Launched on 22 August ahead of the start of the US college football season, the Mountain West Conference (MWC) rolled out a new, integrated marketing campaign called ‘At The Peak’ focusing on what makes the region unique: particularly its outdoor beauty and its reputation for integrity.
The Mountain West Conference (MWC), one of the college athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, celebrated its 20th anniversary with a multi-phase ‘At The Peak’ brand platform.
The campaign, which was the result of a brief from the conference to better understand how its brand is perceived and then to overhaul it’s positioning across the country, sought to clarify the division’s status with the ‘Power Five’ conferences and position itself as ‘the’ leader of this group of five.
In the strategy stage, the conference marketing team carried out through a research process that included internal reviews, athletic director meetings, surveys with season ticket holders and individual members and football fans in each MW community.
With 12 different university athletic departments each having their own brands and strategy, the conference was challenged to create an approach which would see every member institution (college) begin moving in the same direction.
Amongst the key findings were that whilst college sports fans were aware of the Mountain West Conference and positive about it, they weren’t sure which schools were a part of the conference and felt it lacked a clear identity.
The research also found that fans understood that these universities were all located in cities and area offering elite outdoor activities and entertainment alternatives from the mountains (skiing, biking, hiking) to the ocean (surfing, swimming).
Indeed, most MWC schools are located in destination cities which boast fantastic landscapes and that the region has a reputation for honesty and integrity (as opposed to some of the troubles that have plagued several other US college sports institutions in recent years).
So the conference teamed up with agency Old Hat to produce an integrated campaign to reposition the MWC brand.
The ‘At The Peak’ core idea emerged from the idea that it is a natural default for people to think about mountain peaks as a metaphor for excellence and the initiative set out to extend that idea to any number of other peaks that help define what this conference is: the peak of a graduation cap, the peak of a championship trophy, the peak of iconic buildings on these campuses.
The campaign’s hero piece was a brand video focusing on each aspect of the MW’s unique positioning: showing visuals from every campus, city and/or student-athletes.
This was edited into a pair of 30-second spots which ran on national television during MW events, while a further two ‘institutional versions’ of these films focus more heavily on each school and ran in-venue at each campus’.
The social media phase of the campaign, which spanned Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, included a calendar for recommended posts, a suite of social media graphic templates for the conference office and for each college institution, as well as target audience personas and a social media guide.
18 days until kickoff.
Repped by @FresnoStateFB finishing #18 in the polls last season.#GoDogs | #PrideOfTheValley | #AtThePeak pic.twitter.com/bqHQxCAyUB— Mountain West (@MountainWest) August 6, 2019
The print strand of the initiative stretched across a set of execution collateral including outdoor boards, airport signage, facility graphics and standard print materials for use across the country, on campus and at championship events.
As well as developing the creative content, Old Hat’s role also spanned developing the digital media strategy, advising on traditional media placement and the rollout approach, as well as research and data analysis
“We wanted to best-position ourselves in the eyes of college fans and we knew we had a wide range of positive elements to promote,” explained Division Commissioner Craig Thompson.
“Old Hat helped us strategically navigate through opinions from alumni, administrators, and fans of our 12 schools to define a campaign that highlights our dynamic strengths. From start to finish, the Old Hat team was thorough, creative, and flexible with our recommendations.”
“As a league, we’ve always tried to be innovative and look for ways to improve,” added Mountain West Conference Deputy Commissioner Bret Gilliland.
“We saw this as a way to further elevate our brand and then it tied into our efforts in terms of engaging with our membership.”
Comment:
A well-researched and well-rounded campaign for a college conference with some powerful creative.
Although whether it will truly cut through nationally amongst a raft of other sportswear brands, properties and rights-holders – from Patagonia to MLB’s Colorado Rockies – which feature mountain peaks at the core of their creative remains to be seen.
Links:
Mountain West
https://www.youtube.com/user/MountainWestConf
https://twitter.com/mw_olysports
https://www.facebook.com/MountainWestConference
https://www.instagram.com/MountainWestConference/
Old Hat
https://www.oldhatcreative.com/
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