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Marketing and Audience Engagement
Branding is an area that I see many programs struggle to look like a cohesive unit. I pay very close attention to the little details such as fonts, graphics and messaging distributed from my journalism outlets. Nobody wants to trust a brand that uses Comic Sans on all of their marketing material or a brand that preaches one thing and practices something else.
EAGLE NATION NEWS AD SALES
Every year Eagle Nation re-designs and builds a new set to bring a new feel to the show. The rebuild is typically done during the summer before budgets are released to the programs by the school. In the summer before my junior year, my partner, Cristina Folsom, and I designed a new set but realized we didn't have any funds to make it happen.
We explored several options and ultimately decided on raising funds by selling sponsorships. We traveled to local businesses and earned two large sponsorships totaling $2,750. There were several options for sponsorships that include a two-minute promo video, 15-second commercial, poster, logos on shirts and naming rights to a segment on the show.
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Click here to view the contract that I designed.
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Click here to view the sponsorship options.
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A local orthodontic practice purchased the upper-level sponsorship for the season so I shot, edited and produced a promo video for them.
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Through this process, I learned all about budget codes, handling money, contract agreements and sponsorships.
PROMO VIDEOS
The best way that the HTN leaders found to market the show is by creating short promo videos and post them to social media. I produced and edited both of the promos to the right.
The goal for the first promo was to show that the anchors are relatable and are in the same classes and involved in the same extracurricular activities as their fellow classmates.
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The goal of the second one was to recreate an iconic Sports Center commercial with the mascots of the two Prosper ISD high schools.
EAGLE MINUTE ANALYTICS
The show created a great amount of audience engagement for the Eagle Nation News social pages. One of the interactive parts of the Eagle Minute show is the polls, questions, and feedback options that were present on all episodes. A presentation of the analytics of the Eagle Minute is below.
PERSONAL SOCIAL MEDIA
The motto of my town is "Small Town Big Heart." This motto is a perfect fit for a community always looking to support each other and keep each other connected. My social media pages' primary role is to keep my community informed with events, stories and happenings in the town. I post actively on all of my social media accounts and receive a large amount of engagement from doing so. My social media accounts are yet another way for me to interact with our community, so whenever they see something posted by @GrantJohnsonTV, they know it is a verifiable account. I have gained a following from people in my community and those surrounding me.
Alyssa Boehringer, journalism adviser at McKinney High School, said, "Grant isn't a cheerleader, but he's one of the biggest supporters of every group on his campus. I know almost everything that happens at Rock Hill High School just by following him on Twitter - and I teach at another school in another town. He is doing the work of telling the story of a school's first year of existence. The people. The wins and losses. The celebrations and challenges. These stories are in Grant's hands, and he's the perfect person to hold the honor."
HOSTING EVENTS
Hill Top News airs every day so the personalities and faces of the HTN anchor team are seen consistently by the students and staff. The prominence that we have in the school leads to opportunities to help extracurricular activities with their events. Several fine arts programs have given me the opportunity to emcee their events. In December, I hosted a winter drill team and dance performance titled "Holiday on the Hill". I am set to host the talent show in March as well. This is a great way for us to engage with our audience and become figures that people trust delivering their news.
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THIS IS ROCK HILL HIGH SCHOOL
The administration of my school asked to make a video that showcases the traditions, culture and opportunities that our school provides to be used for orientations and events to show what the campus is like for incoming students and parents interested in enrolling their children. I recorded over twenty interviews for the project and edited together footage I accumulated from the first semester the school was open. The video was also played at the 2021 Jostens Renaissance Convention.
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