EVENT MARKETING WITH ACSE AT UC SAN DIEGO
Sun God Festival 2026
Marketing Director
ROLE
SKILLS
Event Marketing, Social Media
BUDGET
$1.5M+
TIMELINE
Sept. 2025 — May 2026
OVERVIEW
Marketing UCSD’s most-anticipated event of the year
Sun God is UC San Diego's flagship festival and the single biggest expectation on campus each year. As Marketing Director of ASCE, I owned the Sun God 2026 campaign end-to-end, from strategy and creative direction to execution and physical roll-out. The result was a campaign built on a bold concept that sold out tickets in a record-breaking 6 hours: the fastest sellout in the festival's history.
Keep an eye out for these bubbles for my thoughts about this project!
THE TEAM
Leading a cross-functional team
I led a 12-person team spanning marketing, design, media, festival operations, and web, with direct oversight of a 5-person core marketing team. My focus and core responsibilities lay in the direction-setting work, owning the creative concepting, campaign strategy, and all final approvals.
THE CHALLENGE
Campaign goals beyond selling tickets
Beyond simply selling tickets, I identified two overarching goals of the 2026 Sun God campaign: Accessibility and Visibility.
Accessibility
To reach a wide range of students, previous years’ campaigns relied entirely on digital promotion—but that was actually working against the festival’s own mission. Although accessibility was a core pillar of ASCE's work, an all-digital rollout meant students without an Instagram presence were being left out and missing ticket windows entirely.
Visibility
Sun God already had an incredibly strong reputation on campus, but its name overshadowed the organization as a whole. Students recognized Sun God, not ACSE. Similarly, the festival’s visual identity had settled into a predictable formula—sun, California, and beachy vibes—that no longer set the festival apart.
To address these challenges, I saw an opportunity to rebuild the campaign around two ideas at once: a daring creative identity that would put ACSE on the map, and a rollout that met students where digital alone couldn't.
STRATEGIC APPROACH
“This Is Rebellion”
The concept—"This Is Rebellion"—grew out of an invitation for students to reject constraints to show up fully as themselves. It asked festival attendees to set aside responsibilities and expectations for a day and return to the carefree joy of childhood.
This concept shaped every part of the campaign, from a bold, mixed-media visual system to an interactive website built around play and nostalgia. This included a Tamagotchi-style game and companion character that became its own object of fan love, turning up on keychains, in photo ops, and across teaser content.
These posters became one of the most-loved elements of the campaign, with students even stealing posters as keepsakes.
Another core element of my strategy was a push into physical space. I introduced wheat pasting to campus—a first for the festival—alongside in-person activations designed to reach students that the all-digital approach had been missing. We planned a Sun God Festival Satellite event on UCSD’s Library Walk to generate excitement for the event and introduce ACSE as the face of the festival. Students got the chance to meet the staff, ask questions, and engage with the brand via themed temporary tattoos and Tamagotchi keychains.
EXECUTION
Phases designed to build momentum
I structured the two-month public rollout across four phases, designed to build momentum and anticipation while providing enough flexibility to adapt when artist reveals shifted.
We created assets that continually reminded students of the key dates leading up to ticket sales, driving anticipation with both digital and in-person reminders.
1.
Teaser
To get the student body further involved, I reached out to several other on-campus organizations for the first time in Sun God history. We collaborated with the Skateboarding Club to shoot our merch collection, broadening the festival’s reach and aligning with our nostalgic, rebellious theme. We worked with on-campus Dining to introduce Sun God menu items at Yogurt World, Art of Espresso, and Blue Bowl.
Finally, I also worked directly with the artists to create concert content and organize Meet & Greets to invite students in to every element of the festival.
II.
Announcement
We shared critical information with an audience that was already warmed up and engaged in our content.
This included a headliner video I wrote and directed, recruiting 70% of the ACSE org to appear in it. This became the most-viewed video of the campaign (and any ACSE video at the time!).
III.
Engagement
To keep the momentum going, I also kicked off a user-generated content component of the campaign during and after the event.
We recruited student content creators to share concert videos, recaps, and memes. This organic content also introduced new followers to the ACSE page via friends and on-campus influencers.
IV.
Conversion
Explore different creative elements of each phase in the gallery at the end.
RESULTS
By the numbers
I structured the two-month public rollout across four phases, designed to build momentum and anticipation while providing enough flexibility to adapt when artist reveals shifted.
19,000
Tickets Sold
3.5M+
Monthly Views
5,000
New Followers
Increase in Engagement
200%
Our campaign led to all tickets being sold in 6 hours (compared to 3 weeks in 2025)!
LESSONS LEARNED
Honing my creative instinct
Running a campaign at this scale meant constantly balancing ambition against realistic constraints—not every idea survived contact with university regulations, budget, or timelines. This project helped me develop an instinct for when to keep pushing a creative concept and when to redirect my team’s energy.
GALLERY
Placeholder caption for Teaser Video.
We worked with student creators to maximize reach and showcase Sun God in new ways.
I had the opportunity to collaborate directly with artists on festival content.