To know Clemson, you have to know our history. If you have been on the campus at Clemson University or inside Memorial Stadium, more commonly known as Death Valley, you will see the proud and honored military history and tradition that we have here. Clemson opened its doors as a military school back in 1893 and that history is engraved in what Clemson is as university and is important to the context of this surprise military homecoming. Back during the summer, our Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing & Game Management, Mike Money, received an email from Navy ENS William Sears who was reaching out to us for assistance in surprising his family. Will, a life-long Clemson fan, was going to be returning from overseas a month earlier than expected and wanted to surprise his wife and two sons at a Clemson football game. When asked if he had any ideas or plans in mind, Will had no immediate ideas and gave us full creative freedom. While we were excited with the prospect of this planning this homecoming, we also realized that Will was fully trusting us to plan something truly special for his family from the other side of the world. From there Mike, Jordan Plumblee (our Assistant Director of Marketing), Kendall Lang (Marketing Associate), Darren “Neb” Mason (Marketing Intern), and myself began brainstorming on how we were going to pull this off. We have all seen military homecomings where the family is distracted by a video on the screen and then surprised by their loved one when they turn around or the loved one emerging from a football uniform or mascot outfit. Each one of those moments are so special and amazing which inspired us to try and put our own spin on it to truly make this a great moment for the Sears family. Kendall's father, who is now retired from the Army, surprised her with a homecoming at her school when she was younger which gave us great insight into how the family would react and taking note of what could cause suspicion.
First, we knew that it would have to catch everyone off guard, including the fans in the stadium. When you have someone enter from the opposite side when the family isn’t looking the crowd will react when they see the service member in uniform and give it away or if it is a surprise message/video it could cause some suspicion for the family. We decided the best way to accomplish this would be to incorporate it into an on-field promotion during the game. After going back and forth we finally came to the idea that we would have him hidden in a large box or something similar where after the family won the game they would go to claim their prize and out would come Will. With Coca-Cola being one of our biggest corporate partners, and having been recently coming off of their “Open Happiness” campaign, we reached out to them with our ideas to see how we could work together to make it happen. Our Coke contact was able to get ahold of some of their assets which included a hollowed-out Coke vending machine they had used to distribute prizes during that marketing campaign. We made sure that the front of the Machine was able to fully open and knew that was the perfect way to surprise his family. They also had Coca-Cola bottle shaped recycle bins that they could send us for use in a promotional game. The game plan was to have two teams, with 2 members each, compete against each other in a ring-toss toss game. We would use three of our marketing student interns as “contestants” for the game, 2 of them on one team with the third student being the partner of Sara, Will’s wife. One team member would stand on the 5-yard line with the hula-hoops tossing them to their partner who would be on the goal-line holding the bottle trying to catch them. The team with the most tosses completed would win. Our opposing student team would purposely lose the game, and Sara on the winning team would go up to the Coke machine and press any button of her choosing to reveal a prize. Once she pressed the button, Will would open the door and surprise his wife and kids. The key to informing the crowd instantly as to what was occurring on the field was to have Will in uniform for the reveal. From there, now all we had to do now was reveal our plan to Will for his approval. We made sure that we had someone on the inside with the family that we could contact to get ahold of their seat numbers, their pregame plans, and most importantly if Sara would be willing to participate. Will loved the idea and without a doubt said that she would not hesitate to participate in one when given the opportunity.
The week of the game, the Coke machine and recycle bins were delivered to the stadium. The coke machine was just as heavy as you would expect it to be so we had a new problem to solve. In marketing, as with most sports professions, there are always things that come up but it is about finding the solution. After talking with our facilities staff, they were able to provide us with a large cart that would not only make it possible for two of our staff members to move the machine with a person inside of it but in a way that would not damage the playing field. We made simple modifications to the machine to make sure it would work for our promotion. The back of the machine was wide open so we had to Velcro a curtain to it so that no one would be able to see what was inside and also that it did not look suspicious. For the front door of the machine, we had to keep it unlocked which presented us with the problem of making sure the door stayed shut while he was in it. We rigged a rope to the door that Will would hold onto while he was inside to make sure it did not come open early when we were rolling the machine out there. Next we tested our communication method where used a walkie-talkie with an ear piece so that Will would be able to hear us when we gave him the signal to emerge from the machine and that Sara could not hear what was going on. Although we were confident in our plan, we had to be sure to have many contingency plans. We knew what to do if Sara’s reaction was initially “no” to competing in the promotion, how to phrase the question and allow for her kids and family to come onto the field with her without raising suspicion, what would happen if we felt the cart may get stuck on the field, how to get it off, and many other things. We were prepared for anything and everything. The day of the game, Sara would be tailgating just outside the stadium so we scheduled to pick Will up during pre-game from the opposite side of campus and bring him directly up to our operations booth to prevent him from being seen by anyone he knew.
