Promotions

[Quoner]

Alright kids - you guys obviously know how promotions, PR, marketing and advertising works. As a board full of successful businessmen innovating the business world and mastering free market economies, you wizards know that selling North Texas is not just some half-ass job some douche with a $40k salary can do. No - you know how to interact with the students, alumni base and even the locals just looking for an entertaining time.

So, here is the ultimate place for your wizardry - how do you sell North Texas next year? Crazy hat day? Hawaiian shirt Fridays? Free tickets? Hot dogs? Beer? Gitmo-themed dunking tank? The possibilities are endless - so have it at it guys. I'm going to compile this entire thread and send it on to some AD folks later today, so please try your best!

[Stan R]

wait.... i'm sensing that you might be "serious" here...

[greenminer]

Well, we could try winning.

[hickoryhouse]

Black uniforms

[Green P1]

Bring Your Dog to Fouts Day.

[GabeGMG]

Allow day passes into the Ben E Keith deck!

[Green59]

Alright kids - you guys obviously know how promotions, PR, marketing and advertising works. As a board full of successful businessmen innovating the business world and mastering free market economies, you wizards know that selling North Texas is not just some half-ass job some douche with a $40k salary can do. No - you know how to interact with the students, alumni base and even the locals just looking for an entertaining time.

So, here is the ultimate place for your wizardry - how do you sell North Texas next year? Crazy hat day? Hawaiian shirt Fridays? Free tickets? Hot dogs? Beer? Gitmo-themed dunking tank? The possibilities are endless - so have it at it guys. I'm going to compile this entire thread and send it on to some AD folks later today, so please try your best!

I manage a business but it is not one that I can really do much advertising for but here are my "amateur" marketing ideas for the upcoming Spring Game. I pick the Spring game because football is the number one sport in our great state and fans will have had a two month withdrawal from football....Start with more promotion of the Spring Game to the UNT students, UNT Alumi and the Denton community. Those three groups are more than even of a base to draw from plus the rest of the Metroplex is not interested in the Mean Green. Do some Spring game promotions from various Denton businesses in the parking lot for Tailgating. Also have a Recession discounted price special for season tickets and possibly put a few season ticket / Mean Green Club membership booths in the parking lot. Have a few contests for season ticket give aways in the parking lot. Have the players in full uniform and coaches walk through the entire tailgating lot not just the standard Mean Green walk for the Spring game. The Mean Green needs more fans in the seats in 2009. The Mean Green Club Members should be given a membership card. That card should allow you admittance to all Spring and Fall Scrimmages and Practices.

[Stan R]

The Mean Green Club Members should be given a membership card. That card should allow you admittance to all Spring and Fall Scrimmages and Practices.

That is a great idea.

[ForneyGreen]

If we're talking about UNT Football, then following are some golden marketing rules...

1) Football is mostly for men

2) Men mostly like women

3) Scantly clathed women work at Hooters, Bone Daddy's, etc.

4) Therefore, host Mean Green Promotion nights at these fine establishments

[Quoner]

If we're talking about UNT Football, then following are some golden marketing rules...

1) Football is mostly for men

2) Men mostly like women

3) Scantly clathed women work at Hooters, Bone Daddy's, etc.

4) Therefore, host Mean Green Promotion nights at these fine establishments

But does Gretchy Poo like the sexy ladies around our men folk?

[filmerj]

What if they allowed all students into the game for free... oh wait. Yea, I am going with Miner on this, winning might help. Or we could twitter every student and fan who is on twitter and tell them there is a game... It doesn't work when we do it at work but hey it might work for UNT.

Edited February 10, 2009 by filmerj

[greenjoe]

A promotion for current students only.

All registered student's names are put in a hat. A really big hat that can hold 33,000 names. Just before the second half, and after all attendees have been counted, one name is drawn at each home game. The winner must be present to win, and he/she gets his next semester tuition (just tuition) paid in an amount based upon his/her current load. A student currently taking 12 hours would get a credit for up to 12 hours the next semester. A 6 hour part-time student would get get up to 6 hours tuition paid. But, YOU MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN. Maybe even have to get there before kick off to "register" before the drawing.

Students would have to be at the game to register and need to stay at least until the drawing. The cost would be free to the student, and would only cost the Athletic Dept if the winning student was actually present. Great reward for the student, and minimal risk to Athletics.

[UNTLifer]

Spring Game/Fall Scrimmage: UNT Exes/Alumni Association mixer on the deck.

I would recommend booths to sell tickets, MG Club memberships, but they would have to staff them.

Season:

1. greenjoe's idea.

2. Smaller version with free books from either the University Store or Voertmans.

3. Post game concert with a stage set up in one of the endzones. Must have a ticket or have ID scanned by halftime. No admittance without attending the game.

4. Admit kids from the Denton Pee Wee football league free or for a small fee if they wear the uniform to the game.

5. Dot races

[Censored by Laurie]

Booze

[oldguystudent]

Transform that lawn area from a series of clandestine wristband-wearing secret societies into an open festival. Invite the ticket and all those traveling trinket sellers to attend. Get the radio stations to promote their presence on the air. Let them bring their own damn schwag and pretty girls, thereby keeping UNT's costs down. I swear to God that had GMG not transformed me into a regular tailgater, I would never have returned to a football game after my first experience. Not because of the piss poor product on the field, but because of the closed off atmosphere outside the stadium. I've no desire to be shunned all over the place like that.

