tennessee is doing so many things they will regret at the end of the season ...
They will be the laughing stock of the SEC ...
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [gatornews] Today's Gatornews from Miami Herald and Palm Beach
Post
From: "JunoGator" <broadreach...@earthlink.net>
Date: Fri, July 31, 2009 8:46 am
To: gatorn...@googlegroups.com
Sign of the apocalypse?
Tennessee's Lane Kiffin will take his recruiting message to South Florida with an I-95 billboard
Coming soon to a highway near you: Lane Kiffin. Tennessee has purchased billboard space in South Florida and will put up an ad next week.
GAINESVILLE — Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin has a message that you'll see when you drive down Interstate-95 to Fort Lauderdale: It's Time.Those two words are not just the catchphrase of John Ward, the former longtime Tennessee broadcaster."It's Time" is the new marketing slogan for Tennessee football as the Volunteers transition from former coach Phil Fulmer to Kiffin. And even though Knoxville is more than 800 miles away, Tennessee has bought space at I-95 and Oakland Park Boulevard for a billboard that will go up early next week and remain through Labor Day weekend."We wanted to make an effort to extend our brand beyond the Tennessee geography," said Chris Fuller, associate athletic director for sales and marketing. "We obviously recognize the value of Florida as it relates to growing and building our program. We just wanted to let people know we're here."One of the goals of the 14- by 48-foot billboard - which includes photos of Kiffin and defensive back Eric Berry - will be to aid UT recruiting. Kiffin has made recruiting South Florida a priority since taking over the program in December, and was able to steal Pahokee's Nu'Keese Richardson away from the Florida Gators on national signing day."In Tennessee, as much as we love our state, we do not have a lot of great high school players there. Those are the facts," Kiffin said. "We have to create national attention immediately."With that in mind, Tennessee is undergoing an aggressive marketing campaign to help reverse the team's image after last year's 5-7 record, though the marketing budget has remained constant at about $1 million, Fuller said. In addition to the billboards, the Vols are producing their own videos for a soon-to-be-released Tennessee football page on YouTube."It's really exciting. It gives us a chance to market Tennessee in a different way," spokeswoman Tiffany Carpenter said. "We have gotten a lot of support from coach Kiffin to ramp it up even more than what we had planned on."That means expanding the marketing base outside of the traditional markets such as Nashville and Chattanooga. The Vols also have bought "It's Time" billboards in Atlanta and Memphis.Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, who has Miami roots, also has recognized the importance of recruiting in South Florida and bought billboard space on area highways a few years ago.The Volunteers spent $25,000 on their billboard campaign, which also includes billboards in Tennessee promoting Berry for the Heisman Trophy. Fuller said the Florida board cost approximately one third of the total bill.The Vols have 246 season-ticket holders from Florida and a healthy alumni base in South Florida, mostly retirees."I know that coach Kiffin isn't going to win any popularity contests in Florida," Fuller said. "But we've got a good presence of people coming up from Florida seven or eight times a year for games."Of course, there's a good chance that a Kiffin billboard will invite graffiti-tagging from Florida and Miami fans."That would not surprise me in the least," Fuller said with a laugh.
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions
2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions
2008 National Football Champions |
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996),
Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
