Campaign: Frozen Four Hockey Championship
Company: University of Denver
Position: Manager, Social Media
Campaign Role: Develop and lead an integrated social media-driven campaign strategy
Campaign Dates: March 31, 2017 - April 12, 2017
Overview
Unlike other NCAA Division 1 universities, the University of Denver does not have a football team. As such, the University community, students, faculty, staff, and other interested stakeholders rally around the hockey team much like the fans would at schools where a football team is present. This season was particularly exciting because the Pioneer hockey team had a very good chance of winning the NCAA National Hockey Championship for the first time in 12 years.
As an effort to amplify the profile of the University of Denver, increase brand awareness, engage our stakeholders, and entice prospective student-athletes to choose DU, social media strategy led the campaign to connect with and grow our audience.
Stats at a Glance
Social Channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snap Chat, Periscope
Notable Wins
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15,482 Snapchat filter views
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40% audience engagement
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271 engaged users on Periscope
Most Engaged Creative
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494,558 total reach
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34,071 total engagement
What We Wanted To Do
Tactics
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Publish original copy/content at the puck drop
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Publish original copy/content when Denver makes their first goal
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Share, engage and interact with user generated content
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Publish periodic score updates throughout the game
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Utilize hashtags to broaden reach and visibility of original and shared content
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Share posts directly from hockey accounts
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Amplify newsroom stories
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Deploy Snapchat filter for celebration
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Publish behind the scenes of trophy photo shoot
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@-tag players, coaches, city/state officials, DU Hockey, NCHC, NCAA Hockey, and other relevant accounts
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Publish photo albums
Integrated Content/Channels
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DU Homepage
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Newsroom
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Media Relations
What We Did
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10,274 Newsroom story views
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53% increase in Newsroom video views
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19 media mentions
Analysis
A wildly successful campaign, and likely the biggest in the history of DU Social, it was great to leverage the buzz around DU's appearance in the Frozen Four. Timing of executing the content across all channels because as sports championships go, the hockey team was not guaranteed to advance to the next level.
We'd been seeking Twitter verification and could not gain traction. The viral nature of the very well-executed campaign helped elevate DU's profile enough to earn the highly coveted badge.
As integrated as this campaign was, opportunities to further propel content existed by using the Chancellor's Twitter profile, zeroing in on CTA's to encourage social media communities to cross-promote and engage, and connect with external departments earlier in the planning process.
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