"Brand of the Year" Award winning nil campaign

ORLANDO, FLA. JUNE 06, 2023 

ME3 Digital Executes Award Winning Campaign earning “Brand of the Year” Award with Hooters at the annual NIL Summit hosted on June 3rd, 2023 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, GA.

ME3 Digital, a full-service social media and influencer marketing agency, is excited to announce a campaign it executed on behalf of Hooters has won the top award for the “Brand of the Year” category by Student Athlete NIL, organizers of the second annual NIL Awards. The award was announced at the 2023 NIL Summit on June 3rd, giving student-athletes a platform to converge on as a community of influencers and change agents, to share ideas and collaborate alongside the transformative brands and organizations shaping the future of college sports.

“We really pushed ourselves while managing this campaign. It’s moments like these we get to take a step back and truly celebrate our team and the work we do. As a former Hooters Girl turned agency founder, earning the business of a billion-dollar company, then exceeding expectations for this NIL campaign has been nothing short of a dream come true,” said ME3 Digital Founder and Agency Director Michaela Falco. “Working as an agency partner for the Hooters brand challenges us in the best ways and we’re honored to have been a part of this campaign.”

The Brand of the Year award recognized creative excellence by a brand or organization for collaboration with a student-athlete, demonstrating how partnership, creativity, and novel activation in NIL can drive exceptional results and engagement.

ME3 executed Hooters ideation of the NIL Fall Football campaign by leading the work with schools and players, serving as point of contact for players and schools throughout their partnership on Hooters behalf. The scope of work entailed scouting and contacting players who fit the campaign, navigating NIL restrictions and policies, negotiating contract terms and offers, scheduling team outings and conducting team photoshoots for the players’ social content, managing brand standards, and communicating the NIL compliance expectations between the players and the brand throughout the campaign.

ME3’s results for the social media influencer campaign are impressive.

• The campaign reached over 2.6M users on social media and 1.2B in press impressions.
• This campaign garnered more impressions in the media than any other campaign for Hooters in 2022 within the first couple days of announcing the campaign.
• The campaign was activated on Instagram and consisted of 51 offensive-linemen to name, image and likeness deals from teams nationwide.
• Examples of the campaign include a live social post utilizing one of many pieces of content produced by ME3 that garnered over a million views
• The award-winning Hooters NIL campaign ran from April 22, 2022-Jan 23, 2023.

The Hooters NIL campaign celebrated collegiate offensive linemen across the country. Hooters partnered with the often-unheralded leaders of the gridiron through name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals. In addition to spotlighting the unsung heroes of college football, Hooters doubled down on its distinctive approach by partnering with offensive line groups rather than individual athletes, underscoring that, like a lineman, bigger is better.

The O-line ambassadors visited Hooters locations and had starring roles across social media, encouraging fans to make Hooters their gameday destination or to pick up wings and other Hooters favorites for tailgate and viewing parties during the 2022 football season

The Hooters NIL deals redefined what it means to be the big man on campus by allying with offensive line units at college football programs across the country, including Auburn, LSU, University of Miami (FL), Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Florida Atlantic University, University of South Florida, and others.

“When Hooters approached us to manage and execute an NIL campaign for the 2022 Fall Football season, we knew engaging with student athletes was a great opportunity for both students and the brand. It’s a thrill watching as the landscape continues to evolve through all things NIL. At the time, we had worked for nearly two years piloting and managing Hooters first ever dedicated influencer marketing program. We hit the ground running to sign on as many universities as possible in a very short time period to help make this campaign a success,” added Michaela.

About ME3 Digital
Founded in 2019, ME3 is woman-owned and operated digital marketing agency specializing in innovative social media and influencer marketing for brands. With teams across the United States, its digital marketing professionals specialize in executing social media management and influencer marketing at scale. The award-winning agency offers various services including social media management, social media consulting and training, influencer marketing and NIL campaigns, digital listings management, content creation, graphic design, photography, and videography. To learn more about ME3 Digital and ME3 Digital’s NIL marketing services, visit https://me3digital.com or https://me3digital.com/nil-and-influencers