. The more prosperous the athlete, the more traction the school gains in pitching those potential recruits set to replace he or she. So do that. Educate your players on the art of brand marketing and how it relates to them prior to their graduation. Develop your own brand-marketing curriculum and insert it into the student athlete experience. Help them build a differentiated personal brand that they can take and build against at the next level.
Your relationship and influence doesn’t have to end when they walk off that campus and walk into this hotel.
Going from a two-win season, to a three-win season will not leave an impression and it will not change the trajectory of your program or your brand. Take a hard look at where you stand and be brave enough to redirect your attention to the future, where you can make an impact. Lydon B. Johnson said it all. “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”
“I Have An Idea…” is a series written for College AD by the author of Brands Win Championships, Jeremy Darlow.
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