Who Knows Bobby Mo? Using Intercollegiate Athletics to Build a University Brand

?Who Knows Bobby Mo? Using Intercollegiate Athletics to Build a University Brand

John S. Clark, Artemisia Apostolopoulou, Scott Branvold, and David Synowka

Introduction

Dr. Susan Hofacre, Director of Athletics at Robert Morris University (RMU), walked out of Massey Hall toward her car after her weekly Friday meeting with the University President. Susan was feeling both excit- ed and troubled due to this most recent conversation concerning the RMU athletic program's role in the greater mission of the University. The prospect of using the athletic program to launch a comprehensive branding campaign for the University is one that Susan had wanted to pursue for many years, as she believed strongly that it would be an effective and efficient method for bringing national notoriety to the school. Her mind raced with the charge levied upon her by the University's new President to develop a plan that would achieve that goal; however, this excitement was tempered by the troubling issues of exactly how to put the plan together. Realistically, Susan would have to

John S. Clark, PhD, is an associate professor of sport management at Robert Morris University. His research interests include relationship marketing, sport sales, and cause-related marketing.

Artemisia Apostolopoulou, PhD, is an assistant pro- fessor of sport management at Robert Morris University. Her research interests include brand extension, sport sponsorship, and athletic endorsements.

Scott Branvold, EdD, is a professor of sport manage- ment at Robert Morris University. His research interests include college athletics operations and finances, sports ethics, and sports public relations.

David Synowka, PhD, is a professor of sport manage- ment at Robert Morris University. His research interests include collegiate athletics, risk management, and emerg- ing marketing issues with technology and intellectual/property rights.

focus on at best only two or three specific sports, and she worried about possible negative effects such a strat- egy would have on current and future student-athlete perceptions about the programs not chosen, athletic department staff morale, as well as any Title IX impli- cations designating a flagship sport might have. Further complicating matters was the implicit directive that whatever flagship sport or sports she chose must deliver on key objectives taken directly from the University's new Strategic Plan.

Susan knew the many benefits intercollegiate athlet- ics may bring to colleges and universities, such as increased media coverage, an increase in the number of higher-quality students enrolling in the university, an enhanced ability to recruit distinguished faculty, increased donations from alumni and friends of the school, and an increased level of campus pride (e.g., Beyer & Hannah, 2000; Goff, 2000; Judson & Carpenter, 2005; Rhoads & Gerking, 2000; Smart & Wolfe, 2000; Wolfe, 2000). In fact, it wasn't long ago that her Associate Athletic Director for Marketing and Sales was quoted in the local paper saying this when asked about how he perceived the role and value of athletics within the university:

Entertainment. Enrollment. Community. We pro- vide a great entertainment option to faculty and staff since they and their families get in free to home games for the most part. We have 550 student-ath- letes and that is over 10 percent of the undergradu- ate population. As far as community is concerned, we want Moon Township to adopt us as their team. To do that, we have to continue to reach out. But the payoff is huge . . . when we win, we hope the community, which may have no real affiliation with us, will be engaged and come out! (M. Galosi, per- sonal communication, August 30, 2007)

Given all the factors she must consider, and how quickly the President wanted her plan, Susan knew that she would be spending most, if not all, of her weekend working on this task. Fortunately, in prepara- tion for just such an assignment, she had been collect- ing what she thought were the relevant pieces of information necessary to put the plan together. She just hoped that the pieces would fit, making her job that much easier.

History of Robert Morris University

Robert Morris (RM) was founded in 1921 and for over 40 years was a two-year proprietary school located in downtown Pittsburgh. In the late 1960s the school was reformed as a private two-year junior college and expanded its operations to Moon Township, Pennsylvania. A major part of marketing its two-year program was its highly successful junior college basket-

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CASE STUDY

?ball program coached by the legendary Gus Krop, who took