Community is the word this year. Organizations everywhere are trying to figure out how to build or become involved with communities surrounding their brands. The University of Florida it taking the 'build' approach.
This weekend UF will officially launch a community site for the Gator Nation at GoGatorNation.com. The site allows University of Florida alumni and friends from around the globe to upload photos and videos of themselves, sharing their Gator pride. There is also a discussion board for users to connect, see events, post jobs etc.
The site is currently in a soft launch now, so there are only a few photos and one video, but expect things to change over the next few days. The marketing campaign for the site begins with this weekend's football game versus Tennessee. I exchanged e-mails with Joe Hice, Associate Vice President, Public Relations & Marketing with UF earlier this week. Here's a quote from Joe:
The plan is pretty simple, our new :30 second television spot will air nationally during the Florida vs. Tennessee football game on CBS. The television spot encourages viewers "to continue the story, visit goGatorNation.com."The new ad will also begin running on the Coach's Show, rebroadcasts of the game, Gator Beat and other athletic programming on Sunshine, Jefferson Pilot and other television affiliates. It will appear during every Florida football game this season as well as on televised basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball games and other UF sporting events. The university is not charged for the placements and we estimate the overall value of this program to be in excess of $4 million.
In addition, a new :30 and :60 second radio spot will begin airing during the game. The spot is designed to cut through the clutter of most of the other radio advertising during the game and it features a UF grad who is also an astronaut trying to paint the space station orange & blue, placing a Florida bumper sticker on the shuttle and playing the Gator Fight Song back to Mission Control. Like the television spot, we also receive radio time at no charge.
The Gator Nation campaign is part of a multi-year program to re-brand the university. Joe recently appeared at the FPRA Annual Conference and spoke about the UF/Gator Nation campaign.
At the University of Florida their focus is the 'Gator Nation'. All universities produce great research and great graduates, but the one thing that UF produces that nobody else does is Gators. The 'Gator Nation' has become the focal point for their branding efforts. Luckily, UF has a sports program that gets some national TV exposure. The university can use this free promotional airtime during games to air commercials to reinforce that brand.
Visitor Comments
I really like the idea of having a community site for a university. I think UF is on the right track and will get a lot of positive attention because of the site. I'm sure other universities will soon follow in their foot steps.
As an Auburn University student, I would love for Auburn to have a site similar to GoGatorNation.com. Auburn is a university with community pride and a large sense of family. Auburn students, graduates, and faculty need a place where they can stay connected. The Auburn family is large and is spread all over the U.S. This group of people wants to be brought together and a social media site would be the way to go.
I will soon graduate and I would really enjoy a site where I could keep up with everything going on in Auburn, especially when I could be across the globe.
Posted by: Kristin | September 17, 2006 5:35 PM
Josh,
This is very interesting to me. I am currently interning at the Auburn Alumni Association and they are beginning a re-branding of the association. They are looking at new ways to make the brand grow and make more people want to join. The goal is to essentially get people to want to join instead of begging them for their money. This campaign by the University of Florida is right on track in my opinion. Focusing on connecting the alumni in a new, more high tech way it will open the door for so many graduates to re-connect. I think that if more organizations took this "building" approach they would be very satisfied with the outcome.
Posted by: Michelle P | September 17, 2006 9:48 PM
The University of Florida definitely understands how to strengthen and build a "community." This website is an outstanding idea that will be certain to launch a positive campaign for University of Florida. If all universities developed a community website for alumni and students to post pictures, jobs, resumes, etc. it not only would gain respect from alums and students, but would also receive positive attention in their communication/promotion aspect of maintaining a "family."
During the UF vs. Tennessee game this past Saturday, their marketing campaign was launched and noticed by all who watched the game and saw the advertisements promoting the site. Other universities that desire to strengthen alumni-student relations should be getting on the ball and studying UF's design and campaign plan behind the community website. The University of Florida has definitely set a standard with this website and deserve postitive attention from not only other universities, but the entire industry world. Congratulations on this achievement UF!
Josh thanks for your insights on this topic- you've cleared up some questions on this website!
Posted by: Hayley | September 17, 2006 11:16 PM
The concept behind UF's community-oriented Web site is a good one. Too bad they didn't think through the whole "Gator Nation" and new logo though... It's constantly being dogged here on campus as a joke.
Posted by: Richard | September 18, 2006 11:00 AM
To build community amongst alumni, fans, and students, you must have more than just photos and video. The audience is easy to catch if you give them content. With a gigantic alumni base and an even larger fan base, Florida fans are starving for content about the university, or at least its football team.
It's a good idea to get people involved by making their own video. Goodness knows Auburn fans groan every time we see one of our "War Eagle" commercials. We really do say it, but the commercials make it seem so cheesy. That's the danger I see here.
The orange and blue nuggets fact sheet highlighted points of pride for the university. Without a doubt, it confirmed UF's establishment as a leading university. Instilling a sense of pride is the first step toward gaining a following and active participation.
It might be a good idea to have an online newsroom where people could post links to stories about UF. That would truly give a national feel to the web site. Often, we at Auburn find our favorite quotes from articles from columnists from other towns that visit the area.
Posted by: Courtney | September 19, 2006 10:21 PM