Now that St. Bonaventure University’s students’ legacies have been defined and they’ve become extraordinary, it seems like the perfect time to roll out another empty slogan.
The athletic department announced “Be The Tradition” as its new “rallying cry” last week. According to a statement released on GoBonnies.com, the athletic department is asking all St. Bonaventure fans to hashtag the slogan on social media sites to show support for the athletic teams.
Branding. It was somehow more charming when it involved burning symbols into farm animals. Yet it’s unavoidable in the 21st century. A company that isn’t constantly thinking about its brand is one that won’t last long.
That seems to go for schools as well. St. Bonaventure is only following protocol in a time when constantly reminding consumers of one’s brand is more important than the product created or the service rendered.
After all, nothing’s really changed. At least not because of the slogan. St. Bonaventure consistently fields losing teams in at least half of the 14 varsity sports.
Obviously, this is due to an inherent financial disadvantage. St. Bonaventure is smaller than the schools it competes with and doesn’t have the same amount of money to spend on athletics. Ending press releases with a three-word phrase won’t change that.
Despite St. Bonaventure’s financial struggles, the school does boast two legitimately competitive basketball teams. While fall sports tend to go mostly ignored by students (except rugby, which isn’t a varsity sport) things begin to pick up during basketball season.
Basketball is an exciting and easy-to-follow sport. The men’s and women’s teams have a captive audience.
When something important, unexpected or exciting happens, students notice. When students notice, students tweet.
If all goes according to plan, the respective basketball seasons will feature plenty of exciting moments which will lead to plenty of tweeting. And students will end those tweets with #BeTheTradition. Perhaps outsiders will take notice.
And then what? Thousands of students will flock to St. Bonaventure, changing the school’s fortune? Some rich alumni will notice we rock a pretty nifty hashtag and give $10 million to the school?
What’s the point?
Hashtags, contrary to popular belief, do serve a legitimate purpose on social media. Clicking on a hashtag allows the user to follow an event many are tweeting about through people who have used said hashtag.
If that’s the purpose of this, then why not keep it simple? #SBU, #Bonnies, #Bona. This would allow alumni and fans who haven’t had the pleasure of discovering the wonderfully meaningless catchphrase to follow the games on social media.
But this isn’t about following games. It’s about branding. In 2014, it seems impossible to avoid something so prevalent and omnipresent.
But if brands are supposed to set an institution apart, why does “Be the Tradition” sound like something any other school would have rolled out?
This editorial represents the opinion of The Bona Venture staff.
