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What is a Chanticleer? Telling the university story when the nation is watching
Journal of Education Advancement & Marketing,
4
(4),
340-352
(2020)
Abstract
The Coastal Carolina University (CCU) Office of Communications and Marketing was just as shocked as the nation watching its baseball team make a historic championship run at the 2016 College World Series. For us, the excitement turned into hours of preparing content and engaging with a national audience, many of whom did not even know where CCU was located, let alone anything about our midsized, comprehensive liberal arts university. This was the first time the Chanticleers had even made it to the tournament in Omaha, and anticipating what was to come from the win was unfamiliar territory, even for our seasoned communications and marketing team. This paper presents our lessons learned and the impact the College World Series, and ultimately the NCAA National Championship, had on the CCU brand, social media reach and engagement, community support, licensing, enrolment and website traffic. As a team, we will all be better prepared for the national spotlight after experiencing the 2016 College World Series win first-hand. After reading this paper, our hope, regardless of the institution size, is that one can be better prepared or implement a tactic or two to be as prepared as possible for their underdog team to propel their university into the national spotlight.
Keywords: integrated marketing; social media engagement; brand awareness; collegiate licensing; collegiate sports marketing; national media coverage
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
William Plate is currently the Vice President for University Marketing and Communications at Utah State University (USU). William has been with the university since January 2019. With a strategic focus on elevating reputation and increasing brand awareness, William has been creating and executing integrated marketing and communications strategic plans in higher education for more than 16 years, and creatively telling stories for more than 22 years. Prior to joining USU, he worked at Coastal Carolina University as the VP for University Communications and the Chief Marketing officer for six years and was at Florida Atlantic University for nearly ten years, where he served as Director of University Marketing and Creative Services. William also spent five years as Assistant Project Manager for Visual Information Services at Dover Air Force Base after starting his career as a photojournalist, working as a freelance photographer for the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, New York. William earned an MBA degree with a concentration in Marketing from Florida Atlantic University and a BFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Lindsi Glass is the Associate VP of Marketing and Branding at Coastal Carolina University (CCU). Lindsi oversees CCU marketing, which includes licensing, marketing, creative services, social media, photography and print shop. She and her team are focused on building CCU’s brand while telling the university’s stories. Prior to coming to CCU, Lindsi led the partnership activation and licensing team for Churchill Downs Racetrack. At Churchill Downs, Lindsi was responsible for the annual Kentucky Derby event mark and the popular mint julep glass. Lindsi earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Oklahoma and a master’s degree from Ball State University.
