This week, we sat down with Rhett Hobart, Associate AD for Fan Experience and Brand Development at Wake Forest University. Since he joined the Demon Deacons in April 2020, Rhett and his team have launched their “Welcome to Deactown” brand campaign, introduced new in-game experiences for the greater college football fan and debuted a co-branded beer, Deacon Brew, all to create the “Best Fan Experience in North Carolina.” In this episode, we go deep into strategies and tactics for engaging your fan base and building a true community.

Show Notes

2:31 Crafting Deacon Brew

3:19 Behind the Partnership with R&D Brewing

5:51 The Tough Conversations

7:42 Capitalizing on Your Biggest Sampling Opportunity

11:51 New Branded Revenue Streams

16:03 Welcome to “Deactown”

20:21 The Financial Buy-in to a Branding Campaign

23:44 Takeaways from a Long-Term Branding Campaign

27:30 Creating an Experience for Any College Sports Fan

31:15 Wake’s Digital Student Engagement Strategy

34:25 Transforming the Student Tailgate Experience

38:15 Wake’s New Football and Basketball Ticket Model

42:54 From “Season Ticket Holder” to “Season Ticket Member”

45:42 The Deacon Virtual Season Ticket

53:02 Book Recommendations

54:08 “Bumping the Lamp”

57:57 Parting Advice

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For more info on topics covered in this episode:

Deacon Brew

Wake Forest Football Ticket Plans

FanMaker app

Rhett’s Book Recommendations

Excellence Wins: A No-Nonsense Guide to Becoming the Best in a World of Compromise by Horst Schulze

Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service by the Disney Institute

Connect with Rhett via email or Twitter

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Today’s episode was sponsored by

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College Leaders | Using Partnership to Build Community w/ Rhett Hobart