How Justin King turned South Carolina into the social media example of college football
Justin King can be found roaming the sidelines of every South Carolina football game eyeing for the best shot. The leaps King takes from sideline to sideline during a game are similar to the leap of faith South Carolina took when they hired him five years ago. Since then, he’s turned the creative media department into a rousing success.
The method to the madness behind the nation’s top creative team is simple, yet complex. It is a mix of fun, but also a unified commitment to produce meaningful work.
“If we’re gonna have a differentiator,” King said, “it’s going to be the energy and enthusiasm with which we create content.”
King was hired as associate athletics director in February of 2017, brought on soon after Will Muschamp took over in an effort to beef up South Carolina’s digital presence
He started the venture alone, and within weeks was able to hire Austin Koon and Andrew Clifford Stewart. From there, Stewart and Koon helped King build the department up to where it is today.
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King was raised in South Carolina, graduated as a Gamecock a little over a decade ago and bleeds Garnet and Black.
“I think Justin’s passion for the University of South Carolina, his passion for seeing other people grow,” Koon said. “His innovation and what he’s doing kind of separates him from everyone else.”
The work that King produces is intended to paint a picture that words cannot. It is made with emotion and purpose, which is what sets King hopes sets his department apart from the rest.
“What makes good content it’s when you take people places they can’t normally go, you show them things they can’t normally see, and you make them feel a certain type of way that they want to share with people,” King said. “It’s all about putting South Carolina on people’s minds in a positive way, while also showing what it’s like to be here.”
It is hard to watch a video that King has produced that does not appeal to some emotion. Whether it helps the viewer find some joy, or wish they were there, his content is designed to reach people in ways they might not expect.
“He bleeds garnet and black. I think that’s also what makes him such a good leader at South Carolina is that he loves this team,” Stewart said. “Justin is very emotionally driven and I think that’s what makes South Carolina’s video department so much better than everywhere in the country is that there’s so much emotion behind every single video and you can definitely see it.”
There have been a lot of successful videos and campaigns during King’s time at South Carolina. Most fans remember “Battle Armor” that was started by Stewart and King that were a rousing success to reveal the weekly uniform combinations.
King and his department have received a lot of praise from around the world of college football following South Carolina’s back-to-back wins against top 10 teams.
The numbers following the wins are quite frankly, astonishing and a true testament to the things the team has been able to accomplish.
Over a 10-day stretch starting Nov. 19 South Carolina reached 2.8 million accounts on Instagram, 3.1 million on Facebook and a whopping 3.8 million views on TikTok.
For the entire month of November, the Gamecock football Twitter account reached 26.5 million accounts.
As of October, the “Turn my swag on” video had 6.95 million impressions on Twitter. The idea was spawned from a Tiktok trend that was big at the time, and the team ran with it.
“I fundamentally believe that creativity is not a gift that some people have and some people don’t. I think it’s a muscle,” King said. “It’s a muscle in that the more you use it, the more you train it, the stronger it gets.
“While some might be more inclined to train that muscle than others, anyone can”
It always helps creativity when the head coach and boss is all in on your department. Shane Beamer has been put on social media dancing with sunglasses on, playing hide and seek, and recreating the opening sequence of Full House.
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Beamer has said and proven that he is willing to do anything that could strengthen the view of the program. This has allowed creative media to exercise those muscles at full tilt.
“Justin King, who heads up everything for us, for our social media and creative design, is the best in the world at what he does,” Beamer said at SEC Media days. “And I learned a long time ago, when he tells me he has an idea, I don’t need to ask what it is, I just tell him what time do you want me there and what do I need to do?”
That blind faith in creating something incredible only adds to the atmosphere and capabilities that King and his team can do. Although he heads up the department, King made sure to clarify that it is – and always will be – a team effort.
“The best content is the content that nobody singular can take full credit for,” King said
The team now has nine paid staff members and multiple paid and unpaid interns, with responsibility levels varying.
There’s something to say for that after starting the venture alone.
“I just put my head down and tried to do good work. Now I’m fortunate to be able to surrounded myself with people who are smarter than me and now we’re all focused on creating together.” King said.
Leading a team so large can be challenging at times, but King does it exceptionally well.
“He knows when to lead by example, when to lead by being stern, when to lead by letting people do their thing,” Ethan Styll said. “It’s what makes him such an incredible leader.”
King believes in putting faith in his creatives and the quality of work will grow because of it.
“People rise up to whatever expectations you have for them,” King said. “So when you empower them it’s usually when they’re at their best.”
King’s son, Ezra, is seen around the facility from time to time which makes the family aspect of the department that much more important.
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“It’s super fun when he’s around, but it’s awesome in the sense that you know anyone’s welcome through that door,” Styll said.
The love that King has for his son inspires his approach to the job. He is always stressing the importance of family and mental wellbeing before work.
“Being a father gives me perspective on that. It keeps me humble. Sometimes it reminds me of what is really important,” King said. “And ultimately, it reminds me and lets me know what it takes to be at your best from a creative standpoint. Like the most important ingredient is being in as good of a place as possible from a personal standpoint.”
Content creation can often lead itself to mental burnout. King understands that and makes sure his creatives know that he’s there for them.
“I ask for everybody’s best everyday, but I don’t ask for a 10 everyday. I ask for the best that they can do,” King said. “Sometimes it’s going to be a six and that’s okay, as long as it is their best. That adds up over time.
There is a true sense of family throughout the building. Even for someone like Koon who’s moved on from the program, he still feels connected.
“It never felt like we were with our coworkers, but we were always with our friends and with our family within the building,” Koon said.
King’s favorite part of his job is not when a video goes viral, or when they get to do goofy things with Beamer in the office. No, it’s when he sees a staffer have the same love for creating that he has always had to create something great.
“When I see someone else get excited about an idea that when they take it from ideation to execution and then they’re proud of it,” King said. “When I see somebody else have that pride in something that they did, yeah, that’s, that’s the coolest feeling.”
