Per the official site.
John, how to get a raise:
- Get rid of the cartoon Beaver
- Get rid of Randy the Logger
- Get rid of Beaver Biceps
- Get rid of the inflatable helmet
I don't think there's an easier job in marketing right now.
http://www.osubeavers.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/030512aac.html
Get rid of Beaver Biceps. So many opportunities for addition by subtraction.
Get rid of all the advertisements on the sides of the big screen. I hardly even notice how nice that screen is because of all the ads on each side.
Because those are sold, I doubt that happens. But it seems like there’s a different way to manage them. If they were video too, instead of signs, they could “disappear;” however, they want their ads seen when people look to the board for replays.
There’s got to be a way to do both though. Even if it means charging less for ads, I think fans deserve to see an uncluttered board more than half the time.
The ads are both video and fixed boards. They’ve effectively narrowed the viewing area by permanently displaying ads on each side.
Two thoughts:
As a fan I get what you’re saying, it does seem cluttered, however
As someone who has actually considered buying one of those ad placements, I get the appeal and exposure.
Don’t think those ads are going anywhere and they don’t distract significantly for me to erase the revenue.
Pretty happy with this hire.
The marketing dept for OSU Athletics has pretty much been smoke and mirrors since I finished up in early 2000. Friends close to the program say it was severely understaffed and under resourced. Having John Rizzardinni come into the program with experience at both the NFL and MLS level should ideally help.
Here’s to a better game day experience and OSU Brand.
This comes on the heels of BDC’s Orange Prospective reports where he states that they were looking into really trying to improve game day fan experience.
Isn’t Randy the Logger gone? I thought he made just the one appearance last year. Unless you’re talking the cartoon character that saws down trees on 3rd downs?
Lastly, what the hell is a big time pro like Rizzardini doing in Corvallis? Did we throw a shitload of money at him?
Good questions. I think Randy was flushed after the Sac St debacle. I think it wasn’t even the bad juju. I think he was just that bad an idea, and even the blind and deaf would have removed him.
I feel bad for the man himself. He’s probably a huge fan of OSU football himself. But that was such a poor decision.
Then again, I wonder if the AD would have kept him on for the good juju aspect if Romaine puts it through.
I would hope not.
Thank you Romaine?
Add…
Get rid of Shane Company Football Throw
Get rid of Shane Company Bean Bag Toss
Get rid of Hawaiian Airlines Foam Airplane Toss that falls apart in mid flight every time!!
The third… yes. Let kids make their own paper airplanes or something.
And the others can be done better. But I like the fans getting out there emulating the player skills in some way. It’s fun to root for the underdog. That’s why pass/punt/kick is still a huge success.
Agree Jack!! I’d rather see people go out and hone basketball skills at a basketball game with a half court shot for season tickets or hit a layup, free throw, half court shot for the prize. Or football skills by kicking a 35 yard field goal for a trip to Hawaii. Or one of my ideas was to go one on one against someone at halftime with the football sled, and see who can push it 20 yards first for the Shane Company Prize
I think this is an outstanding hire. I want to hear from beavergopher about the marketing for the Wild. I think that’s something of a lay down sell given the attitude toward that sport. And there are a lot of friends back there who are still steamed about the Stars leaving. But what was the reality for Rizzardini?
I agree with jason. What the hell is he doing in Corvallis? Doesn’t he know that it’s not a sunny locale or a big city?
And I agree with angry. This has to be the easiest job out there. The bar is SOOOOOO low.
Maybe one question answers the other?
I hate to admit this, but I loved Randy the Logger….
I think he was better in concept than he was in reality. Benny could carry a chainsaw.
Oh that’s IT!!! Ban Greatwhite from this site.
heh heh
I’m grandfathered in, man.
Being eligible for AARP doesn’t automatically grandfather you in.
Ha!
You must be one of those young hoodlums that stand up at the games. They make seats for a reason…for sittin’! I’m usually too hopped up on Geritol and Vodka (Geri-bombs) to do anything about it, but boy howdy does that get my depends in a twist.
Add to the get rid of list: That annoying announcement…. “And that’s another Beaver!!”.. crowd supposedly responds loudly “first down!”
I first heard that at a high school game about 15 years ago and was embarrassed when the Beav”s introduced it a few years ago. I was at the game with an old friend, non-Beaver, who just laughed.
The helmet looks low rent and tacky, especially when it’s lacking a few pounds of PSI. It seems to deflate over the season at the same rate as the team. JB
PS: Most of achieving a great game day environment is having a fan base that is in love with the team. Enthusiasm is hard to manufacture when the fan’s approach each game with trepidation.
Don’t get to many games do ya bonehead?
I strongly disagree with you about the “First Down” cheer. It’s just we had so few first downs last year.
But normally this is what starts the first down march/chant that the band does in coordination with the arm chopping movement by the fans. The idea is to keep the offensive momentum going. It’s Pavlovian reinforcement for the offense and by the same theory is demoralizing to the defense, IF there are several in a row. It really gets the crowd involved.
