THE Original Ohio University

Gameday Spirit - Ohio

Skills: Social Media Strategy, Graphic Design, Merchandise Design, Viral Marketing Strategy

In 2025, Ohio University played a match against in-state giant, Ohio State. Ultimately, we have a few rules for managing our socials. One rule is to keep it positive at all times. I saw this as an opportunity to "poke the bear" and drive unforeseen reach to our one of our smallest markets, but we needed to have tact and taste. We settled on a simple fact, Ohio University was founded first. Ohio U commonly celebrates being the first University in Ohio with the phrasing "First and Finest." We decided to spin this to allude to Ohio State's obsession with a specific article. 
Even further, this game had some history. It was the 15 Year Anniversary of when Ohio U's mascot, Rufus, sprinted 40 yards down the field to attempt a takedown on Brutus, the famed OSU mascot (a video worth the watch). This unforgettable moment gave us all the firepower we needed. We drove over 300K impressions across 3 days from an account with only 300 followers.