Big East adds Tom Jernstedt as advisor

[GGGG]

First of all, I'm not exactly sure what major "launch" you were expecting and how she failed to deliver.  Fox seems to be promoting the heck out of the product, including putting together a pre-season show that focused entirely on men's basketball.  

Second, I lay the entirety of the web-site's problems on the member schools.  That should have been outsourced immediately and completed by July 1.

Look, I have no idea if she is going to be good or not.  I think she walked into a situation that was very bare bones.  But I am struggling to see something that she has done wrong.  I agree with warriorchick that you have to give her a year to see what the results are.  (And the parallels to Yahoo are laughable.  The situations are nowhere near the same.)

[Dr. Blackheart]

First of all, I'm not exactly sure what major "launch" you were expecting and how she failed to deliver.  Fox seems to be promoting the heck out of the product, including putting together a pre-season show that focused entirely on men's basketball.  

Second, I lay the entirety of the web-site's problems on the member schools.  That should have been outsourced immediately and completed by July 1.

Look, I have no idea if she is going to be good or not.  I think she walked into a situation that was very bare bones.  But I am struggling to see something that she has done wrong.  I agree with warriorchick that you have to give her a year to see what the results are.  (And the parallels to Yahoo are laughable.  The situations are nowhere near the same.)

Major launch would be its main product:  basketball.  I don't see what so hard to figure out.  The conference's future relies on this launch...in ten days.  The only mention on the website, in the press, in any of the conference's marketing assets is from BE Media Day announcing MU was the preseason choice.  Yes, FS1 is promoting it...but is it coordinated or integrated with the Big East's assets like the B1G does so well? No...you would barely know the Big East has basketball.

As to what she has done wrong...that is not the question here...it is what she hasn't done...which no one yet has been able to point out one thing.  Cut her some slack?  She got the job because of her start up and marketing experience...I will cut her the slack on the administrative side but not the marketing.  So far, so FAIL.

[Archies Bat]

...it is what she hasn't done...which no one yet has been able to point out one thing. 

Exactly

[GGGG]

Major launch would be its main product:  basketball.  I don't see what so hard to figure out.  The conference's future relies on this launch...in ten days.  The only mention on the website, in the press, in any of the conference's marketing assets is from BE Media Day announcing MU was the preseason choice.  Yes, FS1 is promoting it...but is it coordinated or integrated with the Big East's assets like the B1G does so well? No...you would barely know the Big East has basketball.

As to what she has done wrong...that is not the question here...it is what she hasn't done...which no one yet has been able to point out one thing.  Cut her some slack?  She got the job because of her start up and marketing experience...I will cut her the slack on the administrative side but not the marketing.  So far, so FAIL.

I understand where you are coming from, but again I am not exactly sure what you think she should have done that she isn't.

But I will also add that the BIG has had years to perfect this and has a deep bench of experienced people who have been working for them.  I am not sure what the Big East has personnel wise, etc. because the whole damn thing started too late.  That is why I am willing to cut her some slack - I have no idea what assets she even has right now.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I'll agree with your 100 day rule, but remember this isn't a takeover, it is establishing something new from scratch.  That is where the difference lies.  When starting something from the ground up on a forced short-time scale things are bound to have a few snags.  No major issues yet so I will give her the benefit of the doubt.

Exactly....totally different.  For all practical purposes, this is a totally new entity and any comparison to Yahoo or anything else is apples to oranges.  The old administration walked out with the formation of the AAC conference.  The Big East, with a few exceptions, started from scratch. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

Major launch would be its main product:  basketball.  I don't see what so hard to figure out.  The conference's future relies on this launch...in ten days.  The only mention on the website, in the press, in any of the conference's marketing assets is from BE Media Day announcing MU was the preseason choice.  Yes, FS1 is promoting it...but is it coordinated or integrated with the Big East's assets like the B1G does so well? No...you would barely know the Big East has basketball.

As to what she has done wrong...that is not the question here...it is what she hasn't done...which no one yet has been able to point out one thing.  Cut her some slack?  She got the job because of her start up and marketing experience...I will cut her the slack on the administrative side but not the marketing.  So far, so FAIL.

Did you really just compare the Big Ten with the Big East?  Really?

[ChicosBailBonds]

Chico

Compare Ackerman's first 4 months with Mayer's. Only one belongs on the Ted Mack Amateur Hour...

