What happens when a university has no visual rules — and every department is just doing whatever it wants? I sat down with Barth Hague, the former Chief Marketing Officer at Wichita State University, to talk about what it actually takes to build a consistent brand from the ground up. We covered the chaos that existed before the rebrand, why a logo is not a brand, and how setting boundaries can actually unleash creativity rather than kill it. This conversation is a masterclass in the ROI of visual standards — and why without them, you're simply throwing your investment away.

Highlights

• Wichita State had multiple logos and zero visual standards when Barth arrived — every department was designing on its own terms
• The marketing office functioned as the university's in-house ad agency, but without rules, the answer to every request was essentially "do whatever you want"
• Barth's philosophy: branding is a dollars-and-cents decision — without consistency, you're wasting your investment in a visual identity
• A logo is not a brand — colors, typography, photography, illustration style, texture, and pattern all work together to create brand DNA
• Visual standards don't limit creativity; they redirect it — the best creatives thrive within a well-defined framework
• Brand consistency sends a powerful signal to prospective students: if the university looks this put-together, maybe it is this put-together
• The rebrand created a ripple effect of institutional pride — students, faculty, and staff started wearing the mark and identifying with the university
• The financial case for standards is real: economies of scale, reduced reinvention, and faster ROI all follow from a coherent visual system
• WSU's campus has since doubled in size, and the visual identity established during this era continues to define the institution today
• The winning firm in WSU's national RFP search was just 15 blocks away — because heart and proximity matter

Chapters

0:00 — Cold open: The national search that ended 15 blocks away

1:02 — Introduction: Barth Hague and the rebranding of Wichita State

1:35 — The state of the brand when Barth arrived: no rules, no standards

2:17 — "Whatever you want": how visual chaos happens at scale

3:01 — The case for consistency: branding is a roadmap, not decoration

3:46 — Merging the academic and athletic logos — and what comes next

4:32 — The marketing executive mindset: thinking in dollars and cents

5:23 — Codifying standards to create accountability and clarity

6:23 — Fragmented university design: every college doing its own thing

7:03 — The website as a cautionary tale: when you stop enforcing the rules

8:25 — What inconsistency signals to prospective students

8:59 — "Marketing is the business of getting and keeping customers"

9:22 — Branding as enrollment strategy: students need to recognize WSU

9:49 — A logo is not a brand: the full DNA of visual identity

10:29 — Pressing the yellow button: bringing WSU's color to life on campus

11:37 — The art director who pushed back — and the consultant's response

12:21 — Creativity within constraints: doing more, not less

13:04 — The CFO loves standards: cost savings and economies of scale

13:18 — ROI from visual standards: why it pays off early

12:20 — Student and faculty pride: the cultural shift that followed

13:02 — WSU's campus today: a lasting legacy of the rebrand

14:43 — Closing: teamwork, RFPs, and the firm 15 blocks down the road

Resources

• Wichita State University

Brandifesto is brought to you by Gardner Design. Ready to build a brand that consistently connects across all touchpoints? Then visit us at gardnerdesign.com

This podcast is part of the ICT Podcast Network. For more information, visit ictpod.net.

What happens when a 125-year-old university discovers it has 200 logos — and then has to fix it?

That's exactly the situation Barth Hague walked into as Chief Marketing Officer at Wichita State University. What started as a quiet observation — why does the logo on the basketball court look nothing like the one on a diploma? — turned into one of the most consequential rebranding projects in the university's history. We talk through the politics, the pushback, the stakeholder meetings, and ultimately a logo that ended up on national television during a Final Four run worth over a billion dollars in free advertising.

Highlights

• Wichita State had two primary logos and over 200 variations — each college and department had developed its own mark over 125 years
• The tipping point: Barth noticed the athletics WSU logo on the Koch Arena floor didn't match the university's academic logo — and a VP's warning look only made him more determined to change it
• The Shockers' rising success on CBS Sports and ESPN made the brand inconsistency an expensive missed opportunity
• President Don Beggs provided crucial top-down support, understanding both the marketing opportunity and the need to unify a fragmented campus identity
• Three universal objections to rebranding: (1) you're taking something precious from me, (2) you're making me change my letterhead margins, and (3) what does this even mean?
• Dean Fox from the College of Health delivered an emotional argument for keeping the wheat — rooted in the story of immigrant settlers, Fairmount College's history, and Kansas identity
• The new logo went on to be seen nationally during the Shockers' Final Four appearance, delivering advertising value the university could never have afforded otherwise
• Barth's core marketing principle: even a poor logo design can succeed with consistent application — but the best design will fail without it

