Akron X-Prize????

[Zipsrifle]

There has been a history of worthless advertising and promotional programs going on at UofA. "Fear the Roo" was a big hit, but that's about it. I KNOW I could have put together a better commercial than the "Be a part, from a start" advertising for the new stadium. This got me thinking. I'd bet that there are enough creative students and alumni out there to resolve this problem. So, here's my thought.Why doesn't UofA start an X-Prize type of competition for a few upcoming promotional campaigns? UofA could define what they want the message to be and any necessary rules. UofA could say provide video for people to use, pictures, slogan, etc., or people could come up with their own video, pics, etc. In the end, I'm sure the prize could be much less than what they spend on some of these promotional campaigns and they would probably get much better ideas than what they've been able to come up with. Maybe a student would get free tuition for a year and maybe an alum could get Primo season tickets or even a monetary incentive. Much better than kids pics on the season tickets. I know there are a lot of creative people around here that would probably enter. What do you think??

[ZipAlumn]

There has been a history of worthless advertising and promotional programs going on at UofA. "Fear the Roo" was a big hit, but that's about it. I KNOW I could have put together a better commercial than the "Be a part, from a start" advertising for the new stadium. This got me thinking. I'd bet that there are enough creative students and alumni out there to resolve this problem. So, here's my thought.Why doesn't UofA start an X-Prize type of competition for a few upcoming promotional campaigns? UofA could define what they want the message to be and any necessary rules. UofA could say provide video for people to use, pictures, slogan, etc., or people could come up with their own video, pics, etc. In the end, I'm sure the prize could be much less than what they spend on some of these promotional campaigns and they would probably get much better ideas than what they've been able to come up with. Maybe a student would get free tuition for a year and maybe an alum could get Primo season tickets or even a monetary incentive. Much better than kids pics on the season tickets. I know there are a lot of creative people around here that would probably enter. What do you think??

I think that this would be an improvement over what the marketing department (no caps) currently does. Anything would probably be an improvement.

[Blue & Gold]

Your idea is a good idea! Unfortunately, it's strength is it's weakness; our marketing department doesn't "do" good ideas.Btw, I was watching that "Be A Part From The Start" commercial on YouTube last night and was just marveling at how spectacularly AWFUL it is. If the goal was to pull The University of Akron down to the level of Stark State, well that commercial certainly does the trick! It is criminally bush-league.

[Blue & Gold]

Oh, another thing. We really could commission our marketing and graphic design students to pump the programs. I have a friend who was a graphic design student @ UA and did jaw-dropping work. The students put a lot of pride, time and effort into their projects - obviously not what we've been getting from whoever put that shameful commercial together.That "Be A Part From The Start" music is an abomination!

[zen]

That "Be A Part From The Start" music is an abomination!

The part that I can't understand is how an ad like that can get out without someone stopping it.I mean, I suppose I can understand one or maybe two people who lack the ability to recognize absurd level of lame-ness in that music, but what I can't figure out is how no one caught it.I actually re-worked that commercial with different music to demonstrate how the soundtrack can make all the difference, but I couldn't isolate the voice announcer, and I wasn't going to use my voice in it, so I never posted it.I like the idea of a contest. I bet you wouldn't even have to make the prize very big. A lot of people would probably just like to show of their skills and talents, and the pride of having it be used by the university in public would be prize enough.I'd participate just for the fun of it... but obviously access would be needed to media like video, graphics, subject-related stills on the team and stadium, etc.

[Blue & Gold]

Now this was a great commercial. It's very well done and almost gives you goosebumps! Unfortunately, I don't believe I ever saw it anywhere other than Youtube.