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Post by Commissioner on Oct 27, 2022 7:12:52 GMT -5
The solution to this branding issue in Athletics is to brand the University of Detroit Mercy as the Detroit Titans. The problem is the sole approved short name. The Perry Watson solution worked well for 25 years. A good example of this branding solution is the company now called Meta Platforms. It used to be named Facebook. It owns various assets including the social media platforms Facebook and Instagram. Did it change the names of those assets to align with the branding of its new corporate name? No. To answer the point made by Commissioner in his post, the Sisters wrote their check 32 years ago when their college was struggling after just 49 years of existence at Outer Drive and Southfield. By the 1970s, they resorted to renting out rooms in their newly constructed McAuley Center for wedding receptions, parties, and other social events. They had also built new dorms for nursing students but then had trouble filling them. In the '60s, they moved their high school off that campus out to its current location near Middlebelt and 11 Mile. Mt. Carmel Mercy Hospital went through multiple name and ownership changes until it is now part of Sinai-Grace. The newly merged Detroit Mercy entity then wasted scarce capital to retrofit the old Mercy campus to be the dental school only to turn around and sell that real estate to Wayne County Community College and build a new dental school facility. The issue in 2022 is what brand can maximize the current university assets. Those assets include Division 1 athletics plus the fan and donor bases that surround that asset. The Sisters' check was written and spent last century. Yes, this is not the 1970s with Vitale, but also it is not 1990 any more. This all makes perfect sense. But it doesn't seem the Sisters see it that way, and they appear to still have a lot of sway on the board. The insistence on "Detroit Mercy" appears to be doing positive damage to the university. That's what I mean by "pride." Not like, "we're the greatest ever, and 'Mercy' is the best marketing name anyone has come up with since 'Coca Cola.'" Rather, it is a simple unwillingness to reconsider the branding because, as Fan said, they are comfortable with the "Mercy" name and figure they wrote the check and want to call the place "Mercy." |
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Post by ptctitan on Oct 27, 2022 7:56:58 GMT -5
This all makes perfect sense. But it doesn't seem the Sisters see it that way, and they appear to still have a lot of sway on the board. The insistence on "Detroit Mercy" appears to be doing positive damage to the university. That's what I mean by "pride." Not like, "we're the greatest ever, and 'Mercy' is the best marketing name anyone has come up with since 'Coca Cola.'" Rather, it is a simple unwillingness to reconsider the branding because, as Fan said, they are comfortable with the "Mercy" name and figure they wrote the check and want to call the place "Mercy." Do not discount the influence of former president Garibaldi upon the 2016 branding changes. It was his lesson learned from Gannon University's merger with Villa Maria College in about 1989. Many Villa Maria alums were just as angry about their college being subsumed into Gannon as its school of nursing as many U of D alums have been alienated by the branding change in 2016. He perceived that Villa Maria alienation as a major constraint on his capital-raising efforts there. It is not a coincidence that the branding change was coordinated with the successful $100 million capital campaign. As long as Garibaldi remained president, the branding changes implemented in 2016 were going to remain in force because they were his changes. The real question is whether the new branding policy made the capital campaign more successful than it would have been under the old policy. And what has been the cost to Athletics in order to try and make the capital campaign succeed? Finally, remember that the issue affecting Athletics is the 2016 branding policy - not the formal name of the university which was decided upon back in 1990. For Athletics, the main branding problem is the only permissible short form name for the university. "UDM" is impermissible. "Detroit-Mercy" is impermissible. "Detroit" is impermissible. "U of DM" is impermissible. Now that we have a new president who says publicly we need to engage even more with our local community and think about solutions without any constraints of a box, perhaps now is the best time to revisit the branding strategy and fight some battles that we can win. A branding policy is just that - a policy that can be changed or improved upon. |
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Post by nctitan on Oct 27, 2022 8:14:39 GMT -5
