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Student Athletes, NIL, and Your Brand


It has been a little more than a year since NCAA vs. Alston where the Supreme Court ruled in favor of student-athletes. As a result, the NCAA now allows student-athletes to receive compensation for their name, image, and likeness (“NIL”). 

What is NIL?

NIL literally means name, image, and likeness. In the context of collegiate sports, it refers to the compensation deals that brands make with a student-athlete in order to use their likeness in their marketing efforts. These deals can be for money or in-kind compensation with tickets, merchandise, or other products.

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5 Proven Steps to Recovering Your Brand’s Reputation

No matter how strong your marketing campaigns are, they will never be effective without a good reputation among consumers. A good reputation is also difficult to hold on to–particularly because consumers are more likely to tell their friends about a poor experience than a positive one. Combine that with nearly half of consumers refusing to engage with a business with a rating below 4 stars, and any brand has their work cut out for them. 

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How to Promote Candid Feedback

The first step to gathering candid feedback is to ask for it! In theory, this sounds so simple, ask for feedback and you shall receive, right? Not always.

Often when a leader merely asks their team members for feedback, they might receive some responses, and while some of it could be beneficial, a vague request for feedback rarely presents the best results. Everyone on the team must first feel comfortable with their team leader and trust that they can truly present candid feedback without fear or hesitation.

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College Students are a Tough Crowd. Here’s How to Market to Them.

The college scene is, without a doubt, one of the most valuable markets a company can hack. Students are fresh out of mom and pop’s house, willing to throw family brand loyalty out the door for a sense of independence. They’re suave with social networking and keen on innovation. Campuses are highly concentrated with potential buyers, and it only takes a few positive impacts for buzz to begin. Plus, college students are young, and likely to accumulate a substantial consumer lifetime value. 

However, tuition has increased 169% in the past thirty years, and 77% of college seniors say they ran out of money at some point in their college career. This leaves many brands fumbling. How do you get the perpetually broke to bite? 

Fortunately, The Black Sheep has infiltrated college campuses from the inside. Our nationwide network of student contractors has kept us in the know, from the chaos of the student union lunch-rush to the trenches of the local college bars. With the help of real college kids, we’ve been successfully marketing to real college kids since 2009. And we’ve picked up on six bona fide strategies along the way. 

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4 Reasons Student Housing Companies Can’t Forget Summer Marketing

Fall and spring may be considered THE prime times to market to students, however a summer strategy can be a hidden gem when it comes to filling student housing properties.


You might be thinking, “That doesn’t make sense, students LEAVE campus for the summer.” At first, summer marketing seems counterintuitive. Most students have signed leases for the next school year, those who haven’t might be less inclined to make decisions without physically being with their potential roommates, etc, etc. However, when you dig a little deeper, summer marketing can turn these red flags green.

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Social Media Usage and Media Consumption Survey 2020

In October 2020, The Black Sheep carried out a national survey targeting college students to understand their media consumption habits when it comes to social media platforms. Primarily, what apps do students use, and most importantly, why. These results help those targeting the Gen-Z audience understand how to reach this audience and on which platforms. 

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