Jeremy Darlow - 2x Author & Brand Consultant

Straight from His Inbox: Five Questions with Jeremy Darlow

We're talking all things Attendance, Atmosphere & Brand with 2x Author & Brand Consultant, Jeremy Darlow. Check out his work at https://www.jeremydarlow.com/

His new book, The Darlow Rules: 75 Rules to Becoming an Elite Marketer, is available now

Rob: What has been the biggest change in sports communications/marketing that you've seen from your start in the industry until now?

Jeremy: The word “brand" is now in the sports industry's vernacular; that was step one. Step two is to teach players, coaches and athletic programs what that means and how to build one of their own. We’re not there yet, but we’re moving in the right direction.

Rob: In your eyes, what is the perfect gameday "driveway-to-driveway" experience for a sports fan?

Jeremy:

1) Pick up your favorite friends

2) Pick up your favorite foods

3) Pick up the remote and turn the game on from the comfort of your own home

I’m not the first to say it. The live experience is no longer the overwhelming favorite in a fight between the house and stadium. At best it’s a fair fight, at worst homes are winning in a landslide. High definition televisions and the ability to watch four (or more) games at a time has changed the way we (fans) engage with live sports. I see very little difference between a live sporting event today and a live sporting event in the 2003 (the year I graduated from college). That’s a problem. In a present day world driven by technology, comfort and personalization, live events feel like relics from a nearly unrecognizable past.

Rob: In today's world, what inspires someone to attend a sporting event?

Jeremy: The ability to say (and more importantly, post) that you were there when something extraordinary happened. The problem is, extraordinary doesn’t come around very often.

Rob: We love your work on personal branding for athletes. If you had 5 minutes with the top 15-year old football player in the country and his parents, what would you tell them about starting to build his personal brand?

Jeremy: First, thank you very much for the kind words.

Secondly, I would tell them that building a personal brand is not selfish, being told not to is. And then I would hand them stack of brand marketing books to read.

Rob: Player name, image & likeness has begun take center stage in college sports. If you were the Senior Associate AD of Brand Marketing for a Power 5 school, what steps would you be taking to prepare for that reality? How do you think progress on player name, image & likeness will impact the football & basketball recruiting worlds?

Jeremy: Educate, educate, educate. It’s not about giving student athletes more social media tools or content or Instagram fodder. Too many programs are tossing these kids keys to a digital Ferrari and sending them onto the highway without first teaching them how to drive. That may be an easy way to build awareness for the program, but it’s a dangerous game for the student and it in no way helps them benefit from their likeness post-college.

At the same time, it’s not about withholding those things either. Social media abstinence is not an option in 2020. If you’re not allowing your student athletes to use and subsequently learn the do’s and don’ts of social media, you are not properly preparing them for the world we live in. It’s our job as leaders and educators to teach these kids how to use and leverage the platforms that exist today in order to build a reputation that sets them up to succeed in life after sports.

If you want to help a kid benefit from his or her likeness:

DO: teach them what a brand is, how to build one and send them off with a plan for life after sports.

DON’T: forward them a folder filled with on-field photos to tweet.