Matthew Thompson

Job summary: Lead day-to-day activities of multiple external areas within the Department of Athletics: including but not limited to marketing, public relations, communications, creative services, video production, broadcasting, campus relations and game day experience.

• Implement innovative marketing, promotional and game day experience strategies to increase ticket sales, student attendance, scholarship donations and sponsorships
• Collaborate with clients, coaches & athletes to establish a consistent brand voice throughout the entirety of the campaign
• Manage all elements of athletics marketing: budgeting, promotions, sales, brand exposure and supervision of support staff
• Responsible for recruiting, interviewing, hiring, onboarding and evaluation of multiple staff members, spanning across various departments
• Create and implement SEO strategies to improve visibility of website and online search presence
• Research and implement new methods to increase company branding, both traditionally and digitally
• Create A/B testing for Twitter, Facebook Ads, cart abandonment emails and website ad copy to increase leads and eCommerce sales
• Lead projects and analyze dense data to determine KPI's and identify opportunities for improvement to team leads and stakeholders
• Develop multiple, weekly segmented email marketing campaigns
• Organize press conferences and media briefings to effectively communicate with local and national media
• Implement prioritized data identification and data weighting such as audience segmentations and targeting
• Conduct focus-groups, surveys, and interviews to better understand local market
• Implement B2B and B2C marketing strategies
• End-to-end creation and execution: research & discovery, creative briefing, development & production, media planning & placement, on-campus engagement, fulfillment, analysis, and follow-up
• Develop affiliate marketing strategies for corporate partners and athletes to increase Name Image and Likeness (NIL) opportunities
• Stayed abreast of entertainment offerings within marketplace to evaluate and report trends, opportunities and competition.
• Established and strengthened relationships with local media
• Game day / special event production for 75+ events annually

Job Summary: Responsible for the development and implementation of marketing strategies and promotions to enhance the image and brand awareness of Tulane University.

• Responsible for digital marketing, media purchasing, targeted campaigns, and management of multiple budgets
• Spearheaded market research to identify branding opportunities, cement strategies and sustain loyal customer base.
• Devised marketing plans using digital strategies, print advertising and word of mouth tactics.
• Develop and interpret social media analytic reports
• Coordinated with creative team to generate dynamic marketing content and communication tools for promotional campaigns.
• Manage 14-person staff, which includes four full-time employees, two GA’s and eight students
• Supervise all Tulane Cheerleading operations, such as: hiring of Head Coach, coordination with academic advisors for class scheduling, coordination of weight training & nutrition planning with strength & conditioning program, and scheduling of practices with the events department
• Achieved first sold-out Tulane men’s basketball game in past 10 years
• Increased social media following by 275%
• Increased student attendance in football, baseball, men’s & women’s basketball throughout duration of employment
• Devised and deployed online marketing plans with effective SEO, emails, social media and viral video campaign strategies.
• Incorporated product changes into marketing messages to drive customer engagement and maximize profits.
• Created innovative strategies to drive customer engagement.
• Coordinated with Director of Strategic Communications on designing effective PR strategy.
• Deployed well-coordinated campaigns, events and public relations strategies to promote the brand.

Job Summary: Provided assistance in planning and implementation of a comprehensive marketing strategy for all Department of Intercollegiate Athletics varsity sports through various campus and community outreach programs and engagement activities.

• Manage recruitment, interviewing and onboarding of graduate assistants, mascot program and 20+ interns
• Built and strengthened strategic relationships with vendors, advertising agencies and leading industry partners.
• Oversaw preparation of marketing copy, images, videos, emails and other collateral
• Increased social media followers by 166%
• NACMA Marketing Team of the Year (Honorable Mention)
• Implemented unique and inclusive themes at Tulane Athletics events, such as: LGBTQ+ Pride Night, Celebrate Black History in New Orleans, International Women’s Day Paint in the Park, Ronald McDonald House Charities Teddy Bear Toss
• Directed marketing projects through conceptual planning, schedule management and final implementation.
• Developed insights on marketing campaigns to assess performance against goals.
• Evaluated consumer preferences and behaviors, combined with market trends and historical data, to adjust and enhance campaigns
• Developed creative presentations, trend reports, kitted assets and product data sheets.
• Met deadlines, exceeding expectations and effectively rolling out #NOLABUILT campaign.
• Increased Team Shop sales and brand exposure through product marketing by developing new packaging, collateral and sales materials and optimizing target audience reach.
• Planned and implemented studies to assess market conditions and evaluated results to enhance marketing campaigns.

• Collaborated with over 10 local festivals to establish marketing presence to generate leads on prospective ticket purchasers
• Identified and secured sponsorships for prize giveaways to increase student attendance at basketball games
• Developed and maintained connections with performers, agents, athletes, coaches and promoters to accumulate robust options for entertainment activation.
• Organized logistics for marketing and proposal strategy meetings.
• Created press releases and announcements, newsletter articles and website copy.
• Coordinated creation and deployment of videos, social media posts and other marketing collateral.
• Proofread marketing documentation to check for spelling, grammar and syntax errors
• Created professional business correspondence, spreadsheets and presentations