As college bowl season kicks off in earnest this weekend, football fans will not only be watching their favorite teams face off: They’ll also be seeing more players that have taken advantage of name, image and likeness (NIL) rights deals for the chance to profit, often on a brand’s dime.
JBL, the Harman-owned audio equipment marketer, is no stranger to the NIL game, having first teamed in 2023 with LSU basketball star and rising hip-hop artist Flau’jae Johnson before launching its JBL Campus initiative in January. And while football fans may see the brand’s ambassadors at a bowl game, JBL Campus is not limited to football, or even sports.
“It’s music, it’s lifestyle, it’s fashion, it’s dorm hacks, it’s all kinds of different things beyond just sports,” said Chris Epple, vice president of marketing for the Americas at Harman. “Sports tend to obviously get a lot more visibility, because these athletes bring something a little extra special… a local DJ on campus radio is not going to be on ESPN, but the athletes will.”
JBL Campus has allowed the brand to move beyond marketing to millennials and make inroads with Gen Z, especially college-age students, around shared interests and passions. To do so, the brand has scoured campuses for a slate of student athletes and influencers who can tell the JBL story in their own terms.
“I think it’s easy if you just use the stat line route,” Epple said. “It’s finding those athletes with those stories that are interesting and compelling that are going to give your brand a very different lens and speak to a very different audience.”
Rather than just seeking out star players at top college football programs, as other brands have done with their NIL investments, JBL has signed Olympians, gymnasts, dancers, baseball players and basketballers. The company has also prioritized diversity, a value on which Gen Z puts a premium. Over half of the JBL Campus athletes are women, which is in line with college enrollment trends.
“One of the things that we definitely look for is their content and brand aligning with our brand ethos,” said Denise Daly, director of public relations and influencer marketing at Harman. “These people are so impressive, but… we wanted to make sure that music was very authentic to their story and is what inspires them.”
The social megaphone
JBL wants its campus program to be both a platform for the brand and one for ambassadors who are pursuing higher education while remaining connected to their community. The brand was approached by University of Oklahoma linebacker Danny Stutsman, who wanted to donate $50,000 from his NIL money to the walk-ons at his program. To sweeten the deal, JBL gave each walk-on a package of audio gear.
JBL Campus content mostly runs on Instagram and TikTok, which are preferred by student athletes and lifestyle influencers, respectively. The content is resonating with a highly engaged audience and is “blowing away” industry benchmarks, Daly said.
In two months this year, JBL Campus generated more than 28 million impressions and 36,800 engagements on nearly 100 posts across the Instagram and TikTok accounts of its talent — a 14% engagement rate far above the industry average, per data shared by the brand, which has also seen high rates of traffic from the posts.
Before the pandemic, JBL’s campus activities relied heavily on in-person activations, a tactic that went by the wayside during the years affected by COVID-19. After a period in the virtual realm, 2024 saw the brand looking to find the right mix of physical and digital elements.
“Social platforms are the primary megaphone,” Epple said. “Brands still need to be present with these students. We’re trying to balance that out now.”
JBL Campus is focused on college athletes and influencers, but the reach extends beyond their social networks. When college students return home, they connect with friends and younger siblings. And when they graduate, they potentially take that brand relationship throughout stages of their life: a car with JBL speakers, a soundbar or in-wall speakers at home, junior headphones and wireless earbuds for their kids.
“With college marketing, you’re creating a lifetime of value,” Epple said. “We’re trying to really give them what we call a lifetime of maximum brand value.”
