Recruiting and Branding

Fascinating article about recruiting and branding.

http://picksixpreviews.com/how_to_win_in_recruiting.html

It makes perfect sense. Unless a school is a blue-blood, they need to brand themselves as unique in some way (unfortunately for Utah, “family” is not unique anymore–the article even says as much). Some schools have established a brand that can persist despite poor results on the field.

If I were to pick a brand for Utah, it would be talent development, i.e., preparation for NFL. Utah has proven results to support such a brand, and I think it would resonate with a good segment of recruits. If I were Utah’s marketing department, this is what I would push like crazy, so that every recruit knows that if you play for Utah, you will be prepared for the NFL. Utah will likely never be the glitzy/sexy choice, but it could make a push to own the hard-nosed, prepare-you-for-the-NFL choice. Naturally, other schools can make that claim, too. But my goal would be to ensure that when a recruit thinks of the best place to sign to prepare for the pros, Utah is one of the top names that pops up in the conversation.

Any other ideas for a brand that could make Utah football unique and attractive to recruits?