Before any Butler University athletes take the court,  they size up their competition. It’s all about making themselves better against their opponents.

The situation should be no different when Butler competes with other universities for prospective students and donors.

According to Marcia Dowell, executive director of University Relations, Butler recently spent more than $1,000 to air a commercial on The Big Ten Network during the Butler men’s basketball game against Indiana University.

The university spends nearly $5,000 for a commercial that airs on other networks during the men’s basketball season.

And they should spend the money on advertising that is going to make a difference.

While watching the Butler men’s basketball game against Indiana University on the Big Ten Network, I was able to compare a Butler commercial to an Indiana University commercial.

Butler’s commercial stressed the importance of The Butler Way and diversity on campus, which are things that I find important, as do other students.

However, I feel the advertising was too cliché and kind of boring.

It showed students lounging on the Mall and zeroed in on multicultural students attending classes.

These traits are not deal breakers and shouldn’t be marketed as such.

Every university has diversity and at every university, students can lounge on the lawn.

Butler should not market that these traits are specific to the university.

Because they aren’t.

Indiana’s commercial, sponsored by the Indiana University Alumni Association, was much more focused on university pride and university life.

It was loud and upbeat, giving the viewer a sense of how it feels to be a Hoosier.

Butler’s commercial seemed geared more to adults and Indiana’s more to prospective students.

It’s not every day that Butler plays on the Big Ten Network.

It’s a whole new audience to market to.

Butler’s commercial could have had more pep and school pride.

It could have appealed more to an average 18-year-old.

Butler could have showcased the joys of being a Bulldog and the importance of Butler pride.

Everyone who knows Indiana University knows how important Hoosier pride is.

Of course the university is going to use it to market itself.

Butler should have recognized the opportunity and marketed itself in a comparably exciting way.

I  feel that the two commercials were two different extremes, one of them, Indiana’s, being more relevant to the students.

Butler should have sized up its competition and went above and beyond.

There’s a lot of pride involved with being a Butler Bulldog and everyone should know and experience it, even if only for a short time in a commercial.