Community Impact Draft Branding
A grassroots grant-giving event gets a brand boost
The Detroit Sports Commission trusted us to brand their signature charitable community event that would help kick off the 2024 NFL Draft week in Detroit. We had two weeks to make it an all-out winner.
Challenge: Create an identity for this draft-week event that was 1) independent of the NFL Draft brand and 2) an embodiment of the Detroit Sports Commission’s brand
The Detroit Sports Commission’s Community Impact Draft charity event would officially kick off draft week on April 22, 2024, awarding grants to grassroots and nonprofits organizations in and around Detroit. Basically, this was going to be the city’s homegrown moment to shine while Detroit was on a global stage. And it wasn’t going to be your typical presentation-from-the-podium type of grant-giving event either. The idea was to make it fun, and complementary to the Detroit Sports Commissions brand – to format it in a celebratory mock-draft style to give it added flair and marketability. We knew the brand identity we developed had to speak to this distinctive format and the Detroit-based audience that was at the center of the event. We had to deliver a brand and assets that connected to the community and had commercial viability to boot.
Strategy: Get a ton done in a little bit of time
We only had two weeks to deliver on our task so we hit the ground running hard, applying what we already created for the Detroit Sports Commission and from other assets we were creating for the NFL Draft (see case study link here). We conceptualized an extension of the strong Detroit Sports Commission brand with a splash of Detroit attitude. With this motive in mind, we designed and produced the event’s entire brand portfolio of assets that included backdrop banners, digital stage backgrounds, way finding signage, table top clings, window clings and pop-up banners to lightboxes, credentials, brochures and the design of the Impact Draft jerseys given to grant recipients on “draft” day.
Result: The pick Is In
More than 30 local organizations received thousands of dollars in grant money during the Community Impact Draft. And Detroit-area kids – and adults – had a lot of fun accepting their awards in a true draft-like environment.
Services:
Event Branding
Graphic design layout and production
Creative and art direction
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