Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcon Fans Encouraged to
August 21, 2008 | Softball
Aug. 21, 2008
On a daily basis, fans and alumni of universities and their athletic teams come in contact with one another, and for a lot of them, a simple tradition-based greeting will be the only words exchanged in passing. For Michigan fans and alumni, it’s likely “Hail to the Victors!” For Ohio State fans and alumni, it’s probably “OH…IO!” But what about Bowling Green Falcon fans and alumni? That’s what Brian Delehoy, BGSU’s Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing, wondered as he made his way through one of the terminals at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport in April.
“I was traveling back to Bowling Green from a trip out west, and was walking toward the gate for my connecting flight,” said Delehoy. “A pilot headed to who knows where spotted my orange Bowling Green sweatshirt from across the terminal and yelled out, ‘Alright…go Falcons all the way!’ Startled a bit, I think I responded something to the effect of ‘Yeah…go BG!’”
The chance encounter only fueled Delehoy’s already-existing thoughts of incorporating a new tagline into the 2008-09 BGSU Athletics marketing campaign that was being finalized at the time. Not just some catchy phrase that would fade away in a few years, but something that Falcon fans and alumni could identify with, and if all went well, something they would eventually embrace as their own tradition-based greeting for one another.
Fast forward five months, and BGSU Athletics is rolling out a new tagline as part of its marketing efforts for the upcoming 2008-09 seasons. As initially planned, Falcon fans and alumni are being encouraged to join in the campaign in a variety of ways. Inspired by lyrics taken directly from “Ay Ziggy Zoomba,” BGSU’s official spirit song, “ROLL ALONG!” is being incorporated into all marketing collateral for the athletic department.
“It’s a new call to action for our fans and alumni, and more importantly, a way to unify Falcons of all ages everywhere,” added Delehoy.
To say that “ROLL ALONG!” has become ubiquitous in the school’s athletic marketing efforts is probably an understatement. In addition to “ROLL ALONG!” being featured on all printed collateral consisting of schedule posters, schedule cards, and season ticket materials, fans will see and hear the phrase in print, radio and television ads. The tagline has also been integrated into the daily operation of the BGSU Athletic Department, as all staff members have added it to their email signatures, and office and cell phone voicemails.
Not surprisingly, BGSU athletic events in 2008-09 will also play a large role in the branding of the phrase. “ROLL ALONG!” will be incorporated into the game experience in a variety of ways, culminating as fans exit an event, at which point they’ll receive a Tootsie Roll and the greeting “ROLL ALONG!” from an event staff member as a gesture of thanks and appreciation for their attendance and continued support of BGSU Athletics.
“The initial response on- and off-campus has been overwhelmingly positive, and given that ‘ROLL ALONG!’ is already part of such a strong and already-existing BGSU tradition in ‘Ay Ziggy Zoomba’, I believe that we’ll see rapid, widespread growth in buy-in and support from Falcon fans,” said Delehoy.
Looking to join ‘Operation “ROLL ALONG!,”’ as it has been internally tabbed by department staff? It’s as easy as 1-2-3…simply do any or all of the following: 1) Edit your email signature to include “ROLL ALONG!” in place of, for example, “Sincerely,” and do the same with your closing greetings in any messaging on social network websites such as Facebook or MySpace; 2) Edit your closing greeting on any home, cell or business phone voicemail messages as applicable; and 3) Incorporate “ROLL ALONG!” into your regular interactions with fellow Falcons, be it at home or road BGSU athletic events, or, say, in a chance encounter at an airport somewhere in the world.
