East Tennessee State University was recognized alongside other major national brands as a finalist in two categories in the 2024 Content Marketing Awards (CMA), presented by the Content Marketing Institute this summer.

Finalist: ‘Best Infographic Series’

ETSU’s annual series of fact sheets was one of four finalists in the “Best Infographic Series” category. 

The fact sheets showcase the university’s pride points – from nationally ranked programs to successful student and alumni outcomes to community-engaged learning opportunities that improve the quality of life for the people of its region. Produced and published annually, the ETSU fact sheet infographics present these accolades and informational nuggets in an engaging format that is easy to distribute and share across diverse platforms to a variety of audiences. 

The infographics paint an inspiring picture of ETSU and its many offerings, and they are used as a marketing and recruitment tool, as well as a resource to share with the university’s supporters and community partners. The individual facts and the compiled ETSU At a Glance booklet can be shared digitally and in print and are distributed and used widely across many different communication platforms. 

Finalist: ‘Best Event Content Marketing Strategy’

Becoming Bucky: An ETSU Mascot Competition was recognized as a finalist in CMA’s “Best Event Content Marketing Strategy” category. 

Becoming Bucky consisted of auditions, special events and competitions that were filmed and produced as episodes released on social media throughout the spring 2023 semester. The episodes, which had more than 50,000 views across ETSU’s social media platforms, followed five ETSU students who competed to represent the university as Bucky, ETSU’s beloved mascot.

The five-episode series was conceptualized and produced by the Office of University Marketing and Communications with the help of Student Life and Enrollment. Each episode was released with a multi-channel strategy that included teasers for upcoming episodes and calls-to-action for students and community members to engage with the interactive voting platform, building suspense and anticipation during the competition.

Cross-promoting the series with the annual spring Student Government Association concert, the winner of the competition was revealed live on a stage shared by Jason Derulo and Rainbow Kitten Surprise on April 22, 2023.

“It’s an honor for ETSU to be recognized as a finalist in two categories alongside the leading brands and agencies in content marketing,” said Jessica Vodden, ETSU chief marketing and communications officer. “We have a phenomenal marketing and communications team that takes immense pride in ETSU’s mission and values. We’re committed to continually finding innovative and effective ways to share our university’s story.”

Some of the other national brands that were recognized as finalists and/or winners across the CMA categories include JP Morgan Chase, Adobe, Google, Nationwide and AARP – just to name a few. 

Read more about the 2024 Content Marketing Awards.

East Tennessee State University was founded in 1911 with a singular mission: to improve the quality of life for people in the region and beyond. Through its world-class health sciences programs and interprofessional approach to health care education, ETSU is a highly respected leader in rural health research and practices. The university also boasts nationally ranked programs in the arts, technology, computing, and media studies. ETSU serves approximately 14,000 students each year and is ranked among the top 10 percent of colleges in the nation for students graduating with the least amount of debt.

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