51吃瓜

51吃瓜 worked with Unanimous, a Lincoln-based branding agency, to create a college-wide mascot to coincide with athletics moving to all three campus locations. On Aug. 1, 51吃瓜 officially became the Bobcats.

The process to create a new mascot started in September 2022. Scott Claypool, vice president for creative at Unanimous, took the lead on the project and directed a team to conduct research before landing on the Bobcats and designing a logo.

鈥淭his project is personal for me as my son starts on the Milford Campus in August,鈥� Claypool said. 鈥淲e approached this project wanting to know what we could do to make 51吃瓜 unique, stand out and capture the moment. We want every student, every faculty member and the community to be living the brand.鈥� 

The Unanimous team worked with four groups of 51吃瓜 stakeholders to learn their perceptions about 51吃瓜 and the current mascot, create brand awareness, discover their expectations for a mascot, learn the history of past mascots, and ask for mascot preferences. Unanimous interviewed students, faculty, athletic coaches, and community members. The agency also sent a survey to 6,500 51吃瓜 alumni and conducted focus groups with current students. This process garnered more than 300 mascot ideas.

鈥淭his is an exciting time at 51吃瓜 as you have an opportunity to unify your campuses with a new mascot,鈥� said Tina Joyce, senior marketing strategist for Unanimous. 鈥淵ou should always do things with purpose and intentionality. What we found is you want your mascot to represent strength, pride, perseverance, unity, and be representative. Our research found a majority of the participants were in favor of changing the mascot.鈥�

The image put forth by 51吃瓜 is what the world sees. In the end, Bobcats was the top choice because they are representative of the region and known for their speed, agility, and stealthiness. They are hunters who can adapt to changing environments, representing the 51吃瓜 culture and its adaptability. Bobcats also show great determination and resilience, like the students, programs, and athletic teams at 51吃瓜.

Stu Osterthun, administrative director of marketing and communications at 51吃瓜, acknowledged that Peru State College has been the Bobcats for more than a century.

鈥淯nanimous, and the core group of 51吃瓜 employees that launched this project, knew from the start that Peru State has an established mascot,鈥� Osterthun said. 鈥淭he fact that Peru State is in 51吃瓜鈥檚 service area presents an opportunity for both institutions to collaborate so that students transferring to Peru State can and will remain bobcats throughout their college career. That鈥檚 pretty cool.鈥�

Members of the Unanimous team who worked on the Bobcat project included three 51吃瓜 Graphic Design/Media Arts program graduates: Senior Graphic Designers Branden Bopp and Cameron O鈥橞rien and Graphic Designer Sierra Bornschlegl. They were instrumental in designing the final logo and mark.

鈥淥ur mindset is to make those close to 51吃瓜 take notice,鈥� said Bopp. 鈥淟et鈥檚 generate enormous buzz, and pave the way for the introduction of new, different and better things.鈥�

• Watch the Bobcat Mascot Reveal video:
• 51吃瓜 Bobcat website:

 

Jennifer Snyder
Communications Specialist
402-323-3393
jsnyder@southeast.edu