Gamecock Nation: NYC

INTRO VIDEO TRANSCRIPT | Start spreading the news! The University of South Carolina painted New York City garnet and black as The Carolina Band marched in the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

In preparation for the march, we wanted to celebrate the greater Gamecock New York spirit. In July, the social media team and Carolinian magazine traveled to New York City to meet proud alumni living, working and chasing their dreams in the city that never sleeps. These proud Gamecocks have all blossomed in the Big Apple, but their stories remain firmly rooted on the campus they call home.

These stories were collected for multiple platforms. First, these stories would shape our latest installment of Gamecock Nation, a series sharing stories focused in different cities. Some of these stories were turned into a Gamecocks of New York social media campaign modeled after Humans of New York. The rest of them were designed and written for the winter Carolinian Magazine. The Gamecock Nation Package and Gamecocks of New York series were shared across platforms leading up to the parade to engage our audience and create excitement in November.

The social media team traveled up to New York City with the band for Macy’s week covering their rehearsals, a Today Show appearance, and marched in the parade alongside them. The coverage made Gamecocks near and far feel they were in New York hearing the Fight Song ring down 6th Avenue. From 159 posts that week, university social media received over eight million impressions, over two million video views, almost one million total engagements and 10 thousand new followers. This campaign was an overwhelming success and we’re so proud of the stories we were able to tell.