It's not how you play, it's how you brand. #BosackBracket

[Joe]

Follow along! We'll post daily updates leading up to, and throughout the tournament!

http://www.facebook.com/JoeBosack

Welcome to the Bosack Bracket

It’s not how you Play, it’s how you Brand!

Joe Bosack & Co. Celebrates @March Madness with The Battle of the Basketball Brands

@JBosack and #BosackBracket put 68 college athletics identities in single elimination tournament starting March 19; Winner to be crowned Monday April 8

SUMMARY

College brand experts at Joe Bosack & Co. are using the @MarchMadness matchups

to evaluate and compare this year’s competing teams’ brands. The Bosack Bracket analyzes each of the March Madness games beginning Tuesday, March 19 and declares the winner of the 2013 Bosack Bracket on Monday, April 8. Along the way, the athletic identities in each matchup are evaluated using three key brand identity criteria. The team that scores the best-of-three brand criteria in each matchup wins the “game” and moves on in the Bosack Bracket tournament.

THE CRITERIA

Here’s how the Bosack Bracket matchups works:

There are three brand design criteria to be considered when comparing the two competing schools in each game-

Athletics Nickname and Logo

o Authenticity, history, originality and creativity

o Unique, distinguished, recognizable

Colors and Brand Typography

o Creativity, legibility and reflective of the brand

o Distinctive

Uniforms and Game Presentation

o Head-to-toe evaluation, “who you are wearing” and if it’s a home game or a road game could be a deciding factor

o Practical applications that are unique, authentic or ingenious

o Mascot and mascot antics

Whichever team is judged to have scored the majority of these brand design criteria in each game moves on in the Bosack Bracket until a champion is crowned on April 8.

[rtrich11]

I'll follow.

[BlackBolt3]

This is pretty interesting...(btw, I love your work on this year and past ACC tournament logos.)

[Joe]

Thanks BB, I always look forward to that project and am happy with how things turned out this year. If you follow me on dribbble, you'll see one of this years ACC concepts that didn't quite make the cut.

[Joe]

#BosackBracket Criterion #1: NICKNAME AND LOGO

@MarchMadness nicknames are a virtual Noah’s Ark of angry animals that roam the earth. As the BB brand experts consider nicknames when comparing two competing brands in each Big Dance matchup,

unique and original go a long way in the zoology and ornithology space. “Wildcats” don’t cut it quite like, say, “Sea Lions”. Things get more interesting when you have irritable human nicknames like “Demon Deacons” and “Fighting Irish” or ancient warring tribes like Spartans, Trojans and every shade of Knights. What about a matchup between the JMU Dukes and Duke Blue Devils? Hmmm.

All things being equal, the execution of the logo carries the day in this category. Does the logo look as good at mid-court as on a hat? Or does it look like the cat dropped a hairball on your favorite 59Fifty?

Key considerations when comparing Nickname and Logo: authenticity, history, originality and creativity, uniqueness, distinguished, recognizable. Which way will the possession arrow point starting next week?

#BosackBracket HOW TO FOLLOW: The college brand identities in the Bosack Bracket are seeded and placed in same bracket as selected by the NCAA on Sunday, March 17. The first round of brand vs. brand competition begins Tuesday March 19 and the single elimination showdowns mirror the NCAA tournament dates until the 2013 Bosack Bracket Brand Champion is declared on Monday, April 8.

Follow all the action on our Facebook page (Facebook.com/JoeBosack) and on Twitter (@JBosack and #BosackBracket).

#BosackBracket IT’S NOT HOW YOU PLAY- IT’S HOW YOU BRAND!

[chakfu]

Get the bozack

[Brian in Boston]

What about a matchup between the JMU Dukes and Duke Blue Devils? Hmmm.

Key considerations when comparing Nickname and Logo: authenticity, history, originality and creativity, uniqueness, distinguished, recognizable.

