ucd raasleela rebrand + digital marketing
august - october 2018
recruitment cover photo
team captains: zerena varghese, shreya atitkar, priya patel, neil brahmbhatt
branding + marketing: zerena varghese (lead), priya patel (social media)
background: raasleela is uc davis’s official competitive raas-garba dance team. founded in 2014, raasleela incorporates the traditional gujarati folk dance styles of garba and raas, also known as dandiya. as a member of the collegiate raas-garba circuit, raasleela competes nationally every year with teams from universities all over the country. through their passion for dance, they hope to cultivate an on-campus family, showcase their high energy and uniqueness, as well as entertain and inform the public about this beautiful tradition.
every fall, the team holds dance workshops and auditions to recruit 16-18 dancers to join for the following competitive season. once team members are selected, the captains lead them to learn a 6 minute set. this consists of choreography, formations, and stage production, which includes a high-quality intro video, mix, lighting cues, backdrops, & props.
the problem: in the 4 years since the team was first founded, social media marketing became huge. the recruitment efforts were always focused on setting up tables at welcome fairs, handing out flyers at the student union, and performing at on-campus gigs. the reality, however, was that most of the successful recruitment was happening online, through videos of our performances on youtube and posts on instagram and facebook. we needed to up our game. additionally, raasleela had only performed at local events and competitions in its first three years. by its fourth year (2017-2018), we were accepted to and attended three national competitions for the first time. the team’s original logo and design embodied the energy and uniqueness of our team, but it lacked the professional look and clean design that a nationally competing dance team carries. the logo also was not rendered to be universal for all print needs.
the process:
ucd raasleela logo (2014)
identifying brand values:
- traditional with contemporary twists
- high energy, upbeat, fun
- cultural awareness
- bringing people together, creating a family
proposed design changes:
- add gold as accent color
- black and white photos = traditionality
- gold paint streaks = contemporary
- clean, sleek font choices
the results:
