What does Pitt's brand consulting partnership mean?
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In recent months, the NCAA has moved closer to allowing student-athletes to profit from their names, images and likenesses. Concurrent with that move, athletic programs have looked for ways to prepare their student-athletes for the coming opportunities.
On Tuesday, Pitt football announced a partnership with Jeremy Darlow, a best-selling author and brand consultant whose online course, The DARLOW Rules, aims to prepare student-athletes for the challenges of establishing and managing a personal brand.
"At Pitt, the young men in our program are far more than just football players. They are students, leaders, citizens and future professionals who will make their mark on the world in many different ways," Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said in a press release. "We want to equip our student-athletes with skills and knowledge that will serve them for the rest of their lives. That's why I'm so excited about our new partnership with Jeremy Darlow, who has a national reputation for helping student-athletes build their own personal brand. Jeremy shares our commitment to developing the total person, and I know our team is going to benefit greatly from his outstanding workshops and experiences."
A former director of marketing for adidas Football and Baseball, adjunct marketing professor, and author of “Brands Win Championships,” which focuses on branding for college sports programs, and “Athletes Are Brands Too,” which focuses on individual athletes, Darlow has worked with a variety of clients in sports and entertainment, including Aaron Rodgers, Von Miller, Dak Prescott, Kris Bryant, Carlos Correa, Lionel Messi, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, Notre Dame, Michigan, UCLA, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Texas A&M.
Pitt is the fifth university to partner with Darlow and use The DARLOW Rules program. Darlow also works with the football programs at Georgia Tech and West Virginia as well as the athletic departments at Miami (Oh.) and Mercer.
According to a fact sheet provided by Darlow, the program breaks down to weekly lessons for the student-athletes:
“In less than five minutes a week, this video-based course shows athletes, step-by-step, how to build their influence, beat the odds, and leverage their athletic accomplishments well beyond sports.
“Each week students will first watch a short video lesson covering one of Darlow’s philosophies on brand development. At the end of each video, students are then given the option to complete an assignment found in their copy of Darlow’s new book: The Darlow Rules. Those homework assignments make up portions of the student’s personal brand marketing plan.
“Students will build and walk away with their own brand marketing plan, learning the same techniques used by Darlow. Additionally, each graduating student will receive a certificate of completion to include on their professional resume.”
Darlow spoke with Panther-Lair.com about The DARLOW Rules, what his program will do for Pitt’s student-athletes and how individual branding in college athletics is changing.
What is your background? How did you get into marketing and then the field of brand consultation?
Darlow: I’ve been building brands for over 15 years now. Eight of those years were spent with adidas, where I was the Director of Marketing for football, baseball, hockey, lacrosse, tennis and volleyball. I’ve written three best-selling books, two of which are sports marketing related. One of those books, Athletes Are Brands Too, is an athlete’s guide to building a personal brand and a future beyond sports. In 2017, I left adidas to start my own consultancy dedicated to helping athletes, coaches and teams build their brands.
How would you describe/define the service you're providing for student-athletes?
Darlow: The DARLOW Rules is an online course that teaches student athletes how to build a personal brand and a marketing plan that sets them up to succeed in life after sports.
The following is from a fact sheet for The DARLOW Rules program:
Darlow teaches college athletes of member schools how to use traditional marketing tactics and techniques to build a desirable personal brand. Whether athletes have marketing experience or not, Darlow will provide students with a simple, step-by-step guide to building that brand.
The concepts and strategies taught by Darlow are relevant to all athletes, regardless of sport or athletic success. Darlow will teach athletes how to recognize and grow their influence, target and identify their potential audience, and develop strong communication platforms.
Through the lessons and services provided by Darlow, athletes will learn how to use their athletic influence to help create a successful professional life that reaches beyond sports.
What was the genesis of the partnership with Pitt? How did it come to be?
Darlow: Coach Narduzzi asked for my help in educating his athletes on the importance of personal branding and building a plan for life after football. It was clear during our conversation that he and his staff are dedicated to equipping the young men on the Pittsburgh football team with the tools they need to reach their goals off the field.
How important is brand management and consultation with the NCAA's move toward allowing student-athletes to profit from their names, images and likenesses?
Darlow: Our focus as industry professionals should be to educate these kids on how to build a long-term plan for life after sports, not how to garner an endorsement deal. It’s my mission to teach every college athlete, regardless of sport or talent, how to build a brand and reputation that sets them up to land their dream job and dream life.
How much of your work with student-athletes is tied to social media?
Darlow: There’s more to building a personal brand than social media, and it’s time student athletes learned that reality. The DARLOW Rules teaches athletes how to build a personal brand marketing plan that incorporates all facets of a communication strategy, including social media, brand identity, media relations, community management and more.
When you look into the near future for student-athletes as they take more ownership of their personal brands, what do you see as the potential pitfalls they'll need to be aware of?
Darlow: Just because you can benefit from your likeness doesn’t mean you will. We need to present student athletes with the big picture. If we don't to teach these young men and women how to build a plan for life after sports, we are setting them up to fail.
Conversely, what opportunities do you expect will present themselves to student-athletes as they have more control over their names, images and likenesses?
Darlow: Athletes today have a platform to showcase their career-oriented passions, skills and talents outside of sports. The name, image and likeness changes will only enhance that opportunity.