The James Madison Dukes versus the Duke Blue Devils. "Hmmm", indeed.

While there's no shortage of history that's been claimed behind the Blue Devils' sobriquet (namely, the influence of the "les Diables Bleus" of the Chasseurs Alpins World War I French military unit), if Duke's own history of the nickname is to be believed, adoption of the identity was a long, drawn-out affair with less-than-universal acclaim amongst the student body greeting it. Personally, I think it would have been terrific if Duke had adopted the nickname Captains in honor of the school's longtime coach and athletic director Wilbur Wade "Cap" Card. Amongst other strong nominees - at least to my mind - in Duke's nickname competition were Dreadnaughts, Blue Titans, and Royal Blazes.

By contrast, James Madison University's adoption of the "Dukes" nickname was apparently greeted with near universal support amongst students and had a direct tie to the school's history, as it was meant to honor Samuel Page Duke, JMU's second president. Further, President Duke had a pet bulldog that eventually made its way into the university's depiction of the namesake mascot.

Ahhhhhh... THIS is why I can't wait for your BosackBracket tip-off, Joe!!!

Of the early automatic qualifiers, Bucknell, James Madison, and South Dakota State strike me as being standouts.

[Joe]

#BosackBracket Criterion #2: BRAND COLORS AND TYPOGRAPHY

Okay, @MarchMadness fans, here’s your first official BB spoiler alert—Black is not a brand color for about 70% of the brands in the Big Dance. However, the Big Three official supplier...s will splash that Black on the hardwood runway like we were in the middle of a good ol’ West Texas gusher. Nevertheless, when it comes to scoring in this category, be true to your school…colors.

Typography is a wonderful way to establish and communicate a brand, but sadly, not every college brand takes advantage. Points are garnered here for being original and consistent. No points for use off-the-shelf, straight-out-of-the-can slab serif varsity type. This is not high school, people!

Key considerations when comparing Brand Colors and Typography: Creativity, legibility, reflective of the brand, distinctive. And get your ligatures ready when the action gets underway next week?

[Joe]

#BosackBracket Criterion #3: UNIFORMS AND GAME PRESENTATION

Here’s where debates rage, if @IndianaMBB and @FightingIrish brand “dress” is any indication.

Both are wearing Adidas to the Big Dance, but the Hoosiers unis have not changed sinc

e the days of Bob Knight and Isiah Thomas (except for the Cream color), while the Fighting Irish wore Home and Road #LepriCamo at the Big East Tournament. If you see these ND threads again in the NCAA tournament, it could lead to an early exit from the #BosackBracket. Doubt you will.

Key considerations when comparing Uniforms and Game Presentation: Head-to-toe evaluation; “Who you are wearing?” and if it’s a home game or a road game could be a deciding factor; practical applications that are unique, authentic or ingenious (the Hoosiers warmup stripes); mascot and mascot antics. Ah, those furry things running up and down the sidelines could be the X factor. And speaking of Xs- our friends at Xavier have TWO mascots-- and a new Pope! Could be tough to beat in the BB but probably won’t get invited to the dance.

[Joe]

Yesterday's Results:

#BosackBracket RESULT: @BlueRaiderBBall 0 @SMCgaels 3

St. Mary’s starts @MarchMadness with a BB win. Gaels move on to face @UofMTigersHoops in Round 2

NICKNAME AND LOGO: We actually love both these names and logos. There aren’t a lot of Ga

els out there and it’s an authentic handle for the little school that could. And the lovely crafted Celtic knot-like logo is unique. The Blue Raiders and their lightening-breathing winged steed is a great interpretation of the nickname. >St. Mary’s

COLORS AND TYPOGRAPHY: The Gaels identity system is a “how to” for Athletics identity. Not just Red, White and Blue but a dark Blue and a deep Red with a silver highlight and outline. Custom font package on top of it. > St. Mary’s

