"We celebrated homecoming with a project inspired by two “hall of fame” social posts: a beloved, hand-drawn, satirical map of campus from the 1930s and a hand-drawn grad cap design from a recent grad. The original map was one of the most successful social posts of the year in 2020, so we believed there was an appetite to create a new one.
Alumna Rebekah Hilton was commissioned to create a modern version of the map. An announcement was included in the weekly email newsletter and on our social channels that we were recreating the old map. Alumni were invited to share ideas for what should be included in the map. Hilton’s designs incorporated more than 30 suggestions from our community. The map was released the Monday of homecoming week on the alumni association social channels and amplified across channels.
The map’s email open rate was 5% higher than the annual average and the click-through rate was 15% higher and made up for 60% of the total traffic for homecoming. The map had 141% more impressions than our annual average and 129% more engagements than our annual average."
From the Judges
Cute idea. Making it a treasure map was especially creative. Great idea that engages alumni and current students both in the lead-up and afterward. Nice connection to nostalgia while not being all about the past. Said one judge, “I see a T-shirt in the making!”
