San Diego State University has named Ayo Taylor-Dixon as deputy athletic director for strategic communications and brand advancement.
In his role, Taylor-Dixon will oversee the Aztecs’ marketing, media relations, social media and video-broadcast areas, while collaborating with all revenue generating units, including Aztec Club, Legends and the ticket office, according to a statement.
As one of five deputy ADs under John David Wicker, SDSU director of athletics, Taylor-Dixon will also serve as the primary administrator responsible for the relationship with SDSU’s JMI Sports partners.
Taylor-Dixon comes to SDSU after spending the past six years at Georgia Tech as senior associate athletics director for external operations. In that role, he oversaw Georgia Tech’s public relations, ideation and fan experience operations, while serving as the administrator for several sports. Taylor-Dixon also has experience overseeing ticket sales and operations, licensing, branding, sponsorships and broadcasting.
“I’m excited to welcome Ayo to the Mesa,” said Wicker. “He arrives at a dynamic time for the department, and I look forward to him leveraging his years of experience to capture the momentum of this moment and creatively turn it into something special for our student athletes, coaches, staff, alumni and fans.”
“I am grateful for the opportunity that J.D. and the search committee have provided me,” said Taylor-Dixon. “San Diego State’s exceptional program has demonstrated its dedication to providing an outstanding experience for student-athletes. My family and I are excited to become a part of the Aztec family and fully immerse ourselves in the community. I am eager to contribute to the continued growth and development of the program.”
Taylor-Dixon came to Georgia Tech from the University of Minnesota, where he served as senior associate AD for fan engagement from March 2016 to August 2017. At Minnesota, he oversaw the Golden Gophers’ marketing, game-day experience-season ticket member surveys, game-day customer service and licensing operations.
He also served as the 2017-18 president of the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators.
Prior to his 17 months at Minnesota, Taylor-Dixon served on the administrative staffs at Northern Colorado as senior associate athletics director (2014-2016), University of South Florida as senior associate athletics director (2006-2014) and University of Evansville as assistant athletics director (2002-2006).
He graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Tex., with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2000, and a master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies with emphasis on business, communications and kinesiology in 2022.
Aviation Digital Marketer Earns 40 Under 40 Award
King Schools, a San Diego-based, flight training school, has announced that Samuel Golden, the company’s content and marketing manager, has been selected by the National Business Aviation Association for one of its 40 Under 40 awards for 2023. The NBAA said it began giving the annual award in 2018 to recognize young people “driving meaningful change and big results across all segments of business aviation.”
Golden, 32, oversees digital advertising and social media programs for King Schools. According to the company, “Since he took over these functions in 2019, King Schools has had a dramatic increase in social media engagement along with an increased market share particularly for private pilot ground school and test prep courses.”
John Dowd, VP of marketing for King Schools, who nominated Golden, said, “Pilots for 50 years have using King Schools to pass their FAA exams and for pilot training. Samuel is a member of a new generation of technically proficient, digitally savvy young pilots who are ensuring the future of King Schools is in good hands.
“Samuel is part of the team that is using video and social media to share courses and researching AI’s virtual and augmented reality possibilities. He interacts with thousands of people in the pilot community and helps guide them in their pilot training decisions. He is a true aviation marketing expert.”
King Schools said NBAA considered more than 600 entries for its award. Golden, who received the award in the marketing category, has earned a commercial airplane single-engine land certificate and instrument rating, as well as advanced and instrument ground instructor and remote pilot certificates.
San Diego AMA Seeking Entries for Sandie Awards
The American Marketing Association’s San Diego chapter is accepting entries for its second-annual Sandi Awards.
AMA said the Sandies recognize the best marketing campaigns and communications created by an agency, consultancy, corporation, educational institution, nonprofit or college students during the 2023 calendar year.
Categories include branding, cause marketing, content marketing, digital marketing, event marketing, experiential marketing, influencer marketing, integrated campaign, public relations, SEO, social media strategy and implementation, video, website and marketing innovation.
Deadline for entries is March 2. Deadline for entries with a discounted entry fee is Feb. 2. More information is available online. Awards will be presented May 2 at the Town and Country Resort Hotel in Mission Valley.
AMA said the 2024 Sandies will offer more opportunities to win an award, including Silver and Gold awards, a Marketer of the Year award and Best of Show award. In 2023, from the 134 entries submitted by about 70 different organizations, just 18 awards were presented.
Super Bowl Will Include ‘Stand Up To Jewish Hate’ Commercial
The Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, a nonprofit dedicated to ending hatred against Jews in the U.S., will air its first-ever Super Bowl TV commercial during the Feb. 11 telecast on CBS as the group seeks to raise awareness of the rise in antisemetic incidents following the Oct. 7 assault against Israel by Hamas terrorists.
The 30-second spot will continue the estimated $25 million, #StandUpToJewishHate campaign, which began in March 2023. The FCAS was founded in 2019 by Robert Kraft, CEO of the Kraft Group and billionaire owner of the New England Patriots NFL football team.
The Super Bowl spot will include the advocacy group’s blue square symbol that represents the disparity between the small size of the Jewish population in the U.S. and the large number of religious-based, hate crimes against the population.
“With the horrific rise in Jewish hate and all hate across our nation, we must stand up and take urgent action now,” Kraft said in a statement. “For the first time, FCAS will air an emotive ad during the Super Bowl, football’s ultimate championship game which brings people of all backgrounds together, to showcase examples of how people can stand up to Jewish hate and inspire more people to join the fight against all hate.”
In the past three months, the number of Google searches for the phrase “Kill Jews” has increased by 1,800-percent, according to the foundation.
FCAS will reportedly not be the only TV ad from an advocacy group to air during Super Bowl LVIII. According to advertising trade news outlets, “He Gets Us,” a $100 million campaign from The Servant Foundation, is planning to return to the Super Bowl telecast for a second consecutive year with a message about Jesus Christ and restoring Christian faith and values.
A 30-second ad during the Super Bowl telecast is estimated to cost about $7 million. The game broadcast on CBS is expected to reach more than 100 million viewers.
Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.
