Zillion’s Melt Madness Greenville Semi-Final: Notre Dame v. Michigan
Over the past month, we’ve spent quality time with some of the finest brands #highered has to offer. To shine a light on these brands, and the incredible marketers responsible for them, we’ve evaluated them all using criteria which we believe should apply for all ideas and brands. We started with 128 collegiate brands, paired as they were for this year’s men’s and women’s basketball championships.?
And this week, it all comes down to this: the brands which will face one another for the opportunity to win Zillion’s inaugural Melt Madness Championship–and of course, the bragging rights.?
Let’s get down to it, and turn our attention to the first women’s semi-final this week: Notre Dame v. Michigan.?
The Women’s Greenville region 1 offered a masterclass in mission-driven brands. So much so, our analysts felt considerable regret sending home brands and ideas encouraging beliefs and behaviors which underscore such wonderful goals. The consistent victor among these brands was Notre Dame. With “A healing, unifying force for a world deeply in need,” Notre Dame delivered a strong idea with a humble claim. It earned the win over Holy Cross, and a place in this semi-final, for placing the emphasis on the effect of the action. This demonstrated a winning degree of confidence.?
Today this confidence will be put to the test by Michigan’s historical strong performance in Greenville region 2. Defeating NC State in Week 3 set the stage for a win over Oklahoma State “The Cowboy Code” to grant them their berth in this regional semi-final. Michigan’s “Prestige for Public Good” masterfully reframes a potentially limiting perception into an asset, a feat our analysts have rarely seen in #highered brand experience to date. As we noted last week, it strikes a balance of knowing yet purposeful humility, and it makes Michigan a very capable competitor.?
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In today’s match-up, our analysts wiped the slate clean and thoroughly compared Notre Dame and Michigan’s ideas and brands. At this level of play, the distinctiveness of idea, presence of a strong claim and stakeholder appeal are table stakes on some levels. Both ideas possess distinctiveness and make bold claims, though with a different sensibility appropriate for their respective brands.?
Interestingly, when considering how the ideas compare relative to differentiation and uniqueness, the analysts find evidence of ownability in each idea. While other colleges and universities may be able to claim, for example, a similar interest in healing, unifying and enlightening a world in need, few of them may be as capable of demonstrating that idea in practice as Notre Dame. Similarly, with “Prestige for Public Good,” schools with a commensurate level of prestige may be able to occupy this space; but would they be so capable of spanning the contradiction between the two states as ably as Michigan??
In this particular match-up, our analysts reviewed stakeholder appeal and used those scores as a litmus test for the ideas relative to how they impact these audiences. Through this lens, our analysts determined the breadth of appeal, longevity and potential impact across these groups appeared to be greater for “Prestige for Public Good” than for “A healing, unifying force for a world deeply in need”.?
Congratulations Michigan, and thank you Notre Dame, for creating such outstanding ideas and brands.?
Michigan has a date with Melt Madness destiny and will square off against the winner of the Seattle region semi-final on June 1st!
Share, engage and follow #zillionagency – join us tomorrow afternoon for our women’s Seattle semi-final championship. Check out tomorrow morning’s men’s semi-final action to see who will play Purdue in the men’s Melt Madness championship!