Our presentation for CCU Athletics

1. CCU Athletics:
Marketing Proposal
Amy Edison
CJ Root
Jeff Brubaker
John Alderman
Rebecca Harper
Zac Pollard

2. 1
Table of Contents
Situational Analysis 2
Situational Analysis Appendix 3
Branding Plan 5
Event Plan 10
Event Planning Appendix 14
Social Media Plan 17
Social Media Appendix 22
Website Plan 24
Sustainability Plan 27

3. 2
Situational Analysis of CCU Athletics
To understand how to best support continual growth, it is essential to capture a snapshot of the
current strengths and weaknesses, and also the current opportunities and threats of the CCU
Athletics department. This analysis will help give the department an idea of what to continue,
what things may be hurting or hindering them, and of what to consider implementing.
Strengths:
● The athletes- the athletes selected to
represent CCU are an incredible
group of Christ-loving, passionate,
community-based students
● Strong athlete culture- the athletes
love their teams
● Comprehensive social media
presence- they are on all the right
social media sites already
● Athletes that win- some athletic
teams/ individuals win their
competitions which draws fans
● Tightly knit teams- athletes have
close relationships with their
teammates
● Team mission trips- spread the love
of Christ while deepening
relationships with team members and
showcasing their faith
● Athlete’s retreat/ early move in- the
teams get to know each other before
the year even really begins
● High-quality photographs- there are
professional-grade photographs taken
of the athletes (great for marketing,
etc.)
Weaknesses:
● No fan culture- the fans are not
considered part of the athletic
department
● Low funding- the restrictive funds
allotted make it hard to expand
● Athletes that lose- some teams are
known for their losing streaks which
does not draw fans
● Athletes do not branch out- lowers
game attendance and school unity
● Athlete’s retreat/ early move in- the
teams already feel as though they
have friends (only other athletes) and
thus do not venture beyond their
teammates, and the culture of
separation is worsened
● How athletes are perceived- as
worse students, as partiers, as those
who do not care much about their faith
● Administrative athletic positions
rotate frequently- some of the most
important jobs are fulfilled by graduate
students who will be there for a
maximum of two years
Opportunities:
● New traditions- including the Cougar
Walk, announcing 6th Man into the
game, “Cougar’s out of the Den,” etc.
● New freshmen class each year- and
new opportunities to establish a new
culture
● Uniting the teams and the students
could speak to Christ- visiting
schools would notice if the student
body acted as one unit, and supported
each other well
● Individual highlight videos on
Threats:
● Current CCU culture- which is
divisive of athletes and nonathletes
● Competitive athletic industry- high-
skill athletes may choose to attend a
different university
● Athletics is not a priority in the
minds of many leaders at CCU- this
may affect budgets, the number of
teams, the players the teams can
recruit, etc.
● Heavily regulated process for
events- due to all of the formal steps

4. 3
social media- tell their stories of how
they came to Christ, got to CCU,
started playing sports, how they love
their fans, etc.
● Ask the theology department for
devotionals- they have expressed
high interest in writing them for team
devotional times, and it would unite
the two greatly
● #WeAreCCU- backing the newfound
CCU brand that promotes the idea
that everyone is a part of one body
and registrations necessary to
coordinate events, it is incredibly
difficult to add events for fans
● Lack of staff- may make it hard to
coordinate all the details of everything
that needs to be organized beyond the
basics
● Resistance to change- changing the
brand of the athletics department may
be difficult due to this
Situational Analysis Appendix
Last semester, a group of students in the Marketing Research course found the following
statistics about athletics at CCU:
Table 1:
*Support includes: from students, administration, and financing

5. 4
Table 2:
*School Spirit includes: events and entertainment, attendance and support, player/fan unity, and
fan gear