Keefe, that is a crazy bad comparison....just crazy bad.

[Brewtown Andy]

I've barely noticed the Big East launch, maybe that's not a fair bar but shouldn't someone as ingrained into college basketball as I am at least notice the launch?  If I'm not really seeing it, how is Joe Schmoe going to see it?

By watching the World Series and the NFL.

http://www.providencejournal.com/sports/college/content/20131028-big-east-benefiting-from-world-series-ratings.ece

Their webpage consists of a home page that pulls AP stories, a facebook and twitter feed(which they seem to update only every couple of days) and that's it.  They have a schedule page and an entire page about Val Ackerman....pretty utilitarian.

The stories about the weekly awards on BigEast.com are press releases generated by the conference.

This technology stuff is not that big a deal, you can do some pretty cool stuff pretty easily.

If you have employees to do it and keep it maintained.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Did you really just compare the Big Ten with the Big East?  Really?

Overstate much...I compared what I mean by gold standard integrated marketing...on a scale from 1 to 10, I would have thought a 5 would be outstanding...she is at a 0 right now.  Again, going back to your statement of support...what has she done?

As to this myth of a start up from scratch...stop it.  The MSG Tournament deal was in place, the TV deal was in place, the server assets were in place with CBS, the AD's took on the scheduling, the C7 bought all the assets including records, the schools were in place and settled....what wasn't was an office and a staff on the admin side....but on the marketing side you have agencies who can do your marketing, advertising, merchandising, sponsorship.  This was why she was hired...yet nary a mention of basketball on their website?  It doesn't get any weaker than that.

The fact you give her a pass is even more puzzling...

[ChicosBailBonds]

Dr.....it seems to all go back to a website for you.   


I can't believe you are really comparing the Big Ten, 100+ year old conference with a conference that is less than 6 months old.  And I'm not defending her, I'm pointing out the factual evidence that exists.  No staff, hell do we even know if her budget was even established at the time? 

Priorities, of which no one here knows what they are.  I can guarantee you a podcast or where to get baseball tickets is low on the priority list compared to what she stepped into. 

You keep pointing to the Big Ten site....why is it when I go to the Pac 12 site I can only get standings for 4 sports?  I can only get ticket information for half the conference?  The horror.

Let's just talk numbers for a second.  The Big ten has about 55 people in their administration.  The old Big East had 30....of those 30, how many went to the AAC?  From what I understand, 25 of them did.

The new Big East....skeleton crew. She has to launch a conference, build a team, etc, etc all at the same time.  Any comparison to other conferences is laughable.  These are just the facts.  I have no idea if she is doing well or not, but these comparisons to Yahoo and the Big Ten, et al, are wild.

[Dr. Blackheart]

I gave you many more things besides the website...but the website is so blatantly off that it is any easy target.  Please read my comments on the B1G for once...would have been very happy with a 50% integration level, was expecting a 25%...there is nothing.

As to a staff, etc...she had Fox and CBS on dial and on contract...she could have purchased all the agency help she needed for a launch and if she wasn't getting a budget she should have yelled bloody murder.  I am fine with FS1 efforts even if ratings are lagging or some of the execution has been weak...that will work itself out....but the conference's job is to integrate with that spending push.  Crickets.

You say she deserves a pass...no she doesn't, as this is why she was hired...and which is why they are now hiring some heavy experience around her.

[Archies Bat]

I don't see where Big East Basketball marketing is behind other conferences:
- I do not believe I've seen (or don't remember) any promotion for B1G Basketball on TV, or heard it on radio, or read it in national publications
- Same for ACC, AAC, PAC X and others
- I have seen multiple stories on Big East Basketball

While I am biased toward the Big East and their promotion likely made more of an impression, I cannot see where Big East Basketball is a 0 on a B1G scale of 10.

[GGGG]

Hold on...the experience that they hired wasn't marketing based.  It looks like he is specifically an operations guy.  Perhaps she has had to spend too much of her time working on something that wasn't in her specialty.

[mu03eng]

I understand where you are coming from, but again I am not exactly sure what you think she should have done that she isn't.

But I will also add that the BIG has had years to perfect this and has a deep bench of experienced people who have been working for them.  I am not sure what the Big East has personnel wise, etc. because the whole damn thing started too late.  That is why I am willing to cut her some slack - I have no idea what assets she even has right now.

