Put Your Stripes On!
Social currency drove engagement spikes in this content campaign. To do it, we leveraged the Indiana University Hoosiers’ men’s basketball resurgence during the 2012-13 season (think Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo era).
Results
Total social media following +5,500 November 2012-April 2013, with a 33% increase in Facebook fans and 1,200 new Twitter followers.
Web traffic to the IUAA’s “Become a member” section +8% vs. March 2012.
Monthly IUAA website visitors increased by 36,548 visits; +84% above average.
First-ever paid social offer added 233 new members and $26,000 in revenue.
1.2 million organic social reach.
CASE V Gold Award for Excellence in Design Series
November 2013
Brief
Translate fandom into IU Alumni Association memberships. Use a rally cry to demonstrate relevance to a brand-loyal, high-propensity audience segment.
Concept
For Indiana University Bloomington graduates, candystripes are a calling card. Partnering with university trademarks, we created a social object: striped socks. A paid social campaign and adjacent email series invited alumni to join the IU Alumni Association to receive striped IU socks. The socks and stripes became a thematic thread throughout the content campaign. Over the season, we analyzed web traffic and engagement to identify ideal day parts and remain agile with creative that responded to the moment. We listened and posted consistently, using #showyourstripes to organize and track content.
As the season neared its end and the NCAA tournament felt imminent, Facebook social images boosted the hype. Creative aimed to connect at a sensory level. We leveraged campus icons like the Indiana Memorial Union's gingerbread cookies, shared experiences like the yellow-hue of Simon-Skojt Assembly Hall, and the emotionally significant lyrics of the IU Fight Song.
Email journey began with all-IUB alumni email campaign at the start of the tournament. Separate, segmented non-donor solicitations with similar creative launched alongside social offer, showcasing the socks as membership premium.
Fulfillment packaging invited social sharing & engagement, contests, and more.
Free 'stripes' downloads — desktop wallpaper, Facebook profile images, and more — drove web traffic.
As the tournament peaked, the "Put Your Stripes On!" Facebook campaign's organic reach totaled 1.2 million. Abe Lincoln in striped pants produced highest engagement.
We maximized content via cross-promotion, leveraging the Stripes campaign look and value-add content across the Indiana Alumni Magazine, IUAA e-newsletter, the athletics website, and to drive purchase of travel packages or event tickets.
The IU Basketball Bingo downloadable game card engaged alumni and families, bringing alumni together. First shared in social and linked from IUAA e-newsletter.
150 entries from around the world for the IU Hoosiers fan photo contest, submissions solicited via social.
Posted following tournament loss.