LECOM - why?

[Frobby]

Slightly off topic, but on the LF fence/wall the last couple of years there’s been a huge sign for LECOM — Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine.   Seems like such a weird thing to advertise at a baseball stadium.  Their main campus is in Western PA nowhere near Baltimore, and they have some other campuses but nothing close by.   Any idea what the connection is?   (I will say, I never would have heard of it but for the sign at OPACY.)

[SteveA]

2 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Slightly off topic, but on the LF fence/wall the last couple of years there’s been a huge sign for LECOM — Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine.   Seems like such a weird thing to advertise at a baseball stadium.  Their main campus is in Western PA nowhere near Baltimore, and they have some other campuses but nothing close by.   Any idea what the connection is?   (I will say, I never would have heard of it but for the sign at OPACY.)

The Pirates ballpark in spring training in Bradenton, Florida, is LECOM Park, for the past 4 or 5 years or so.   When I was there in spring 2019 I had to look it up to see what it was as well and was surprised it was the naming sponsor for a ballpark in Florida.   But I guess Pittsburgh fans come down to spring training, and Pittsburgh is not THAT far from Lake Erie.

[Sports Guy]

Because they paid for it?

[jamalshw]

They're likely promoting their online degree for their School of Pharmacy? I would imagine that is most of it. Of course, many people do leave their home states to go to school, but I would agree it wouldn't be the best use of advertising money unless the target was something more remote-based. 

[Going Underground]

They like to get their name out and Baltimore has some major hospitals . Plus undergrads looking for medical schools .

The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) likely received more applications than any other medical school in the country for the 2016-2017 school year, according to U.S. News & World Report, which tracked applications to 118 U.S. medical schools. LECOM received more than 16,000 applications.

[Going Underground]

25 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

They like to get their name out and Baltimore has some major hospitals . Plus undergrads looking for medical schools .

The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) likely received more applications than any other medical school in the country for the 2016-2017 school year, according to U.S. News & World Report, which tracked applications to 118 U.S. medical schools. LECOM received more than 16,000 applications.

Plus they have some sponorship agreement with the Orioles in Florida and I guess at Camden Yards also.

[DrungoHazewood]

I tend to think most advertising doesn't really work, but people like Don Draper sell organizations on how great it is so they buy spots and signs and stuff that common sense says will have almost no impact whatsoever.  Deutsche Bank always has ads at OPACY, they're not even a regular bank in the US they're a German-based company that does investment stuff.  Why would they benefit from having a sign at a baseball park?  How would they be able to tell that they did?  Certainly no one would say "I have my company's loans through Deutsche Bank because I saw a sign at Camden Yards!"

I'll accept that I'm wrong, and I just don't understand the psychology of advertising.  But I think a statistically significant positive ROI on most of it would be pretty hard to prove.

[Going Underground]

42 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

I tend to think most advertising doesn't really work, but people like Don Draper sell organizations on how great it is so they buy spots and signs and stuff that common sense says will have almost no impact whatsoever.  Deutsche Bank always has ads at OPACY, they're not even a regular bank in the US they're a German-based company that does investment stuff.  Why would they benefit from having a sign at a baseball park?  How would they be able to tell that they did?  Certainly no one would say "I have my company's loans through Deutsche Bank because I saw a sign at Camden Yards!"

I'll accept that I'm wrong, and I just don't understand the psychology of advertising.  But I think a statistically significant positive ROI on most of it would be pretty hard to prove.

Deutsche Bank did own Alex Brown till 2016 when it was sold to Raymond James Alex Brown was the first investment bank in the US and is still headquartered in Baltimore. Raymond James even put the Alex Brown name back after Deutsche Bank got rid of the name. Maybe because of Alex Brown they put signage up? Can't remember if Alex Brown ever had signage at Camden Yards. 

[InsideCoroner]

1 hour ago, DrungoHazewood said:

I tend to think most advertising doesn't really work, but people like Don Draper sell organizations on how great it is so they buy spots and signs and stuff that common sense says will have almost no impact whatsoever.  Deutsche Bank always has ads at OPACY, they're not even a regular bank in the US they're a German-based company that does investment stuff.  Why would they benefit from having a sign at a baseball park?  How would they be able to tell that they did?  Certainly no one would say "I have my company's loans through Deutsche Bank because I saw a sign at Camden Yards!"

I'll accept that I'm wrong, and I just don't understand the psychology of advertising.  But I think a statistically significant positive ROI on most of it would be pretty hard to prove.

I think in the past a few brands benefitted from close ties to a team. I’m pretty sure some kids years ago wanted Esskay Franks because they associated it with the team. But nowadays with information coming from so many different directions, I do agree little if any of it has a conscious or even subconscious effect. If anything I tend to shy away from brands with excessive or annoying advertising.

But there can be myriad reasons for those ads. Maybe those companies entertain corporate clients with season tickets or suites and want to look good. Or maybe one of those companies know that their *competitors* often attend games, and they want to rub their name in their face. Or yeah, maybe they just got “Drapered”.

[OriolesMagic83]

21 hours ago, Going Underground said:

They like to get their name out and Baltimore has some major hospitals . Plus undergrads looking for medical schools .

The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) likely received more applications than any other medical school in the country for the 2016-2017 school year, according to U.S. News & World Report, which tracked applications to 118 U.S. medical schools. LECOM received more than 16,000 applications.

Got to love those application fees.  I hope it was at least $200/application.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, InsideCoroner said:

I think in the past a few brands benefitted from close ties to a team. I’m pretty sure some kids years ago wanted Esskay Franks because they associated it with the team. But nowadays with information coming from so many different directions, I do agree little if any of it has a conscious or even subconscious effect. If anything I tend to shy away from brands with excessive or annoying advertising.

But there can be myriad reasons for those ads. Maybe those companies entertain corporate clients with season tickets or suites and want to look good. Or maybe one of those companies know that their *competitors* often attend games, and they want to rub their name in their face. Or yeah, maybe they just got “Drapered”.

I certainly understand why various companies advertise.   Right next to the LECOM sign is an equally large sign for Weis Markets.   It makes sense to me that Weis would advertise at OPACY.   It just seemed like an odd marketing choice for LECOM.   I’d forgotten that they also have a stadium named after them in Bradenton.  They do have a campus there, though, and nothing remotely close to Baltimore.   

But I guess the sign caught my attention and now everyone who’s read this thread knows what LECOM is and knows something more about it than they did before.    So, I guess their sign served it’s purpose.   
 

[InsideCoroner]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

I certainly understand why various companies advertise.   Right next to the LECOM sign is an equally large sign for Weis Markets.   It makes sense to me that Weis would advertise at OPACY.   It just seemed like an odd marketing choice for LECOM.   I’d forgotten that they also have a stadium named after them in Bradenton.  They do have a campus there, though, and nothing remotely close to Baltimore.   

But I guess the sign caught my attention and now everyone who’s read this thread knows what LECOM is and knows something more about it than they did before.    So, I guess their sign served it’s purpose.   
 

LECOM = Lengthy Exchange of Curious Oriole Marketing

i might have once worked with a record label who were in bitter competition with another slightly larger label, and it got heated and personal. The larger label had their impressive headquarters in a small rural town, and would bring every prospective new signing there, as well as artist management. The smaller label, feeling vindictive, spent a sizeable amount of money on advertising and marketing their own artists in this small town. Subway posters, street teams, billboards… every time a potential signing came in by train, plane or car, they were inundated with marketing for another label. They booked long term ad contracts to prevent the bigger label from regaining some prime advertising locations. This went on for years. It was petty, to be sure, but it was gloriously petty.