6. 5
Branding Plan
Outlined below are the following objectives and proposals for athletics’ branding at Colorado
Christian University. The goal of this portion of the marketing project is to draft a process for
creating a new brand image for CCU Athletics. We want to use this part of our marketing
proposal to outline the need for a new brand, as well as suggest different ways to implement
this plan in athletics and beyond. We will start by highlighting the goals and objectives of the
branding plan and then transition into specific idea and suggestions for future branding projects.
Overarching Goals & Objectives
● Create a clear and distinct brand for CCU Athletics.
● Launch a new branding plan that will use a multi-platform strategy:
○ Social Media
○ Events
○ Multi-Party Involvement:
■ CCU Athletics
■ CCU 6th Man
■ CCU Student Activities
■ CCU Academic Schools
● Use new brand as a way to unite the different departments at CCU.
● Future Goals
○ Promote brand through more videos.
○ Strategize a team by team brand renewal based on research unique to each
sports team at CCU.
■ Work with Marketing 310 for this research effort.
○ Incorporate different CCU groups under the brand:
■ Music
■ Theater
■ Debate, etc.
● End Goals
○ Create a brand that works to unite the student body and athletics.
Brand Vision

7. 6
Create a brand that seeks to dissolve old prejudices and misconceptions related to CCU
athletes and the athletic department. We want this brand to work as a unifying factor in bringing
students and athletes together. We see that this brand can work in connection to social media
and event planning. We also believe that this brand can be adapted to become a multi-
departmental brand at CCU.
Social Media
Goals and Objectives:
● Utilize various platforms to drive viewers to different athletic games and events
○ Easy to read/view content and posts that tie athletic events back to the
overarching theme of “We are CCU”.
● Create personal engagement via social media where students can interact with each
other and the event staff.
○ Creating a place where all of CCU’s unique social circles can interact with one
another under a common goal of supporting athletics.
Proposal:
Our main concern is creating content to unite the student body in a way where they feel like they
are an integral part of CCU. Specifically, utilizing social media to not only promote the events
but giving students a sense of unity and identity under the brand “We are CCU.” This can be
done a variety of ways:
Employing various social media platforms for diverse needs:
● Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter
○ Each platform serves a distinct purpose for the brand
■ Snapchat allows students to watch quick videos of basketball highlights or
hear players give a quick shoutout to the fans furthering the goal to unite
everyone under the same roof.
■ Instagram is heavily used by college students. CCU Activities has over
1,000 followers. With a broad reach of students, promoting events with
the Hashtag #WeAreCCU has potential to have a high turnout from
students. Furthermore, the crossover between Snapchat stories and
Instagram stories will further solidify the message in students’ minds.
■ Facebook is still utilized by the vast majority of students. Students are a
part of various Facebook groups across campus. By using all of them, a
wide variety of students will be reached. (i.e., CCU Class of 2018, CCU
Memes, CCU Athletics).
■ Twitter should share scores and highlights from events and games.
Hashtags are also extremely prevalent; #WeareCCU should be easily
recognizable among students.
Using Social Media to give students a voice:
● Platforms like Instagram allow users to vote on various questions.
○ Utilizing this capability to gather feedback on events:

8. 7
■ Voting on which student and athlete best exemplified the “We are CCU”
brand this week.
■ Voting on what their favorite event of the month was.
○ Encouraging students to DM the various social media outlets on what they think
and their thoughts on the effectiveness of “We are CCU”.
Events
Goals and Objectives:
● Using the “We Are CCU” brand behind every major event:
○ Creating an atmosphere that ties back to campus unity.
○ Regardless if it is a music or athletic event, no one should feel out of place. Every
student makes CCU what it is- it does not matter what they are involved in.
● Fostering a sense of community through on-campus events directly related to various
facets of CCU.
○ In this case, uniting the entire campus around a basketball related event that
makes everyone feel they identify with the “we” in “We are CCU”.
○ These events further push the brand that everyone is a part of CCU, and we are
all responsible for supporting each other within the CCU community.
Proposal: We are witnesses to the comradery and school spirit that stems from athletics and the
events surrounding them. Although we acknowledge that students have various interests, we
see athletic events as an opportunity to unite the entire university by making them feel a part of
the game. Furthermore, it makes them feel like they encompass the “We are CCU” through
these various ways:
Events rooted in the “We are CCU” slogan:
● Always tying back to the idea that all students make CCU what it is.
○ Emphasis that this ties back to the overarching theme of one CCU.
■ Giving away shirts and t-shirts that do not exclusively say basketball but
rather “We are CCU.” Make the clear distinction that basketball does not
equal one CCU, rather it is merely one component of it.
● “We are CCU” Pre-Game Events:
○ Emphasis on students’ role in the game
■ Pump up videos showing fans going crazy when the team responds.
■ Videos of the team explaining how CCU fans enhance their performance
and how thankful they are.
● 6th Man involvement to help students understand that home court
advantage is a real thing.
○ It does not matter if fans are athletic, the team needs them.
○ Gives the students a sense that they are part of the team.
■ Athletes are often seen as a separate sect of CCU. This gives an
opportunity for all students to come together and be a part of something
special.

