Missouri Uses Billboards to Announce Its Presence in SEC Country

Missouri doesn't exactly have the name-brand recognition in SEC circles that its fellow expansion mate Texas A&M has, but the Tigers are fixing that with a public relations campaign that includes billboards in larger cities within the expanded SEC footprint, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

The billboards feature the SEC logo on a Missouri football uniform, and the text "proud to be SEC." There are 16 total billboards in the region, including eight in the state of Georgia. Billboards are also located in Tampa, Fla., Jacksonville, Fla., Birmingham, Ala., Memphis, Tenn. and Dallas.

Good for Missouri for getting into the PR game. Texas A&M ran a campaign that featured a Texas A&M commercial on virtually every SEC football game in the fall of 2011.

This isn't a new idea, though.

Tennessee ran a similar campaign before the 2009 season that featured then-head coach Lane Kiffin and safety Eric Berry and featured the saying "It's time."

Auburn also employed a similar strategy before the 2009 and 2011 seasons. The 2009 billboard featured an Auburn helmet between tiger eyes with "fearless and true" across the top. The 2011 version had an image of the crystal AFCA coaches national championship trophy and the words "your future is clear."

Are these campaigns a bit on the cheesy side? Yes. But they serve a purpose not only for recruiting, but for overall brand awareness—which can translate to more applications on the academic side.

Follow @BarrettSallee