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LTU launches major ad campaign for NFL draft, NCAA basketball tournament

March 22, 2024

SOUTHFIELD—When it comes to the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit, Lawrence Technological University is on the clock.

The university and its award-winning digital marketing agency, Yellow Flag Productions, are planning an intensive advertising campaign centered around the NFL Draft, through a partnership with WXYZ-TV Channel 7, which will carry draft programming from Thursday, April 18 through Saturday, April 27.

NFL and Detroit Sports Commission officials expect 500,000 visitors to Detroit during the draft, and more than 10 million viewers around the country.

The campaign will kick off with an interview with LTU President Tarek Sobh during “Countdown to the Draft,” a one-hour special to air on Channel 7 at 7 p.m. April 18. More than 100 LTU television advertisements will continue to air during draft programming over the ensuing 10 days.

WXYZ will air draft pre-show specials from 7 to 8 p.m. April 25, 6 to 7 p.m. April 26, and 11 a.m. to noon April 28. ABC will carry the draft live from 8 to 11:30 p.m. April 25, 7 to 11:30 p.m. April 26, and noon to 7 p.m. April 27.

Beyond the NFL draft, LTU is also airing ads on the NCAA college basketball tournament, which started Thursday on CBS and several cable networks. And LTU ads will also air in the weeks ahead in the Detroit area’s movie theaters.

Also, LTU ads will also be displayed on billboards outside Detroit Metro Airport for NFL Draft visitors. They’ll talk about what LTU graduates do, with messages like “Our Draft Picks Design Stadiums.” “Our Draft Picks Engineer Stadiums,” and “Our Draft Picks Build Stadiums.”

“We need to reach Michigan and the Great Lakes area with the message that an LTU education is a fantastic investment, leading to high-paying jobs in careers that are in great demand among employers with bright futures,” LTU President Tarek Sobh said. “By the time this campaign is over, our message—that students can ‘Be Curious, Make Magic’ here at LTU—will reach more than 2 million people.”

Lawrence Tech introduced the “Be Curious. Make Magic” marketing campaign a year ago. It was developed by Yellow Flag and the Milford creative agency TMV Group, and is based on a famous quote from futurist and science writer Arthur C. Clarke: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

And the campaign is already racking up awards. The overall campaign was recently recognized with a Gold Award in the annual Collegiate Advertising Awards competition in the category of colleges and universities with enrollments between 2,001 and 5,000 students. The campaign also received Gold Awards for internet advertising and billboard design.

Sobh said of the thinking behind the campaign: “LTU alumni designed the DeLorean, managed building the world’s tallest towers, invented keyless car entry, led the drive for electric and autonomous vehicles, and made components for Mars rovers and the Hubble Space Telescope. All of those things might have once seemed like magic. And we know our students today, and the students coming to LTU in the years ahead, will invent and perfect new technologies that will seem magical to us. This new advertising campaign simply tells students what they can expect in their LTU experience.”

Yellow Flag was founded by Lou Bitonti, former advertising manager for Jeep, who was inducted into the Event Marketing Hall of Fame in 2023. TMV was founded by Bill Morden, formerly creative director at the global ad agency BBDO.

Lawrence Technological University is one of only 13 private, technological, comprehensive doctoral universities in the United States. Located in Southfield, Mich., LTU was founded in 1932 and offers more than 100 programs through its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Business and Information Technology, Engineering, and Health Sciences, as well as Specs@LTU as part of its growing Center for Professional Development. PayScale lists Lawrence Tech among the nation’s top 11 percent of universities for alumni salaries. Forbes and The Wall Street Journal rank LTU among the nation’s top 10 percent. U.S. News and World Report list it in the top tier of the best Midwest colleges. Students benefit from small class sizes and a real-world, hands-on, “theory and practice” education with an emphasis on leadership. Activities on Lawrence Tech’s 107-acre campus include more than 60 student organizations and NAIA varsity sports.

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Use Your Cell Phone as a Document Camera in Zoom

  • What you will need to have and do
  • Download the mobile Zoom app (either App Store or Google Play)
  • Have your phone plugged in
  • Set up video stand phone holder

From Computer

Log in and start your Zoom session with participants

From Phone

  • Start the Zoom session on your phone app (suggest setting your phone to “Do not disturb” since your phone screen will be seen in Zoom)
  • Type in the Meeting ID and Join
  • Do not use phone audio option to avoid feedback
  • Select “share content” and “screen” to share your cell phone’s screen in your Zoom session
  • Select “start broadcast” from Zoom app. The home screen of your cell phone is now being shared with your participants.

To use your cell phone as a makeshift document camera

  • Open (swipe to switch apps) and select the camera app on your phone
  • Start in photo mode and aim the camera at whatever materials you would like to share
  • This is where you will have to position what you want to share to get the best view – but you will see ‘how you are doing’ in the main Zoom session.