At least from my perspective, this does get distorted a little in that this isn't all Ackerman's "fault", the member schools, ADs, and the BEast organization in general all get credit so in that regard she should get some slack.  Having said that, in general what has Ackerman or anyone at the BEast done in the last 4 months?  Yes there have been promotions through the WS and NFL(fair point Brewtown) however that is Fox's doing because Fox owns the rights, of course they are going to promote their content.  There is nothing that I've seen that the BEast is trying to do to build off of that awareness that Fox is generating.

[Abode4life]

I gave you many more things besides the website...but the website is so blatantly off that it is any easy target.  Please read my comments on the B1G for once...would have been very happy with a 50% integration level, was expecting a 25%...there is nothing.

As to a staff, etc...she had Fox and CBS on dial and on contract...she could have purchased all the agency help she needed for a launch and if she wasn't getting a budget she should have yelled bloody murder.  I am fine with FS1 efforts even if ratings are lagging or some of the execution has been weak...that will work itself out....but the conference's job is to integrate with that spending push.  Crickets.

You say she deserves a pass...no she doesn't, as this is why she was hired...and which is why they are now hiring some heavy experience around her.

Do you really think she is going to yell "bloody murder" about not getting enough resources after two months the job?  That would look really good for the conference.  And then, everyone on here would be complaining about how we made the wrong hire cause she thought it was going to be easy.

Also, you keep saying how she can just hire people or bring in contractors?  The American Athletic took everyone, including the old office space.  Have you ever been in a position of leadership?  You can NEVER do it on your own.  You are only as good as the people beneath you and she had....no one.  And if you just bring in "marketing" contractors, that's only going to cause problems once you get into the season and all those contractors go away.

[Abode4life]

At least from my perspective, this does get distorted a little in that this isn't all Ackerman's "fault", the member schools, ADs, and the BEast organization in general all get credit so in that regard she should get some slack.  Having said that, in general what has Ackerman or anyone at the BEast done in the last 4 months?  Yes there have been promotions through the WS and NFL(fair point Brewtown) however that is Fox's doing because Fox owns the rights, of course they are going to promote their content.  There is nothing that I've seen that the BEast is trying to do to build off of that awareness that Fox is generating.

Isn't that the point of selling your content to a big provider?  So they can do most of the marketing, at least nationally?  Someone brought up sponsorship of the soccer championships and what not.  That is a fair point to a degree, but really you aren't just going to get a high quality sponsor like that.  I would also say, at least for this year, thats probably more on whichever AD did the schedules for the respective sports.

[mu03eng]

By watching the World Series and the NFL.

http://www.providencejournal.com/sports/college/content/20131028-big-east-benefiting-from-world-series-ratings.ece

Right, Fox is driving the eyeballs, does the BEast have any place for them to land or make them sticky?  In Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point he talks about 3 core groups that help trends tip, Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen.  Fox is the connector, they are bringing the concept to the masses....the BEast should be the salesmen, why is the product good, why do I want to be a part of it, and part of their strategy should also be to integrate the Mavens the people with content that just want to get information(about the BEast) out there.

The stories about the weekly awards on BigEast.com are press releases generated by the conference.

I grant the point, but our crowning marketing achievement is press releases generated by the conference about weekly awards?

If you have employees to do it and keep it maintained.

Completely agreed, and this is where I have the biggest issue....there is not an organization in place to accomplish a lot in the first 4 months.  Is that all Ackerman's fault, absolutely not because the schools dragged their feet(which I complained about at the time and everyone told me they had plenty of time) and now Ackerman had 4 months to get everything spun up.  However, she still has a lot of responsibility in getting it to this point because its not like no one knew this.  I was talking about this stuff 6 months ago and I'm a dork sitting anonymously behind a keyboard with no connection to the inner workings of the conference.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Hold on...the experience that they hired wasn't marketing based.  It looks like he is specifically an operations guy.  Perhaps she has had to spend too much of her time working on something that wasn't in her specialty.

