PERAN DIGITAL TEAM DALAM MENINGKATKAN BRAND AWARENESS UNIVERSITAS MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG MELALUI AKUN TIKTOK @ummcampus

The rise of social media has transformed how higher education institutions build brand awareness amidst increasingly fierce competition. Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang utilizes TikTok through its official account, @ummcampus, engaging its Digital Team members as on-screen talent during content production. This study aims to explain the Digital Team's role in enhancing Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang's brand awareness via the @ummcampus TikTok account. Employing a qualitative, descriptive approach, the study gathered data through observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation involving four Digital Team members who served as talent for @ummcampus content, analyzing the findings through Soerjono Soekanto’s role theory. The results indicate that the Digital Team performs three types of roles: active, participatory, and passive. The active role is demonstrated through personal adaptation to the institution, perspective development, content trend identification, and self-evaluation. The participatory role is evidenced by contributing ideas, improvising dialogue, and sharing opinions with the public relations team. The passive role manifests as following directives, withholding opinions, and deferring final decisions to the public relations team. The study concludes that the roles assumed by Digital Team members are not static but adapt to the conditions and requirements encountered during content production; thus, these three roles complement one another in supporting efforts to build brand awareness for Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang.