Maryland's PR campaign to raise support for move to B1G
The link is here: http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/terps/bs-sp-terps-big-ten-1107-20131106,0,2282119.story. Some excerpts:
The public relations campaign was meant to help turn the tide in favor of the move. It included hiring a corporate communications consultant to help shape the message and also working to prevent news of the negotiations from getting out before the move was imminent.
Ullmann [Asst VP of marketing and communications] also wrote that the school planned to "engage professional assistance in helping to drop positive messages into the blogs, comments and message board sites. I will arrange for this service today."
Many of the emails discussing the PR strategy copied top Maryland administrators such as president Wallace Loh and Anderson. The school routinely circulated emails chronicling and commenting on stories, blogs and tweets about the Big Ten move. Consultants also reached out to certain media members, either criticizing them for negative commentary or praising them for supporting the move.
Lee Zeidman, the corporate communications consultant who helped Maryland draft letters and talking points, said Wednesday that it is "standard operating procedure" in the business world to weigh in directly on message boards. "There are special PR agencies who work in the digital space who bombard blogs and newspaper sites where no one puts their name," Zeidman said.
In the days before the Big Ten discussions were made public, Maryland and its consultants considered how to release the story.
"Scott Van Pelt is a powerful voice in the media and a loyal UMD grad," public relations consultant John Maroon wrote to a Maryland communications official before the story broke. "It would be in our best interest to let Van Pelt break the story and talk about all of the positives."
It's interesting to me that blogs like this one would be the targets of this kind of activity. But I suppose it's not surprising. This is the brave new world of college athletics and conference expansion, I suppose. With so much money at stake, administrators needs to control the message as much as possible.
November 7th, 2013 at 8:17 AM ^
Wouldn't it be awesome if Maryland joined the Big Ten? Man, that would be cool!
November 6th, 2013 at 10:05 PM ^
I think it's a great move! Good for them! ($$$)
November 6th, 2013 at 10:57 PM ^
November 6th, 2013 at 10:10 PM ^
I remember having a great time welcoming Nebraska fans for their first tailgate in 2011. I feel like Maryland and Rutgers' first visit will feel like an awkward blind date.
November 7th, 2013 at 1:59 AM ^
It's like getting roofied, only more delicious and twice as shameful.
Rutgers is the perfect blind date.
November 7th, 2013 at 10:48 AM ^
Sweeping genralization of Maryland and Philly people: LOVE to party, easily angered, will not shy away from a fight.
They're mostly fun, but then it usually ends in some sort of minor disaster by nights end.
November 6th, 2013 at 10:10 PM ^
November 7th, 2013 at 6:33 AM ^
I think that's exactly it. It's expansion for the sake of expansion.
One result being that Michigan doesn't get to play other Big10 schools as often.
November 6th, 2013 at 10:12 PM ^
Astroturfing and other attempts at message control and shaping public opinion have been going on for many years in the business and political worlds.
November 7th, 2013 at 6:55 AM ^
November 7th, 2013 at 1:44 PM ^
& this is awesome for Michigan
FERGODSAKES!
November 7th, 2013 at 3:46 PM ^
More importantly, there were guys named Woodson and Brady, among others, who backed the Hoke hire.
November 6th, 2013 at 10:26 PM ^
That is all. Carry on.
November 6th, 2013 at 10:54 PM ^
What's done is done, and I'm not particularly interested in why Maryland joined the B1G. The interesting thing is that a University hired people to post on blogs (like this one!) to move the needle in terms of public support, and threw its weight around in the media. Of course stuff like this has always happened, but as the stakes are raised financially there will be more reasons for universities and conferences to play these games.
November 7th, 2013 at 1:01 AM ^
Al Borges is an offensive genius with a deep understanding and respect of the process.
- Fulfilling PR requirement for my season ticket renewal...
November 7th, 2013 at 6:57 AM ^
November 6th, 2013 at 10:29 PM ^
November 6th, 2013 at 11:03 PM ^
I'm beggin Maryland to stay in the ACC. Maybe your fans are correct.
November 6th, 2013 at 11:19 PM ^
I'm glad Maryland and Rutgers are joining the Big Ten. Not as happy as I was with Nebraska, that was an absolutely great get, but these are good schools and they bring good research institutions to the Conference.
You have to take the long view of this stuff. It isn't only about football games.
Thist reinforces Michigan's attraction as a destination school for East Coast students. That's a good thing!
I like the add in baskeetball and other sports, and they brought along national power Hopkins in lacrosse.
Moreover, Maryland is a high growth state with a very high average income.Michigan grads might find additional opportunities there because of the school's B1G presence.
