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CoSIDA to partner with Joe Bosack & Co. for rebranding project
The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Executive Board of Directors has unanimously voted to partner with
Joe Bosack & Co. to explore a refreshed brand identity for the national association, including pursuing a new association name and logo. This rebranding strategy reflects both the evolution of the organization as well as its vision for the future.
CoSIDA, the national association of athletic communications and creative professionals, was formed in 1957 and has retained its original name for the last 65 years. As the organization educates, advocates and communicates with and for the intercollegiate athletics communications’ community, its mission is to engage and empower members, develop exceptional leaders and promote and enhance the profession.
There are over 3,000 members in CoSIDA.
The goal in exploring this naming and branding process is not to stray from the organization’s rich history or its core mission — as stated above — but to be more inclusive of the growing and diverse membership comprised of athletic communications and creative professionals at all levels of intercollegiate athletics, and to accurately showcase who athletic communicators are and what they do. As communications is a rapidly changing profession, the goal is to keep pace as the expectations of the job continue to evolve.
This strategic branding initiative and process of exploring a new name and brand identity will involve the CoSIDA Executive Board, the CoSIDA national office staff, marketing and design agency Joe Bosack & Co., and a working group of selected members and external stakeholders.
Bosack & Co. has begun work with CoSIDA to manage the development of the national association’s brand strategies and brand identity designs, and will provide senior-level marketing, design, communications and advertising experience. Working directly with CoSIDA are founder and creative director
Joe Bosack along with
David Haney, Managing Director.
The decision to examine a refreshed brand identity is the result of many years of work by the CoSIDA Executive Board and staff in gathering information about the organization and the members. In addition to observing trends and job responsibility changes in the communications and creative industry, CoSIDA conducted a 2020 Compensation and Career Satisfaction Survey (in conjunction with
Athlete Viewpoint) and a 2021 Membership Staffing Survey.
The CoSIDA Executive Board officially commissioned this strategic branding review process in April 2021.
A working group, chaired by then-CoSIDA President
Sam Atkinson of Gallaudet University and CoSIDA Director of Creative Services
Beau White began the process of examining the current brand perception of CoSIDA.
This was accomplished by surveying CoSIDA members, external stakeholders, senior college athletic administrators and creative and digital media professionals in college sports in November and December of 2021. CoSIDA enlisted the services of Athlete Viewpoint in a survey and analysis of the findings in the 2021 CoSIDA Branding Survey: Reframing the Future of Our Organization and Industry.
Additionally, CoSIDA conducted 30 in-depth interviews during this time with CoSIDA past leaders and external stakeholders, including athletic directors and commissioners. Those interviews were conducted by
Trip Durham of 2D Consulting, LLC.
Information from prior surveys and the 2021 survey and interviews, coupled with discussions with the leaders in CoSIDA’s governance advisory council and divisional cabinets resulted in the decision to move forward on a rebrand plan.
The Executive Board envisions the rebranding process to include three primary strategies:
- The development of the All-In Membership model (will go into effect August 2022)
- The exploration of a new visual identity and name
- Creating a pro-growth direction for the organization through the development and enhancement of relevant programming to support our membership.
Changing the name of the organization requires a CoSIDA constitutional change, including a membership vote. That vote will be online and is expected to take place in late April or early May. There will be 21 days notice prior to the vote being conducted.
Once the new name is approved, the logo development process will follow. A logo change does not require a membership vote.
FAQs
CoSIDA has a great history and name recognition. Why is this rebrand identity necessary?
This decision to rebrand has been taken after careful and extensive deliberation and analysis of surveys, interviews, observations, and conversations conducted by CoSIDA leadership over the last several years. The CoSIDA Executive Board of Directors, the national staff and the strategic branding working group do not think CoSIDA is broken.
Rather, our data suggests we have an outdated image. Despite strong awareness and brand recognition, how we are perceived does not align with how we see ourselves, and more important, how we want other leaders to view us. We want to determine an appropriate name for the association that speaks to the whole of the profession and not a specific job title. And, we want to support this with professional visual branding.
Our goal is to follow the examples set by past leaders of CoSIDA and set a new vision that will continue to help us be relevant for years to come.
