Overview
I was the 21st member hired in the startup phase of Pac-12 Networks, tasked with conceptualizing and bringing to life the Pac-12 Networks Brand Architecture to organize the family of brands under the Pac-12 parent brand. This involved branding Pac-12 Networks as an entity, creating sub-brands for the 7 regional networks, and allocating brand uniqueness to the 32 live sports broadcasts across our 12 member universities. The challenge was to build a clear and cohesive brand architecture that maintained instant recognizability while respecting each brand's uniqueness.
The goal was to develop a multi-tiered brand strategy and architecture and implement it across all touchpoints, including broadcast, on-air graphics, promotional materials, marketing efforts, and even smaller elements like business cards and sales decks. I had a six-month timeline to complete this work, which also included hiring and managing a team of creatives responsible for creating and supporting all branded elements.
Brand Architecture Construction: (The strategic heart behind the work)
Show Packaging and Live-Action Production
With 32 unique sports to consider, we wanted to build a cohesive and overarching brand that was cutting-edge, forward-thinking, and tech-driven. Wiht the tight timeline, a high bar and constrained resources, we had to get smart in our execution with the goal of uniqueness, and consistency.
The athletes of the Pac-12 go west to compete against the best in the world, and their battles are epic, fast-paced and personal. We wanted the prelude to every sporting event — football, basketball, soccer, swim or track — to embody that pride and make an emotional connection. To achieve this, with our production partners Radley Studios, we shot original footage across 20+ sports over five filming days, exclusively casting former collegiate athletes to maintain an authentic feel. The focus was on capturing the intensity of moments in sports, while being a derivation of the brand look established by Pac-12 Conference.
The packaging was built to have the flexibility to work across sports, schools and seasons, using design that complemented the Pac-12 color palette. Within a hyperreal branded world, we animated literal graphic connections that simulated the speed of competition across the various sports.
Set Staging
Every aspect of the studio presence for Pac-12 Networks needed to exude the west coast. To amplify this, we looked at our natural surroundings as the base. Granite, Reclaimed Redwood, oceanic textures, and a myriad of warm and cool hues lined the studio from top to bottom. The stage was built in the round, creating a wide-open view with 360-degree angles and views.
Insert Package Design
In an era where on-screen graphics had continued to increase in scale and intrusiveness, we decided we were going to go another way. This a-ha moment came from realizing the rarest moment in all of sports television took place in the PGA’s Masters Tournament - a clean screen. We went through round after round of progression to arrive at the smallest on-screen footprint possible, with the largest and most flexible typography possible; maximizing legibility while taking up the least amount of space.
For control over inserts, we built a first-of-its-kind remote delivery system in partnership with our vendors to remotely send the broadcast package to our teams in the field. This enabled fast, easy control over all aspects, from sponsorships to scoreboxes, all from our home studio in San Francisco.
Studio Shows
Along with the Live Events, Pac-12 Networks launched with a small set of primary studio-support shows. Each one of these was tiered into it’s architecture, determined either by content, or studio value. Keeping this in mind, we executed the packaging for these shows tight to the brand to ensure maximum brand cohesion.