9. 8
■ Fosters the sense that people may come from different backgrounds, but
all unite as one school.
○ Partnering with other facets of CCU to be a part of these events. i.e., CCU
activities, CCU 6th Man, individuals under the umbrella of Athletics (e.g., athletes
in other sports).
■ As many social circles as possible should be present.
■ Utilizing the reach of these various facets is imperative.
● “We are CCU” Post-Game Events:
○ Provides a unique opportunity for students to connect with athletes on a personal
level.
○ Breaks down the stigma that athletes do not care about students and vice versa.
○ Encouraging conversations between students via giveaways or having coaches
bring their teams out to thanks the fans after the game.
○ Creates the opportunity for all students to feel welcome. Athletes included.
○ These events can come in many forms:
■ Dances
■ Games in Anschutz Student Center
■ Ice cream or pizza in the gym
Future Plans
Team Specific Branding Initiative
● Work with Marketing 310 (Marketing Research) to identify what exactly CCU students,
staff, and faculty think about the different sports teams at CCU. This will allow you to
develop an individual approach to event planning, social media, and branding that will
better serve the goal of uniting the athletes and the students.
Monthly Meetings with Departments
● Open floor forum where various department heads can highlight what is going on in their
department. I.e., Christmas concerts, rivalry basketball game, etc.
○ This also allows all the departments to get on the same page with the “We are
CCU” brand. First, start in the athletic department, getting the coaches on board
and then move beyond that into other departments.
● Develop plans on how to support one another using the previously learned info on
various events.
○ Gives an opportunity for departments that do not work closely together to
collaborate on ways they can draw attention to each other’s major events.
○ I.e., using the CCU Basketball Instagram page to let students know that the
basketball team will be going to the school play on Thursday night.
○ I.e., sharing Google Calendar invitations to specific events that a department is
hosting.
Monthly “Spotlight” Events

10. 9
● Each month there should be a specific focus on one major event from a different CCU
department.
○ Note: Other events will be brought to students attention via word of mouth, SMM,
chapel. This is merely an opportunity to create a substantial amount of buzz
around various events on a monthly basis throughout the year that all
encompass the “We are CCU” brand.
○ There is an added focus on the marketing aspect of these events utilizing various
platforms such as CCU Activities Instagram page, CCU TV, 6th Man
announcements in chapel, etc.
● This is an opportunity for students/faculty to watch the entire campus rally around one
event.
○ This brings a sense of community back to campus where various social circles
are all present.
Semester Follow-Up Meetings:
● Open floor forum where all departments have an opportunity to voice how they feel the
semester went.
○ Note: not everyone will be pleased 100% of the time, but in order to make
everyone feel apart of the CCU brand, they need to feel that their voice is heard.
● Opportunity to reflect on what events went well.
○ Celebrate the ways we are supporting each other and difference we made on our
campus.
○ Brings a sense of comradery (e.g., we did this together as “One CCU”).
● Opportunity to reflect on what events need more work in the future.
○ Acknowledging what we can do better, and rallying everyone around the idea
that we are always improving CCU and making it more cohesive.

11. 10
Event Plan
Outlined below are the following objectives and proposals for athletic events at Colorado
Christian University. The goal of this portion of the marketing project is to describe how to
improve pre-game, in-game, and post-game events for a better all-around experience for the
student, while trying to implement new traditions at CCU. We will start by highlighting the
overarching goals and objectives for the athletic events and then transition into specific idea and
suggestions for future events.
Overarching Goals & Objectives
● Create an event that has a turnout greater than 25% of the on-campus students (150-
200 people).
○ Focus on reaching on-campus freshmen and sophomores.
● Create an event where each department is working together to help clarify roles:
○ 6th Man
○ Athletic Events and Work Staff
○ University Programming Council
○ Cheer Team
● Improve the pregame event/rally/tailgate for Athletic events:
○ Food, Environment, Videos, & Traditions
● Connect athletes to students and vice versa.
● Create a post-game event in the gym where students can interact with athletes.
● Future Goals
○ Increase the average student attendance at CCU Athletic Events to 150
students.
○ Increase total concession sales.
○ Create traditions that CCU students can participate in for years to come.
● End Goal
○ Increase the student attendance average at athletic events