How can I get involved?
CoSIDA has never been about any single president, board member, staff member, committee or member. It has always been about the collective and, to be successful, we’re asking for everyone to invest and be “All-In” for the new vision for our organization.
You can help by encouraging your friends and colleagues to take advantage of the All-In membership and include your full communications and creative staff, students and senior administrators in your institutional membership. You can help by joining a committee or lending your expertise to our professional development programming.
There are countless ways to get involved and if you’re not sure where to start, begin by
contacting a member of the Executive Board of Directors of the national staff. If you have questions or concerns, we urge you to bring them directly to CoSIDA leadership.
What factors influenced this major decision which will affect both the association and the members?
CoSIDA leadership and staff have been examining the trends in college athletic communications for years, and have listened to our members as they deal with ever-changing working environments and work responsibilities. With the assistance of Athlete Viewpoint, every CoSIDA member had the opportunity to participate in the 2021 Strategic Branding Survey, as well as the 2020 Compensation and Career Satisfaction Survey.
The survey results, combined with 30 in-depth interviews with leaders across college athletics and other conversations with people inside and outside of CoSIDA, led us to the determination that maintaining the ”status quo” was not in the best interest of the organization or our members, and that it was time for a new vision and new direction for CoSIDA.
This rebranding study sounds good, but what else is coming with a potential name and logo change? Just changing a name or logo doesn’t necessarily mean change in the organization or for members, right?
In the words of a member who took the strategic branding survey, “a change in the name or a new logo is just ‘window dressing’ if nothing else accompanies these changes.” In that spirit, CoSIDA leadership knows that there must be substance behind a new name and logo, and is committed to meaningful enhancements, updates and changes for our members and prospective members.
It is the goal of the Executive Board and staff to enhance and create new offerings that appeal to our diverse membership in terms of professional development, continuing education, committee roles, awards program, mentorship program, and more.
Here are the goals of the rebrand:
- Create or update offerings that appeal to college athletics storytellers.
- Provide a community where current and prospective members feel included.
- Equip and engage current and prospective members to communicate their value
- Advocacy work: Focus on being an inclusive “advocate” for the profession.
Is this all being done for financial concerns or membership concerns as we emerge from two years in the pandemic?
No. CoSIDA maintains secure financial health, has been fiscally responsible, and our financial portfolio is strong.
Our membership numbers have rebounded during the 2021-22 academic year. We currently have one of the highest memberships in history (3,035) as we have surpassed the 3,000-member mark for the eighth time in nine years.
While our 2020-21 pandemic membership dropped to 2,582, our member engagement last year exceeded expectations.
We re-organized our governance structure over the last two years, resulting in an Advisory Council and Divisional Cabinets with more members participating in leadership roles. We now have the most diverse leadership in terms of gender, ethnic and divisional perspectives in CoSIDA history.
I took the 2021 Branding Survey and am curious as to some of the major findings.
There are many ways to review all the responses in our survey (experience, title, division, age, gender, ethnicity, etc.). In filtering all the responses, one thing emerged clearly – all survey respondents overwhelmingly agree that CoSIDA is a strong and relevant organization. This verified what we thought and gave us the confidence to move forward in the branding identity process.
When asked “Should CoSIDA change its name?”, the responses were mixed. CoSIDA Executive Board member and branding working group member
Katie Mucci (Missouri Valley Conference) summed up the analysis and comments when she said, “There are a lot of ‘unsure’ answers and comments that suggest that, with more information, they could see that a change in name and logo is a good idea. It seems clear there are a significant number of people who don’t necessarily desire change, but feel it’s needed and necessary.”
More detailed information about the survey results are available here.
How long is this rebrand identity project going to take?
We’ve set an ambitious timetable with Joe Bosack & Co. with the goal of launching the new logo at the #CoSIDA22 Convention. That being said, we intend to take the time needed to do this right.
To change the name of the organization requires a constitutional amendment, including a membership vote. That vote will be online and is expected to take place in late April or early May. There will be 21 days notice prior to the vote being conducted.
