Jayme Blaschke | July 17, 2023
The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) has recognized Texas State University’s Division of Marketing and Communications with two Gold Circle of Excellence Awards for 2023.
The Division of Marketing and Communications was honored in the Communications/Communications Initiatives category for “Introducing TXST’s New University President,” and in the Special Events/In-Person – Multi-Day Events category for “Wear NEXT Fashion Upcycling.”
The division designed “Introducing TXST’s New University President” to help build trust, credibility and goodwill for new president Kelly Damphousse, who joined Texas State in April 2022. The team created a range of multi-channel content to help build his personal brand on campus as an authentic, positive and approachable servant leader who connects with today’s students. Over several months, the team developed content tailored to the university’s Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube accounts.
This effort resulted in an engaged audience that watched more than 2,100 hours of content. The content also garnered more than 54,000 likes and hundreds of comments, shares and saves.
The CASE judges wrote, “This was an innovative way to showcase the new president. It was an impressive roll-out. A great use of social media. A true showing of personality with great constituent engagement.”
“Wear NEXT Fashion Upcycling” was conceived as a brand campaign that took into account the sustainability concerns of Gen Z. University Marketing partnered with an alumni-run screen printing business for the “Wear NEXT” fashion upcycling events. Over a two-week period, students’ old clothes and surplus t-shirts from partnering departments were gathered and had new TXST NEXT designs live-screen printed on them for free. During the campaign, 553 shirts and other items were printed which generated 95,235 social media impressions, 45,078 video views and 1,345 engagements across various social channels.
The CASE judges wrote, “The panel felt this entry was very creative and applauds Texas State University for the emphasis on sustainability and upcycling. The university embraced the student body’s desire to feel unique and be seen and engaged as individuals—reinforcing the important role each individual plays in the success of the university and their belonging in a broader community. The judges felt that this concept could be easily adopted by other institutions, with the flexibility to alter the expression to suit their specific communities and opportunities.”
The premier accolades for educational advancement, the Circle of Excellence Awards recognize colleges, universities and schools whose talented staff advanced their institutions with ingenuity and resourcefulness. In 2023, teams from 583 institutions in nearly 22 countries entered the awards, submitting 4,021 entries. The awards’ 96 categories span all advancement disciplines, from magazines and publications to fundraising campaigns and alumni initiatives, to special events, marketing, leadership, video and more.
For more information, visit the 2023 Circle of Excellence Awards winners.
For more information, contact University Communications:Jayme Blaschke, 512-245-2555 Sandy Pantlik, 512-245-2922 |
