Another Example of Marquette's Incompetent Branding and Marketing

[MulliganMusings]

As those who know me know I have long railed against the complete incompetence of my beloved alma mater's marketing efforts. Marquette does an absolutely terrible job when it comes to offering high quality merchandise that is branded, with the MU logo and the problem is further exacerbated by a very weak distribution channel. It would seem the only outlets, in which one can visit and buy Marquette merchandise, are housed within the greater MSA of Milwaukee. Now don't get me wrong, I don't expect to see the type of broad access that schools such as Notre Dame, Ohio State, Alabama & USC enjoy but I do expect, at the very least, to be able to order Marquette items from highly reputable vendors who offer branded merchandise from literally hundreds of colleges and universities.

The latest example of this occurred this morning when I was given a "Skinit" gift certificate. Skinit https://www.skinit.com/pages/college_skin for those of you who are unfamiliar produces cases for cel phones. How cool, I thought, I'll get a MU case for my Iphone. Upon visiting the site I noticed that among the hundreds of colleges and universities listing including such behemoths as UW-Whitewater, UW-Point and UWM not to mention Northern Kentucky, Slippery Rock and the Coast Guard Academy there was no Marquette. I wish I could say I was shocked but, unfortunately, this experience is par for the course.

Months earlier I had ordered some clothing from the MU Spirit Shop or at least I thought it was the Spirit Shop. Little did I know that MU outsources its order fulfillment to a third party vendor by the name of Fanatics. The quality of the clothing I received could be most charitably described as cheap in quality. Adding insult to injury the polo I ordered, despite coming in a plastic bag with a small label affixed with the word "Marquette", was actually adorned with the logo of the University of Maryland. Now I'll give them some grace since the logo did incorporate the letter "M" but it was in red and it also featured the Terrapin proudly carrying the state flag.

I'm sorry, but I fail to understand why Marquette cannot (unlike Xavier for example) offer a wide selection of high quality items which while not necessarily accessible in my part of the country (I live outside of Atlanta where interestingly enough I can buy Seton Hall and Georgetown items at local sports memorabilia stores) could be ordered over the internet.

Thank you for indulging my rant.

[mutpm]

It appears you can get a Marquette case on that site, but not a Marquette skin. I tapped on 3 different cases at the top and Marquette was an available selection. I'm not sure why it's not listed on the skins. My kids ordered MU skins for their iPod touch a couple of years ago through skinkt.

[Westcoastwarrior]

I too live out of state (west coast) and recently visited the spirit shop to get new MU gear for myself and the family (had the same problem buying on-line). What I found strange at the spirit shop was all of the Under Armour apparel. I thought we were a Nike elite program? The official Nike apparel had a very small selection compared to Under Armour. I thought maybe they were recently bought out by Nike...but I friend in the apparel business confirmed that was not the case and Under Armour is trying really hard to be the next Nike.

[GOMU1104]

The apparel that the teams wear and the apparel sold in the Spirit Shop are two separate deals.

[The Reptile]

Marquette changed marketing firms. I don't know if the change was for the better. At least my niece thinks it was for the worse since she worked for the former marketing outfit.