NCAA Seeds Marketing: What We Could Learn from #10 Saint Mary's

We're in search of inspiration- things that all of us can take and apply into our worlds. Then we will apply a "Plus One" method to make each inspiring thing even better. Thus far, we've looked at top seeded Duke, #2Villanova, #3 Baylor, #4 Purdue, #5 Texas A&M, #6 Notre Dame, #7 Richmond, #8 California, and #9 Lousiville.

Let's go.

South Region #10 Seed Saint Mary's: What's Inspiring about Saint Mary's Athletics Marketing? (Link Here)


1. The Gael Force Student Fan Club
This is pretty cool. It's a loyalty program for students. As you can see below (or here), the Gaels introduced a sweet concept - earn points by attending athletics events and then have those points add up to something. What's that something? One of the top choices in the housing or graduation plot lotteries. So you take school spirit and you award it with an amazing prize that costs next to nothing? And the info's online? Cool.



Want more reason to believe? Check this picture.


Plus One: The big question is how do we better apply the Gael Force online? Meaning how do you portray this passionate fan base in a way that inspires kids who haven't yet chosen Saint Mary's? I think it needs to start with visuals and sound from the student section. Let us feel that passion. And then look to add in ways to bring that to life -- potentially via a Gael Force Facebook page?


2. Gaels Basketball on Facebook
Not many programs are elevating their basketball team to the point where they get their own Facebook page. But Saint Mary's does just that. Linked here, you'll see that the Gaels have a basketball fan base of just shy of 1500.



Plus One: Photography. The gallery of photos is only 14 strong. Here's an area the Gaels could win. Take pictures of each game and upload them as galleries. Add a gallery for the Gael Force student section. And pump in the best photos into the wall.


3. Bold Photography + Share Functionality Dominates our windshield
Click right into the basketball page, here, and you'll see quite a window. Big, bold photography grabs you and gets your attention. The Gaels show us that great photos can really suck you in (in a good way) into a website.



Plus One: More. It's that simple, really. The Gaels have a great layout that can deliver a brand statement. But that statement needs to be reinforced by photography that is updated, and timely. I'd also like to see the share functionality expand to make it easy to share via Facebook or Twitter.

What's next?

We'll continue our journey Friday with a breakdown of #11 seed Old Dominion.

As always, you can follow along on Twitter - I'm @pawlow34.