Maroon Out T-shirt sales broke previous records this year with more than 40,000 T-shirts sold between June 2 and the Ole Miss game Saturday.
Emily Canales, marketing junior and PR director for Maroon Out, said a change in marketing approach helped lead to the increase in sales. Canales said that by focusing on the tradition and not the game itself, they were able to sell more shirts.
“We pushed what Maroon Out was. We didn’t push Maroon Out, October 11, BTHO Ole Miss,” Canales said.
Last year’s sales totaled 36,000 shirts.
Canales also said an increased online presence was crucial to their success this year. The Maroon Out committee sold about 12,000 shirts online over the summer through PR work alone, Canales said.
The partnership with Aggieland Outfitters was another reason the shirts sold so well, said Nathan Box, biomedical sciences junior and head director of Maroon Out.
“[Aggieland Outfitters] brought excitement and willingness to try new marketing ideas with us,” Box said.
Box said Aggieland Outfitters helped Maroon Out come up with new ways to reach a wider audience.
“Since [Class Councils] is an on-campus organization, for the most part we have the student market saturated,” Box said. “With the new partnership with Aggieland Outfitters, we wanted to get more Aggies involved around the country and world, not just the current students. We were able to sit down with the AO marketing and PR team and come up with ways like ‘Maroon Out the World’ and other strategies to increase participation in this tradition.”
Canales said campaigns like “Maroon Out the World” helped emphasize the message that Maroon Out is about the 12th Man.
“We had people send in pictures of them wearing any Maroon Out shirt, anything maroon, from anywhere in the world,” Canales said. “That was a way to again stress the importance of how the 12th man is everywhere, not only within the U.S., but all over the world.”
Another reason Maroon Out succeeded was the low prices of the shirts, said Hannah Wimberly, psychology sophomore and inventory director for Maroon Out.
“We keep the shirt prices low to appeal to the masses,” Wimberly said. “We don’t want to charge students a ton of money for a T-shirt. All of the proceeds, every single penny that Class Council makes from Maroon Out, goes towards the class gift and making other traditions happen.”
Canales said Maroon Out 2014 shirt sales aren’t done yet. People will still be able to buy shirts off-campus through Dec. 31.