[oldguystudent]

Start the games a little earlier...say 5 o'clock, and have concerts in the stadium after the game. The mean green brigade gets to be the opening act while they're setting up the stage for the main event. If possible, have good concerts. Again, do it in conjunction with local radio stations. You get someone like Bowling for Soup playing in Denton after a football game, but require a football ticket to see the show, and you're going to increase attendance markedly.

[UNT_playmaker]

Transform that lawn area from a series of clandestine wristband-wearing secret societies into an open festival. Invite the ticket and all those traveling trinket sellers to attend. Get the radio stations to promote their presence on the air. Let them bring their own damn schwag and pretty girls, thereby keeping UNT's costs down. I swear to God that had GMG not transformed me into a regular tailgater, I would never have returned to a football game after my first experience. Not because of the piss poor product on the field, but because of the closed off atmosphere outside the stadium. I've no desire to be shunned all over the place like that.

That is a good idea, you can get all of the frat people from the parking lot into the game....

Also serve Beer, it brings in alot of people.

[oldguystudent]

Also serve Beer, it brings in alot of people.

If I understand correctly, it is illegal to serve alcohol at a collegiate sporting event in the state of Texas. The deck is leased to a third party vendor, and is technically not part of the game.

[oldguystudent]

Partner with other Sunbelt schools to promote and incentivize travel between schools. Charter buses, get hotels to offer room discounts, hold post-game promotions at the pourhouse.

[DeepGreen]

From my 30+ years in the marketing arena, I'd suggest booze and scantily clad women.

Note: Edited from the original content for forevereagle.

Edited February 10, 2009 by DeepGreen

[forevereagle]

If I understand correctly, it is illegal to serve alcohol at a collegiate sporting event in the state of Texas. The deck is leased to a third party vendor, and is technically not part of the game.

Actually, I believe that this is an NCAA rule.

[forevereagle]

If we're talking about UNT Football, then following are some golden marketing rules...

1) Football is mostly for men

2) Men mostly like women

3) Scantly clathed women work at Hooters, Bone Daddy's, etc.

4) Therefore, host Mean Green Promotion nights at these fine establishments

From my 30+ years in the marketing arena, I'd suggest booze and scantily clad women.

Anyone else wonder why we don't have more female contributors on this board?

[Green P1]

Anyone else wonder why we don't have more female contributors on this board?

I don't quite follow. Could you draw me a picture?

[UNT 90 Grad]

What if we start a tradition with the Residence Halls where the RA's (is that what they are called?) knock on each door on their floor making noise and announcing that it's time for the march to the FREE football game. Maybe the beaten down student in desparate need of a study break will get off his arse and head to the game.

I also like the idea of handing out some sort of perceived valuable discount coupons or freebies from within the stadium to students when they come into the stadium. I realize there will be some that then turn around and walk out, but I've got to think that there is some percentage that will decide to stay if they made the walk all the way there.

I wonder if we could get Hooters girls to sell the programs within the stadium. Hooters might provide this for free since they'd be getting free advertisement.

Provide free tickets to select games to select corporations in the DFW area. At the very least, seems like we'd do this for sponsors.

I wonder if there would be interest in chartered busses from key locations around the metroplex. Can you have beer on busses? This idea might need more thought.

When the schedule magnets come out, I take a stack of them to my local Sports Clips and the girls slap them up on their stations for all their patrons to see. Does anyone else do this? Would any one else be willing?

Have the school join forces with this board and use us for marketing volunteers. It would be a good way for us to get together in a relatively organized fashion to get the word out about the program we are so pasionate about.

My last idea for now, one hour prior to the game, change all streets in Denton to be one-way toward the stadium.

[stebo]

Actually, I believe that this is an NCAA rule.

There is no rule OR law that keeps NT from selling beer at games. Games are family friendly and we are already pushing the envelope by having Budweiser signs all over the place in Fouts. It would also not be worth the license to sell beer at the stadium, the insurance alone would be way too expensive to make it profitable. It is done on the deck with a picnic license sponsored by a distributor and is regulated with tickets so that there are no direct sales. If someone wants to drink - they can buy a Mean Green Club membership or they can lease one of the new club level seats or suites in the new stadium. The original concept also had a club level with a large window that would be kind of like an indoor sports bar for game days. The insurance is so expensive that most bars don't even get it and just gamble that if something happens they will throw the person suing the keys and say "good luck"... I owned a bar in Denton for 8 years and paid for my million dollar insurance for exactly 1 year before I decided that I wanted to try and make some sort of profit. For a very small bar, capacity of 49 - my insurance was more than my rent each month. It's less expensive to just give it away and charge a cover charge (basically what we are doing now). We are VERY fortunate to have alcohol flowing freely in the parking lots... pushing it could kill the whole thing.

I love the idea of free tuition. I think that is a great idea. When we moved up to IA, we did the band thing to hit our 17K attendance marks. At the time, bands like Tripping Daisy and Deep Blue Something were very popular and from the Denton/Dallas area - I have always wondered why we stopped that strategy when it was working for drawing people in.