During pregame, we were talking with Will about his service, his love of Clemson and memories in the stadium, the story of his family, and just how impactful this day would be for him. Once the football game started, we had our students keep an eye for when Sara made it to her seats to approach her. We also brought Will down from our booth to be ready for when it was time to go. Our Digital & Creative staff was in position in both tunnels and ready to record the entire thing. Once the game started, we anxiously looked up into the stands to see if Sara had gotten to her seats. For almost half of the first quarter she was nowhere to be found. On the inside, we were anxious and wondering if something had happened or if they were still even coming to the game. After what felt like an eternity the family finally appeared. Once they got to their seats, we waited a few minutes and then had our students approach Sara. They told her that her seat had been randomly selected to participate in an on-field promotion with a chance to win a prize. Without hesitation she said yes and our students brought her and her family down to the visiting team tunnel, just on the opposite side of the end zone from the home team tunnel. Kendall and our students working the game instructed our “contestants” on the rules, and what the winner would do to get their prize. In the tunnel, one of Will and Sara’s sons was talking about how he had wanted to go onto the field at the game and was super excited to be able to. In the other tunnel Darren, Brandon Forsberg (one of our game day marketing staff members) and myself loaded Will into the Coke Machine. The whistle blew and it was time for the media timeout. We rolled out the Coke machine from the home team tunnel while Kendall and our students came out of the other tunnel to set up the game knowing we only had a couple minutes so we had to nail everything perfectly. Our PA announcer began a typical promotional read and explaining the game and introducing our sponsor. The game started and Sara crushed it, nailing all but one ring onto the Coke bottle crushing the team of our student interns. She celebrated and grabbed one of her sons to run and claim her prize. Sara ran up to the machine and pressed a button on it, Brandon gave Will the signal over the radio, and then the vending machine door slowly opened. Stepping out of the machine was Will, revealing himself to his completely stunned wife and shocked crowd who began to give a standing ovation. Following immediately after, was a Welcome Home PA announcement for Navy ENS William Sears and his family to further educate the crowd. While the family was embracing each other, we rolled the Coke machine off of the field. It was a complete success. There were few dry eyes in the place (Although I didn’t shed a tear… okay maybe just a few). From there we posted the video to our social media platforms to which it went viral. On Facebook alone, it reached over 5.7 million people and garnered over 1.6 million views by 1.4 million unique viewers. It was named 1 of the 10 “Must See ACC Moments of the Year”, and is the most viewed video ever put out by Clemson Athletics or Clemson University. For our sponsor Coca-Cola, they enjoyed our video and moment so much that they shared it on their official U.S. Facebook page that has over 102 million likes and followers as a “Refreshing Moment.” Our Coke representative received numerous emails in the following weeks from Coke executives on how great it was for them and their brand to be a part of that special moment with the Sears family. For all of us in the marketing department, while it was great to create that moment for our fans and for one of our corporate partners, it was the most rewarding knowing that we created an unforgettable moment for such a special family and a very deserving member of our armed forces. Aren't the experiences and impact we can have on others the reason we love what we do? I doubt I will ever get to be a part of something that special again, but I do hope that one day I will. Knowing the Sears family will always look back on that day and smile makes all the hard work worth it. I would like to finish with saying thank you to all of our men and women who have served in our armed forces or still continue to serve our great country, we are forever grateful for you!
Feel Free to Watch the Video Here:
https://www.facebook.com/clemsontigers/videos/1192538050769016 or
https://twitter.com/ClemsonTigers/status/777271454190542848
Go Tigers!