Brand icons at the University of Rochester—including Rocky the Yellowjacket, the dandelion, and the Genesee River—have been celebrated for over a century. But with the rise of social media, a new icon emerged. In 2019, dozens of urban groundhogs living in complex tunnel systems under the historic River Campus began their campaign of captivating their curious collegiate comrades. Students began sharing sightings and memes on Facebook and Instagram, and officially named them “The Groundboiz”. My team watched this new fascination grow, and saw a creative opportunity to engage with our youngest audience.

We created a series of Groundboi personas along with a narrative that cements their claim to campus—and a standing among the students. Cheeky illustrations brought these personalities to life, and served as a centerpiece for a new student engagement campaign—Forever Rochester Week. Our goal: to demonstrate our willingness to listen, learn, and give back to students, our future pipeline of alumni and donors. With Forever Rochester, we reinforce our shared brand values and pride in the institution, and initiate conversations that last a lifetime. We created an online quiz for the groundboiz, interactive live events, giveaways, and social media touch-points that dazzled. The video I created to mirror a trend at the time and reinforce our new narrative brought us the highest engagement scores our TikTok and Instagram channels had ever seen. While the grounboiz were a transient treat not meant for a lasting spotlight, Forever Rochester earned a permanent place in senior week celebratory tradition. Our nimble responsiveness to the interests of our audience helped break the mould and engage a hard-to-pin demographic.