Hofstra University’s Office of Marketing and Communications launched #FindKW (Find Kate and Willie), a month-long campaign to hype up and tease the rebrand and relaunch of Hofstra’s beloved lion mascots, Kate and Willie Pride.
Hofstra’s mascots received a much-needed refresh – a new, bold, strong, fierce look; a drastic change from the worn-down raggedy suits that have had years of wear and tear. The mascots in their old suits were not posted on official @HofstraU social media for well over a year and had ceased all in-person engagements 6 months prior to the relaunch. The new suits needed to be built up, and not launched as a one-off piece of creative. More importantly, the buildup needed to involve and engage the Hofstra community – current students, alumni, faculty, staff, etc.
Thus, the “missing mascots” storyline was born. The ending was determined first – all this time, they’d been at Campus Recreation, working out to achieve their new look. To establish mystery and campus engagement, the rest of the campaign was broken into three phases.
Phase 1: Establish that the mascots are missing.
Phase 2: Begin the search.
Phase 3: Teasing the reveal
In addition to eight social media videos across all institutional platforms, elements also included a web page and TINT-powered UGC content board, written news articles crafted for Hofstra’s news site, campus screen messaging, missing flyers, and on-campus clues, such as paw prints and item giveaways.
Phase 1: Two social videos, messaging on campus screens, flyers, paw print “clues”, social media web page, TINT board.
Beginning with a subtle vertical video “person-on-the-street” piece, students were asked if they have seen Kate and Willie. On the same day of the first post, “clues” were strategically placed around campus – blue and gold (yellow) paw prints, Hofstra’s signature colors.
The next day, a missing graphic was pushed to screens on Hofstra’s closed-circuit network, advising the campus to share any clues with the Social Media team.
The following week, a video with Hofstra administration was released, officially announcing that the mascots were missing, including a police report with a uniformed officer putting up a missing flyer.
Hofstra Social Media placed flyers around campus to correspond with the video. A webpage was built to house the campaign including a UGC board of content powered by TINT to house all the images and posts shared by students throughout the campaign.
Phase 2: Three social videos, continued screen messaging/flyers, more paw prints, introduction of giveaway items, news story.
Phase 2 began with a “breaking news” broadcast, announcing the official launch of an investigation, concluding with Hofstra Pride Athletics head coaches discussing what their season could look like without the mascots.
The second video calls for student assistance, featuring a Hofstra’s administrator calling Hofstra’s Student Government President to rally up the student body to get everyone on the lookout. This video teased a new collection of clues – giveaway items.
A “fake” news story was crafted for the official Hofstra News site, detailing a growing concern on campus.
More flyers and paw prints were placed around campus. Screen messaging continued, and students continued to share photos of paw prints via social media, tagging @HofstraU and #FindKW.
Next, a vertical-video instructional piece, with a student athlete finding an “item clue” on one of the paw prints. This further teased the items.
The next two days, Hofstra Social Media placed giveaway items on the paw prints: custom Hofstra friendship bracelets and workout bands. Students who found the items shared Instagram stories, tagging @HofstraU and #FindKW.
Phase 3: Three social videos, continued screen messaging, Instagram stickers/GIFs, first in-person appearance by the new mascots, final reveal news story.
A video with Hofstra’s Director of Campus Recreation unphased by the mission mascots, and immediately cutting to a student finding a note in the locker room, revealing that Kate and Willie will be back by Hofstra’s annual Fall Fest weekend.
The next piece circles back to key Hofstra administration calling on the Hofstra community to be at Fall Fest.
The final reveal video corresponds with the mascots’ first public appearance at a heavily attended student event that led into Fall Fest. The video was premiered at the end of the event, leading into Kate and Willie’s on-stage reveal with a live audience reaction. The final video was shared on Hofstra Social Media after.
Completing this phase were Instagram stickers/GIFs and a final News Story on the reveal.
The social media campaign was shared across all main institutional Hofstra University social media pages (including Instagram, TikTok, X/Twitter, Threads, Facebook, LinkedIn, and all housed on YouTube. The primary engagement came from Instagram, as students were able to share their on-campus findings and were easily reshared by the main @HofstraU account. The analytics* resulted in:
Views**: 297,525
Likes: 10,761
Comments: 268
Shares: 2,409
Saves***: 224
*Analytics: Pulled as of 10/15/2024
**Views: Not including Threads
***Saves: Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok only
With an additional 30+ Instagram stories shared to @HofstraU and #FindKW by the Hofstra community.
The campaign lasted throughout the month of September 2024, and the creatives and engagement heightened the month’s average post engagement to 8.42% (including Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter, and TikTok only, not including Instagram stories).
The real success came with the Hofstra community. Following the on-stage reveal at the student event, the entire audience waited around until the end of the event to get their first picture with the new Kate and Willie Pride.
