Left to right: Jessi Church , brand manager, and Sonja Derboven, licensing director, represented the MU Office of Licensing and Brand Management in accepting the Collegiate Licensing Company Campus Integration Award.
The University of Missouri’s Office of Licensing and Brand Management was recently recognized for the successful re-imagining of its College Vault program. Over the past academic year, teams of competing textile and apparel management students developed athleticwear concepts using retro marks — with the winning team’s merchandise to be sold at The Mizzou Store this fall.
The wildly successful project resulted in the Collegiate Licensing Company’s (CLC) “Campus Integration Award,” which highlights successful efforts by licensing departments to engage other campus entities to elevate the university’s brand through licensed merchandise programs.
The College Vault project began with the university polling its social-media audiences to learn which of MU’s vintage logos were most popular, then it connected student-designers with the clothing manufacturing giant, Champion.
“My team’s goal is to enhance and grow the Mizzou brand,” said Sonja Derboven, MU licensing director. “Partnering with others across campus really helps with amplification. Licensing is a three-person team on campus, but what makes us have an impact is all the great support we receive from our campus partners.”
CLC is the oldest collegiate licensing company in the U.S., providing services to more than 200 colleges and universities, in addition to athletic conferences, bowl games and the NCAA. CLC’s annual awards honor those partner institutions that executed programs to connect with consumers and engage others in brand building through collegiate licensing.
“Mizzou is a special place for so many reasons,” Derboven said. “But especially because the staff, faculty and students are so supportive of each other. This award celebrates that spirit and highlights it as an institutional strength.”
