The commercial highlights CBU’s pursuit of excellence in both athletics and academics. Photo courtesy Eric Mendoza
Universities spend a lot of time with advertising and recruiting to increase their numbers both in the classroom and in athletics, and this often occurs through airing commercials on different media outlets.
California Baptist University’s number of enrollment has drastically increased in the last couple of years, affecting Lancer athletics in many ways.
Several new major programs were added to the list of what CBU offers, high-quality facilities were built on campus and CBU athletics joined the National Collegiate Athletic Association and became a nationally-recognized Division II athletic program.
Joining the NCAA has brought changes to CBU athletics in several areas. The teams joined new conferences, they compete against nationally ranked teams and the athletes get more attention from fans and the media.
“Our athletics are consistently at the top of rankings and out sports programs are second to none,” said Kyle Wong, senior kinesiology major and guard on the men’s basketball team. “CBU being a small and upcoming school it’s good to get some
recognition.”
To gain more attention and support from the community, CBU has been running a commercial that appears on Time Warner Cable Inc. channels in the Inland Empire until March 24. The channels include Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, ESPN, Food Network and History channel.
“Any time we can get people to see how beautiful our campus is and educate them on the outstanding educational programs CBU has it becomes beneficial to athletics,” said Dr. Micah Parker, athletic director. “The more people know about the excellence of our university, the more likely they are to consider competing here.”
Knowing how much CBU athletics can gain from proper advertising, Parker works on finding various ways to reach out to the community.
“I have recently hired an associate athletic director for marketing and media relations who will help our department expand in regards to public relations, social media and also help gain corporate sponsors,” Parker said.
Even if no financial support is earned by airing the commercials, athletes said they are happy to know the word is spreading about Lancer athletics as they increase support.
“To see how many students are at the games, knowing they have your full support gives you that extra edge to get the win,” Wong said.
The campaign is already succesful in this regard since nothing pumps the athletes up more than competing in front of a loud crowd of cheerful fans.
