unforgettable: transforming commencement into an interactive experience (poster session presentation...

#CongratagradNYU

Unforgettable: Transforming Commencement into an Interactive Experience

Background

#CongratagradNYU is an integrated, one-day campaign conducted during New York University’s Commencement Exercises.

As a global university, our goal was to create an immersive and interactive experience at our largest event for all students, faculty, family, and friends, regardless of their location.

How it works

The #CongratagradNYU campaign spans all major social platforms, focusing on Twitter and Instagram.

During Commencement, the NYU community is encouraged to use #CongratagradNYU.

Photos, tweets, and posts are aggregated and displayed on the Jumbotrons at Yankee Stadium.

Challenges

• Providing canned messages for community members to use to promote content sharing

• Utilizing the best tool and API for managing #CongratagradNYU stream

• Defining metrics and collecting data points across all social platforms

• Maintaining relationship with venue in order to ensure seamless campaign execution

Growth and Progression

We approached the first year of #CongratagradNYU with the idea of “surprise and delight”, and delivered it as an in-the-moment activity.

We adjusted our strategy to include key student leaders, schools, alumni, and the 200+ social media managers in the University community to create more buzz and opportunity for collaboration.

In its first year, #CongratagradNYU gained nearly 1 million Twitter impressions and over 1000 custom NYU badges were claimed on Foursquare.

Since engaging our larger social media community, our campaign has grown to 2.3 million impressions per event.

#CongratagradNYU has trended nationally on Twitter two years in a row (2014, 2015).

#CongratagradNYU has become a New York University tradition, and one our community expects and looks forward to with each graduating class.

Shorty Awards Finalist

#CongratagradNYU was a finalist in the Eighth Annual Shorty Award for Best in Education in 2015.

2013• 916,900 Twitter impressions

• “Surprise & delight” strategy

• Platform: Tagboard

2014• 1,932,807 Twitter impressions

• Trended nationally on Twitter

• Engaged NYU’s Social Media Ambassadors

• Created webpage to house info year-round

• Platform: Tagboard

2015• 2,213,376 Twitter impressions• Trended nationally on Twitter• Engaged key speakers, student reps, alumni• Platform: Tagboard

2016• 3,000,000 Twitter impressions• Snapchat: 7,532 uses of custom filter, nearly 285,000 views• Created VIP list to greenlight posts from

schools and units• Platform: Zoomph

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

3,500,000

2013 2014 2015 2016

Twitter Impressions & Reach

Twitter- Impressions Twitter- EstimatedReach

Snapchat

7,532 uses of two custom filters

285,000 views

Available for two hours at Yankee Stadium