OPPORTUNITY
With nearly 20,000 living alumni in the Chicagoland area, The University of Michigan sought the opportunity to engage with them through retail to recreate the Ann Arbor experience in their hometown.
Strategy
Develop an identity that encapsulates the essence of Michigan. Execute a pop-up shop during the summer while residents are out of school, and before football starts to play off of the anticipation of a new season. Replicate the feeling of familiarity with The M Den by developing an experiential shopping destination featuring brand-forward concept shops from top licensees. Provide unique, event-focused product designs to generate excitement and a “had to be there” mentality of the shopper. Use organic and paid media to communicate the exclusivity of the event to generate awareness and foot traffic.
Results
The campaign and storefront generated an immense amount of buzz, thus generating sales, impressions, and engagement at a high level. Over the course of six weeks, the paid search generated a 24% click-thru rate, which is 30% higher than average in the collegiate industry. And, paid social generated almost 1M impressions, more than tripling the goal. This is largely due to the targeting strategy and content delivered specifically to Chicagoland-based Michigan alumni and fans. Selling out of event-specific product on the first day of the event, sales did not slow down throughout the weekend, totally more than $165,000 in three days.