Jonathan Matlock

Marketing Plans and Campaign Development

Auburn NIL TikTok Campaign: “Built Different – Byrum Brown x Auburn”

This project focused on developing a 30-day TikTok marketing campaign centered around Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown during the January–February transfer portal window. The objective was to leverage Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) opportunities to organically grow Auburn Football’s digital presence while strengthening fan engagement and brand equity during the offseason.

The campaign was strategically designed around four core pillars: transparency, education, community, and entertainment. Rather than relying on game-day content, the strategy emphasized behind-the-scenes storytelling, transfer portal insights, athlete lifestyle content, and interactive fan engagement tools such as duets, stitches, and Q&A features. This allowed the campaign to maintain relevance and momentum during a traditionally slower football period.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) were clearly defined to measure success. The campaign aimed to grow Byrum Brown’s TikTok following by 25% within 30 days, generate over 1 million total video views, maintain an engagement rate above 8%, and drive traffic to Auburn’s NIL inquiry page. Content was scheduled 1–2 times daily and optimized using trending audio, branded hashtags (#BuiltDifferentAuburn), high-retention hooks, and algorithm-friendly posting times.

In addition to content strategy, this project included a full keynote presentation outlining mission, SMART goals, target audience analysis, platform-specific tactics, growth strategy, monitoring plan, and budget considerations. The campaign also addressed ethical positioning, particularly in relation to NIL compliance and maintaining fan trust in an evolving sports marketing landscape.

This project demonstrates my ability to:
• Develop a structured digital marketing campaign with measurable objectives
• Align athlete branding with institutional marketing strategy
• Use platform-specific tactics to drive engagement
• Apply KPI tracking and performance optimization methods
• Integrate NIL opportunities into broader sports marketing initiatives

Overall, this campaign reflects my understanding of modern sports media trends, athlete-driven branding, and digital fan engagement strategy within collegiate athletics.