NCAA Basketball Marketing: What We Could Learn from #11 Old Dominion

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, #7Richmond, #8 California, #9 Lousiville, and #10 Saint Mary's.

Let's go.

South Region #11 Seed Old Dominion: What's Inspiring about Old Dominion Athletics Marketing? (Link Here)

1. Student Fan of the Game

We've all sat in an arena when a fan is recognized for their passion. Old Dominion takes a look at this idea and applies it to the digital world. Linked here, you'll see that they signal out a fan and open up with a series of questions around their sport of choice. It's a simple thing but take a look at the imagery...

What I love is that it is a subtle reminder that you, as a student athlete at ODU, will be the BMOC. It's nice to show that the students look up to you and that attending your game is an event to be seen at.

Plus One: Can ODU connect the fan of the game with one of the coaches? I'd love to see a back and forth series, where you aren't merely recognizing a super fan but you are building a bond between that fan and the team.

2. Recruits: Have What it Takes to be a Monarch?

I love taking the guesswork out of things. Hit the basketball home page and you are presented with this box, shown below.

How can you not love the branding, linked here. "Have What It Takes to be a Monarch?" That's suggestive copy that immediately presents the Monarchs as as aspirational. It's not about who they can get. It's about who is good enough and tough enough to be chosen.

Plus One: Now that you

3. How We Roll

Click into the recruiting section and you are hit with a series of links that are smart. How the team travels, linked here, and where they stay on campus linked here. These are nice, simple touches that make being a part of the team feel more real. Travel is such a big component to life as a student athlete. You see places you've never seen before, and you get a lot of time to bond and connect with your teammates and coaches. And it's the perfect thing to bring to life online. I'm surprised we haven't seen much like this before.

Take a peak at the image below and you'll see that the Monarchs actually travel in a bus with lay down beds. I'm not sure if they bus everywhere, but that feels very rock star esque. Cool!

Plus One: Video. We have visuals of the journey -- from the team super bus. But some things need a little bit more than that.... I'd love to see a FlipCam get put into place, have a player show us what it's like to take to the road. Where do they eat, how do they hang out, what's life like? It will connect us (and those future recruits more deeply to the team!)

What's next?

We'll continue our journey Monday with a breakdown of #12 seed Utah State.

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