Pardon me, Sam, but I am puzzled that you think the old name called out that we were the "premier Catholic/private University in the state." I would wager that very few people outside of Southeastern Michigan identified the University of Detroit as a Catholic institution, except possibly in the Jesuit community. Or that adding Mercy to our name obscured the Jesuit part of our institution, either in the past or the present. That's what you focused on, out of my whole post? Okay, well, let's address your puzzlement. If you looked at a list of Catholic schools in Michigan back in the 80s and saw Aquinas, Siena Heights, Madonna, Marygrove, Mercy, and the University of Detroit, which one would you think was the big one? In Missouri, would you think the big one was St. Louis University, Rockhurst, or Avila? In what way does the University openly, obviously promote their Jesuit component? The website name (which violates the style guide, incidentally) is UDMERCY.edu. The approved school name is Detroit Mercy. Mercy is on the jerseys and on just about every item in the gift shop and bookstore. You don't think that obscures the Jesuit part? The school SCREAMS that it is a Mercy institution, but keeps the Jesuit part quiet. That's obvious. I'm puzzled that you're puzzled by it. Well, actually I'm not puzzled. I kind of expected a response like that. Sam, you misinterpret my comment. I certainly think that if you include University of Detroit on a list of Catholic colleges then, yes, it will be identified as a Catholic school. But unadorned, "The University of Detroit" does not SCREAM Jesuit institution, or even Catholic institution. Neither does University of Miami. Or University of Denver. (They're neither.) The only thing it screams to me is that it's in Detroit. I get your complaint, and I get your frustration. If it had been my call I would have chosen Mercy College of Nursing in the University of Detroit. And if it had been my call I would have kept the team name Detroit Titans. But they weren't my calls. The school made the choice, and I do my best to be supportive of the University. But if I meet someone named John who prefers to go by Jack, I call him Jack. If I meet someone named John Michael Smith and he says he goes by his middle name, I call him Michael. It's not MY place to determine what name he goes by. And, by the way, down here in Carolina I continue to run into Detroiters -- alumni and friends of all ages -- who refer to the institution as Detroit Mercy and correct me when I say University of Detroit. For what it's worth. |
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Post by fan on Oct 27, 2022 10:32:51 GMT -5
PTCTITAN made an interesting point, the University of Detroit Division 1 was an asset, an asset that was tossed in the garbage can when they went to Detroit Mercy.
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Post by ptctitan on Oct 27, 2022 10:46:30 GMT -5
PTCTITAN made an interesting point, the University of Detroit Division 1 was an asset, an asset that was tossed in the garbage can when they went to Detroit Mercy. More precisely, I said that our D1 athletics program still IS an asset. In the same paragraph, I said that we need to look forward - not backwards. That goes for us who went to or became fans of U of D. And that goes equally for the Sisters who wrote the checks last century in the 1990s. These comments were in response to the statements in Commissioner's post in which he offered insight into how Mercy may view this issue. |
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Post by fan on Oct 27, 2022 14:12:30 GMT -5
Sorry, I may have taken poetic license, but we're on the same page
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Post by motorcitysam on Oct 27, 2022 16:41:05 GMT -5
That's what you focused on, out of my whole post? Okay, well, let's address your puzzlement. If you looked at a list of Catholic schools in Michigan back in the 80s and saw Aquinas, Siena Heights, Madonna, Marygrove, Mercy, and the University of Detroit, which one would you think was the big one? In Missouri, would you think the big one was St. Louis University, Rockhurst, or Avila? In what way does the University openly, obviously promote their Jesuit component? The website name (which violates the style guide, incidentally) is UDMERCY.edu. The approved school name is Detroit Mercy. Mercy is on the jerseys and on just about every item in the gift shop and bookstore. You don't think that obscures the Jesuit part? The school SCREAMS that it is a Mercy institution, but keeps the Jesuit part quiet. That's obvious. I'm puzzled that you're puzzled by it. Well, actually I'm not puzzled. I kind of expected a response like that. Sam, you misinterpret my comment. I certainly think that if you include University of Detroit on a list of Catholic colleges then, yes, it will be identified as a Catholic school. But unadorned, "The University of Detroit" does not SCREAM Jesuit institution, or even Catholic institution. Neither does University of Miami. Or University of Denver. (They're neither.) The only thing it screams to me is that it's in Detroit. I get your complaint, and I get your frustration. If it had been my call I would have chosen Mercy College of Nursing in the University of Detroit. And if it had been my call I would have kept the team name Detroit Titans. But they weren't my calls. The school made the choice, and I do my best to be supportive of the University. But if I meet someone named John who prefers to go by Jack, I call him Jack. If I meet someone named John Michael Smith and he says he goes by his middle name, I call him Michael. It's not MY place to determine what name he goes by. And, by the way, down here in Carolina I continue to run into Detroiters -- alumni and friends of all ages -- who refer to the institution as Detroit Mercy and