St. John’s University Celebrates Johnnies Day

Johnnie’s Day is coming.

On February 11, the entire St. John’s University community is invited to participate in an interactive celebration of school spirit both in person and on social media, culminating in the men’s basketball game between St. John’s and Providence at noon at Madison Square Garden finds.

Last summer, St. John’s University launched a one-of-a-kind branded campaign, Education That Elevates, that garnered a lot of positive attention. Elena Damiani, Director, Media Planning, Office of Marketing and Communications, wanted to create a day-long experience that would spotlight the campaign’s many innovative design elements while engaging as many constituencies in St. John’s as possible.

“I wanted to have a component that focused on more than just buying ad space and placing an ad,” she pointed out. “I was looking for something interactive that would allow people to experience part of our brand campaign,” she said recently.

Currently, Penn Station’s rotunda is awash with distinctive St. John’s branding. Anyone participating in the game is encouraged to post a selfie with these items as a background by using the hashtags #SJUElevates and #JohnniesDay and tagging @stjohnsu. Everyone who does so will be entered into a drawing for a $1,000 Visa® gift card in the Johnnies Day social sharing contest.

Ms Damiani also saw the day as an opportunity to integrate a micro-influencer campaign with celebrity alumni who will share their St John’s stories and promote the event. “Traditionally, micro-influencer campaigns have been successful for small businesses, but I hadn’t found the right way to integrate one yet.”

Ms Damiani explained that companies often send their products to micro-influencers, who then promote the product to their followers. “We don’t have a physical product to send to people, but what better ambassador for St. John’s than a successful graduate who has a large following on social media?” She consulted the social media team at the University and other departments to identify potential influencers.

Ms Damiani sent the influencers a branded St John’s Care packet to thank them for sharing their St John’s pride on social media. The response was immediately positive. The game will feature Z-100’s Danielle Monaro ’95SVC and Diamond Cooper ’16CPS and Power 105.1’s Gabe Pabon ’18CPS and Nyla Symone ’17CPS.

“The concept just fitted well with the idea of ​​the school spirit, which is especially showcased on a big matchday,” said Ms. Damiani. “That’s when everything connected. If it was going to fall on a big game day, then it made sense that it would happen in February when we have our acquisition of Penn Station, which creates the perfect backdrop for people to take selfies.”

Larry Dunn aka Larry the Duck is recording a video in support of Johnnies Day that will appear on his Instagram page and will be promoting the event on his Sirius XM radio show (1st Wave, channel 33 on Sirius XM).

Two days before the game, Johnny Thunderbird will be on the Elvis Duran and The Morning Show to personally invite the radio show crew to attend the game. Members of the St. John’s Dance Team and the Cheerleading Team will also perform in the rotunda. Basketball teams wear Johnnies Day branded pre-match jerseys during practice and on the sidelines. At halftime, Nyla Simone plans to spin some music and engage with the crowd.

“It started as a much simpler idea, but as I shared and brainstormed the concept with more people, it became more of an event,” recalls Ms. Damiani. “There are also personal and social media aspects. There’s also a women’s basketball game at Carnesecca Arena at St. John’s at 4 p.m. that day, so it all comes together nicely.”

St. John’s t-shirts, rally towels and goodies will be available throughout the Rotunda on February 11th. An alumna who owns a bakery makes Johnnies Day-branded cupcakes. “We reach out to our fans, students, alumni, prospective students, prospective employers and of course everyone who travels through Penn Station,” she said. “There are so many members of the St. John’s family.”