So it may not move the football needle much in this five minutes, but it's good for everyone in the long run.
November 7th, 2013 at 12:44 AM ^
November 7th, 2013 at 12:32 AM ^
I wonder how many thousands of dollars Maryland spent on this sock puppetry. Was it more than DB spent on skywriting?
November 7th, 2013 at 1:04 AM ^
The return on investment is negligible in both cases.
Should have spend the money on an NFL-trained OL coach.
November 7th, 2013 at 12:44 AM ^
Both Rutgers and Maryland are Mediocre Programs when it comes to the product they put on the Gridiron, So this cant be all that good for us from a Football standpoint, the Big Ten has alot of Mediocre teams as is, we dont need any more.
Hell i saw a article today talking about how Rutgers head coach was ranked like 80th in the county, as far as Salary paid, behind coaches at Juggernauts such as Wyoming,East Carolina,Houston, and Memphis. Shameful, its going to be hard to get talented coaching personel when your Administration is that thrifty. Same goes for Maryland, they pay alot better, but thier football is average at best, they cracked the Top 25 this season, and them Promptly got destroyed by like 60+ points, Neither of teams help our product on the feild, but i guess its not about that anymore, its about the $$$, Rutgers and Maryland gives us More TV Viewers for the Big 10 Network.
November 7th, 2013 at 12:58 AM ^
Too bad they totally failed to convince anyone that this was a good acquisition. Also, why i only glance at internet comments and don't take them seriously. It can just as easily be from some crony trying to push a sale as an unbiased observer, or a real fan.
November 7th, 2013 at 3:19 AM ^
My answer to anyone whenever this subject comes up in conversation: I'm glad it happened for the simple fact that the Big Ten got a "re-do" on divisional alignment. Michigan and OSU absolutely HAD to be in the same division. Think about this scenario for a second: say we won last Saturday against MSU, won our next 3, and lost the OSU game, and MSU won out (not an unlikely scenario at all if Saturday had gone differently). MSU would be headed to the Big Ten Championship Game while we sat home due to the fact that they don't play OSU or PSU this year.
There will always be inequities with a divisional setup, but Michigan's protected crossover with OSU would have placed them at a perpetual disadvantage to Sparty, whose protected crossover is with almighty Indiana. The reboot that the Maryland and Rutgers additions have provided will create a clearer path for Michigan to get to the Big 10 title game (many years the winner of the M-OSU game will go) while simultaneously plummeting MSU into irrelevancy (does anyone really believe they'll ever win a division with M, OSU, and PSU standing in the way?). Therefore, I like the Maryland and Rutgers additions.
November 7th, 2013 at 3:45 AM ^
November 7th, 2013 at 1:43 PM ^
But this:
"Does anyone really believe [MSU will] ever win a division with M, OSU, and PSU standing in the way?"
is a ridiculous question to pose, especially considering that M is about to go 0-3 against PSU, MSU and OSU.
November 7th, 2013 at 3:51 PM ^
For the same reason, I'm OK with the new alignment. We had to be in the same division as OSU.
I'm very disappointed that the Big Ten screwed up the MSU/OSU home/away alignment, though.
November 7th, 2013 at 4:05 AM ^
It is funny that this topic popped up. I am in Washington DC right now and keep getting Maryland football adds at the top of mgoblog. I screen shotted it but adding figuring out how to add a picture to this post at 4am is beyond me.
November 7th, 2013 at 6:19 AM ^
"In one email, Maroon — who had been consulting for Maryland prior to the Big Ten talks — suggested the school directly confront fans' sense of loss. "I believe that we need to stress the income, the greatness of Big Ten football and the return of [discontinued] sports to quell some of the angst about losing the hoops games against Duke, UNC etc."
I believe that Maryland did this to some extent in the days immediately after the announcement. As I recall, there were several articles in various mid-Atlantic newspapers which tried to spin the shift as something which would put Maryland in a more competitive position academically, athletically and financially. It didn't stop anyone in our neck of the woods from thinking that Maryland should have just swiped the J.G. Wentworth ad: "I have a structured settlement, but I need cash now..."
November 7th, 2013 at 7:01 AM ^
November 7th, 2013 at 8:13 AM ^
/mgobombed by paid PR firm
November 7th, 2013 at 10:41 AM ^
"I am a Maryland and Michigan and Rutgers grad"
The ever rare double graduate-degree. For those who don't want to be a doctor, but still want to have a smoking robe and pipe.
November 7th, 2013 at 10:39 AM ^
The B1G!! We can win there... ... ... probably.