Thursday, October 14, 2010

Nearly $200,000...for what???

Really? Really?

There are some good marketing people out there- those who can strike a chord with a consumer or potential consumer...the sharpest of the sharp will make you feel emotionally-involved with a simple word and the images that correspond with that word.

Purdue didn't hire those people when it decided to re-brand the university...But the really bad news is they paid a pretty good amount of money for a really brad tagline and re-built image.

See here for yourself, if you'd like...but we'll tell you all you need to know:

"We are Purdue. Makers all."

Holy-stinkin' Moly!! That is awful. Remember, they also promised us the colors would change and there would be corresponding icons- can't wait to see what this braintrust came up with.

I'll say this- if the people responsible for this junk are alums, they should be ashamed. Plain and simple. If they're not, we should check if they're not IU or UND alums...because this sounds like sabotage, to me.

I generally don't like marketing people, because I feel most are simply talking out of their arses...this doesn't help.

I presume Ms. Thompson was involved back in the early 90s when MC Hammer changed his name to just "Hammer" right before his music career came to a halt. Or perhaps she was a part of the team that dropped "Just do it." and the swoosh from Nike's branding...before adding it back a year later. Regardless of her past, her present project is a failure.

Boooo, Terry Lucie Thompson, and co. You've been stealing money and wasting our time.

30 comments:

Unknown said...

Sounds like a recommendation for the brand of bourbon to use in the boilermakers we drink.

Anonymous said...

the quote from J&C pretty well summed it up "It's not very catchy, but it works," he said. "(Makers, all) is nothing you will ever here a bunch of people yell at a football game or have on a T-shirt ..."

yeah, not much of a slogan then is it... if the Gap recalled it's new logo, then perhaps there's hope to ditch this too.

Haji said...

"We are Purdue. Makers Y'all." has more of a hoosier ring to it. I did a complete spit take with my coffee this morning.

Erin said...

It doesn't even make sense. sigh.

Unknown said...

I think Hope and the boys will take down Goldy by 2 touchdowns this weekend.

Makers All!

Purdue Matt said...

A great example of IU stupidity/arrogance that deserves to be picked apart:

http://kentsterling.com/2010/10/12/purdue-basketball-giving-ground-to-iu-this-weekend/

Disagree with the premise that Midnight Madness is integral to successful recruiting. And he says that Purdue fans don't know that their team can win it all (huh?) while in the same article mentioning that ticket sales are at an all-time high.

The Brilliant Moron said...

I can see what they are trying to do, but it just doesn't work. "Makers, All?????" It just sounds awful. I'm sure it will fade away into obscurity and 5 years from now we won't even remember it.

Purdue Matt said...

Ms. Thompson also probably presided over the New Coke disaster.

This is awful.

Purdue Matt said...

These people should work for the federal government.

zlionsfan said...

So, with any luck, this will only be seen during the school-specific commercials they run during a Purdue game on BTN, ESPN, etc. (The article mentioned BTN specifically, but I've seen similar slogans for other Big Ten schools during games before.)

good.

You know, I would have sat on my ass for two months for, say, $100K. We would have saved the university money, and we wouldn't have ended up with a slogan that only marketing people will ever use.

dozer8589 said...

I've been involved in the ad/branding game since graduating from Purdue in '87 – professionally I have to say I just threw up in my mouth a little.

Interbrand, you should be ashamed of yourselves.

Anonymous said...

This is truly atrocious! President Cordova would finally earn my respect if she quashed this.

Bloomington.Boiler said...

I can't wait until I'm bellied up at a local pub watching a basketball game with one of my buddies...

"Did you see that monster JJ dunk?!"

"Yeeeeaaaaaaah, man! WE ARE PURDUE. MAKERS, ALL!"

Sweet.

boilerdowd said...

Dozer- is Interbrand well-respected?

dozer8589 said...

b-dowd -

I had to look 'em up online, and the only "Interbrand" I could find is an uber-huge "international branding consultancy" with international clients. If these are the guys, I'm worried that we didn't get the "A team." I doubt Purdue's branding budget can compete with AT&T or Xerox.

Purdue Matt said...

Seeing the pictures of Ms. Thompson and her staff makes me angry. No doubt collecting handsome salaries to produce this kind of crap. Self-important boobs all. 'Makers all!

What was their focus group? Purdue faculty over the age of 60?

T-Mill said...

Why not just Purdue: BTFU! or, what neil should have said when he landed on the Moon: "Suck it, you Commie Bastards!"

boilerdowd said...

They said they had a focus group of 5000+...that's odd because I haven't read ONE positive comment about this in any of the comments on the articles out there or any of the boards.

I'll call BS...and not the good type on this site.

Unknown said...

I've been in advertising for 35 years. A line like this is supposed to leap off the page, or in your ears, or your eyes, and IMMEDIATELY make sense.

This makes NO sense. Except to the people who hoodwinked Purdue.

Truly terrible.

Joe said...

Facebook page against it:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_103439279722724

H. Jones said...

So I'm still hating the "Makers ALL" slogan... but at least the actual website shows the grit and history of a true boilermaker http://makersall.com/.


Also found this youtube clip done by the Purdue Alumni Association... and I LOVED IT! So there can ACTUALLY be a good promotion scheme run at Purdue after all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8o3G29b_mg

Anonymous said...

From what I read a month ago or so the colors will not be changing, but I can't remember where I saw that. As far as this new brand I remembered seeing this article in the Exponent over the summer. http://purdueexponent.org/?module=article&story_id=17263. Also, when did Interbrand come into this because all I've seen refers to SimpsonScarborough. Got this off of their site: http://simpsonscarborough.com/wp-content/uploads/SS_Purdue-article.pdf

IceT said...

WTF! Please tell me this won't make it into any commercials. 200K for this shit?! That's criminal

Daniel Kirkdorffer said...

Sounds like these people must have been Frank Herbert and Dune fans. "Maker" was another term for the sandworms that produced the precious melange, or spice, on Arrakis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandworm_%28Dune%29).

Those would be pretty fearsome mascots were they to be adopted!

Purdue Matt said...

Handel probably works for Ms. Thompson.

Unknown said...

Nice Dune reference. I am actually reading it again right now.

*Clap-Clap*
Makers All!
*Clap-Clap**
Makers All!

That sucks worse than Baron Harkonnen.

H. Jones said...

Actually no, I don't work for her Purdue Matt but thanks for playing the guessing game. Like I said earlier I hate the "makers all" slogan. The website was ok in my opinion. Do I think it was worth $200K? No. I'm not gonna lie I thought that the alumni commercial was funny due to the whole fountain run and breakfast club scene. But hey, I must be a Thomson drone since Purdue Matt thinks I am... lol.

H. Jones

Kyle said...

Doesn't this explain it all?

According to Ms. Thomspon's LinkedIn page, she is a graduate of Michigan. Sigh. Sabotage indeed.

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/teri-lucie-thompson/5/339/805

Scruffy_P said...

It's 2:27pm on Friday. I'm sitting in a basement iTap lab waiting for a program to load so I can complete my hw due in my 3:30 class. There is no predicto. I am very saddened.

zlionsfan said...

And this week, it can be optimistic. We'll be facing Dead Coach Walking for the first time this year. (Fired, but whatever. Sadly, Purdue misses Penn State, where it might be more accurate than we would wish; it's possible Rodriguez could be in a similar position when that game comes up, but unlikely given that they do play Penn State.)