In early 2019, I wrote about ISU's Missed Opportunities right here on CF, aiming to shake up stuff.
Yes, my friends, I am still riled up.
This week, I've been reading about ESPN College GameDay destinations this year (with mention of CyHawk) and thoughts on the direction of college sports given streaming, NLI legislation, and the expiring Big 12 rights deal. Thus here are more random thoughts concerning ISU relevancy:
PAYING PLAYERS
Duquesne recently created a Personal Brand Coach position and other schools are taking steps to stand out in a brave new NLI world. What is ISU doing here?
Perhaps ISU should show confidence in their UNIQUE Cyclones nickname by continually releasing new and remixed secondary logos. While the bugle was a dud, the intention was 100% on target. More of that stuff! Let the cream rise to the top. This confidence in branding could create a scaffolding for ISU athletes to benefit financially from their image. Perhaps Breece Hall sells a custom Cyclone logo through Cyclones.com. Perhaps Sami Williams sells a hat with a custom Cy logo that looks like a goat, because, well, she's the GOAT. Let the kids loose and don't let the Olds get in the way.
POP CULTURE
I saw it coming 100 miles away that someone dull like Eric Church would be ESPN's College GameDay guest picker for ISU. (Remember my Jason Momoa suggestion?) IMO, that was a perfect encapsulation of how people on the coasts view ISU--dull and unexciting. ISU ought to juice it up sometimes by cultivating relationships with prominent people in pop culture who will help raise ISU's profile in a thousand different ways. Just look at how Matthew McConaughey is tied with Texas.
There's a portion of ISU's fanbase that misses the point regarding "tavern hawks" and their ilk. Casual fans with no connection to the school are a marker of success, which subtly manifests in other ways, such as TV rights. How do you reach those fans?
I will reiterate ISU needs to develop Cy as an actual character that appears everywhere--cartoons, Roblox, Minecraft, action figures, books, etc. The key is to create a personality that isn't burdened by overly stiff corporate messaging. As a purely sports play, would an entity such as Netflix be interested in ISU sports (2-22!), or would there be more interest if the ISU "package" came with a Cy cartoon series like Ducktales, Jack Trice documentaries, etc.
JACK TRICE
I love, love, LOVE, L O V E the Jack Trice stripes patch. Once ISU rolled the patch out, they naturally had their best football season ever--including when College GameDay did a feature on him during his anniversary week and ISU scored 37 (Jack's number) to beat Oklahoma for the first time since 1882. Obviously, ISU will never have a losing season ever again.
Allow me to quibble though. The stripes are a generic design from the 1920s that were used by hundreds of colleges and high schools, so it's a bit silly to see ISU try to claim ownership. It's no different than using a generic helmet or football shape. I wonder if there isn't a better patch design that actually incorporates Jack's initials or number? I know I've noodled around with some ideas. But don't get me wrong. It's fantastic what ISU has done so far. (Insert Kylo Ren MORE!!!!!!! meme here.)
UNIFORMS
Thanks to our goth coach Matt Campbell who apparently experiences physical pain in any color other than black, ISU stumbled into a fantastic alternate uniform look. How many schools or pro teams have a black and white look? Nearly none--as noted when the new Brooklyn Nets rebrand was released some years ago. ISU has done the right thing by having no school colors associated with that look, because once that is added, you become yet another school who added black for the sake of adding black.
ISU needs to keep pushing further. Switch out the I-STATE logo with a unique logo during special games such as Jack Trice anniversary games--use the updated Cyclone logo or the remix of Cy wearing the 1923 uniform that I created a while ago. There are many ideas out there. What will 2023 bring? Less is more though. Gotta keep it special.
ATTENDANCE
Attendance was dropping nationally before the pandemic hit, so there's always a need to create an exciting experience for fans that is only tangentially related to the product on the field. Since ISU didn't take my suggestion to create a giant glass cylinder with an actual tornado in the NEZ, here's a different idea that should be a cinch for an engineering school to pull off--a giant drone swarm programmed to look like a cyclone tearing across the field. Maybe this is how the team runs onto the field at the beginning.
Smaller versions can be created for all other sporting events. Either dress up the drones in tornado material (?) or use LED lights in synchronization. Gotta get those clicks on TikTok!
MARKETING
There are many famous food products associated with various teams--it's too bad ISU didn't invent Impossible Burgers or Beyond Meat. There's no doubt our food chain will be drastically different in 100 years and as a massive agriculture school, let's lean into that. Maybe instead of the same old tired concessions, ISU could have a prominent location in the stadium that highlights exciting food research in the form of a tasty viral snack. I can see TV sideline reporters making a stop there during the game to taste a crazy item, I don't know, MOON CORN--corn that can grow on the moon--etc. which would help promote the mission of Iowa State University. Have a different food item for each game or each season.
Maybe ISU can land an actual moon rover during a football game at the same time MOON CORN is released--the very first moon rover ever built by college students. Who knows. Get crazy.