UNIS AND GAME PRESENTATION: The Blue Raiders struggle to get two long words- Middle Tennessee- on the front of the uniform while the Gaels uni, especially the dark Blue trimmed in Red with the customized lettering and numbers, is a runaway. >St. Mary’s

#BosackBracket RESULT: @NCATbasketball 1 @LibertyFlames 2

The Flames come into @MarchMadness with a losing record, but not to start the BB. Liberty moves on to face @villebasketball

NICKNAME AND LOGO: There must be some reason why the NC A

&T Aggies have a Bulldog logo whose pose looks borrowed from the NHL Florida Panther, but the poorly illustrated pooch does not pique the curiosity. The Flames just completed revisions on their primary identity that is a better overall presentation of this mythical bird/eagle. >Liberty

COLORS AND TYPOGRAPHY: The Aggies are all over the gym here with a ligature that does not look like it belongs with the bulldog mark and typography, but their Navy and Gold combo is a great place to rebuild. Liberty uses the Red, White and Blue combined with Silver highlights to its patriotic max in the cleaned up identity system. >Liberty

UNIS AND GAME PRESENTATION: Perhaps it’s the constant exposure to Michigan hoops, but those Aggies’ Navy and Gold threads looks great on Home or on the Road. >NC A&T

[Joe]

First round winners and losers: http://www.facebook.com/JoeBosack

[Brian in Boston]

With apologies for potentially being a "damper" on Bosack Bracket enthusiasm, I simply wanted to speak my mind.

Joe, I've long admired both you and your work. That said, I couldn't possibly disagree more with your decision to "excuse" brands you developed from participating in the Bosack Bracket tourney.

While a noble gesture, I believe that said move taints the process far more than any question over whether you'd unfairly favor Bosack & Company-developed identities over the work of other designers. If we can't trust you to be impartial when it comes to judging each of the school's identities head-to-head based upon the criteria you laid out, then what's the point in conducting the exercise?

At the very least, I wish that you'd opted to offer-up some alternative way to conduct an assessment of your clients' brands within the tournament that took your decision out of the process in match-ups involving said schools. Perhaps you could have opened those match-ups up to a public vote via Facebook posts? Maybe you could have had a panel of guest judges comprised of other designers determine the outcome of those matches? It just strikes me that anything would have been better than simply granting "byes" to team brands.

Again, my apologies for being critical of an endeavor that you launched and have every right to conduct as you wish. Just my 2¢.

[Joe]

Thanks B in B! And no need to apologize.

We can indeed be impartial when it comes to our clients, but it's the perception that gets sticky. If we favor one of our schools in a matchup, it could look bias, if we don't favor our clients, it could look worse!

I love your idea of some sort of social media engagement - that would make this a lot more exciting next year.

[Brian in Boston]

If we favor one of our schools in a matchup, it could look bias, if we don't favor our clients, it could look worse!

Caught between a rock and a hard place, Joe. Still, at the very least, I felt Akron, Bucknell, and Wichita State would make some noise in this tournament.

[Joe]

#BosackBracket SWEET SIXTEEN: Reset time at the BB after a furious weekend of @MarchMadness and Brand Battle action.

What do you think?

BB MIDWEST

Oregon vs. Louisville

Michigan State vs. Duke

BB WEST

Pittsburgh vs. Wisconsin

Arizona vs. Ohio State

BB SOUTH

Michigan vs. Kansas

Oklahoma vs. Florida

BB EAST

California vs. Indiana

Marquette vs. Miami

#BosackBracket IT’S NOT HOW YOU PLAY- IT’S HOW YOU BRAND!

#BosackBracket HOW TO FOLLOW: The college brand identities in the Bosack Bracket are seeded and placed in same bracket as selected by the NCAA. The brand vs. brand, single elimination showdowns mirror the NCAA tournament dates until the 2013 Bosack Bracket Brand Champion is declared on Monday, April 8.

Follow all the action on our Facebook page and on Twitter @JBosack