Notre Dame Football Launches Brilliant Nationwide Recruiting Campaign
Notre Dame fans started to see billboards popping up on Twitter featuring some of Notre Dame’s top-line players in their home markets on Wednesday. From New Jersey to Charlotte to Atlanta to St. Louis. Notre Dame football players faces were plastered on billboards along the inter-state highways in those areas. I don’t know whose idea it was, but it was brilliant and that staffer deserves a raise.
Here’s a few examples that have popped up so far, and some more thoughts on this after them.
Kyle Hamilton in Atlanta
Jayson and Justin Ademilola in New Jersey
Gabriel Rubio and Kyren Williams in St. Louis
Osita Ekwonu in Charlotte
Notre Dame has been really upping their recruiting game recently with some really creative campaigns, and this is just another example of that. It’s also a bold move by Notre Dame to plant their flag essentially in some areas of the country where the Irish might not be as popular as they are in say Chicago or the New York City metropolitan area (the billboard featuring the Ademilola’s is just a few miles outside of Manhattan).
This is what you do as a national brand and as a school that recruits on a national level though. It’s just exciting seeing Notre Dame embrace that and be so bold in their recruiting efforts.
Brian Kelly has said the goal for Notre Dame is to get past being a top 10 class and into the top 5. Creative campaigns like this – combined with the results we see on the field such as two Playoff appearances in three years – will help the Irish achieve that goal. There is still some work to be done, but this is just another step in the right direction for taking Notre Dame football’s recruiting efforts to the next level.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
This advertising makes a case for compensating players for use of their images.