Niall O’Dowd returned from interviewing Coach Brian Kelly with a story of a cab driver he met – an immigrant from Africa who had seen little of America outside of South Bend, Indiana. When the cabbie learned that Niall was Irish, he exclaimed with admiration, “You Irish, you own everything over here!”
Watching the televised game between Notre Dame and Utah and witnessing the sea of green that surrounded the win by coach Kelly’s team, one could only concur with the cab driver’s summation.
We sure have done a great job of branding. The Mad Men component of our Business 100 would agree. The fact that Notre Dame is actually in Paris is a mere technicality. The Irish own the brand.