Where did I say he was hired for marketing?  This is exactly the point...she isn't getting it done for what she was hired for...the marketing launch...this is just a sign of that that she is drowning.  One last thing as we have exhausted this and we will never agree although no one has shown me one thing from the conference that is integrated around the basketball start (not talking the Media Day for the MSM)...but here is the definition of integrated marketing so we are level set at least:

"True IMC is the development of marketing strategies and creative campaigns that weave together multiple marketing disciplines (paid advertising, public relations, promotion, owned assets, and social media) that are selected and then executed to suit the particular goals of the brand."[4] Instead of simply using various media to help tell a brand's overall story, with IMC the marketing leverages each communication channel's intrinsic strengths to achieve a greater impact together than each channel could achieve individually. It requires the marketer to understand each medium's limitation, including the audience's ability/willingness to absorb messaging from that medium. This understanding is integrated into a campaign's strategic plan from the very beginning of planning - so that the brand no longer simply speaks with consistency, but speaks with planned efficacy.[5] This concept inherently provides added benefits that include: a singular/synchronized brand voice and experience, cost efficiencies generated through creativity and production, and opportunities for added value and bonus.

So, FS1 is driving all this advertising, and the Big East has nothing integrated...no content on the website, no e-commerce, merchandising, sponsorships, media blasts of their own, no events.  Just fallow.  Why no Red Bull Big East Women's Soccer Bowl sponsorship?  Any apps?  Why not leverage a merchandising deal, e-commerce?  Advertising on the conference assets?  Turning on bloggers, using the network of school's assets, driving local media with a roadshow?  What are they doing to enhance the live experience?  The BE has this great MSG deal...how are they leveraging that?  It is on a calendar.  Um Ok.

As to the other conferences...first, their main brand is football...second, they are integrated all over the place on basketball.  The B1G is the gold standard...but apparently Chicos is a big fan of the PAC efforts.  

[brewcity77]

This whole thing is playing out like the office scene from Anchorman...

Dr. Blackheart: I mean, come on, Chicos, it's bullcrap! Don't get me wrong, I love the ladies, they rev my engine, but Val Ackerman doesn't belong in the Big East Commish chair!

mu03eng: It is a website, not rocket science, and that is a scientific fact!

archies bat: I don't know what we're yelling about!

Dr. Blackheart: Go with us, keefe, what do you think?

keefe:

archies bat: LOUD NOISES!!!

Chicos: Everyone relax, she's not going to get it all done in one day.

archies bat: I think this marketing is just like the Big Ten and the Badgers. The Badgers can smell the marketing!

Dr. Blackheart: Well that's just great. Did ya hear that, Cheeks? Badgers. Now you're putting the whole league in jeopardy.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Do you really think she is going to yell "bloody murder" about not getting enough resources after two months the job?  That would look really good for the conference.  And then, everyone on here would be complaining about how we made the wrong hire cause she thought it was going to be easy.

Also, you keep saying how she can just hire people or bring in contractors?  The American Athletic took everyone, including the old office space.  Have you ever been in a position of leadership?  You can NEVER do it on your own.  You are only as good as the people beneath you and she had....no one.  And if you just bring in "marketing" contractors, that's only going to cause problems once you get into the season and all those contractors go away.

As a leader, if she isn't getting the resources to do the job she was hired for, you need to make your business case known...not sit back.  Who says she has to yell "bloody murder" in public? 

You do know it is standard to hire agencies in just about all schools and conferences?  That the conference staff is lean and they set the strategy, budgets and direction in conjunction with their partners?  Marquette uses Nelligan Sports...and I have to say MU has done a very good job integrating their efforts as of late.

[Archies Bat]

This whole thing is playing out like the office scene from Anchorman...

Dr. Blackheart: I mean, come on, Chicos, it's bullcrap! Don't get me wrong, I love the ladies, they rev my engine, but Val Ackerman doesn't belong in the Big East Commish chair!

mu03eng: It is a website, not rocket science, and that is a scientific fact!

archies bat: I don't know what we're yelling about!

Dr. Blackheart: Go with us, keefe, what do you think?

keefe:

archies bat: LOUD NOISES!!!

Chicos: Everyone relax, she's not going to get it all done in one day.

archies bat: I think this marketing is just like the Big Ten and the Badgers. The Badgers can smell the marketing!

Dr. Blackheart: Well that's just great. Did ya hear that, Cheeks? Badgers. Now you're putting the whole league in jeopardy.

Spot on, but I don't use all caps.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Overstate much...I compared what I mean by gold standard integrated marketing...on a scale from 1 to 10, I would have thought a 5 would be outstanding...she is at a 0 right now.  Again, going back to your statement of support...what has she done?

