Fossil Free Illinois
Fossil Free Illinois is a group of students and activists at the University of Illinois dedicated to seeing the university divest from fossil fuels. Their campaign is incredibly multi-faceted, and as such, so does their marketing. I’ll often describe college towns like Champaign as “micro urban.” Students on campus exist in a densely populated, urban area– even though the university’s students mostly exist in a square mile or two. That said, it creates some really interesting marketing opportunities, especially in the even more interesting world of student politics.
The Ask:
Fossil Free Illinois’ key objective is to create publicity for a referendum demanding that the University of Illinois divest from fossil fuels. They needed incredible branding and strategic marketing to do so.
What I Did:
I was involved in Fossil Free Illinois from its inception. When the organization’s President called me and asked for some marketing help, I decided to make this group somewhat of a passion project. Working with a team of 4, I helped build FFI’s entire brand aesthetic. This meant coupling both our university’s history of activism with research into what students need to see from a campaign like this one– relatability. After coming up with a “rebellious academic” archetype, I built out a graphic design and video team that could channel the intellectual mentality of the FFI team in a way that is interesting and approachable.
The thing about political campaigns is that, eventually, they do culminate. FFI is building towards a February 2025 vote on a divestment referendum, and a big chunk of my job has been managing the escalation arc of the campaign. Sure, organic social content works, but it can only go so far. At FFI, I mapped out each step of our campaign, from the creation of our Instagram account to our election day plans.
After hammering out FFI’s brand voice, I took a very active role in content creation and ideation. I wrote copy for consciousness raising posts, formulated a strategy for short-form reels, and edited all of the brand’s video content.
While we’re not all the way through our campaign yet, the results have been clear. Our reach grows consistently, and we’re consistently hitting our target audience. Our goal is to target students, and given that an astounding 77% of our audience is aged between 18-24, it’s clear that we’re doing just that. We’ve also been reaching primarily people in Champaign-Urban. Again, this is the goal. When over 80% of our audience is in our target region, we know we’re doing something right, especially when that region is so small.
What I Learned:
Creative direction is hard. While my official title is “Marketing Director,” I feel like I’ve been putting substantial energy into ensuring that our creative output matches the strategy we’ve spent months forming.
It’s important to be chill. Like so chill. I’m working on a team of fellow college students who oftentimes have 15+ credit hours, jobs, and other organizations to focus on. If anyone loses sleep over a deadline, we’re simply not going to get anything done.
Marketing should be fun! When we’re making content, we’re having a good time, and I think that is apparent to our viewers. We’re serious about the work we’re doing, but part of what makes the campaign so successful is understanding.
Other Contributors:
This project would not be possible without the contributions of Sophia Beem, Erin Nibeck, Kyle Park, and Paige Walk