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Post by fan on Aug 22, 2022 16:11:09 GMT -5
Rogo, I guess that says it all.
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Post by calihanmole on Aug 22, 2022 16:57:14 GMT -5
I’m in the stands at this past Saturday’s Detroit City Football Club game, talking to a friend-of-a-friend sitting next to me. He’s a recently retired physician, lived in Grosse Pte. Farms most of his life. Rogobob: “Would you be interested in joining me at a UD basketball game at Calihan Hall this upcoming season?” Dr: “Is that the ‘Mercy’ school? Do they play basketball?” LOL. How did you respond? |
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Post by motorcitysam on Aug 22, 2022 22:06:47 GMT -5
I’m in the stands at this past Saturday’s Detroit City Football Club game, talking to a friend-of-a-friend sitting next to me. He’s a recently retired physician, lived in Grosse Pte. Farms most of his life. Rogobob: “Would you be interested in joining me at a UD basketball game at Calihan Hall this upcoming season?” Dr: “Is that the ‘Mercy’ school? Do they play basketball?” That's depressing. Does he think that Mercy is a different school than the former U-D? Or does he realize we are the renamed U-D but just doesn't know we play basketball? Either way, that's a real indictment on branding and marketing. |
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Post by upbasketballfan on Aug 23, 2022 1:27:06 GMT -5
I’m in the stands at this past Saturday’s Detroit City Football Club game, talking to a friend-of-a-friend sitting next to me. He’s a recently retired physician, lived in Grosse Pte. Farms most of his life. Rogobob: “Would you be interested in joining me at a UD basketball game at Calihan Hall this upcoming season?” Dr: “Is that the ‘Mercy’ school? Do they play basketball?” That's depressing. Does he think that Mercy is a different school than the former U-D? Or does he realize we are the renamed U-D but just doesn't know we play basketball? Either way, that's a real indictment on branding and marketing. Makes me wonder what Med School he went to, Granada? |
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Post by Rogobob77 on Aug 27, 2022 7:22:17 GMT -5
From the Detroit Free Press story on last night’s Loyola High School football game, played on Titan Field:
“Even the Mercy cheerleaders were on hand, cheering on the Bulldogs.”
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Post by motorcitysam on Aug 27, 2022 13:00:49 GMT -5
From the Detroit Free Press story on last night’s Loyola High School football game, played on Titan Field: “Even the Mercy cheerleaders were on hand, cheering on the Bulldogs.” Of course the self inflicted wound that is our branding manages to pop up in what should have been an around feel good story for all involved. Pitiful. I wonder if anyone in the school sent an email to the the reporter to correct him. In the past we've seen quick responses to someone referring to us as simply Detroit, omitting the mercy. I wonder if they are as bothered when the Detroit part of our name is ignored. |
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Post by titantarheel on Aug 27, 2022 13:36:44 GMT -5
Honest thought…there’s a chance it was Mercy High School cheerleaders. Over the years they’ve been at UD Jesuit sporting events so perhaps the article author was correct in saying Mercy cheerleaders but should’ve mentioned it was the Hs.
Then again there’s a solid chance it was UDM cheerleaders so ignore everything I’ve written.
