central voice, global audience

USA Track & Field (USATF) is the nonprofit governing body of American Track and Field. Matchbook has been an active strategic and marketing partner with the organization since 2011.

The Warm-up

With more than 120,000 registered members around the world, USATF is great at what it does but needed a strong partner to create more opportunities for engagement and awareness for the sport and the brand. Prior to our partnership, the USATF brand lacked a consistent identity and failed to address its multiple audience segments through looks or messaging.

Matchbook began working with USATF for specific design pieces and projects to support their existing brand. These initial design pieces laid the groundwork for the long-term partnership we have today. When the time came to fine-tune USATF’s branding in order to reach its goals of awareness, engagement, and opportunity, Matchbook was the partner of choice.

Practiced Partners

USATF worked with Matchbook to manage the project, conduct research, develop a new, overarching identity, and create all supporting pieces for the new cohesive brand. Through a year-long branding effort, Matchbook was able to understand each audience, and through an internal audit, addressed the growing needs of each department, and then identified the proper tools and messaging for each department’s unique constituents.

In-depth brand guidelines document accessible to all USATF staff was developed, and a secure, online portal was created to house these guidelines and the needed brand elements. Brand tools, such as fonts and swatches, downloadable logos, templates for e-blasts, email signatures, business cards, and additional resources all live on the new portal to ensure the proper implementation of the brand. Because the portal can be accessed by all USATF staff, its regional associations, and designated brand managers, maintaining a cohesive brand across departments, states, and events is achievable.

Going the Distance

With more than 50 regional associations represented in our branding and strategy efforts for USATF, the organization has become more wide-ranging and inclusive than ever. With more regional involvement, USATF is able to more effectively lead a nationwide, grassroots effort from a centralized source. Our partnership with USATF has extended past this branding effort, working with them on needed collateral and special projects, from graphic design to interior design of their national office space, this partnership has remained successful for over a decade.