"Feed Your Growl" Gator Campaign Unveiled
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 | Football
Get ready Gator fans - Sun Sports is unveiling an exciting and fresh multi-media advertising campaign this week promoting the network's long-running Sunday morning “Breakfast with the Gators” programming. What viewers may not realize is that the entire campaign was designed and developed not by a traditional ad agency, but by UF students.
Fresh, entertaining, high-quality, and fun – all words that describe the campaign that includes a series of story-telling TV spots, radio, print and outdoor. The students delivered what Sun Sports and FOX executives call “imaginative, targeted and effective.”
Consisting of both outdoor and on-air promotional creative, the “Feed Your Growl” campaign begins this week and will run year-round on Sun Sports and can also be seen on billboards in Tampa, Orlando and Gainesville.
Gator fans and members of the media are invited to visit www.fsncreativeuniversity.com to see the three finished TV spots and learn more about the “Feed Your Growl” campaign with a special “behind the scenes” video feature.
Sun Sports launched Creative University with the University of Florida in the fall of 2008, when executives presented the program to students of UF's College of Journalism & Communications. Specific to Sun Sports, UF students, as part of their curriculum, were invited to create an integrated media and advertising campaign that tied in with the network's popular Sunday morning “Breakfast with the Gators” sports programming lineup. The winning team's concept would become Sun Sports' “Breakfast with the Gators” outdoor, radio, print and on-air campaign.
With the assistance of John Sutherland, professor and chair for UF's Department of Advertising, and Professor Robyn Goodman, advertising students were given a Creative Brief and specific deliverables – including print and on-air promotions - to assist them in their campaign development. Allotted just a few weeks to formulate a suitable campaign, teams presented their final concepts to Sun Sports with the winning team and concept selected in April.
The students came up with “Feed Your Growl” as the campaign theme. With the help of Urban Legends Entertainment, a creative boutique in Los Angeles, the campaign footage was shot at a home in Orlando in early May 2009.
Students on the team:
Christina Burnham - Originally from Fort Walton Beach, Fla., Christina will graduate in the Spring of 2010 with a B.S. of Advertising and B.A. of Sociology from the University of Florida. After graduation, it is her ultimate goal to work as a creative in an advertising agency and says she is inspired by innovative design, clever communication and a fresh approach to advertising.
Ashley Bowden - Originally from Jacksonville, Fla., Ashley will graduate from UF in the Spring of 2010 with a B.S. in Advertising and minors in Art History and Education. Upon graduation, she plans to pursue a job either at an advertising agency within the creative department or continue her education at a portfolio school.
Rachel Eichenbaum - Born and raised a Gator, Rachel is a passionate fan of Gator sports. Having graduated in May 2009, Rachel will remember game days in The Swamp as the glorious moments of her college experience. Equipped with a Bachelor of Science in Advertising, Rachel will continue to pursue a career in copywriting.
Shane Fryer - Originally from Coconut Creek, Fla., Shane will graduate with a B.S. in Advertising from the University of Florida in 2010. Upon graduation, his goal is to work as a creative in an advertising agency. For the “Breakfast with the Gators” campaign, he officially served as an art director, but was also heavily involved with the copy-writing process.
Kim Oquindo - A fourth-year senior at the UF, Kim will graduate in December of 2009 with a Bachelors of Science in Advertising and minor in Business Administration. After graduation, she plans to enter graduate school for International Business and aspires to be a brand manager working with international clients.
Hanna Palmer - Originally from Jacksonville, Fla., Hanna is an Advertising major at the University of Florida with an outside concentration in Business Administration. Hanna will graduate in May 2010 and plans to pursue a career in music marketing. Her past creative work experience includes production and music promotion.
Alli Schnur - Originally from the "beautiful city of St. Pete" in Florida, Alli will graduate this fall 2009 with a B.S. in Advertising from UF. Her past internship experience included a marketing position with Alachua County. This summer she plans on working with an advertising agency in Tampa.
Andrea Simon - As an aspiring art director graduating in May 2009, her dream is to obtain a job at a prestigious advertising agency in New York City. Before becoming a Gator, her younger years were spent growing up in Coral Springs, Fla. Within this past year, she led the winning group for Zimmerman Advertising Agency's UF competition to launch the 2009 Nissan Cube.
As part of an overall inaugural program, specific to Fox regional sports networks and their respective local universities, Creative University was developed to enhance team partnerships and reinforce a commitment to the local communities. The multi-tiered platform extends the educational experience beyond the classroom by marrying future sports professionals with real industry experience. In Florida, the program provided UF students with a unique opportunity to create a season-long Gator football campaign specific to Sun Sports.
Creative University is currently active in Florida and Los Angeles, where FOX Sports West partnered with USC and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to create their “We Put You in the Game” campaign. Coming soon will be projects with FOX Sports Arizona and Arizona State University, FOX Sports South with the University of No rth Carolina and FOX Sports Southwest with the University of Oklahoma.
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