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Post by nctitan on Aug 27, 2022 16:06:32 GMT -5
Honest thought…there’s a chance it was Mercy High School cheerleaders. Over the years they’ve been at UD Jesuit sporting events so perhaps the article author was correct in saying Mercy cheerleaders but should’ve mentioned it was the Hs. Then again there’s a solid chance it was UDM cheerleaders so ignore everything I’ve written. The entire article in the Free Press followed Detroit Mercy's style guide around the Detroit Mercy name. So it's unlikely that they would call our cheerleaders "Mercy." Additionally, two cheerleader squads show up in the photo gallery, and neither team is dressed in red. Regardless, it's nice publicity for Detroit Mercy, good photos of the campus, a good thing to host Loyola, and it could build some bonds with local HS kids. |
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Post by motorcitysam on Aug 27, 2022 17:18:08 GMT -5
Honest thought…there’s a chance it was Mercy High School cheerleaders. Over the years they’ve been at UD Jesuit sporting events so perhaps the article author was correct in saying Mercy cheerleaders but should’ve mentioned it was the Hs. Then again there’s a solid chance it was UDM cheerleaders so ignore everything I’ve written. That's possible. I would think that if it was Mercy High School they would have been specific about that while talking about a game at Detroit Mercy University, but maybe it was an editing or word count issue. Of course, your post shows a clear truth: The fact that no one can say with any certainty if the reporter was talking about the cheer squad from University of Detroit Mercy or the cheer squad of Mercy High School is a good illustration of how much of a failure our branding strategy is. |
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Post by kevinudm on Aug 27, 2022 17:55:14 GMT -5
The initial reference in the Free Press article is to "Detroit Mercy" and there are two subsequent "Detroit Mercy" references. The context of the "Mercy cheerleaders" is about the partnership between Loyola High School and our university, so "Mercy" is clearly used as a shorthand for "Detroit Mercy."
But the headline of the story references the "UDM campus" and there are three additional UDM references, all in one sentence. ("The idea for Loyola and UDM's partnership was birthed in 2015, when UDM athletic director Robert Vowels Jr. spoke with a handful of former UDM football players....").
Two photographs have captions mentioning "University of Detroit Mercy's Titan Field."
The Detroit News game preview article also flopped between "the University of Detroit Mercy" (twice), "Detroit Mercy" (once) and "UDM" (seven times).
So as we all know, branding is a mess, all over the place. But hosting Loyola HS football is surely a great initiative and it's wonderful - and unusual - to see both major newspapers running positive articles about our school, whatever its name is.
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Post by Rogobob77 on Aug 27, 2022 18:45:51 GMT -5
The initial reference in the Free Press article is to "Detroit Mercy" and there are two subsequent "Detroit Mercy" references. The context of the "Mercy cheerleaders" is about the partnership between Loyola High School and our university, so "Mercy" is clearly used as a shorthand for "Detroit Mercy." But the headline of the story references the "UDM campus" and there are three additional UDM references, all in one sentence. ("The idea for Loyola and UDM's partnership was birthed in 2015, when UDM athletic director Robert Vowels Jr. spoke with a handful of former UDM football players...."). Two photographs have captions mentioning "University of Detroit Mercy's Titan Field." The Detroit News game preview article also flopped between "the University of Detroit Mercy" (twice), "Detroit Mercy" (once) and "UDM" (seven times). So as we all know, branding is a mess, all over the place. But hosting Loyola HS football is surely a great initiative and it's wonderful - and unusual - to see both major newspapers running positive articles about our school, whatever its name is. “UDM” was suppose to disappear. Found this is an internet search today. I don’t recall BD&E being the consultants the University used as part of the rebranding effort: “After extensive research, BD&E comprehensively repositioned the University by introducing a new name, logo, brand line, admissions collateral and media campaign that effectively captured their core values and communicated the prominent role the University plays in the minds, hearts and lives of the people of Detroit. Through these efforts, Detroit Mercy was revitalized.” bdeusa.com/portfolio/detroit-mercy-brand-strategy/ |
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Post by nctitan on Aug 28, 2022 10:12:35 GMT -5
Our online style guide for the media says this "UDM is acceptable under limited circumstances when character space is an issue" so UDM in a headline is acceptable. Other uses are errors on the part of the News or the Freep. We can't control what outside organizations do, we don't edit their copy. There is no clarity about the "Mercy cheerleaders," so that is an issue with the Free writer and editors. If the cheerleaders were from Detroit Mercy it was a style error on the part of the Freep; if the cheerleaders were from Mercy High School the writer should have been clearer, since it obviously led to confusion. Again, not an error by the University but by the writer and editors.
