At covok48's request...DMN: Not a Clue!

[MrMustang1965]

I also posted this in the Around the Hilltop forum. PF poster covok48 requested that I post it on the Football forum, too. At his request, here it is.

Lots of us have bashed the Dallas Morning News for its coverage (or lack of it) of the SMU Mustang athletic programs while still having its name plastered all over campus (scoreboards, programs, sponsorship of events, etc.). But today I got a call that pretty much says it all about the Dallas Morning News and its so-called 'relationship' with SMU.

Phone rings at my house.

Me: "Hello"

Caller: "Hello, my name is Tina and I'm calling on behalf of the Dallas Morning News to see if you'd like to re-subscribe...? We see in our records that you stopped receiving the paper several months ago."

Me: "Yeah, I did."

Caller: "May I ask the reason that you stopped subscribing? We'd like to have you back as a customer of the Dallas Morning News."

Me: "Well, I was very unhappy - in fact VERY unhappy - with your sports coverage of Southern Methodist University. You know, its football, basketball and other athletic programs."

Caller: "Oh, I'm sorry that we weren't covering that school the way you wanted."

Me: "Yeah, me, too..."

Caller: "Well...I could pass word along to the sports department to do a better job of covering that school for you, if you'd like."

Me: "Sure. That would be great."

Caller: "Where is Southern Methodist University?"

Me: *click*

[couch 'em]

Someone calling you to convince you to resubscribe is just some average (probably kid) person around Dallas. The fact that she doesn't know where SMU is indicates a big failure by SMU's marketing department. I grew up in Farmers Branch, and could have walked into Dallas from my house. I never saw ANYTHING relating SMU to Dallas. I only had a vague idea where SMU was until I went shopping for colleges. SMU could have been an hour away for all I knew.

[MrMustang1965]

Someone calling you to convince you to resubscribe is just some average (probably kid) person around Dallas. The fact that she doesn't know where SMU is indicates a big failure by SMU's marketing department. I grew up in Farmers Branch, and could have walked into Dallas from my house. I never saw ANYTHING relating SMU to Dallas. I only had a vague idea where SMU was until I went shopping for colleges. SMU could have been an hour away for all I knew.

couch 'em: no argument from me about the SMU mktg. dept. failure. I guess I'm 'lucky' that I grew up knowing what & where SMU is.

[lobster claw]

Someone calling you to convince you to resubscribe is just some average (probably kid) person around Dallas. The fact that she doesn't know where SMU is indicates a big failure by SMU's marketing department. I grew up in Farmers Branch, and could have walked into Dallas from my house. I never saw ANYTHING relating SMU to Dallas. I only had a vague idea where SMU was until I went shopping for colleges. SMU could have been an hour away for all I knew.

Oh, that marketing department! What will they screw up next? I can't believe they're not targeting people in Phoenix!

It's not some average person from Dallas. It's an average person in Phoenix. That's where the telemarketing company that the DMN hired is located. They tried to sell me a subscription at work last week. I didn't recognize the area code on my caller id. I asked the telemarketer where she was calling from and she said "Phoenix".

Before you're going to bash someone, try to use your head first. Shawn & his group do a great job, especially considering their limited budget. If you want to help, I suggest you join the Mustang Club. If you're already a member, up your donation and encourage others to join.

[mustangbill67]

I would not be surprised if she was calling from India or China.

[SMUPhil]

I think couch 'em is referring to SMU's marketing in general, not the athletic dept. Compared to the rest of the university, I'd say that athletics markets itself pretty well.

When I lived in Dallas, the only SMU marketing outreach I saw (besides athletics) was occasionally a billboard about something at the Meadows Museum.

[MrMustang1965]

The caller ID was a 214 area code number, folks.

And I upped mine & my wife's Mustang Club membership tonight at the Signing Day event at the Radisson Hotel.

[couch 'em]

Yes I was talking in general. Nobody born in the 80s or later knows anything about SMU unless they live in Highland Park. When I told people in high school I was going to SMU, unless they were also seniors looking for schools they responded "where is that?" That was in 2001. I don't think much has changed.

[Lamont_Cranston]

When I told people in high school I was going to SMU, unless they were also seniors looking for schools they responded "where is that?" That was in 2001. I don't think much has changed.

Where did you go to high school?