and the state has been humming with talk of
the latest in the continuing saga of the quack
attack.
"I've talked to people around the community
about the image (of University athletics) and they
said they can feel it within the community that
everyone is so much more positive this year,"
drawls Baker, a transplanted Virginian, who was
director of athletic promotions at William and
Mary College in Williamsburg, Va., for seven
years before moving to Eugene in January.
"And I think the Quack Attack commercials
have had a lot to do with that because all of a
sudden people are talking about the commercials
and not talking about winning or losing."
And there lies the heart of the new look of
Oregon athletic promotions.
Rather than promising people "great, grunting
victories," says Byrne, the new approach stresses
"the fun, the pageantry of college football."
Why?
Because, Byrne says, you can't guarantee you're
going to win all the time, or even some of the
time.
"The dynasties in sports seem to be disappear
ing," he says. "There aren't any more UCLA's in
basketball, or New York Yankees in baseball.
There is a lot more parity now."
That is why Rick Bay hired Bill Byrne away from
San Diego State, where Byrne was the assistant
athletic director of external affairs. Bay wants to
insure that Oregon is given every chance it can
get to be successful in the world of intercollegiate
athletics.
Baker recalls a conversation earlier this year,
while he and Byrne were canvassing the state.
"We were riding down the road, and Bill said
'Things that are wrong here can be corrected with
money. At a lot of schools, no matter what they
do they are never going to get it correct,' " recalls
Baker.
Byrne remembers that conversation, and feels
even more strongly now that he was right.
"We have great opportunities here," Byrne says.
"If we can just have enough resources to give our
coaches a chance to win, we can make great
things happen."
Resources is a key word when you talk about
Byrne and Baker. Bay says he hired them to in
crease the athletic department's base of
resources, and both men acknowledge that a vast
majority of their time is spent hunting for in
dividuals and corporations willing to help expand
that base.
"Rick thought it was important to have a new
voice in marketing, fundraising and promotions
and dealing with the external side of the depart
ment" Byrne says. "He told me it was my respon
sibility to see what we could do to help raise
more money and to successfully promote the
Ducks.
"There's never been a position in the depart
ment quite like mine," Byrne adds.
Byrne arrived in Eugene in November 1982.
Baker was hired in January 1983. Both were amaz
ed by what the found.
They found Herb Yamanaka — then an assistant
athletic director — handling all of the work that
the new five-person department does. And that
was when Yamanaka had time to leave his other
duties, which included supervising the ticket of
Oregon 's season opener against Pacific drew 3,000 more fans to Autzen Stadium than last fall’s first home game.
fice, facilities, and concessions, and
managing events.
“Herb was absolutely program
ed to wear himself out,” says Byrne.
Baker agrees. "I don't even see
how Herb did it. It all slid to Herb,
and he did the best he could to get
it done, but he just didn't have the
time."
The lack of funding, both men
agree, isn't just limited to the
athletic department.
Byrne recalls that while he was at
San Diego State, he was impressed
with the quality of Old Oregon, the
University's alumni magazine.
"Yet when I got her and saw that
they were operatin on such a
shoestring budget, that amazed
me.”
Bay's decision to create a new
department — the price tag is over
$200,000 per year — was based on
the idea that to bring in more
money required spending more
money to lure that money in.
Or, as Bynre puts it, you have to
spend money telling your story if
you want people to know about the good things
you are doing.
"It’s like when your dad sits down and talks to
you and he says, 'Son, you got to watch out for
yourself, because if you don't do good things for
yourself, nobody else is going to.' "
To tell Oregon's story, Byrne first went to the
people who knew Oregon — the "best marketing
minds in the community," says Byrne.
The committee — all from the private sector,
including radio, television, and business leaders
— held a series of meetings to identify objectives,
assess weaknesses and strengths, and figure out
what was wrong and right about the way Oregon
presented its athletic teams to the public.