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Events Vision
Create exciting, affordable, and duplicatable pre-game, in-game, and post-game events that will
bridge the gap between athletes and students, promote athletics, and clarify roles for every
department involved so that student attendance at athletic events will increase.
Pre-Game
Goals & Objectives:
● Improve the average student attendance and experience at pre-game events
such as tailgates or rallies for athletic events.
○ This will be a direct result of improving the social-media presence, the
implementation of traditions, and bridging the gap between athletes and
students.
● Use the pre-game event to unify the students under the 6th Man and assure
game attendance.
● Create pre-game traditions that the student body (6th Man) can carry on:
○ Cougar Walk
○ Flag Ceremony
Proposal:
Our main focus for the pregame event is to allow a fun and exciting place for all students to
come and walk over to the athletic event together. To achieve this, we believe it is best to
incorporate the following ideas:
● ASC Rally:
○ Place the event on the top floor of ASW.
■ We actually may suggest hosting this in the athlete’s weight room to
eliminate one of the hurdles in planning the rally.
○ Start the event in between the two games.
○ If possible, offer free snacks (usually too close to dinner to provide food).
○ Cheer team takes charge of making posters and school spirit.
○ Recruit “Cougar Captains” to lead cheers with the cheerleaders.
■ “Cougar Captain’s” pick a group of “Cougar Cubs” to train up for the next
generation of spirit leaders.
● Implementation of Traditions:
○ Cougar Is Out Of The Den
■ Social-Media
● 6th Man, Athletics, and Activities
○ Flag Tradition
■ Cheer Team
○ Cougar Walk
■ 6th Man and Cheer Team
○ ‘6th Man Announced Into Game
■ Athletics

13. 12
Proposal (Future Plans):
● Under the goal of uniting the different departments at CCU and bridging the gap
between athletics and other groups, we propose a few specific events and traditions to
assist this goal in continuation of this marketing project.
○ Book students from the School of Music to sing the National Anthem before the
games.
■ This can be for ALL sports, not just basketball!
○ Connect with professors from the School of Theology to work with chaplains or
pray before games.
○ Brand freshman as “Cougar Cubs” and teach them the traditions through
“Cougar Captains.”
○ Connect certain sounds and songs to plays during the game:
■ “Jump” for a jump ball in basketball.
■ “This Is How We Do It” for a good play.
In-Game
Goals and Objectives:
● Create an environment that is entertaining and energetic.
● Boost student attendance by an average of 25%.
● Prepare and promote in-game traditions to carry out throughout the year and in future
years.
● Prepare and promote in-game events and games for fans and students to participate in,
giving them another incentive to come and helping to create the engaging environment
we are seeking.
Proposal:
Our primary concern for the in-game planning is to ensure that we are creating a fun and
engaging environment that keeps fans and students entertained regardless of how our team is
performing. We believe we can create this type of environment through the following avenues:
● Half-Time Games:
○ Create a list of roughly ten games to be played during half-time.
○ Rotate through this list every game so that new games are being played during
every homestand.
○ Play about two games per half-time, dependent on timing and cheer team
involvement.
● Time-Out Cheers:
○ Keep the energy up during time-out with interactive cheers.
■ Cheer team to lead or designate Cougar Captain's.

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● Interactive Music:
○ Keep the energy alive and active throughout the entirety of game with a selection
of interactive music.
■ Songs that the Cougar and fans can dance to
■ Songs that the Cheer team can dance to
■ Songs that pump up the crowd
■ Songs that correlate to plays made before the time-out
Proposal (Future Plans):
● Benchmark University of Minnesota raffle for $500-$1000 dollars that goes towards a
student's tuition.
○ Announce the winner at the end of the 3rd quarter.
○ Find donors who can write it off on their taxes.
Post-Game
Goals and Objectives:
● Create an event that allows athletes to come out after games and interact with fellow
students. This will enable students to recognize who the athletes are and give them an
environment to interact with them.
● Close out the weekend of games with an event of some kind after the game.
● Create more student and athlete interaction.
● Promote the together “We Are CCU” brand.
Proposal:
Our main focus with the post-game is that the athletes are interacting with students after the
game when students appreciation and admiration are peaking. We want athletes to be praised
at this event while giving them an opportunity to thank everyone specifically who showed up to
their game.
Suggestions:
● Dance in the Gym
● Festival in the Parking Lot
● Movie Night
● Party in ASC
● Party in Leprino
○ Free Food is a must
Events Appendix

