Connor Martin '10, aka 'Con Bro Chill,' suits up for another role: guest lecturer

Connor Martin ’10, the lacrosse-playing PR and advertising graduate who started a party that grew into a business, returned to Chapman University Tuesday as a guest speaker in one of his old classrooms and shared with students some insights into the art and science of turning a passion into a brand.

“I’m like a case study. And it’s very peculiar,” Martin joked with the students in Internet Communications, taught by Cory O’Connor, assistant professor, Dodge College of Film & Media Arts.

While a student at Dodge College, Martin created a character he dubbed “Con Bro Chill,” a goofy over-the-top jester who appears in wacky
YouTube music videos
 poking fun at adolescent parties, college life, overly earnest sports commercials and anything else that strikes “Con Bro’s” fancy. “Come to My Party” was his first hit. Now he is making a living off the combination of his lacrosse talent and PR branding skills. Martin plays professional lacrosse — the Denver Outlaws in summer and the Colorado Mammoth in winter – and continues to produce music videos. While at Chapman, Martin was a top scorer for the Panthers’ lacrosse team, which he helped reach the national championship game in 2008 and 2009 and last season led to the semifinals.

In O’Connor’s class Tuesday, Martin popped his Facebook page and YouTube channel up on an overhead screen and described to students how he uses videos, music, live shows and his sports career to hone a brand that is about having fun and not being too serious. He advised students to target an audience and determine which social media platforms best serve those audiences and then put time and energy there.  For “Con Bro’s” primary audience teen males, that means heavy on Facebook, light on Twitter and loads of fun on YouTube.

He also said it’s important “to know what you’re good at.” In his case, that means letting graphic designers create T-shirts and his brother compose music, he said. He focuses on “Con Bro,” and even personally keeps up the Facebook page, engaging in authentic and friendly conversations.

“Go to where your people are,” he said.