Duane Vienneau - Destroying Esk traditions 1 by 1?

[Muley69]

I can hardly wait to get blasted by the 20 somethings on the board who don't give a **** about any of this kind of stuff, but here goes.


A part of me died when the Esks switched to field turf.

A part of me died to see the Esks, under the direction of Duane Vienneau, pull the trigger on the idiotic billboard in Calgary.

On Friday, larger part of me died to see that the Esks dared to sell ad space and to paint ads on the field turf itself.


The irony, of course, is that with paying crowds of 45,000+ and 40,000+ (with Saskatchewan to yet to make an appearance) ...the Esks still felt that they needed to whore our field out to make a few extra revenue and advertising dollars.

The ads for playoffs and GC and I can understand, even though I don't like it...but this was an absolutely abomination of epic proportions.

[Muley69]

Re: Duane Vienneau - Destroying Esk traditions 1 by 1?

For those that don't know, Duane Vienneau is the current VP of Marketing & Brand Management.

Needless to say, this thread describes what I think about his performance of his job thus far.

[Diesel]

Re: Duane Vienneau - Destroying Esk traditions 1 by 1?

.

[quake]

Re: Duane Vienneau - Destroying Esk traditions 1 by 1?

I can hardly wait to get blasted by the 20 somethings on the board who don't give a **** about any of this kind of stuff, but here goes.


A part of me died when the Esks switched to field turf.

A part of me died to see the Esks, under the direction of Duane Vienneau, pull the trigger on the idiotic billboard in Calgary.

On Friday, larger part of me died to see that the Esks dared to sell ad space and to paint ads on the field turf itself.


The irony, of course, is that with paying crowds of 45,000+ and 40,000+ (with Saskatchewan to yet to make an appearance) ...the Esks still felt that they needed to whore our field out (the LAST hold out perhaps in all of pro sports) to make a few extra revenue and advertising dollars.

The ads for playoffs and GC and I can understand, even though I don't like it...but this was an absolutely abomination of epic proportions.

Well, at least you're not talking politics!

I agree 100%.

[GeeBrr]

Re: Duane Vienneau - Destroying Esk traditions 1 by 1?

the Esks still felt that they needed to whore our field out (the LAST hold out perhaps in all of pro sports) to make a few extra revenue and advertising dollars.

While I agree it was sad to see the turf go, as I felt it gave the league some character, I don't think any NFL team has ads anywhere on their field.

[LBL]

Re: Duane Vienneau - Destroying Esk traditions 1 by 1?

I prefer to leave the field with only the lines and team logo on it. It's funny when you see an old hockey replay and there's no advertising on the boards or ice, it just doesn't look right anymore. Sometimes I wonder if it's actually the teams doing the billboard stuff or if it's coming from the league trying to make the rivalries bigger than they are ?

[Hugoagogo]

Re: Duane Vienneau - Destroying Esk traditions 1 by 1?

I was watching a bit of the Canucks game tonight, and now they not only have ads on the boards, but on the glass behind the nets as well. All the clutter is killing the game - any game. Obviously the people running marketing departments for sports teams aren't sports fans - they are too lazy to find creative revenue dollars, so just whore out whatever they can. I think there was a time where the CFL needed to get any revenue they could to keep the league alive. Now is the time to commit to the quality of the brand, not sell space to the highest bidder. Yeah, I'm old school CFL, or maybe just old, but that's my 2 cents...

[GeeBrr]

Re: Duane Vienneau - Destroying Esk traditions 1 by 1?

I was watching a bit of the Canucks game tonight, and now they not only have ads on the boards, but on the glass behind the nets as well. All the clutter is killing the game - any game. Obviously the people running marketing departments for sports teams aren't sports fans...

Those are computer graphics.

[Hugoagogo]

Re: Duane Vienneau - Destroying Esk traditions 1 by 1?

Those are computer graphics.

Thanks for the info - did not know that. Having said that, cg or not, it's more advertising in the field of play & it impacts my ability to enjoy the game I'm watching.

[Muley69]

Re: Duane Vienneau - Destroying Esk traditions 1 by 1?

While I agree it was sad to see the turf go, as I felt it gave the league some character, I don't think any NFL team has ads anywhere on their field.

Ah geez...okay, I'll edit.

[GeeBrr]

Re: Duane Vienneau - Destroying Esk traditions 1 by 1?

Thanks for the info - did not know that. Having said that, cg or not, it's more advertising in the field of play & it impacts my ability to enjoy the game I'm watching.

I thought they were originally too, they have been around for a year or so. I agree, it does distract you during the game.

Ah geez...okay, I'll edit.

No skin off my balls, just sayin'! LOL

I thought it was cool the Esks didn't have ads on their field as well, so point made.

[Esks1975]

Re: Duane Vienneau - Destroying Esk traditions 1 by 1?

Not surprising to see the slide continue. I guess that makes Duane Vienneau the Brand Degradation Manager.

Still not believing the Eskimo announced attendance numbers.

[budha]

Re: Duane Vienneau - Destroying Esk traditions 1 by 1?

It could actually be on the glass as well. If you buy a new vehicle at some places they have writing in the back window that you can see from inside the vehicle itself. This would be the same thing on glass. I do not know if this is the case or not, I am guessing that it is CGI, but a person would have to watch different broadcasts of the same event to know for sure, or be at the game.

I did not watch the game, but I agree that advertising on the field is wrong. You do not see it on soccer fields or NFL fields (I actually think in international soccer it against the rules to have anything on the field itself but the proper lines). I can understand why they are doing it as the field is one big billboard and there is a lot of advertising space there, so there is a lot of money that can made, but I still do not like it.

[GreatWhiteNorth]

Re: Duane Vienneau - Destroying Esk traditions 1 by 1?

I'd suspect that the decision to put advertising on the field itself wouldn't be made by Vienneau alone as it seems to be a philosophical decision. While I don't like it, I'd accept it as part of a scenario that helps preserve ticket prices. Teams do need to continue to explore sources of revenues, and at least this is one that isn't coming on the backs of fans. Similarly, I don't think we can lay the field turf at the feet of Duane either, as it seems to have been an economic decision and a product/surface decision, not a marketing one.

I made my thoughts known already on the billboard element and agree fully that it isn't representative of what I want the Eskimo brand to be. That sort of marketing pushes me away and alienates me from the Eskimo Empire, not pulls me in, and as such, I have to believe that they were targeting a very different kind of fan than myself. I haven't felt "spoken to" by most of the Eskimo marketing for years.

There are a few aspects of the Esks marketing that I have to credit including the video collection on the website and the creation of the iPhone app (this from a BB user), but I think the messaging, execution, merchandising and game day experience have suffered greatly. While ultimately, the success of the marketing needs to be measured by the revenue the organization generates rather than how much it appeals to me, when it leaves long-term fans alienated I think it's worth a significant second look at their direction.

[Muley69]

Re: Duane Vienneau - Destroying Esk traditions 1 by 1?

I did not mean to imply that the marketing group would have had any impact / decision making authority regarding the field turf purchase.

Apologies for any confusion.