15. 14
We conducted research at a volleyball tailgate before the first home game. We asked a series of
students at the event a series of questions to get a better grasp and understanding of what
students are looking for in a pre-game event. Results are as follows:
Table 1 - Volleyball Tailgate:
Table 2 - Volleyball
Tailgate:

16. 15
Table 3 - Volleyball Tailgate:
Table 4 - Volleyball Tailgate:

17. 16
Table 5 - Volleyball Tailgate:

18. 17
Social Media Plan
Outlined below are our simple objectives and proposals for CCU Athletics’ various social media
platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter). The goal of this portion of our
marketing project is to clearly define where CCU Athletics’ social media has room to grow and
ways to achieve this growth. We will start with some overarching objectives for the social media
campaign, identify a clear vision, and then move into individual outlines for each platform before
concluding with final suggestions and proposals.
Overarching Goals & Objectives
● Increase following on all platforms by 10 - 15% (dependent on the platform).
○ Focus on reaching out to freshmen and students living on-campus.
● Create templates to use for EACH platform.
○ Making posts on each platform unique, yet consistent.
● Create a schedule for posting throughout the week outside of game days.
● Make use of more multi-media options on all platforms.
○ Mix of pictures, videos, special effects, etc.
● Future Goals
○ Connect the multiple accounts at CCU.
○ Open a clear communication channel between all platforms.
○ Ensure that there is complimentary posting, not repeat posting.
○ Create a shared folder of pictures that 6th Man, Student Activities, Admissions,
etc. can use.
● End Goal
○ Increase the following of athletics at CCU, but, more importantly, see that growth
transition into in-game attendance.
Social Media Vision
Use the CCU Athletics social media platforms as a tool to promote the athletes while bridging
the gap between athletes, students, and professors through engaging content, unique to each
platform, and consistent posting.

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Snapchat
Goals and Objectives:
● Increase following on this platform by 10%.
○ This increase should stem from people following us on Instagram, Facebook, and
Twitter.
■ Through posts and bios, we can direct people to Snapchat.
○ Again, mainly target freshmen and on-campus students.
● Use Snapchat not only to highlight athletic events but also allow students to get to know
the players and the teams.
○ Schedule team/player takeovers on certain days.
Proposal:
Our primary focus for the platform of Snapchat is to allow students to see the events and the
athletes, creating the desire to come to games, as well as creating a following for athletics. We
can form this desire in viewers in a couple of different ways:
● Before the Game:
○ Highlight player/team preparations throughout the week:
■ At practice
■ In the gym
○ Schedule Snapchat takeovers.
■ Connected to “hyping” up big games and events
○ Allow viewers to get to know CCU athletics outside of games:
■ Takeovers
■ Q & As
○ Highlight “Game Day Traditions” posts.
■ Promote the new tradition of “The Cougar’s Out of the Den” with pictures
of the flag placed in the quad on the morning of every game day.
● During the Game:
○ Have Snapchat open during the game, capturing plays and fan interactions.
○ Get Snaps from various views around the court/field.
■ The fans, the bench, the Cougar, the cheer team, etc.
● After the Game:
○ Post-game interviews and recaps.
■ Either done by Work Staff, Student Intern, or CCU TV.
Twitter
Goals and Objectives:
● Increase following on this Platform by 10% (i.e., 150 people).
○ There are currently about 1,500.
○ Seek to find this growth in “relevant” followers:
■ Students

