May 14, 2004

At George Mason the athletics tradition is constantly growing and evolving, and the logo has gone through several changes to better reflect the speed, strength, excitement and energy of Mason Athletics. This year a new look has been identified and will be introduced with the beginning of the new school year. During the past year, research was conducted regarding the athletics logo and a plan was put in place to accomplish the new look. Following are the conclusions of the research process and an explanation of how Mason's new logo came into existence.

Logos are like music. Everyone has a different opinion about them. In the case of Mason Athletics, the logo was boring to the younger fans, but the older traditionalists liked it.

To move forward we learned there were two things we needed to do in order to build our brand through re-branding. These were to:

• Focus on the consumer and get an overall acceptance from all constituencies.
• Focus on the product. Mason athletics should reflect speed, strength, excitement and energy. The old logo was static and it needed to change.

What did we want to accomplish for George Mason with the logo? We wanted to:

• Differentiate ourselves! Do something that other schools are not doing so we stand out.
• Create a unique identifier. We are tired of being called George Madison, James Mason, and GW. We are Mason!
• Maintain the brand identity that has been built over the last nine years, but update and refresh it in order to show growth. This is a common practice where branding is concerned. Coca Cola does it about every decade or so for the same reason.
• Establish connection, consistency, and flow with the university logo so the two graphics could create a common recognition and synergy. The athletics logo captures the same sense of movement and driving forward as the university logo.

What was the focus in creating the new logo?

• The consumer, by keeping the same appearance but adding movement in order to remove the boring element.
• The product, by adding the speed, strength, excitement and energy that epitomizes Mason Athletics.
• Our school name as the primary identifier to ensure immediate recognition.
• The name Mason, in order to separate from the colonial male name confusion.
• Maintaining brand equity and identity by including elements similar to the old logo, but in an updated form to show growth.
• Connection with the University logo in order to create mutual recognition and synergy. They both give a sense of movement and driving forward.