Rutgers Athletics

Thank You Advertising Campaign

Media Planning and Buying

With a new coach and a renewed energy, Rutgers Athletics looked to launch a new brand effort for a football team that needed to build this excitement across the state of New Jersey.

Billboards are the go-to media tactic for college athletics, especially football. They mean much more than just a poster trying to sell you tickets. They’re a source of so many things, from inciting pride to marking recruiting territory to generating competition that just means more for this category.

On the brink of launching the campaign, billboards were to play a pivotal role in a state always on the road – from the NJ Parkway and Turnpike to the local Garden State backroads. Then in a matter of a few days, it was completely irrelevant due to the pandemic and orders to stay home.

Launching with the above spot produced by their in-house team, Spitball quickly was able to pivot and reach our fans with a media strategy that this category doesn’t play heavily in – TV. Our media planning jumped on undervalued opportunities such as the NFL Draft and Last Dance before they became the hottest media commodity in ad inventory, while launching their first Hulu campaign to reach streamers. Our ability to adapt and turn on media quickly helped maximize budget and “drive” messages to our at-home audience.

The campaign drove an increase in fan sentiment during an unlikely time.