As to this myth of a start up from scratch...stop it.  The MSG Tournament deal was in place, the TV deal was in place, the server assets were in place with CBS, the AD's took on the scheduling, the C7 bought all the assets including records, the schools were in place and settled....what wasn't was an office and a staff on the admin side....but on the marketing side you have agencies who can do your marketing, advertising, merchandising, sponsorship.  This was why she was hired...yet nary a mention of basketball on their website?  It doesn't get any weaker than that.

The fact you give her a pass is even more puzzling...

The fact that you ignore this was a conference from scratch, almost no employees, etc....is even more puzzling.   What's her budget?  What did the fine (cheap) Catholic schools give her as an operating budget?  If its like it was when I was in MU athletics, it would make you blush in terms of marketing dollars.  Not enough money to run 2 ads in the MJS back in the day...I am not joking.  I get your frustration over certain things, but I truly think you have no idea how bare bones this operation was at the start.

This is an all sports conference, not just men's basketball.  The league is getting a lot of exposure from Fox right now, as they should have them do the heavy lifting for them.  It keeps coming back to a website for you.  How do you know what sponsorships, marketing, etc have been done or not done?  Because they don't have a sponsorship link on the website that means nothing has been done?  Please.  You really don't know, so you shoot at a website as if the website is the definition of conference success.  They have many more issues to prioritize before that.  Scheduling, championships, venues, staffing, etc.   

Just like FS1 has got off to a very rocky start despite millions of dollars and enormous expertise, they will come around.  I think the Big East conference with a fraction of the money and staffing deserves the same outlook.  That is not giving someone a free pass, that is acknowledging the reality of what this fledgling new conference is.  This isn't the Big Ten, it's not even the AAC in terms of staffing.  This isn't Yahoo.  This is a brand new conference with an old name.

[Pakuni]

Why don't you list what she has done?  That is right...time to call in the grown ups to get the job done now.

So ... um... hmmm. The evidence to support your assertion that "they have stumbled out of the blocks, some say miserably" is that I haven't listed Val Ackerman's accomplishments?
Is that seriously your best response?

Conan?  Thanks for making my point...seven months on the big stage and canned. 

That obviously flew over your head. Because Conan's short-lived stint with "The Tonight Show" totally was his first impression.

And heaven forbid those who consume media would want access to that Internet thingy.  Streaming, merchandising, standings, content, sponsorships, buzz, tickets...yeah that is only for few of us nerds only.  A very poor launch by any standard...except you two, which is scary as you both are in media.

Well, for starters all that stuff -  streaming, merchandising, standings, content, sponsorships, buzz, tickets - was/is out there for public consumption without an official conference site.
Want to see Xavier's women's volleyball schedule?  http://www.goxavier.com/sports/w-volley/
Want DePaul women's basketball tickets? http://www.depaulbluedemons.com/tickets/depa-w-baskbl-tickets.html
Want the latest news on Butler soccer? http://www.butlersports.com/sports/m-soccer/index
In fact, I think most people who are interested in these things would go directly to the school's site for them, not a conference site.

Very few people go to conference websites. Big10.org ranks about 34,000th for most-visited sites in the U.S. (a number currently inflated because we're in the middle of football season). In comparison, mgoblue.com (Michigan athletics site) ranks 11,735. Huskers.com ranks 14,568.  Gopusports.com ranks 15,899.

Look, all that stuff you mention - streaming, standings, content, tickets, whatever - would be nice to have on a conference website, and I'm sure will get there eventually. But compared with all that other stuff that needed to be accomplished (hiring staff, establishing policies, setting schedules, setting up conference tournaments, hiring officials, etc.) it's small potatoes and far from a priority.

And yeah, comparing the infrastructure of the new Big East - a venture that's not even four months old - to the 117-year-old Big 10 is completely reasonable.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

As a leader, if she isn't getting the resources to do the job she was hired for, you need to make your business case known...not sit back.  

Might have to tone down the rage until we know that she is just sitting around.

For all we know, she's working 80 hours per week trying to put the infrastructure/people in place, and is finally getting some help.

OR

Maybe she's totally incompetent.

EDIT: spelling. ugh.

[GGGG]

Might have to tone done the rage until we know that she is just sitting around.

For all we know, she's working 80 hours per week trying to put the infrastructure/people in place, and is finally getting some help.

OR

Maybe she's totally incompetent.

Exactly.  We have no idea what her bosses have asked her to do and what resources they have provided for her.