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Swimpire: Building a Collegiate Sports Brand
By Karen North, Devign®. September 4, 2002 - 2003

From "pooligans" to the "Gilled Age," the University of Georgia Swimming Team comes into its own.

More than a logo, a brand is the collective associations, functional and/or emotional, which are perceived as relevant and differentiating from your competition... what an audience identifies as unique to you. At every touchpoint, with every turn, a brand connects at the individual level, telling you what the company, product or service is all about.

The starting block. It is with this frame of mind that we examine a wildly successful story from a most unsuspecting arena: collegiate swimming at the University of Georgia. Once a sputtering "oh yeah" program at risk of being mothballed, the now world-class swimming act survived by virtue of its low overhead and long-ago lowly status. Like a true Dawg who triumphs in "underdogdom," it was a product of this lineage who some 24 years ago began to shape the wave of the future. His guidance has led UGA it to its renowned, highly envied stature.

Not a how-to manual. These observations reveal how a non-mainstream "product" and format has gone beyond conventionally defined boundaries for its industry. Our business perspective on this traditionally un-business-like branded environment is a study in and tribute to one genuine and unflappable persona, who has consistently created and delivered on a compelling promise that wins. One who has continued to evolve and align his strengths with his respective market needs. Head Coach Jack Bauerle.

Freestyle. It seems there never was a master plan. More a personal mission to betterment, a fiercely competitive spirit and an uncommon human touch…a one-on-one connection that inspires the best in those under his charge. Like most start-up branding and marketing efforts, Bauerle was not at liberty then to go the traditional marketing communications route for a consciously positioned identity. It was instead his persuasiveness, an almost ambassadorial role as lead message-bearer, that won others' allegiance to his goals. His accessibility and bigger-picture perspective have remained personal trademarks of his direction/leadership style. It is only in hindsight that we see glimpses of what would line up to be history in the making.

With this season. In the beginning, Bauerle's reality was ensuring he kept both men's and women's teams in tact, with a high athlete-assistant ratio. Each year, he and his trusted few raised the bar, notching up what it would take to survive, for his vision to take hold, for others to see that there was more to come. Gradually, the team's success garnered more attention, at first outside the university, given the wins against competing institutions. Bauerle's high energy, intuitive business sense and passion in over-drive began to bring long-deserved financial support, recognition and a loyal following. In evaluating his brand come true, Bauerle permeates a self-styled culture of elite swimming.

Trading up. From the humble confines of WWII-era Stegman Pool to the current state-of-the-art Ramsey Spacenter, the UGA Swimming Team's meteoric rise is embodied in the leadership of its head coach and brand champion. Bauerle's singularly focused direction vaulted swimming to new heights, plucking it from the obscure ranks as a commodity sport to achieve awareness and accolades on a global scale. To his credit, he is privileged to count on a still lean but efficient staff that ensures the well-oiled machine stays true to course. Behind the brand are a honed, well-knit core/inner circle of assistant coaches, masseuse, sports therapists, sports psychologists and team physicians. Their collective voice promotes and furthers a healthy, competitive living doctrine of winning at/with your best.

Global athletes. Bauerle's creatures of habit, his products per se, are world-caliber swimmers from all cardinal points…a mini United Nations. For four years, they fly the UGA banner, each a brand champion in his/her own right. They are the walking, breathing advocates, the most tangible, personable evidence of the brand's youthful presence. Moreover, more than any other university program, Bauerle's crew boasts innumerable winners of myriad student-athlete awards for academic excellence, community service and leadership. These are no doubt chronicled elsewhere, so we highlight only a few recent kudos: Georgia is a triple winner in the 11-year history of the NCAA's Woman of the Year and boasts numerous Olympic gold-medal and world champions.

Sporting the brand. Both men's and women's UGA teams (single-handedly steering not only three consecutive NCAA women's champions and consistent NCAA top-10 men's team is unheard of at this level) parallel the explosive nature of "athletic wear as lifestyle." Purveyors of what are now household, consumer brands (Nike, Speedo, Tyr, etc.) crossing over into the niche Olympic-class, "hi-end" competitive swimming would have been unthinkable just three years ago. It is this level of brand-savvy, technical prowess that has enabled the palpable experience of the UGA brand-in-motion. See it in the sexy, high-performance suits replete with evocative names like FastSkinTM, fashionable warm-ups, eye-catching goggles, bags and other "accessories" and unexpected accoutrements. All emblazoned with the whimsical UGA "dog-on-block" logo or brandmark.

Brand extension. The business of fast water is no longer cyclical. The everyman's sport with few earlier barriers-to-entry matures into a 12-month scheduled calendar of globetrotting competitive venues that vie for brand-name swimmers. With no off-season, there is much overlap between meets, recruiting, camps, etc. Add to that the inevitable speaking circuit once you hit the big leagues, requisite year-round international courting of athletes to curate a winning team and the nurturing and maintenance once the teams in house. You have yourself a veritable matrix of non-stop orchestration of burgeoning human potential. A quasi commercial engine, that, by athlete and by coach, refreshingly and unobtrusively personifies and communicates the trademark brand essence.

Beyond the water. The University of Georgia Swimming Team is more than the sport itself. Rather, it's what's behind this often under-rated athleticism to which we attribute the program's accomplishments, longevity and brand heritage. The vehicle of choice to communicate who this select group is, to articulate the brand's sweet spot and why it matters is swimming. Its end-products are ultimately high-achieving, multi-dimensional individuals who go on to even greater success as leaders in their professions and communities. As well-balanced, life-thirsty human beings, their common thread harkens back to lessons learned under the helm of Bauerle & Co. Status cult not status quo.