Best of CASE District VII Award
 

Institution: University of California, Los Angeles

Title of entry: Social Media Series: Do You Know UCLA?

About this entry: Do You Know UCLA? (DYKU) is a vertical-first, short-form micro-discovery video series developed entirely in-house by UCLA Alumni Affairs' Digital Experience Team. The series serves UCLA's multigenerational alumni community of more than 670,000 living Bruins across Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Facebook—engaging digitally native recent graduates and longer-tenured alumni through content calibrated for contemporary platforms and enduring emotional resonance.
The strategic goal was activation: converting the deep emotional investment alumni hold toward their UCLA identity into visible, measurable advocacy. Prior to DYKU, audiences were consuming content without amplifying it. Average shares ran 17 per post, reach averaged 7,524 per post, and engagement rate held at 3.78%.
The approach was deliberately lean: a 2–3 person team producing 30–45 second vertical videos at zero external cost, each surfacing a lesser-known UCLA fact, milestone, or cultural touchstone designed to surprise alumni into sharing. Student employees served as on-camera hosts, grounding institutional content in present-day campus voices.
Season 1 launched August 26, 2025 and published seven episodes across four thematic territories: Research & Innovation, Alumni Impact, Culture & Pop Relevance, and Institutional Legacy. It met or exceeded all seven stated objectives. Average shares grew +336%, saves +293%, and account-wide reach expanded +84%—all organic, zero paid media. The peak episode reached 216,206 accounts at a 9.94% engagement rate with 3,117 shares on a single post. Combined cross-platform views exceeded 1.8 million.
DYKU is now established as the short-form pillar of Story Of, UCLA Alumni Affairs' flagship storytelling franchise.