March Madness Gone Mad?

The greatest time of the year for sports has begun.  Only the NCAA Tournament can take over an entire office and bring productivity to a halt.  March Madness demands even the attention of individuals that haven't watched a single minute of basketball all season long!  Sixy-five teams battle to be the best in the nation.  Sure, there are favored teams, but all it takes is one team to go on a run, become a "Cinderella," and capture the support of the entire country.  So, what if the NCAA added a few teams to the tournament...say, 32 more?

The NCAA recently proposed increasing the pool of teams to 96.  The theory behind the proposal is that more quality teams, who may have been left out due to an undeserving team winning its conference tournament, could make the "Big Dance."

I disagree with the NCAA's logic.  First, I have a hard enough time picking from 65 teams in my bracket.  I'd prefer to not have to pick from 96!  More importantly, though, we have seen time and again that more is not always better.  Should the NCAA increase the team pool, it would end up doing is diluting or de-valuing its product.  Over the years, the NCAA has created exclusivity around the tournament.  Teams work hard all year long to make the field.  Conference tournaments have become a team's last chance to become "tournament-worthy."  Increasing the fields will turn the "elite" into a Little League tournament--everyone gets to participate!

Many companies and brands have used this same strategy.  Starbucks is one company that tried this approach by continuously expanding and adding stores, and it backfired.  Once it had a store on every street corner (likely next to a Walgreens or GAP), the company started to add products, like breakfast foods.  Then, the economy went sour, and Starbucks realized that it had overextended itself and had to cut back.  As a result, its product had become devalued, and the company had lost sight of its mission.

For the NCAA, this is an obvious money-grab--more teams, more commercials, a possible move to two cable networks to cover the games, and more games being played.  For the sake of quality basketball, I hope the expansion doesn't happen.

The next time you consider a product expansion, think of the NCAA or Starbucks.  Ask yourself if the expansion makes sense to your company's mission and target market, and remember that more isn't always better.  Once you de-value your brand, you may never get its essence back.