Chapters

0:00 — Logo Hoard Problem

0:58 — Meet Barth Haeg

1:56 — Why Rebrand Again

3:31 — Two Logos Become 200

4:16 — Athletics Exposure Opportunity

4:43 — Aligning Academic and Sports Marks

6:18 — Leadership Buy-In

7:48 — Stakeholder Meetings Reality Check

8:23 — Three Common Objections

10:06 — Keep the Wheat Story

11:26 — Listening Into a Solution

11:49 — Rollout and Lasting Consistency

13:30 — Consistency Beats Great Design

14:08 — Closing Thanks

Resources

• Wichita State University

Brandifesto is brought to you by Gardner Design. Ready to build a brand that consistently connects across all touchpoints? Then visit us at gardnerdesign.com

This podcast is part of the ICT Podcast Network. For more information, visit ictpod.net.

What happens when a beloved Kansas institution decides to reinvent itself and gets it so right that a waitress in Panama recognizes the logo?

That's exactly what unfolded when the Sedgwick County Zoo set out to rebrand in advance of its 50th anniversary. Bill Gardner sat down with Jennica King, Director of Marketing Communications for the zoo, to talk through the full story. From a conversation that started with a website request and turned into a complete brand overhaul, to the creation of Dandy the lion (a.k.a. the "Kansas lion"), and how a viral chimpanzee video sent their new identity around the world to the tune of 3.2 billion views.

We talk about what it really means to build a brand around a story, how to get staff and the public to embrace change, and why a comprehensive style guide is worth every minute it takes to build. The Sedgwick County Zoo's rebrand is a masterclass in doing it right.

Highlights

• The Sedgwick County Zoo is the #1 outdoor family tourist attraction in the state of Kansas
• The rebrand launched in 2019 ahead of the zoo's 50th birthday in 2021, alongside a $15.1 million capital campaign
• The project began as a website request — and evolved into a full rebrand when the team realized the brand needed to be established first
• Nearly 1,000 intercept interviews with visitors and members were conducted, plus an internal staff survey, to discover the zoo's authentic story
• Conservation had always been part of the zoo's story but had never been effectively told — the rebrand made it central
• "Dandy" the dandy lion logo was born from the mashup of a Kansas sunflower (the state flower) and a lion — representing both regionality and global conservation
• A viral chimpanzee video reached 3.2 billion people and brought international recognition to the new brand
• The zoo's president was recognized in a remote restaurant in Panama because of Dandy on his hat
• A thorough visual style guide allowed the zoo's in-house graphics team, outside agencies, and their third-party operations partner to maintain brand consistency seamlessly

Chapters

0:36 — Introduction and overview of the Sedgwick County Zoo project

1:36 — Zoo origins and its public-private partnership with Sedgwick County

2:31 — The zoo as Kansas's #1 outdoor family tourist attraction

3:07 — Why rebrand a beloved institution? The 50th birthday catalyst

4:20 — Master plan phase one: $15.1M campaign, new entry complex, and the Slawson Family Asian Big Cat Trek

5:39 — Conservation as the story

7:49 — Research process: ~1,000 intercept interviews and internal staff surveys

9:32 — How it actually started: a website request, not a rebrand

10:43 — Designing the logo before the brand: building visual vocabulary first

12:28 — Meet Dandy: the Kansas lion/sunflower mashup and how he got his name

12:28 — Going viral: 3.2 billion views and international recognition in Panama

15:32 — Style guide and managing brand consistency across multiple teams

18:50 — The website: passion project and ongoing labor of love

20:24 — Rebrand fears, staff apprehension, and the story that tied it all together

22:56 — Wrap-up and the ongoing partnership

Resources

• Gardner Design Case Study for Sedgwick County Zoo - https://gardnerdesign.com/work/sedgwick-county-zoo
• Sedgwick County Zoo - https://scz.org/

Brandifesto is brought to you by Gardner Design. Ready to build a brand that consistently connects across all touchpoints? Then visit us at gardnerdesign.com

This podcast is part of the ICT Podcast Network. For more information, visit ictpod.net.