L1 Standards - Marketing
Overview
L1 marketing is about reliable execution. An L1 marketing member can take a task (e.g., writing a caption, taking photos, creating a social media post) and complete it on-brand without needing someone to clean up afterward. They can tell the team's story/describe core outreach programs if asked, and show up consistently. L1 is the standard every active / full-time marketing member is expected to reach on YETI.
Benchmarks
| # | Benchmark | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brand Fluency | Produce an on-brand post from scratch (correct palette, fonts, logo placement, tone) without consulting the style guide during the task. |
| 2 | Content Production | 5+ published pieces (posts, blog, newsletter) that required no major revision before going live. |
| 3 | Tool Proficiency | Complete an end-to-end task in Canva, Lightroom, and the team's scheduling platform without getting stuck. |
| 4 | Copywriting | Caption, sponsor thank-you, or event announcement that is clear, on-brand, and audience-appropriate in one draft cycle. |
| 5 | Reliability | Meet deadlines 90%+ across a full build/comp cycle and communicate proactively if something slips. |
| 6 | Team Knowledge | Deliver a confident elevator pitch covering: team number, name, location, founding year, notable achievements, current robot, and season game. |
| 7 | Program Literacy | Name and describe each core outreach program without looking it up: RISE with YETI, QCRA classes and camps, Girl Scouts merit badge, Doyenne Inspiration West, #FIRSTEmpowered, Go Green, FLL/FTC tournaments, The Zone, Roof Above. |
| 8 | FIRST Ecosystem Awareness | Explain the FRC/FTC/FLL/FLL Explore pipeline and FIRST's mission in practice, with real examples. |
Assessment Process
1. Portfolio Review
You will be expected to maintain a portfolio of your work in Google Drive. Your portfolio should be a running record of your marketing work throughout the season. Start it on day one and add to it as you go.
Suggested Portfolio Structure
Marketing Portfolio — [First Last]/
Published Work/ ← final versions of posts, graphics, newsletters, etc.
Drafts & Revisions/ ← early drafts showing your process (optional but helpful)
Copywriting/ ← captions, sponsor emails, announcements you wrote
What belongs in it:
- Every post or piece you published, with a note on what it was for
- Any written copy you've produced
What does not belong:
- Work that was heavily revised by someone else before publishing
- Files without context (unlabeled exports, random screenshots)
A good portfolio should make it easy for an evaluator to see what you made, when, and for what purpose. If the folder is disorganized, that already tells part of the story.
2. Structured Conversation
You will be expected to walk a mentor/leader through your portfolio. Some sample questions might be:
- Show me your strongest post, why does it work?
- Walk me through the design process for this piece
- Give me a 60-second elevator pitch to a potential sponsor about YETI
- Name our "big 3" outreach programs and give a brief description about what they do
3. Reliability Check
Subteam leads and mentors will evaluate candidate reliability, with an emphasis on communication and meeting deadlines.