WVU, marketing and the Coliseum court; from worst to first?

Since joining Wheelhouse Creative, my eyes have been opened wide to the importance of marketing. It’s not only a good idea for businesses, it’s absolutely vital in this day and age.

And perhaps no business understands that more than the WVU athletic department. It not only understands the topic, but, more importantly, it gets how to CREATE marketing opportunities.

Like unveiling a classy new basketball court design inside the Coliseum.

In sum, the new look is stunning. It may be the nicest I’ve ever seen. And in my previous vocation, I saw a bunch.

Here’s a link if you haven’t seen the design: . If you have, you understand of what I write. It’s clean. It’s sharp. But most important, it’s appealing.

“Our basketball court is one of our highest profile pieces in regard to branding,” said WVU associate athletic director Matt Wells on Monday. “We unveiled the court in the spring after working with Nike for the better part of two years. We worked with their Global Identity Group.”

GIG, as it’s known, presented a graphics and uniform package to WVU that extends across the 18 Mountaineer sports and beyond. There are exclusive numeral styles, wordmarks, color palettes, special typography and fonts as well as patterns and textures.

“We felt it was important to incorporate our court with our updated branding,” Wells said. “Because of the television exposure it receives throughout the season, it’s one of our most visible assets.”

It’s certainly vaulting WVU to the top of the court class. In case you were unaware, the Coliseum court was once judged one of the nation’s 10 worst by an outfit called The Purple Quill. Too much yellow, said the article.

This court, though, is special. The Flying WV is highlighted yet also complemented by the outline of the state. The lettering font works nicely. And the mountain ridges at the bottom are a terrific touch.

For me, it zooms past the Oregon floor, a trippy design that’s supposed to look as if peering up through a grove of fir trees. It moves past that of FIU with its beach look, complete with a wave washing up. It even moves past Indiana’s iconic floor. I see it and Notre Dame’s shamrock dual-toned hardwood in a tie.

Which should appeal to fans and recruits alike.

“Absolutely,” Wells said. “This speaks to all of our different constituent groups, whether it be our fans who are current WVU students, general public, season ticket holders or donors that never make it to a game. And, certainly, the recruiting aspect is important as well. You’re trying to reach out to high school-age kids – or maybe even younger – that one day might don the Gold and Blue uniforms.”

In my eyes, the court design went from worst (or one of the worst) to a tie for first.

Credit a little marketing savvy.

“It was time to update the court,” Wells said. “That look had served us well. Over time it just wasn’t as sharp as it once was. It was time to update. After that decision, the marketing angle came into play. How do we want it to look? What elements do we want to incorporate?”

As it turns out, the perfect ones.

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Follow Mitch on Twitter at @MitchVingle and be sure to check out the rest of Wheelhouse Creative’s website for your marketing and advertising needs. If interested, be sure to call us at 304-905-6005.