I watched a Facebook stream of the women's soccer game at Florida Gulf Coast (we won, 2-1) and cringed when the FGCU announcer kept referring to us as Mercy. PJ Gradowski, our Athletics Communications chief, was posting on FB to correct the announcer. That announcer also kept referring to the players as "girls." High school players are girls, college players are women. So He showed his quality throughout the broadcast. Again, there is only so much that we can do about others.
If the writer is generally a prep writer, not someone who writes about our Titans, I could forgive him or her for not knowing our style preferences. But the copy desk (if they still have copy editors) at the paper should be aware and should have made the corrections.
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Post by Rogobob77 on Aug 28, 2022 10:37:45 GMT -5
Our online style guide for the media says this "UDM is acceptable under limited circumstances when character space is an issue" so UDM in a headline is acceptable. Other uses are errors on the part of the News or the Freep. We can't control what outside organizations do, we don't edit their copy. There is no clarity about the "Mercy cheerleaders," so that is an issue with the Free writer and editors. If the cheerleaders were from Detroit Mercy it was a style error on the part of the Freep; if the cheerleaders were from Mercy High School the writer should have been clearer, since it obviously led to confusion. Again, not an error by the University but by the writer and editors. I watched a Facebook stream of the women's soccer game at Florida Gulf Coast (we won, 2-1) and cringed when the FGCU announcer kept referring to us as Mercy. PJ Gradowski, our Athletics Communications chief, was posting on FB to correct the announcer. That announcer also kept referring to the players as "girls." High school players are girls, college players are women. So He showed his quality throughout the broadcast. Again, there is only so much that we can do about others. If the writer is generally a prep writer, not someone who writes about our Titans, I could forgive him or her for not knowing our style preferences. But the copy desk (if they still have copy editors) at the paper should be aware and should have made the corrections. The Freep gets it wrong. Students get it wrong. The Florida Golf Coast announcer miffs it. Your next door neighbor calls the school by the wrong name. Recruits call us this and that. Our rivals make fun of and mock our confused brand. The Jesuit heritage is obscured. Even the new University President is quoted referring to the institution by officially forbidden words. All this thirty-two years post-consolidation, five years after the high-paid consultants were hired to solve the problem once and for all. Time to admit the name is inherently impossible to brand in a consistent way that best advances the interests of the school. The Emperor has no clothes. |
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Post by fan on Aug 28, 2022 10:39:14 GMT -5
Reading the bdeusa report it seems they got it all right, except the brand, the name. The University of Detroit had a 150 year legacy and they let it go. I always thought Mercy should have been a college within the University structure, like Mercy College of something.
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Post by nctitan on Aug 28, 2022 11:57:30 GMT -5
The Freep gets it wrong. Students get it wrong. The Florida Golf Coast announcer miffs it. Your next door neighbor calls the school by the wrong name. Recruits call us this and that. Our rivals make fun of and mock our confused brand. The Jesuit heritage is obscured. Even the new University President is quoted referring to the institution by officially forbidden words. All this thirty-two years post-consolidation, five years after the high-paid consultants were hired to solve the problem once and for all. Time to admit the name is inherently impossible to brand in a consistent way that best advances the interests of the school. The Emperor has no clothes. I'm down here in North Carolina. Three times recently I have run into Detroiters and I always mention that I went to the University of Detroit (because that was the name when I attended) and each time I was quickly corrected, by both younger and older people, that it is now Detroit Mercy. As far as the Jesuit heritage, I'd be surprised if anyone outside of Metro Detroit knows that the University of Detroit (DeBusschere, Haywood, Vitale) was a Jesuit school. For Catholics who grew up in the Detroit area, yes; for anyone somewhere else, not so much. The same for Boston College, U of San Francisco, Seattle U. Maybe the Jebbies should have named us Loyola of Detroit back in '77. |
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Sept 2, 2015 17:18:54 GMT -5
Sept 2, 2015 17:18:54 GMT -5
