Recently, Rice University launched their new branding initiative to the public. The initiative includes brand new owl logos and a new script logo that all of Rice athletics will utilize.
Sergio Santamaria ’18 is a Sport Management major and also newly elected president of the Rice Rally Club. What comes with a rebranding initiative is the need to market and distribute the new product to fans to create awareness. Santamaria, along with help from the rest of Rally Club, worked closely with the marketing department to create events and giveaways to complement the brand refresh.
“We [Rally Club] were contacted by the athletic department when the design process was nearly complete as another resource to help spread the word and helped come up with the different items given away around campus during the week of the rebrand,” Santamaria said.
The measure of success for any branding change is public feedback. The marketing department and the Rally Club worked hard to create opportunities for the new logos to be seen and distributed to create excitement for this new era for Rice athletics.
“The feedback has been overwhelming positive,” Santamaria said. “For Owl Days, it was exciting to be able to tell prospective students that they would get to come to Rice with a newly branded athletic department and see how excited they got.”
It is important in the realm of collegiate athletics to keep your brand fresh and recognizable.
“When you used to look up Rice Owls or Rice logo you would see ten different ones. [The rebrand] is significant because it was an effort to unify the public perception and specifically the identification of the brand.”
Rice Rally Club is a student-run organization that helps advocate and build up excitement for Rice Athletics.
Dayne Wunderlich, a senior from Brenham, TX, is majoring in Sport Management.