I have always been afraid to ask The University what they willnot sell to make a buck. I am worried their response will be:"There are some things money can't buy, but for everything elsethere's MasterCard."
It is no secret that many occurrences on campus are heavilyinfluenced by the almighty dollar. The University of Memphis isconstantly coming up with new ways to make money. I can think ofplenty new and exciting ventures our fine institution can do togenerate income.
(Keep in mind, I am not a business major. I have learnedeverything I know about the business world by watching TheApprentice.)
There is still plenty of space for on-campus advertising. Thefirst place that comes to mind is the noticeable empty space on topof every urinal. The University could also sell ads on the huskysuper fan who is always front row
for all major tiger sporting events.
There are ample naming rights opportunities as well: RC Johnsoncould officially change his last name to Cola. The UC Marketplacecould become the Tiger Marketplace, after a contribution fromExxon.
But the best idea for The U of M may be to try somethingcompletely out of the ordinary. Our campus could set a newprecedence for universities across the nation.
The University of Memphis could be the first educationalinstitution to utilize a concept that has been used for years inmovies and television -- product placement
The strategic placement of products in the classroom environmentcould be the perfect corporate/education alliance. The Universityhas not been afraid to steal ideas from movie theaters before.(Overpriced food anyone?)
Product placement has been known to work. Many classes have TVs,VCRs, overhead projectors, scantrons, pens, pencils, paper, desks,garbage cans and globes. Not to mention, the faculty and staff alleat, drink and wear clothes.
Imagine corporate America spending their dollars to have theirproducts be used in the classroom.
For instance, your professor could drink a Mountain Dew duringclass. He would always take a swig while holding the can so thesoda's name is easy for students to see. Some would simply thinkthe professor just likes to "do the Dew," but in reality, he isjust part of a University agreement with Pepsi Co.
Of course, some classes are boring and students do not payattention. In this case, the product placement could be reservedfor key times in class, like right after the teacher says "this mayappear on the exam" or "a good thing to write down is..."
If the product placement endeavor is a success, The U of M couldsteal yet another idea from the movies:
Start showing commercials before each class.