20. 19
■ Alumni
■ Parents
■ Staff
● Increase likes and retweets by at least 15%.
○ Currently, there are next to none.
○ Will come from creating and producing unique and strong content.
● Create a base for CCU gifs.
● Optimize Twitter by revamping bio and strategizing unique posts.
Proposal:
Overall, we believe Twitter is the best platform for running score updates and fan social media
contests. We want to encourage more followers, retweets, and likes by creating unique content
for this platform and being strategic with what we retweet as well. Some of our examples
include:
● Add links on Twitter to website stories or Facebook promos, ensuring that there is
“cross-pollination” with multiple platforms.
● Post running score updates for all sports, with links to the stats.
● Re-post some of the post-game weekly interviews from Snapchat and Instagram.
● Encourage players and fans to tag themselves in a post or tag them yourselves.
○ We suggest the latter option and if you run into issues make a note and then go
from there.
○ By tagging fans and players, these people will be encouraged to like and retweet,
allowing for the tweet to be seen by more people.
● Run social media contests on Twitter to encourage fan engagement.
● Create a database for CCU athletics gifs that can be used on Twitter,
○ Eventually, we would like to see these gifs available to fans too.
● Stick with a consistent hashtag used in all posts based on the vision and mission of the
athletics department and the vision of the social media platforms:*
○ #WeAreCCU
○ #GoCougsGo
*See end of social media proposal for hashtag statistics
Facebook
Goals and Objectives:
● Increase following by 15%.
○ Currently, 1,005 people like the page, 989 people follow the page.
● Increase interactions with the account such as likes, comments, and shares on posts.
Proposal:

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Facebook will always be the flagship for any social media campaign, as it is the only platform
consistently interacted with by parents, students, alumni, and faculty. Specific groups we intend
to target use other platforms more consistently (students use Instagram and Snapchat for
example), but Facebook is the only platform that interacts with all our different target groups at
the same time. Because of this, it is vital that our Facebook campaign is professional,
consistent, and updated often. Below are some tangible ways of making the CCU athletics
Facebook page a more interactive experience:
● Continue to post links to recaps of games on the CCU website, but have one
synchronized template for the different sports so that social media viewers immediately.
recognize the post as such. The template should include an engaging photo to make the
post more visually appealing and pop out on a viewer's home page.
● The CCU athletics Facebook page should consider live-streaming CCU sporting events.
Perhaps not entire games, but tip-off’s, start of quarters, end of game moments, etc.
● A Facebook event should be created for big home games and playoff games.
Coordination with CCU 6th Man could ensure that the event would include either pre-
game or post-game activities.
● Doing a Facebook raffle at the beginning of fall, winter and spring sports, such as a post
where liking, commenting and sharing on the post would result in being entered into a
drawing to win some eward, would drum up interest, following, and create spikes in
activity on the page.
● Post pictures from all the games and athletic events on the Facebook page. Allowing
students and players access to the photos and the ability to tag themselves, again, helps
the Facebook page get more of a following.
● Post stories and events on other CCU related groups, such as CCU Activities and CCU
class pages.
Instagram
Goals and Objectives:
● Increase following by 10%.
● The Instagram page currently has 1,008 followers.
● Increase likes and interaction with the page such as comments.
Proposal:
While Facebook attracts the broadest audience, there is no social media platform form that is a
better fit to connect with the student than Instagram. With its simplicity and construction as
solely a mobile app, Instagram provides CCU athletics with the best means to quickly send out
content to a large base of individuals. The way the app has been set up allows for an account to
plan out a whole weeks worth of material well in advance, by using the services of a program,
such as HootSuite. Instagram needs to be used for day-of updates for the CCU fan and be a
place where CCU fans can come for information on game day, as well as live updates of how
games are going through the Instagram story feature. Below are listed a couple of ways we
believe that the Instagram experience can be enhanced for the fan:

22. 21
● The CCU Athletics Instagram page needs to begin to utilize the polling feature through
the Instagram stories platform. There could be a weekly poll for followers to weigh in on,
as well as polls on game days, in-game, and post-game. Also, allowing players to vote
for “player of the week” or “player of the game” would be a fun poll for fans.
● CCU Athletics Instagram stories should include player bios and player interviews. This
would contain links to the players Instagram page, making the social media experience
more interactive for players and students.
○ We would suggest post-game interviews with players or work staff to highlight the
game and the plays of the game.
● Incorporate the #WeAreCCU brand at least once a week to sustain the brand beyond
this one event.
○ Do this through player highlights including where they are involved around
campus, player bios, etc.
● HootSuite, a free platform that can be used to plan out up to 30 posts at a time on three
different platforms, needs to be integrated into planning strategies. The platform will take
pressure off of the CCU Athletics social media team and allow the team to better
coordinate and strategize their posts.

