BigW Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 50 minutes ago, Fran Haring said: It certainly would be an uninformed characterization, I'll give you that. The Under Armour folks aren't perfect. But have they ever actually said DCI is not an athletic endeavour, or that it just doesn't fit their company's particular image for their particular brand of athletic gear? Or perhaps the perception, I'm guessing, is that "band" is not athletic. If the Under Armour people feel that way, it doesn't make them "idiots" or any such thing, IMO. Just a business decision on their part. Maybe a bad one, maybe not... but it's their call. What I find interesting... given the way corps uniforms have been trending, I'm surprised that no corps hasn't contacted them or one of their competitors to possibly design something appropriate that could work. It could be the way through the door. Given the movements, they might need to be talking more to a firm like those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 11 hours ago, garfield said: I get what he's saying, I just don't think drum corps has enough eyeballs to attract a sizable contract. I think the begging for sponsorship dollars is mostly dead until there are more eyeballs to make it worth, even, Punkin-Chunkin size. So then, if someone were truly serious in believing that major sponsorships are the way to go, then they must also believe that the activity needs to grow the number of eyeballs by whatever means possible. For instance: More corps and more shows reach out to more fans. Be willing to trade lower ticket prices for more tickets sold. Show design should entertain the entire concert side, not just between the 35 yard lines. Maximizing event profit by moving to a smaller venue and selling it out is not such a good idea. People in positions of leadership/influence over the past 10 years have not demonstrated a particular commitment to these ideas. 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weaklefthand4ever Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 11 hours ago, garfield said: Well, and I think this is what Stu was saying: Major music and related companies might be saturated, but smaller "Bob's Burgers" sponsors - or maybe Sysco foods contracts to deliver all food to all corps at 1/2 what they're paying now as an activity (spit-balling). Or a new upstart California surfer-dude who turned his surfboard business into a thriving sunscreen company and has a budget that's smaller than Hawaiian Tropic, for example. I get what he's saying, I just don't think drum corps has enough eyeballs to attract a sizable contract. I think the begging for sponsorship dollars is mostly dead until there are more eyeballs to make it worth, even, Punkin-Chunkin size. Much to my chagrin, Break Dancing is making it to the Olympics before drum corps (if drum corps ever does). I'd love to know the eyeballs on Punkin-Chunkin or the National BreakDancing finals... Interesting points. Sometime between 1991 and 1997, my father discussed something surrounding this with someone from Suncoast Sound. I don't know many details, but my dad was a food services director for ARA (Aramark) and was approached about running the food trucks for the corps. I still think this is an avenue that should be explored. Companies like ARA and Sysco are experts at feeding vast numbers of people quickly, cheaply and nuritiously. The dollars are there for that type of sponsorship most likely if the pitch and business case are solid. And who knows, it could have already been made and just didn't fly. And yeah the eyes just aren't there. Reduced ticket prices and more aggressive marketing on platforms like YouTube, HULU AND Netflix can work to drum up interest at a much lower price than regular TV advertising. Just my opinion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weaklefthand4ever Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 (edited) 12 hours ago, Fran Haring said: Still a big deal here in Baltimore. Without them, the city would be in more trouble than it is. They are a great corporate citizen. So your putdowns strike a chord with me. Don't other companies basically ignore DCI for their own reasons that have nothing to do with it being "too small" for them? Doesn't fit a company's image, whatever? Still not getting the "Under Armour are idiots" thing, at all. Especially since they're not. It's your opinion... but IMO, it's an unfair characterization. My guess, without having any knowledge of what was sent out as an approach to them, discussions behind closed doors etc., would have to at least start with "How were they approached?" What did the business case look like., etc. I'm not saying the approach was bad as I have no knowledge of it, but it's a place to start looking. Kind of a parallel story....as I've mentioned, I build pool cues...really expensive pool cues. I don't advertise because at this point in my life, it's not something I want to have as a full time gig. Players know the product well enough to keep me always building at least a few cues at a time enough that I'm up to about a 9 month wait for a simple cue. One of the things that has started to happen, is that I am getting a few approaches from mid-tier professional players asking me to "sponsor" them on tour. When it first started happening I reached out to some of the higher level cue makers and was told not to touch that sort of thing with a 10 foot pole. Mid-Level players tend to get a cue, play with it for a short period of time and then either sell it for gambling money or lose it gambling. They aren't a good investment of my time or money and they CERTAINLY aren't loyal to the brand. I actually know of an individual who was a top 10 ranked player for 10 or 15 years who was infamous for getting "sponsored" by cue makers and getting handed cues worth 4 to 5k and those cues would be sold to another player within a few days...sometimes hours. Edited March 19, 2019 by Weaklefthand4ever 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 2 hours ago, BigW said: What I find interesting... given the way corps uniforms have been trending, I'm surprised that no corps hasn't contacted them or one of their competitors to possibly design something appropriate that could work. It could be the way through the door. Given the movements, they might need to be talking more to a firm like those. Great point. Under Armour provides uniforms and gear for several dozen college sports programs, including a number of the "designer" uniforms for college football teams. One of them is the University of Maryland... which happens to be Kevin Plank's alma mater. As an aside.... uniforms like that, from Under Armour or elsewhere, have drawn criticism from some purists who like the "traditional" look instead. Kinda like the "old vs. new" debates about drum corps uniforms/costumes. