Hometown Players. Hometown Pizza.

In Columbus, a football Saturday isn't just a day; it's a city-wide religion. It’s the sound of "The Best Damn Band in the Land," the scent of a thousand pre-game cookouts, and the endless sea of scarlet flooding down Lane Avenue. It’s a feeling. As a designer, I’ve lived by one simple rule: never, ever put blue and yellow together. It’s a creative principle born from a lifelong devotion to the Buckeyes and a healthy disdain for That Team Up North. So when I got the chance to unite my favorite team with my favorite pizza, it wasn't just another project. It was the dream job.

On gameday, Donatos faced national chains with bottomless marketing budgets. I knew we couldn't outspend them, so my strategy our strategy was to out-think them. The new NIL rules provided a rare opportunity to forge partnerships with hometown players that corporate giants couldn't replicate. We developed a "hometown" strategy that blended national appeal with local pride, partnering with a charismatic star like Chris Olave for broad attention and in the following year, featuring local Columbus heroes like Jack Sawyer and Zach Harrison to connect with Columbus. This was the perfect combination to make our message feel both significant and personal, a strategy that grew our social media footprint and drove measurable sales.