It’s Badger Football season! It’s a great time of the year to be in Madison with the throng of fans decked out in red and white, and the aroma of brats and Miller Lite in the air, rubbing elbows with 80,000 of our closest friends at Camp Randall. Who’s with us?
Hang on, though.
We’re not just ardent Badger fans. We’re also branding geeks. As branding geeks, we’d be remiss if we didn’t take this opportunity to remind you that one of the University of Wisconsin Badger Football’s most beloved traditions, The Fifth Quarter, was actually born out of, dare we say it, bad Badger football seasons.
It’s an inspiring, hope-filled story of how your slump can actually be the source of inspiration that propels you to success.
That’s a powerful lesson for anyone who’s ever aimed to build a brand or business.
The Days of Cheap Tickets A-Plenty
Some of you are young enough that you’ve never picked up a last-minute ticket for next to nothing on your walk toward Camp Randall, and it shows. But there were days. Oh my, there were days.
Long before Barry Alvarez and bowl championships, there were cheap tickets a-plenty. Long before we were spoiled to the point that we now cry in our beer over 7-5 records, there was a time when Badger football seasons were truly terrible. Not only were cheap tickets easy to come by, but it was also difficult to get fans to stay until the end of the game.
But you know what they say. When the chips are down, the tough make nachos (and polka).
Legendary UW Band Director Mike Leckrone did just that. Leckrone figured that, well, we can’t control the outcome of the game, but we’ve never lost a post-game performance. Time to capitalize on our strengths.
Capitalize they did.
You see, games weren’t always packed, even when Camp Randall was smaller and tickets were dirt cheap. When Leckrone arrived in 1969, the UW Marching Band was struggling—he was the third director in three years, and the band lacked unity.
The football team was in the middle of a 22-game losing streak, and game days had lost their appeal. The stands were often pretty empty by the end of the fourth quarter.
Where others saw a slump, Leckrone saw an opportunity. He introduced the Fifth Quarter, turning the post-game into the highlight of game day, no matter the score.
Now we’re known across the land for the best 5th quarter experience in college football, not to mention great games themselves.
A Lesson in Branding
What’s the branding lesson, you say?
Things are never so bad that you can’t capitalize on your strengths, and build your brand or business from there. You never know. This could be the first minute of your finest hour!
Win or lose, we sing. Win or lose, we dance. Win or lose, we cheer.
Your slump could be the source of your greatest success. Your mistake could become your next mountaintop experience.
When you’re feeling a wee bit defeated, remember the lesson of the UW Fifth Quarter experience.
When you say Wisconsin, you’ve said it all.