We need a big time corporate sponsor (long)

[Cyismybird]

We need a big time corporate sponsor/investor.I am not talking about someone who just gives money to put their name on a floor. I am talking about a big time corporate sponsor who embraces Iowa State and makes it part of their marketing plan. One who will mold Iowa State into their company vision and have a vested interest in us. I saw a commercial for Budweiser and it showed a bunch of people getting ready for a game I think. Pretty cool commercial. But the end they showed Busch stadium as the destination. Got me to thinking what message it sends and respect the Cardinals get with the Anheuser Busch investment behind them. Obviously, we are on a different level, but I think we need a big time corporate sponsor/investor who will do this with Iowa State.

Using the local media to change perceptions will not work. With 2 DI teams in a state as small as
Iowa, and one who has done fairly well in FB over the past few years, you are not going to break through that wall. Even with a couple years in a row of winning every now and then, the media is not going to let us pass the other school to the east perception-wise. They have too much following and media penetration to let that happen.

But if you can get a big corporate sponsor to take us under their wing, you let them build our respect along with them and we ride their coattails to a better reputation. Question is, how to do you get a big corporate sponsor to invest in Iowa State when we haven’t had the right perception in the past? You can look for companies in which we have alum (Hooters?). You can look for companies and let them put their name on one of the stadiums (although I don’t think this will/should happen. Maybe a combination name like JTS/Pioneer field). But somehow we have got to step up the big time corporate sponsorship. Just not enough money to go around by doing the same things we have done in the past to compete in college athletics. Now is the time.

 

[HILLCYD]

I need one too.

 

[Cyforce]

Maybe Natty Light?

 

[StPaulCyclone]

I wonder if ISU should explore selling naming rights to the field at JTS and the court at Hilton. How about "John Deere Field at Jack Trice Stadium" or "Principal Court at Hilton Coliseum"?

 

[ISUKyro]

I always thought putting in wood bleaching in the corners and calling it the Lumber Yard Corner would be good....... some how I see some extra polls out there as well for some reason

 

[Tornado man]

You can look for companies and let them put their name on one of the stadiums (although I don’t think this will/should happen.

A company is going to want a big brand presence if they write a out big check. You say you don't want the stadium named changed, but you want a big sponsor - you can't have it both ways.

Wake Forest, for example, has an athletic budget almost identical to ISU's. They recently changed the name of their stadium to BB&T Field. BB&T is a bank.
So, if ISU wants Wells Fargo to write out a similar check, it would no doubt have to be Wells Fargo Stadium. If you're not ready for that, then forget about a big sponsor.

 

[Oldgoat]

I'd settle for an ISU version of a T. Boone Pickens.

 

[CyPride]

A company is going to want a big brand presence if they write a out big check. You say you don't want the stadium named changed, but you want a big sponsor - you can't have it both ways.

Wake Forest, for example, has an athletic budget almost identical to ISU's. They recently changed the name of their stadium to BB&T Field. BB&T is a bank.
So, if ISU wants Wells Fargo to write out a similar check, it would no doubt have to be Wells Fargo Stadium. If you're not ready for that, then forget about a big sponsor.

good points. also, if you are an investor, you are going to want the scenario just about flip-flopped. Why does the investor have to provide the money AND do the work too? the op says the investor carries isu along for the ride and builds on ISU ala cards/anheuser (bad example for ISU as both of those names have high brand-equity, but i get your point). If i were a major investor, I'd want to know that my message got out to a lot of people because of the product I invested in, and as of right now, that would not be the case. Unfilled stadium, lack of TV presence, lack of any brand equity and because we are in iowa, share iowa with other schools, i don't see a lot of this changing near-term.

i think it has to start much smaller, and built from within. i.e. the largest single time donor to our athletic department is an iowa graduate.

 

[kumandgoing]

I would vote for University of Kum & Go.

 

[uro cy]

I would vote for University of Kum & Go.

i'll pass on "no stamina U"