It’s All About Recruits

by Dorn Martell

“We have 365 days of recruiting to do and we have thirty days to do it.”

Those were the marching orders we received, two days into the thirty-day recruiting window, from the University of Miami Athletic Department. New head Coach Al Golden had replaced beleaguered Head Coach Randy Shannon and was on a mission to build next year’s team – FAST!

The solution was a surgical strike, e-mail blast program, targeting the best High School players in the country. Each day prospective players would receive a new e-mail highlighting one of the many benefits of becoming a Hurricane. Our messages were short and simple, geared perfectly to students who are not impressed with long copy and old school communications.

The final blast of the program led prospects to BeACane.com, an interactive micro-site developed by Tinsley in just two weeks. At BeACane.com prospective players can opt-in by uploading a photo, entering their name, and choosing a number. The site then generates a composite image of the student wearing a Miami Hurricane uniform with their number of choice.

Signing day was a huge success! The Canes signed 16 new recruits, including eight who had committed to other schools and switched to Miami. “Gionna Paul probably is our favorite [story],” Miami coach Al Golden said. “He went from not wanting to talk to us to getting a “U” tattoo.” What could be a greater measure of success than getting your target audience to wear your brand for life!

For more details click here.

Look for more on the viral success of BeACane.com in the coming weeks.

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