Last week, TMG had the opportunity to be in Macomb, Illinois for TMG Official’s first Student Athlete onboarding with Western Illinois University (WIU).
TMG sent Founder & CEO, Jake Teplitzky, to Macomb with two goals in mind; TMG Official Student Athlete onboarding and establishing a presence in the local community.
“In addition to providing the Student Athletes with meaningful content, materials, and insight during the onboarding sessions, we wanted to meet with local community leaders and business owners to start a dialogue with them about name, image, and likeness (NIL). When it comes to NIL, It is important to have the buy-in and support of the local community. The power of community can play a major role in the Student Athlete experience,” said Teplitzky.
“Being that WIU is a state school, located in a town of 20,000, it is important to engage the local community. People often think NIL must be done with corporate or national brands. The reality is, NIL can happen anywhere, with anyone, at anytime, in any community. The catch is understanding the why; what is the end goal? What is the return on investment for the sponsor? Often, brands and sponsors try to cast a wide net when participating in NIL in an effort of receiving a return on investment by engaging with the greatest number of consumers, rather than trying to refine, narrowcast, and focus on a specific target demographic. TMG Official allows for sponsors to diversify their ad spend while increasing their return on investment by providing them (sponsors), with the means of a hyper focused and highly targeted approach. Rather than casting one large “net”, we are able to provide sponsors with a greater number of specific, strategic, and targeted “nets” that allow for increased exposure, engagement, and consumer conversion with the desired target demographics. Just like any other type of investment, it is important to diversify to minimize risk while increasing overall return.”
For brands, businesses, and sponsors who are looking to reach specific target demographics, audiences, or geographic locations via influencer marketing, social media marketing, or NIL; TMG Official is for you. TMG Official allows for brands, businesses and sponsors, to have a cost effective, highly focused, and streamlined approach for social media marketing through NIL.
“We are thrilled to be launching our pilot program of TMG Official with WIU. We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to showcase, that regardless of location, resources, or market, that TMG Official can have a meaningful impact for Student Athletes, Institutions, and sponsors that are interested in capitalizing on NIL.”
During his time in Macomb, Teplitzky hosted several in person team onboarding sessions for Student Athletes from WIU Football, Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball, Baseball, Men’s Golf, Women’s Golf, Women’s Tennis, and Volleyball. For the Student Athletes who were unable to attend an in person session, TMG will be hosting several virtual onboarding sessions to ensure that, they too will have access to the same opportunities, materials, and resources that have been provided to the Student Athletes who attended an in-person session.
“Could I have sent the teams and coaches a virtual recording of how to register and how to get started with TMG Official? Of course I could have, but it would have been inauthentic. It was important to me and the company, that I be there in person. Since Covid, we have lost touch with certain things that were taken for granted. Being present, in person, is one of those things. At TMG, we believe in showing up, because it’s important. Showing up is half the battle. By being there (Macomb), it allowed for us to connect with the Student Athletes as well as gave us the opportunity to engage with the community in a way that can only be done in person.”
With a buzz of excitement resonating throughout the campus and chatter about NIL flowing through the streets of Macomb, TMG is ready to help WIU usher in a new era of Collegiate Athletics.