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Social Media Appendix
Table 1:
Table 2:

24. 23
Table 3:

25. 24
Website Plan
Outlined below are the objectives and proposals for Colorado Christian University’s athletic
website. The goal of this portion of the marketing proposal is to outline how to improve CCU
Athletic’s current website for both fans and players. We will start by highlighting the goals and
objectives for the website and then transition into specific ideas and suggestions for the website.
Overarching Goals & Objectives:
● Optimal search engine optimization.
● Encompass the culture of the athletic department at Colorado Christian University.
● Advocate the importance of the fans.
● Update or rotate photos regularly; minimally, every two to three months.
● Easily be able to navigate to social media sites from the website.
● Highlight occasional posts pulled from all other social media sites.
● Future Goals
○ Increase visitation to the website by 10%.
■ Ticket giveaways.
○ Open a clear communication channel between all platforms.
○ Increase video usage dramatically.
■ Highlights, clips, pump-up videos,etc.
● End Goal
○ Help establish a multi-sided athletic’s marketing campaign that promotes staff,
athletes, and fans.
Website Vision
Use the CCU Athletics website to promote the athletics teams of the university in an engaging
and inspiring way. The website should boost a unifying brand between athletes and their fans,
dissolving the current barriers between the two.
Proposal

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Currently, the CCU Athletics website has done a phenomenal job of obtaining and maintaining
search engine optimization on Google for the phrases “CCU Athletics” and “Christian university
with sports,” but it has not done as well with the phrase “university sports in Colorado.” We
propose that an effort is made to better those results.
Inside the website itself, the athletic department’s internal culture is encompassed well and the
current promotion of athletic events is set up beautifully to incorporate these things:
● Highlighting individual and team accomplishments.
● Posting schedules, rosters, and statistics.
● Photographs of past games.
However, the promotion of the fans is almost non-existent within the website. This has
contributed to dismayed athletes who would prefer the stands to be full, and to a school culture
that does not encourage students to take an interest in the athletes. The one thing the website
does well currently to combat this issue is this:
● Covering some details of the athletics department outside of the official team setting
(including team mission trips, IM sports, etc.).
The CCU Athletics website would greatly benefit from adding these things:
● An update to the athletics missions page Cougars2TheWorld.
○ Add new videos, pictures, and testimonials.
● A 6th Man tab on the main page to prove that fans are a part of sports.
● Photos of school spirit with the school mascot and full stands.
● A note on the 6th Man tab elaborating how important fans are to the athletes.
○ The integration of a “thank you” video from athletes.
● A weekly athlete highlight, telling a story or a fun fact from one CCU athlete from varying
teams each week with their photo.
○ This may also take place on a different social media site, but will need to be
shared weekly on the website as well.
Other areas of improvement for the CCU Athletics website are the photos and lack of other
forms of media. The website should:
● Update or rotate photos regularly; minimally, every two to three months.
○ Include a much more comprehensive range of rotating photos.
● Have highlight clips from games, matches, etc.
○ Promote the exciting, skillful, or awesome parts of being a CCU Cougar athlete!
■ For example, a soccer player scoring a goal, a golf player making a great
shot, or the baseball team praying before or after a game.
● Utilize music! People love getting pumped up about sports, and music, whether in clips
or links, should be used to help achieve that.
Promoting all social media together is critical. On the CCU Athletics website, there certainly
needs to be links to all other social media sites that they appear on. The great news is that this
is already happening on this website! However, it seems as though it is not happening the other

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way around. To promote traffic to the CCU Athletics website, the other social media sites
should:
● Highlight articles found on the website.
● Encourage students to check out the athletic schedules found on the website.
● Advertise ticket giveaways (to Colorado Avalanche games, Denver Nuggets games,
etc.) one to two times per semester where the only sign up to enter is on the CCU
Athletics website.
Finally, we encourage the CCU Athletics website to get behind and utilize the #WeAreCCU
brand that has been created in an attempt to unify CCU athletes and the student body.