correct me when I say University of Detroit. For what it's worth. I don't think I'm the one who is misinterpreting things. I said that on a list of Catholic colleges in Michigan you would correctly assume that the University of Detroit was the premiere institution on the list. I never said that the University of Detroit name SCREAMED anything, not Catholic, and certainly not Jesuit. The current branding screams Mercy, metaphorically speaking, ignoring the Jesuit side. That's obvious. And, yes, I know you have stated that multiple people come up to you in NC and correct you when you say University of Detroit. Never happened to me, in my years of living outside of Michigan in Indianapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. I was in all of those places after the merger. But experiences differ; maybe people are different when they get to North Carolina. I'll mail my next donation in to U-D via check made out to the University of Detroit, instead of donating online. We'll see if they prefer the UDM name so much that they send that check back uncashed. If they cash it, I'll take that as a sign they don't mind me using the University of Detroit. |
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Post by motorcitysam on Oct 27, 2022 16:43:55 GMT -5
PTCTITAN made an interesting point, the University of Detroit Division 1 was an asset, an asset that was tossed in the garbage can when they went to Detroit Mercy. Rather than using the merger to springboard the combined University to greater heights in all areas, it appears the Sisters were quite content to let the whole thing settle at the level that Mercy College was before the merger. We appear to be on our way. |
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Post by Rogobob77 on Oct 27, 2022 17:29:54 GMT -5
FWIW, I think a compromise rebrand as “Detroit Catholic University” would have actually been an effective path, adopting “Detroit Titans” as the supplemental athletic brand. It’s a full departure from the prior two school names, so “U-D,” “U of D Mercy,” “Mercy,” etc., would have quickly disappeared, versus the current daily usage of a hodgepodge of monikers 32-years post-consolidation. “Detroit Catholic U” would clearly emphasize the fact that it is a Catholic university without sounding like a hospital. DCU could have served as an ideal branding platform to emphasize both the heritage and academic strengths of the two parent religious orders, Jesuits and Sisters of Mercy. And “Detroit Titans” could have allowed continuity with U-D’s athletic tradition, something the SOMs probably don’t care about.
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Post by fan on Oct 27, 2022 18:01:44 GMT -5
Shot...they dad the name, they had the history, they had the tradition...the University of Detroit.
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Post by nctitan on Oct 27, 2022 19:03:06 GMT -5
FWIW, I think a compromise rebrand as “Detroit Catholic University” would have actually been an effective path, adopting “Detroit Titans” as the supplemental athletic brand. It’s a full departure from the prior two school names, so “U-D,” “U of D Mercy,” “Mercy,” etc., would have quickly disappeared, versus the current daily usage of a hodgepodge of monikers 32-years post-consolidation. “Detroit Catholic U” would clearly emphasize the fact that it is a Catholic university without sounding like a hospital. DCU could have served as an ideal branding platform to emphasize both the heritage and academic strengths of the two parent religious orders, Jesuits and Sisters of Mercy. And “Detroit Titans” could have allowed continuity with U-D’s athletic tradition, something the SOMs probably don’t care about. You mean a Michigan campus of the University in DC? |
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Post by Rogobob77 on Oct 27, 2022 19:26:26 GMT -5
FWIW, I think a compromise rebrand as “Detroit Catholic University” would have actually been an effective path, adopting “Detroit Titans” as the supplemental athletic brand. It’s a full departure from the prior two school names, so “U-D,” “U of D Mercy,” “Mercy,” etc., would have quickly disappeared, versus the current daily usage of a hodgepodge of monikers 32-years post-consolidation. “Detroit Catholic U” would clearly emphasize the fact that it is a Catholic university without sounding like a hospital. DCU could have served as an ideal branding platform to emphasize both the heritage and academic strengths of the two parent religious orders, Jesuits and Sisters of Mercy. And “Detroit Titans” could have allowed continuity with U-D’s athletic tradition, something the SOMs probably don’t care about. You mean a Michigan campus of the University in DC? I think people realize that Loyola-Chicago and Loyola (MD) are not directly affiliated despite having similar names. I think same would go for Detroit Catholic University and The Catholic University of America. If there was any confusion, it would be minuscule compared to that manifested by the University’s current branding approach. |
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Post by ptctitan on Oct 28, 2022 4:01:56 GMT -5
The formal name and branding problems are not going to be solved this season. They become less of a problem if our men's BB team starts to win more frequently than they have since 2013.