Once the new name is approved, the logo development process will follow. A logo change does not require a membership vote.
Who is going to come up with the new name?
The strategic process is already underway with Bosack & Co., analyzing and researching the data provided, to deliver a strategy statement and creative brief.
Bosack & Co. will then work with CoSIDA leadership including the executive board, national staff and working group to present concepts. Ultimately, the working group will recommend concepts to the Executive Board. Once the Executive Board approves the concepts, it will move to the membership vote. Along the way, other stakeholder groups will be involved — primarily members of the divisional cabinets and committee leaders.
What are other priorities as we move into the 2022-23 academic year?
- Our new All-In Membership is a huge opportunity for both member and association growth. In August 2022, institutions will be able to have unlimited members for one price with the introduction of the new All-In Membership. You will have the opportunity to include staff who may have never been members before such as creative, video and digital staff, and senior administrators. Your benefit as members? This option should ease some of the financial decision-making for our traditional members to include their full staff, including students — our next generation.
- Advocacy for our members. We want to energize and engage our current members even more and help you develop more value and impact in your organizations - and to be proud of this profession. We will continue to offer leadership programming and involvement opportunities in our organization. We will continue to lead a change in mindset about the perception of what we do and the value we provide.
- Be more inclusive to prospective members. Simply put, we will open our doors wider, offer new and more programming, mentorship opportunities and committee involvement, to be a more inclusive organization for ALL types of communicators and creators. The emphasis will be on continuing advocacy for the profession and our members, new and enhanced opportunities for current and new members, and an emphasis on our new All-In Membership.
Does this mean I need to change my title? Are we not SIDs anymore?
Not at all. Our goal is to support ALL communications and creative professionals in college athletics where they are, and under the way they choose to organize their own offices. It’s not a secret to anyone that job titles vary greatly. What we’ve learned is that when people hear “CoSIDA” they think of “sports information.” When they think of “sports information” the terms that come to mind are not reflective of the entirety of what CoSIDA represents now or what it wants to represent in the future. Nearly two-thirds of our membership no longer uses the term sports information. This organizational name change is not meant to directly impact how individual campuses or organizations identify themselves. In the words of an athletic director we spoke with, “we can’t begin to think about being cutting edge, until we are current.” This name change will make CoSIDA current and better positioned for the future.
Have more questions? Contact a member of the core working group.
Who is part of the working group?
Core working group
- Cindy Potter, 2021-22 President // Columbia College (Mo.) Senior Deputy Director of Athletics
- Sam Atkinson, Past President // Gallaudet University Associate AD for Communications
- Kevin Trainor, Third Vice President // University of Arkansas Senior Associate AD for Public Relations
- Katie Mucci, At-Large Representative // Missouri Valley Conference Assistant Commissioner for New Media & Technology
- Doug Vance, CoSIDA Executive Director
- Beau White, CoSIDA Director of Creative Services
CoSIDA members/external stakeholders
- Katie Cavender, College Football Playoff Assistant Director of Communications and Branding
- Erik Christianson, NCAA Managing Director of Communications
- Jason Feirman, LSU Executive Director for Creative Services
- Nick Joos, Iowa State Senior Associate Athletics Director // CoSIDA Past President
- Jeff Kallin, Clemson Associate AD / Communications & Strategic Initiatives
- Rob Knox, UNC Greensboro Associate AD for Strategic Communications // CoSIDA Past President
- Gina Lehe, NCAA Managing Director of Brand & Strategy
- Shawn Medeiros, D3SIDA President // Endicott College Sports Information Director
- Matt Panto, Ivy League Associate Executive Director, Strategic Communications & External Relations
- Lynnea Phillips, Indiana Assistant Athletic Director of NIL, Student-Athlete Branding, Social and Digital Media
- Blake Timm, D2SIDA Secretary // Great Northwest Athletic Conference Assistant Commissioner for Communications
- Jeff Rubin, SIDEARM Sports CEO
CoSIDA national staff
- Will Roleson, CoSIDA Associate Executive Director
- Barb Kowal, CoSIDA Director of Professional Development and External Affairs
- Laurie Bollig, CoSIDA Director of Membership Engagement