The Wisdom of Joe

First joe maddon '76...

helped the Chicago Cubs face down 108 years of history, leading them to an epic World Series victory. Then he reveled in the win with five million deliriously happy fans. Now this Lafayette alum was heading back to College Hill to celebrate.

The Challenge

The Communications division was tasked with shining the spotlight on this fortunate connection, including:

• Raising Lafayette’s visibility and profile regionally and nationally through our affiliation with Maddon and the accomplishments and values for which he’s known

• Highlighting Maddon's public affirmation of Lafayette, especially his appreciation for the impact the college and our brand of liberal arts education had on his life

• Engaging current and future students, encouraging alumni donors, and engendering pride in the college community by celebrating Maddon’s winning ways and his connections with Lafayette.

The work

I developed the concept of a web article using Maddon's iconic phrases which highlighted his wit, wisdom and interdisciplinary approach to the game and life. The piece also encouraged prospective students to apply and alumni to engage.

• Coordinating with our social media manager, the article's 'Maddonisms' were used as seven individual social media posts which linked to the article.  

• We created a series of digital ads using Maddon's own phrase, “Lafayette was the best thing that ever happened to me.” These also linked to the web article and ran online in the Chicago Tribune and 20 additional geomarkets (targeted to both enrollment and alumni efforts) through Google AdWords.

• When the Cubs won the World Series, we ran similarly-themed print ads in the Chicago and Philadelphia markets.

• Maddon agreed to work with us in support of the President's Challenge, the goal of which is to grow financial aid and start Lafayette on the path to achieving need-blind admissions. I worked with the editorial and video team to develop concepts. The resulting Challenge shows who can flip a better pancake. 

the results

• A historic World Series win (although the college isn't taking much credit for that.)

• Chicago Tribune online ads:
  - Nearly 294,000 impressions
  - 1,197 click-throughs
  - 42% server click through rate

• Google AdWords campaign (targeted to geographic locations and specific interests) resulted in nearly 700,000 impressions and 2,798 click-throughs