From that committee came a plan of action
which included identifying markets, segmenting
them, and designing ways to approach them.
The process was not unlike what you might
find going on at Coca-Cola or Chevrolet, Byrne
says.
"Our strategies are very classic," he em
phasizes. "We're doing nothing different as far at
the way we'd attack selling a product if you were
Sears or General Motors or anyone else. It's very
classical, but for athletics that is kind of unique."
Baker says its like any other business, where
you go to market seminars and listen to what
other corporations say and how they market their
products.
"A lot of people in athletics think you sort of
tee it up on Saturday and go out and play the
game," says Baker. "It's a year-round job. It is a
business, it really is, and if there is any college
around that doesn't treat it that way, I don't know
who they are anymore."
But, says Byrne, there is one nagging
difference.
"The problem you get in sports marketing
versus selling a can of Coke is that Coke is
uniform — it tastes the same no matter whether
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you buy it in Eugene, Oregon, or Atlanta,
Georgia. College athletic programs differ, based
on who you graduate the year before and so
forth,” Bynre says.
"There is not the measure of consistency, so
you have to attach yourself to something that is
consistent in your marketing approach," he says.
"And the consistent element that we decided
upon — and there are several — is fun."
Thus, the nest was feathered — all it needed
was the proper bird.
That bird showed up in the form of Baden
Amir, a local advertising firm.
They offered that Oregon's past football pro
motion campaigns had never quite been in tune
with what was going on down on the gridiron.
Slogans like "The Wide Open Game," "Retur
ning Excitement," The Big Mean Green," and
"The Rush Is On" seemed more suited for Ohio
State then Oregon.
Baden-Amir suggested that Oregon consider a
promotion campaign that wouldn't promise
anything more than a "great afternoon of good,
wholesome family entertainment," recalls Byrne.
Byrne liked the idea, hired the ad firm, and
suddenly people were being quack attacked from
billboards, radios and televisions.
It is a concept that will be around for more
then one football season, promises Byrne.
"I believe in taking a central theme and using
spinoffs. You do it for years,” Byrne says. "Next
year we may have 'Return of Quack Attack' or
'Son of Quack Attack.' We'll do something nuts
with it, you can count on it. We'll get people's at
tention, because that is exactly what we are
after."
Although the "Quack Attack" campaign is
their centerpiece promotion, Byrne and Baker
have devised seemingly endless other ways to
lure fans into Autzen Stadium this fall.
Football, both agree, is of prime importance
in their line of work. It receives so much of their
attention — along with basketball, and in
Oregon's case, track — because of its ability to
draw large crowds.
“Football and basketball are your revenue
sports," says Byrne. "Till the day comes that we
have some other sports that can generate the
amount of dollars that football and basketball do,
then the pressure will continue to be on those
two sports."
So what have the two planned this fall in the
way of promotions0
For the Houston game this weekend, fans can
get coupons worth $1 off the price of a general
admission ticket at area McDonald's. There will
be 10,000 free football posters, courtesy of
William's Bread. A dixieland or bluegrass band —
or both — will offer tailgate-partiers a musical
treat before the game in the parking lot. There
will be a duck-calling contest, and a chili cook-off.
The idea is to provide an entertaining after
noon, says Baker, and hopefully begin a trend
among Oregon fans this year.
“Football, because it is the first sport in the
fall, has the ability to get everybody pumped up
for the rest of the year," Baker says. "And if foot
ball's hac a good year then everybody is all ex
cited about basketball. I just sets a tone among
your student body and amongst the alumni."
But what the fans at Autzen Stadium see
Saturday will only be the tip of the iceberg of
work Byrne and Baker wade through, for much of
their time is spent out of the spotlight with alum
ni, soliciting donations.
"Our budget is made up of private donations,
gate receipts, a small student fee and television
money, " Byrne says. "There's nothng we can do
about the first two, but we've had a definite im
pact on the fund-raising end of it."
Continued on Page 18
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