There is a unique branding problem for Athletics because all media there prefers short names and acronyms. The current branding problem began in 2016 when the university ended the Perry Watson solution and Vowels' own branding initiative both of which used Detroit. I believe that Garibaldi as ratified by the Trustees wanted to use the free publicity in basketball to amplify Detroit Mercy for the capital campaign. They wanted to use that name in order to attract more Mercy donors to the campaign. They ended up angering and driving away a significant percentage of U of D alums and non-aligned fans who supported and donated to Athletics - specifically men's BB.
IMO, Garibaldi mistakenly applied the Gannon-Villa Maria template to our university. By seeking to mollify the smaller base of potential donors for his capital campaign, he ended up alienating such a large percentage of the larger donor base that Athletics suffered. This alienation was amplified by the current AD who is not a dynamic speaker or rainmaker and who made a series of failed coaching hires at and shortly after the branding change was implemented. This alienation also exposed long standing problems in Athletics administration that go back decades. The failures to build long-term loyal relationships with donors and fans allowed a large percentage of them to perceive that the combination of the branding change coupled with the management style and coaching decisions of the current AD meant that the university had no commitment to making D1 athletics work here.
Athletics was one of the last refuges in the university for a lot of U of D alums - here they could still feel their pride and their tradition. To them their history and experiences now appeared subsumed in the short-term thinking behind the 2016 branding change. Instead, we are now left with an identity that requires an unnecessary elevator pitch to explain that the word "Detroit" in "Detroit Mercy" means the University of Detroit and not the City of Detroit. And we are left with this amorphous pablum about the Jesuit tradition and the Mercy tradition being so important to the school. Well, one main aspect of the Jesuit tradition beyond AMDG was that their American universities fielded high quality sports teams and competed hard to win their sporting contests because out of the crucible of that competition came a better person and school unity. The current branding does not communicate the 145 year old Jesuit tradition at this university. So, it should be no surprise that average game attendance dropped 30% from before the new branding to after it - even when you exclude the two Covid years from it. 99% of the fans came from the Jesuit tradition.
Our new president appears to understand the role played by good athletics teams in a successful university. After the above three paragraphs, I can say finally that we have hope that some sense of balance can be restored to Athletics. The immediate solution for those of us who still want excellence in Calihan Hall is to support our teams and try to will them to a few more wins in this season. Put Detroit back in Calihan Hall.
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Post by motorcitysam on Oct 28, 2022 5:38:50 GMT -5
IMO, Garibaldi mistakenly applied the Gannon-Villa Maria template to our university. By seeking to mollify the smaller base of potential donors for his capital campaign, he ended up alienating such a large percentage of the larger donor base that Athletics suffered. This alienation was amplified by the current AD who is not a dynamic speaker or rainmaker and who made a series of failed coaching hires at and shortly after the branding change was implemented. This alienation also exposed long standing problems in Athletics administration that go back decades. The failures to build long-term loyal relationships with donors and fans allowed a large percentage of them to perceive that the combination of the branding change coupled with the management style and coaching decisions of the current AD meant that the university had no commitment to making D1 athletics work here. I generally think that President Garibaldi did a good job for the University, but if he opted to appease the smaller, less influential alumni base of Mercy College at the cost of alienating University of Detroit fans and alumi, that would appear to be a huge mistake. I am surprised to hear he pushed that. I also think branding the sports teams as Detroit Titans was a half measure that also failed. It was better than being called Mercy, but still caused confusion. Of course the rebranding a few years ago just made it worse. |
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Post by rbj on Nov 17, 2022 1:12:36 GMT -5
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