What other ideas do you have?
Yes, my friends, I am still riled up.
This week, I've been reading about ESPN College GameDay destinations this year (with mention of CyHawk) and thoughts on the direction of college sports given streaming, NLI legislation, and the expiring Big 12 rights deal. Thus here are more random thoughts concerning ISU relevancy:
PAYING PLAYERS
Duquesne recently created a Personal Brand Coach position and other schools are taking steps to stand out in a brave new NLI world. What is ISU doing here?
Perhaps ISU should show confidence in their UNIQUE Cyclones nickname by continually releasing new and remixed secondary logos. While the bugle was a dud, the intention was 100% on target. More of that stuff! Let the cream rise to the top. This confidence in branding could create a scaffolding for ISU athletes to benefit financially from their image. Perhaps Breece Hall sells a custom Cyclone logo through Cyclones.com. Perhaps Sami Williams sells a hat with a custom Cy logo that looks like a goat, because, well, she's the GOAT. Let the kids loose and don't let the Olds get in the way.
POP CULTURE
I saw it coming 100 miles away that someone dull like Eric Church would be ESPN's College GameDay guest picker for ISU. (Remember my Jason Momoa suggestion?) IMO, that was a perfect encapsulation of how people on the coasts view ISU--dull and unexciting. ISU ought to juice it up sometimes by cultivating relationships with prominent people in pop culture who will help raise ISU's profile in a thousand different ways. Just look at how Matthew McConaughey is tied with Texas.
There's a portion of ISU's fanbase that misses the point regarding "tavern hawks" and their ilk. Casual fans with no connection to the school are a marker of success, which subtly manifests in other ways, such as TV rights. How do you reach those fans?
I will reiterate ISU needs to develop Cy as an actual character that appears everywhere--cartoons, Roblox, Minecraft, action figures, books, etc. The key is to create a personality that isn't burdened by overly stiff corporate messaging. As a purely sports play, would an entity such as Netflix be interested in ISU sports (2-22!), or would there be more interest if the ISU "package" came with a Cy cartoon series like Ducktales, Jack Trice documentaries, etc.
JACK TRICE
I love, love, LOVE, L O V E the Jack Trice stripes patch. Once ISU rolled the patch out, they naturally had their best football season ever--including when College GameDay did a feature on him during his anniversary week and ISU scored 37 (Jack's number) to beat Oklahoma for the first time since 1882. Obviously, ISU will never have a losing season ever again.
Allow me to quibble though. The stripes are a generic design from the 1920s that were used by hundreds of colleges and high schools, so it's a bit silly to see ISU try to claim ownership. It's no different than using a generic helmet or football shape. I wonder if there isn't a better patch design that actually incorporates Jack's initials or number? I know I've noodled around with some ideas. But don't get me wrong. It's fantastic what ISU has done so far. (Insert Kylo Ren MORE!!!!!!! meme here.)
UNIFORMS
Thanks to our goth coach Matt Campbell who apparently experiences physical pain in any color other than black, ISU stumbled into a fantastic alternate uniform look. How many schools or pro teams have a black and white look? Nearly none--as noted when the new Brooklyn Nets rebrand was released some years ago. ISU has done the right thing by having no school colors associated with that look, because once that is added, you become yet another school who added black for the sake of adding black.
ISU needs to keep pushing further. Switch out the I-STATE logo with a unique logo during special games such as Jack Trice anniversary games--use the updated Cyclone logo or the remix of Cy wearing the 1923 uniform that I created a while ago. There are many ideas out there. What will 2023 bring? Less is more though. Gotta keep it special.
ATTENDANCE
Attendance was dropping nationally before the pandemic hit, so there's always a need to create an exciting experience for fans that is only tangentially related to the product on the field. Since ISU didn't take my suggestion to create a giant glass cylinder with an actual tornado in the NEZ, here's a different idea that should be a cinch for an engineering school to pull off--a giant drone swarm programmed to look like a cyclone tearing across the field. Maybe this is how the team runs onto the field at the beginning.
Smaller versions can be created for all other sporting events. Either dress up the drones in tornado material (?) or use LED lights in synchronization. Gotta get those clicks on TikTok!
MARKETING
There are many famous food products associated with various teams--it's too bad ISU didn't invent Impossible Burgers or Beyond Meat. There's no doubt our food chain will be drastically different in 100 years and as a massive agriculture school, let's lean into that. Maybe instead of the same old tired concessions, ISU could have a prominent location in the stadium that highlights exciting food research in the form of a tasty viral snack. I can see TV sideline reporters making a stop there during the game to taste a crazy item, I don't know, MOON CORN--corn that can grow on the moon--etc. which would help promote the mission of Iowa State University. Have a different food item for each game or each season.
Maybe ISU can land an actual moon rover during a football game at the same time MOON CORN is released--the very first moon rover ever built by college students. Who knows. Get crazy.
What other ideas do you have?
