Temple University’s live mascot, Stella, a great horned owl currently residing in the Elmwood Park Zoo, took the spotlight on a well-known holiday to marry her sweetheart. Temple partnered with the zoo to tell the tale of Stella and Sherlock—her longtime partner—in a surprise Valentine’s Day wedding event. Photos, video, graphic valentines and more were shared across Temple’s social media channels, e-newsletters and more to tell the story. After a great deal of planning, content development and cross-collaboration, the Owlentine’s Day campaign became an instant hit.
From the Judges
This was a creative idea that took advantage of a trending holiday (Valentine’s Day) and strong partnerships with other local organizations to increase the number of social media followers with a small budget. This project made good use of data on social media posts that had performed well previously to identify a campaign idea that would resonate well with the public with the continued love story of Temple’s live mascot, Stella, and her beau, Sherlock. The digital pieces that made up the Owlentine’s Day campaign—e.g., save the date, valentines , wedding day photos and highlight video and Spotify wedding reception playlist—were great, as they promoted engagement/sharing on social media. This project also benefitted from a great collaboration with a partner organization, the Elmwood Park Zoo. Good use of cross-promotions between the two organizations, with the added local tie-in of having the live mascot for the Philadelphia Eagles officiate the “ceremony.”