Its high school and needs to go. I attended WSU Cougar games several years ago (including UO/WSU) games, and my friends and I always laughed about how silly that chant is.
At least flip it, and say “that’s a first down for: ‘O! S! U!”‘
Wait, so “It is, an O! S! U! FIRST DOWN!!!!” is high school but “That’s a first down for O! S! U!” is ok? Huh??!!
Do some of you people even go to games? Let’s limit the feedback about the game day experience to people who attend games.
They’re both lame. The second is a compromise that makes it uniquely lame to Reser…
I’m not sure how can deduce my game attendance by that post.
Also.. I don’t think you have a grasp on Pavlovian response theory. That stupid cheer might be an incentive but it doesn’t provide an involuntary response, unless, of course you consider a fumble or interception an involuntary response.
Stay within yourself…. keep it simple. JB
we can’t afford to get rid of anything that gets the kind of crowd involvement that chant does. that place is getting more and more quiet
How do I know? Because not once in the last several years has the chant you quoted bonehead been uttered at the stadium.
Now, change the topic quick!
I don’t want to see the “first down” cheer go. and I don’t want to see the chainsaw go either. I think we need to keep the traditional things that are unique. Florida’s “Gator Chomp” is silly and so is the Tex Tech pistols, but I like them because its theirs and its unique to them.
I agree that the helmet needs to go, and the bisceps, and the ads on the scoreboard. I like how the Seahawks raise the 12th man flag, by a special guest. I would like to see something like that maybe that would get people in the stands before the game?
I like the concept of whole stadium chants. i miss the days when the entire stadium chanted O-S-U in unison. Whose bright idea was it to water it down by alternating sides of the stadium for that chant?
I also liked the big boom explosion when they set off the fireworks after a touchdown, until the dogs at the dogshow complained and they had to resort to shooting off bottlerockets
Nice update to your avatar…. props. fist bump…. JB
thanks, although the last post I made, the avatar didn’t show up. guess I’ll find out soon enough if it works now.
cool
No kidding. I like it.
thanks, so funny story. I created that design a few months back and put it on a t-shirt. Then I wore that t-shirt to the Oregon State/Portland State game, back on December 18th.
Fast forward to last week when I went to the Portland State/Eastern Washington game at PSU, and the rally team was throwing t-shirts into the crowd. The guy in front of me caught one and it was the exact same design, with the Viking helmet in place of the “O”. I started to get upset until I realized that I had basically ripped the idea off myself from those Oregon Heart bumper stickers.
Cool! You don’t need pride in ownership of an idea. But have pride in knowing what is a good or great idea.
“The helmet looks low rent and tacky, especially when it’s lacking a few pounds of PSI. It seems to deflate over the season at the same rate as the team. ” Too damn accurate and funny, almost spit sandwich on my keyboard.
OSU marketing would be SOOO easy to improve upon. I think a few of the key challenges would be making in-roads in the Portland market, and getting younger fans to attend and PARTICIPATE in games as an involved fan base. The current Reser crowds take “spectator” sport seriously – I have been amazed to be at games where OSU is outperforming USC for example, winning, and people act like its rude to stand up.
As for the whole “brand” thing, OSU as we know has really missed on its clothing products for fans. Orange really is cool and effective when used appropriately in clothing. Remember when the Seahawks did their redesign? The Seahawk looked a bit “angry” instead of a vacant, thousand-yard stare, and the colors deliberately became more “wearable.” They were cognizant of the fact that while silver/blue/green were certainly unique and contrasty, it wasn’t something fans could really wear easily the other 6 days of the week. And notice how more sparingly and effectively they use that green now? Think of doing the same limited, more tasteful use with orange.
In fact, I’m wondering if this guy had a role in the Seahawk makeover?
“The helmet looks low rent and tacky, especially when it’s lacking a few pounds of PSI. It seems to deflate over the season at the same rate as the team. JB”
Literally…LOL
Not too fired up about the hire only because he doesn’t have any COLLEGE experience. OSU’s biggest issues aren’t necessarily game presentation (i.e. video boards and timeout activities) but involve game management (parking, traffic, etc.).
Was hoping they would get someone from a larger school who has a history dealing with “big boy” football.
Went to Cornell College and Western Illinois? Fair to say that most of us have attended more college football games than he has?
Traffic management would be a fantastic thing to improve on. I went to the Penn State game a few years and it was amazing out fast we were out of there along with 107k other people. They really know how to get it done over there and OSU and the CPD would really learn a thing or two.
What’s his motivation for moving to a small market? Well, there’s lot to (easily) improve upon, a “re-branding” in the works with Nike, and I for one think Corvallis is a pretty nice community. It obviously doesn’t have all the amenities, but a professional can enjoy a relatively high quality of life there AND travel to other places for the other amenities.