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Sustainability Plan
Outlined below are our simple objectives and proposals for CCU Athletics to sustain a constant
and increasing number of students at sporting events. The goal of this portion of our marketing
project is to clearly define what CCU Athletics/6th Man must continue to do in order to maintain
that stability. We will start with some overarching objectives for the sustainability plan, identify a
clear vision, and then move into individual outlines for each concept before concluding with final
suggestions and proposals.
Overarching Goals & Objectives:
● Increase attendance at on-campus sporting events.
○ Focus on reaching out to freshmen and students living on-campus.
● Create a more synonymous community among the athletes and students.
○ Have events where athletes and students can hang out together.
● Future Goals
○ Have student attendance of 150 at all games on campus.
○ Create traditions that can be continued by future juniors and seniors.
● End Goals
○ Establish a presence at CCU sporting events that will encourage our athletes to
give their best.
○ The community between athletes and students will be seen by previews, which
should bring more students and athletes that are committed to community.
CCU Student Attendance Vision
Create a clear plan of action that will allow for continued growth in athletic event attendance by
following the ideas we have previously outlined. Continue the process of constant improvement
by incorporating more people/groups into the project.

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CCU Student Attendance Benefits
● Develops a positive relationship between students and athletes.
● Increases sales at the concession stand.
● Becomes the swinging factor in close games.
Relationship Building
Having a better relationship between students and athletes will increase the depth of community
on campus. This will display many future benefits including, but not limited to, higher attendance
at other campus events, more funding from alumni, and a more substantial “buy-in” from all of
CCU personnel.
Increased Concession Stand Sales
Increasing the student attendance at games will increase the number of people that walk by the
concession stand. Every salesperson knows that getting a possible customer to see your
product is half the battle. Therefore, having every student see the concession stand open will
increase the sales made. A projection graph is below.

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Become The Swinging Factor In Close Games
When a game is close, the use of home-court advantage can be the difference between winning
and losing the game. Therefore, in order for CCU to effectively employ home-court advantage,
we must have high attendance where we can encourage our athletes.
Pre-Game Event
The pre-game event that was attempted before the men’s basketball game was a success. The
event drew roughly fifty students who participated in drinking root-beer floats, making signs for
the players, and painting their faces and bodies. In the process of putting on this event, we
learned some things that would benefit similar events in the future.
What We Learned:
● Communication with CCU Event Planning needs to begin one month in advance.
● More social media and chapel announcements are needed so that more people know
about it.
● Less ice cream, and more root beer for the floats (we had six bottles of root beer, and
five tubs of ice cream).
● Reserve a better spot for the pre-game event, allowing space for more activities.
● Live streaming games on the big screen in Anschutz Student Center gets more people
to immediately attend the games.
● This should be referred to as a “basketball event” and not a “pre-game event” to better
respect the women’s team (who actually plays before the event).
Conclusion & Proposal
With the results of the pre-game event and the men’s basketball game, we believe that it would
be beneficial for CCU athletics to continue to plan these pre-game events once a month during
volleyball and basketball season because those are the only sporting events that take place on
campus.
We predict that if 6th Man were to take over the event and partner with the Campus Activities
department, attendance would rise. Attendance at the pre-game event will increase to a steady
number between 100 and 200 students, most of whom would have been unlikely to attend a
game before.
In addition, if 100-200 more students attend the games in the event center, concession stand
sales should increase by a minimum of 20%. The pre-game event will cost about $75, which will
be made back with concession stand sales. This pre-game event is the vehicle that should be
used in order to increase attendance and develop lasting community among the athletes and
students.

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Final Proposals:
● Invest in a marketing director in the athletic department.
○ Provides oversight for future events, branding promotions, and social media.
○ Allows current staff to focus on their job and what they were hired to do.
○ Will help create paths of connections between different departments at CCU to
make the process of planning much easier.
○ We believe that a logical choice for this role is actually 6th Man.
■ Move 6th Man under the Athletic umbrella, allowing them the time and
ability to invest in more events, social media, and outreach between
students and athletes.
■ Take out one more “Middle Man” in the process of planning and
implementing changes.
● Understand that each department will bring a distinct barrier to continual progress.
○ The Athletic Department will need to bridge the gap between different
departments for the branding initiatives to reach their fullest potential.
○ Each department will require a unique approach to buying into the brand the
marketing plan.
■ Start with Residential Life to get a better connection and avenue to speak
to those living on campus.
● Then, move beyond to academic departments.
● Make progress in incorporating CCU SAAC into the continuation of the “We Are CCU”
brand.
○ Involve them in event planning with 6th Man.
○ Involve them in progress in reaching out to other departments to define how best
to bridge those areas.
○ Involve them in the production of more videos and social media posts.