On Wednesday morning, new Georgia Tech cornerback Kenyatta Watson had a surprise waiting for him on social media.
It was a digitally produced portrait of him, sent from Tech’s Instagram and Twitter accounts to announce his signing with the Yellow Jackets.
“I was like, (shoot), that’s nice,” Watson said.
The portraits – one for each of the 21 signees – were part of a social-media blitz launched by the team for the start of the early signing period, a campaign to welcome signees, excite fans, continue to communicate the Tech brand and, not least, get the notice of future recruits. It was about three months in the making, executed by Tech’s creative partner, J1S.
“We’ve gotten a ton of good reaction,” football general manager Patrick Suddes told the AJC. “I feel like we won the day from that standpoint.”
A team’s standard social-media campaign for signing day includes a package of the signee’s highlights, a photo and a graphic element. Coach Geoff Collins had something far grander in mind, wanting to take the opportunity not only to introduce and celebrate the signees but to send a broader message to recruits, one he repeated at his media videoconference Wednesday.
“Georgia Tech and the city of Atlanta are a destination spot,” he said.
The first product was a video released Tuesday night on the eve of the early signing period.
The 87-second video, voiced over by Tech great and assistant coach Marco Coleman, is a stream of attitude, nighttime cityscapes, smoke, movie-quality CGI, streetwear and notable Jackets faces, shot in recognizable Atlanta locations.
“Establish your future, and your brand,” Coleman intoned over the pulsating beat of “Dangerous Man” by Valley of Wolves. “Because we make Atlanta our runway.”
Bobby Dodd Stadium, the SkyView Atlanta Ferris wheel, Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the Krog Street Tunnel make appearances. So do Collins, running backs coach Tashard Choice, quarterback Jeff Sims, running back Jahmyr Gibbs, tight end Dylan Leonard, cornerback Miles Brooks and defensive end Jared Ivey. It was shot throughout the fall, J1S founder Michael Jones said.
“Notice, everything is in movement,” Jones said. “The video is always in movement, the people are walking, the car is moving. We wanted to show this energy because coach Collins brings in energy to the city of Atlanta.”
Beyond that, the clothing – denim jackets, bomber jackets, jeans and Adidas track jackets and sneakers – was emblazoned with the team’s “For the 404” logo. The outfits were picked with care, Jones said.
“Each kind of item is supposed to represent an era of some part of the city or its history or Adidas’ history, all coming together into a modern style of what is kind of today’s streetwear,” Jones said.
The apparel was such a hit that fans were asking on Twitter if it was part of a fashion line for sale. (It is not, having been made specifically for the video.)
The attention to the outfits fit into Collins’ efforts to help players create their own reputation and brand, part of which is clothing.
With social-distancing protocol having shelved Yellow Jacket Alley – the team’s game-day walk to Bobby Dodd Stadium through a gauntlet of fans – for the season, Collins created something like a pregame red-carpet entrance for players, only the carpet was assuredly not red and he called it a “drip walk.” (Drip is slang for eye-catching style or fashion. That players would want to parade their outfits before a game is not something all fans will understand. But, particularly in the NBA, the stadium or arena entrance has become part of sports culture.)
At the lead for J1S in the signing-day project was Santino Stancato, who had served as brand manager for Collins before the creative agency hired him away in September.
“We really lean into the 404 and the city of Atlanta,” Stancato said. “This was a way for us to really capture that vision and push content that would be super, super different on signing day.”
On Wednesday, each announcement of a signing was accompanied with cartoon-like portraits made on computer. The players were garbed in streetwear and set against a city backdrop – including State Farm Arena, Centennial Olympic Park and the Jackson Street Bridge. It was different and attention getting. Watson, the transfer from Texas, liked his so much he planned to use it as wallpaper for his phone.
“I think it does look like me,” he said. “I think a lot of people say it looks like (NBA star) Ja Morant.”
It actually was a project borne from necessity. As players weren’t able to visit campus because of the NCAA’s moratorium on in-person recruiting, teams were not able to take prospects’ photos that they could use for the signing-day announcements.
“And transparently, I think it actually played to an advantage in a sense,” Jones said. “Because it made us have to think differently, and it allowed us to say, ‘Hey, well, let’s illustrate them in the streetwear, let’s give them their own look in the streetwear.’ I think that while it was a disadvantage at first, it really turned into a really cool way to bring it to life.”
The other, even more distinctive element, was an augmented reality (AR) image of each signee that was posted on the team’s Instagram account. Fans could interact with the images, placing the signees in their own photos.
Tech coaches had fun with it, tweeting videos of themselves alongside the AR images in the locker room and on the stadium field as though they were actually together.
It was a treat for the signees, who were unable to enjoy most of the trappings of a normal recruiting cycle like official visits, photo shoots in team gear or home visits by coaches.
“They told me they had a little something coming a couple days ago, but I didn’t think it would be something like this,” Mount Zion High linebacker Trenilyas Tatum said. “I thought it was different. I’ve never seen anybody do it before. I like it.”
Surely future recruits were intrigued. Among those retweeting Tuesday night’s video was Woodward Academy running back Damari Alston, one of the top prospects in the state in the 2022 class.
Including the Tuesday night video, Tech’s social-media impressions were up at least 60% from the December 2019 signing day with at least 1 million more impressions across the team’s social-media accounts. It’s a noteworthy jump, especially considering last year’s signing day had the benefit of being a higher-ranked class and also had the buzz of Sims announcing his decision to sign with Tech that morning. The website Football Scoop included Tech among 19 teams whose social-media productions for the early signing period were especially well-done.
Standing out on a day when every FBS team is performing the same routine is no small feat. But, Tech and J1S appeared to have accomplished the task, delivering Collins’ 404 message in a memorable way.
“I think we set out for that task, and I think we hit it on the road with a collective effort between us and the Georgia Tech team,” Jones said.
About the Author