I think this is a promising hire – his lack of college experience doesn’t bother me. OSU needs some fresh eyes to pair with its conservative staff and the new agers at Nike.
We could see really improved marketing and fan products. Track is on the way, baseball is generally top 25, wrestling and gymnastics are “don’t-worry-about-us-solid” and improved offensive football production looms. Now if we just had some D1 defensive tackles, we’d all be smiling come 2013-14…..
Please please please get rid of Beaver Biceps!!!
Ok….out with the old, in with the new…..whatever.
But one thing we really need, is to devise a chain-saw-dismemberment pantomime that the fans can all do, in unison. Hey, the Florida fans do a gator opening and closing its mouth, so its gotta be possible.
Maybe every fan has a fake chainsaw, that they buy at the concession stand, and wave it at the other team, in unison, shouting…”VROOOM, VROOOM…
(Randy the logger lives on!)
All you had to do was attend the pregame function for Beaver olympians before Saturday’s game to see for yourself how lacking in expertise Bobby D and his staff are in the area of marketing. Too many examples for me to go into, I’d be typing for the next hour!
sell beer inside reser
ive been told that there is alcohol available in the club level, but i don’t sit there.
I’m a proponent of tying the VFC and back to Prothro into a beer garden/concession type setup. I realize they would have to “plaza” some of the existing parking and open Truax to the public. But I think if they had the capital they could also dig out the area to create locker rooms at field level while constructing stadium access to that area. Put some video up so those who want to hang out in the beer garden can watch the game. Hell… sell second-tier tickets so those who want to experience the tailgate feel and watch the game can hang around on that field. You can bring kids to Prothro for the playground feel they have on Parker Plaza, and parents could hang out, buy concessions, watch the game, reconnect with other alums… all on the cheap.
I don’t know… floating ideas here.
A beer/concession garden would be awesome.
Would football dudes want to hang out in a garden, though? hm
That’s kinda the point. If you really wan’t beer, go there. If you don’t like football but want to be a part of the gameday spirit, go there. You could easily structure access back and forth to the stadium to deter and segregate excess drinking. And you could keep it all in-house at the same time. A family of four could be included in all the festivities for $20 plus whatever concessions they consume. They could watch the game on screens set up all over and still hear the roar of the crowd. They could occupy themselves during the game if it’s just not their thing… but they can still be in an area where everyone can come to meet postgame. Invite the crowd to be a part of the postgame gathering. Everyone can mingle and sift out as they desire.
I also think an artificial parking structure which amplifies and increases RV or camped tailgaters should be constructed around the stadium in order to make it more of a concentrated effort to create a real gameday. There will always be outliers who find lots (jason at the fairgrounds?) more worthy of their consideration. But a double-decker structure looping the southwest side which accomodates tailgating-specific clients would be awesome. Imagine the Beaver walk taking that circuit to the game.
I’m laughing my ass off about the first down cheer. We do that here at Minnesota! Both of my alma maters use the same lame cheer. What are the odds?
At the Nebraska game last there were a bunch of Cornhuskers sitting behind us, and after the second time it happened one of them said,”they cheer for first downs?” To which I replied, “when you suck, you must celebrate the little things.” The crowd even makes a joke out of it. When it gets sad is when the team is getting killed(Ohio State’10) and the moronic stadium announcer is still doing it to a half empty, or worse, stadium. Hopefully the guy at Reser has some common sense.
We also have the exact same problem with people telling other fans to sit down! No problem with the scoreboard here. It is about three times the size of Reser’s.
If anybody on the board travels to games, try to come out for the U of M game. Minneapolis is a great city with a ton of things to do and the fans will be very nice to you. The stadium is beautiful!
They did a nice job with limited funds with Reser, but it is like a nice tract house compared to a high end custom home. Look for my retro Benny flag in the lot. Go Beavs!
The cartoon beaver needs to go. Looks like sonic the hedge hog. I have always hated it. I think we need to go with the retro beaver or use the interlocking OS.
Real Benny is awesome!
There is not a real man alive who looks good in the color orange.
Have the women wear orange and men wear black.
If wearing orange keeps Kenny Beaver from thinking I look good, I’m heading out now to buy that orange jump suit on sale at the outdoors store.
Kenny= Angrybeavs Tim Gunn. What about the coach at Okie State? He’s 40. He’s a man.
NCAA, make sure you pick out something in negligee orange from the Craig Fertig era. I feel my pulse racing just thinking about those tight jersies.
I think all photos of those uniforms have been erased from the archives.
In response to Jack’s question about this guys stint with the Wild. It will look impressive, but it may have been the easiest marketing job ever. Like selling bottled water to stranded travelers in the desert.
Hockey in this state is like football in Texas. Arena is beyond great and people were starved to get the
NHL back. Maintained sellouts even as team disappointed. Eleven years into the return and they are finally seeing some empty seats.
The guy does seem to have a pretty impressive resume. Hope for the best.
I figured as much.