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, JimF-LowBari said: Question is does UA think that or are they concerned what the other customers may think... iow their image overall imo not being athletic <> not fitting their image (whatever they see that image as) Two interesting articles about Under Armour and its marketing, from 2017: https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/armour-s-marketing-dilemma/309982/ https://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/armour-built-math-house/ Edited March 19, 2019 by Fran Haring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 17 minutes ago, Fran Haring said: Great point. Under Armour provides uniforms and gear for several dozen college sports programs, including a number of the "designer" uniforms for college football teams. One of them is the University of Maryland... which happens to be Kevin Plank's alma mater. As an aside.... uniforms like that, from Under Armour or elsewhere, have drawn criticism from some purists who like the "traditional" look instead. Kinda like the "old vs. new" debates about drum corps uniforms/costumes. LOL. As soon as you said UoMD first thing I thought of was the uniforms with the state flag bits in then. Surprised they didn’t make ones that make the players look like crabs. 😋 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 3 hours ago, Fran Haring said: It certainly would be an uninformed characterization, I'll give you that. The Under Armour folks aren't perfect. But have they ever actually said DCI is not an athletic endeavour, or that it just doesn't fit their company's particular image for their particular brand of athletic gear? Or perhaps the perception, I'm guessing, is that "band" is not athletic. If the Under Armour people feel that way, it doesn't make them "idiots" or any such thing, IMO. Just a business decision on their part. Maybe a bad one, maybe not... but it's their call. Yes It is their belief. Now, granted, I got it directly from the person to whom it was said, so there's surely room for interpretation of semantics or emphasis. Yes, it makes them idiots for the presumption that "band is not athletic" if it were that simple. It makes them idiots for not investigating how their facts are wrong and the evidence supports it. IMO, they're idiots for discounting the potential of entry into the 26,000 marching band programs representing several million kids that would wear branded "band" gear with The Major League on them. OK, I'm glad they've done good things for your town - the more tax base you can get from them, the better, IMO. But I'm not enamored by the local influence of a $4.7B company (was over $10B not long ago), and I'd be more enamored with them if they'd have said that drum corps was not big enough for them, or that they didn't like Dan A personally, or something else entirely. To take the shot walking out the door that drum corps is not "sports" enough for them sealed their fate with me. Now, as Stu says, there are lots of fish in the ocean. My example is but one that examples one of any number of reasons why most of those fish don't want to swim in our pond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 2 hours ago, cixelsyd said: So then, if someone were truly serious in believing that major sponsorships are the way to go, then they must also believe that the activity needs to grow the number of eyeballs by whatever means possible. For instance: More corps and more shows reach out to more fans. Be willing to trade lower ticket prices for more tickets sold. Show design should entertain the entire concert side, not just between the 35 yard lines. Maximizing event profit by moving to a smaller venue and selling it out is not such a good idea. People in positions of leadership/influence over the past 10 years have not demonstrated a particular commitment to these ideas. Yes, IMO, begging for "sponsorships" is a way of selling marketing for non-sales men and women. And until the activity offers sufficient scale to even hit the radar of most marketing programs, any such plan to attract marketing dollars must, by design, include proactive plans to increase eyeballs and fan base. There have been marketing people on DCI's roster for quite a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 On 3/14/2019 at 5:14 PM, garfield said: Why I'll never wear, or own the stock of, Under Armour, from their people directly to DCI's marketing team (many years ago now): "The [dc/mb] activity is just not the image we want for the UA brand." I ran a show for over a decade and saw more than 75 drum corps. I was, and am, astounded at the number of dc mm's who wear the UA brand all over the place. There's that. And when, in 2017, I said so HERE, I was personally gratified to watch the company struggle and the stock get cut in half from where it was when I posted it. You're right Stu, maybe now is the time to be magnanimous and see if UA might now be interested in talking about the class of kids dc/mb brings to UA's business model. UA may have been, and may still be, idiots (IMO) but I'm pretty sure they'll listen to a savvy marketing plan if DCI has one. Based solely on personal observation, DCI members could probably now affect Adidas's stock price solely through their purchases of half-stripe track pants. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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