GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 27, ISSUE 4 62
P R E S E N T S : M A R K E T I N G T H E H O O P S E X P E R I E N C E
BY ALAN KARPICK
AKarpick@GoldandBlack.com
G
ood marketing is all about creating the experi-
ence.
That holds true whether you are a fan, student,
recruit or member of the team.
But it is also about building upon an identity. And Pur-
due men's basketball has that: It is known for toughness.
"Time to play hard" is painted above the tunnel as the
players enter the court, named after one of the toughest
men in college basketball history, Gene Keady.
It's hard to create an experience without an identity,
and while that doesn't make the marketing of the product
easy, it does make it easier.
"Purdue's identity is toughness," analyst Dan Dakich
said during a recent ESPN broadcast. "That why it was so
important for it to get that toughness back after losing it
for a couple years. It is who they are as a program. I know
it. People know it."
And no place are Purdue's athletic marketing efforts
more front and center, if not in your face, than what sur-
rounds the men's basketball program.
Through the years, Purdue has not been known for cut-
ting-edge marketing or promotion of its athletic programs,
but that trend is changing.
And it is changing fast.
Maybe the pregame light show in the starting lineup
presentation is a metaphor for how the light has come on.
In today's world of big-time college athletics, with its
big-time ticket prices to match, fans expect, if not de-
mand, a complete entertainment package both on and off
the court. In effect, the lights are always on. The ability to
put on a good show affects attendance, but it also affects
the overall image and, not surprisingly, trickles down to
recruiting, too.
Lasting Impressions
Basketball pushing product
through all mediums
Tom Campbell
Purdue's pregame light
show is the cutting edge
of what is happening in
college sports arenas
today.
