From the Nominator

A University of Michigan department since 1984, Kinesiology became a standalone school in 2008. Today, the School of Kinesiology (SoK) is the fourth-largest undergraduate school on the U-M campus, with nearly 1,000 students. It was named the top kinesiology program in the country by the National Academy of Kinesiology. The school nets about $9.2 million per year in research funding, and boasts the first accredited IONM (Intraoperative Neuromonitoring) program in the world.

Even though the school has been established and successful for more than 10 years, they were still finding that there was an overall lack of awareness and understanding of what exactly kinesiology is, why it’s important, how it makes a difference, and what kind of careers one can pursue with a kinesiology degree.

In 2019, SoK started working on a rebranding initiative in partnership with Ologie, an external marketing agency, along with consultation by Michigan Creative (U-M’s internal creative group). The goal of the rebranding initiative was to find the best way to articulate the school’s unique differentiators, strengths, and values, and increase awareness, reputation, and advocacy for the school while also remaining true to the University of Michigan brand.

After the rebranding strategies and assets were finalized with Ologie, SoK’s director of marketing and communications worked closely with a team from Michigan Creative throughout 2020 to implement a complete website overhaul and redesign to represent the rebrand and better help them reach their goals.

From the Judges

The school did a great job of branding itself, but also keeping it in the overall University of Michigan brand. The video and imagery are extremely dynamic, and pulled in viewers. The navigation was clean and clear, and the use of typography popped. The site was very engaging, and had strong interactive qualities. Accessibility was apparent. Overall, the layout and look were impressive. They had good results in only six months.