Case Study
Celebrating 125 Years of the Wisconsin School of Business
In 2025, the Wisconsin School of Business (WSB) turned 125 years old. It was a big milestone—and an even bigger opportunity to meaningfully engage the Business Badger community. With that in mind, we set out to plan a comprehensive anniversary celebration to further strengthen the school’s reputation, advance strategic priorities, and set WSB up for future success.
Our goals
- Celebrate the legacy of the Wisconsin School of Business.
- Capture audience attention and build affinity to lay the foundation for future reputational and fundraising campaigns.
- Amplify the WSB brand, Trusted to Lead.
- Generate excitement over a promising shared future.
One year out: building the foundation
First: the task force
Our first step was forming an internal task force with about a dozen individuals from across the school. Members were charged with developing creative ideas to celebrate the anniversary, sharing them with the task force for feedback, and then bringing the ideas back to their primary teams to execute on. Regular task force meetings with frequent share-outs kept us on track and aligned on goals while highlighting opportunities for cross-functional collaboration.
Next: the creative messaging
Determining how we talk about the anniversary—and how we wanted people to feel about it—was our next step. With guidance from a creative director, a subgroup of communicators collectively brainstormed guiding words and phrases in a shared document, gradually building off of each other’s ideas until striking the perfect tone for the brand and messaging considerations for various audiences. This process led to the development of our theme, “A Legacy in Motion.”
Finally: the visual brand
Inspired by key words and phrases established in the creative brainstorm, our in-house design talent began developing a mark and other elements to build a visual brand for the anniversary that could be smartly incorporated into every activity to come. Playing with the word “motion,” numerous creative elements were designed before being reviewed by a group of stakeholders, with their feedback being used to narrow down options and refine the final designs.
Mark exploration
Our in-house design team explored a range of concepts to find the right fit. Some of the designs shown here represent directions considered during that process.
Additional concepts
How we put things in motion
Communications strategy
We mobilized every communications channel, pairing quick wins with bigger swings to build awareness, participation, and momentum throughout the anniversary.
Easy wins
Make every channel count
We tapped into existing communications channels—like newsletters, social media, and our newsroom—and stuffed them to the gills with fun and engaging anniversary content to tell the school’s story. Pro tip: Archival photos are your best friend!
Invite alumni into the story
To build affinity (and get great fodder for a story), we asked alumni to submit memories, then incorporated them into an easy-to-assemble and engaging feature, “125 Things to Love About WSB.“
Extend reach through partnerships
We partnered with the Office of Strategic Communication and Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association to encourage placement of anniversary stories across campus digital channels and extend our reach.
Big swings
Reimagine the flagship alumni touchpoint
With a planning process that began more than a year in advance, we created a special edition of our alumni magazine, Update, infused with anniversary magic, extended features, whimsical interviews, and elevated print materials, like red foil on the cover.
Build a digital anniversary hub
Our web team developed a central web presence on the school’s website for all things anniversary, and built creative custom components like digital coloring panels, an interactive timeline, and a social media showcase.
Create a signature anniversary video
Working with a video production agency, our marketing team ideated, produced, and directed a highly polished hype video for playback at events, which featured stirring narration from CNN correspondent and WSB alum Manu Raju (BBA ’02).
Events strategy
We brought the anniversary to life through events that refreshed beloved traditions; created memorable new experiences; and engaged students, faculty, staff, alumni, and donors everywhere.
Easy wins
Turn traditions into moments
To engage staff, we took existing employee events, such as our annual employee picnic, and themed them around the anniversary. A little swag doesn’t hurt with this group.
Welcome students into the celebration
To engage students, we incorporated anniversary elements into a variety of events, including student welcome gatherings for undergraduate and graduate students. A little swag definitely doesn’t hurt with these groups.
Give faculty and donors their flowers
To engage faculty and donors, we hosted our first-ever investiture ceremony and used anniversary momentum as an opportunity to honor our Business Badgers with named chairs, professorships, and directorships, as well as the donors who made the named positions possible.
Big swings
Create a signature celebration event
To engage local alumni and donors, we hosted a signature anniversary gala in Madison, complete with dueling pianos, a custom cocktail made with alumni-created spirits, Bucky Badger, the UW Marching Band, and so much more.
Take it to the national stage…
To engage alumni across the country, we hosted a series of regional events with a focus on thought leadership across the U.S.—including an event at the New York Stock Exchange, where we rang the closing bell to end the day’s trading.
…and around the world
To engage alumni across the globe, we piloted an innovative event-in-a-box concept, deploying alumni leaders to host more than two dozen Global Toast anniversary events around the world on 12/5, which greatly expanded our reach across more than 10 countries.
Our brand in action
Where branding meets experience
Branded decor—from table tents to a giant physical timeline of WSB history—brought an elevated, celebratory air to our events.
WSB’s interactive walk-through timeline was recognized with a 2026 CASE Circle of Excellence award for design and environmental graphics. Read award entry.
Not your average box
Our Global Toast event-in-a-box featured a playful design and was packed with swag to get the party started.
A bold website
WSB’s anniversary page featured striking images and custom components to keep users engaged and excited.
Coloring pages with a story
This interactive digital experience made the anniversary accessible to all and was loaded with subtle nods to the rich history of UW–Madison and WSB.
Our results
57%
of alumni surveyed said they were aware of WSB’s 125th anniversary
64%
of alumni who were aware of WSB’s anniversary read anniversary communications
~1M
total impressions across all anniversary social media posts
Lessons and takeaways
Look to in-house talent first
You might be surprised by what your team members are capable of. Let them chase that wild idea they’ve been dreaming about.
Work your alumni—and put them to work
Engaged alumni want to be involved. Take advantage of their energy and enthusiasm by asking them to volunteer, boost social media posts, and cheerlead for you whenever possible.
It never hurts to ask
Ringing the NYSE closing bell or getting a CNN anchor to voice your video might sound like pipe dreams, but they both started with a simple ask. Take that shot!
Always be repurposing
Already have an extensive school history page for your website? Great! Now use it in an alumni magazine article, pull key milestones for social media, or turn it into a physical display that you can show off at events.
Keep the conversation going
Holding weekly meetings for individual projects, as well as broader team meetings to assess overall progress, keeps everyone feeling informed, engaged, and excited.
Give your people the keys
Getting every employee, no matter their role, to use anniversary-branded assets doesn’t have to be hard. Increase brand compliance by making visual assets available and editable through a program like Adobe Express.