USC is launching BLVD Studios, a "new in-house creative lab for branding and player-driven content for all its athletes," according to Ryan Kartje of the L.A. TIMES. With BLVD Studios, USC is "hoping to get ahead of its West Coast competition, to harness the allure of Hollywood, and to establish itself as a branding powerhouse in what department officials have repeatedly referred to as 'the media capital of college football.'" USC’s plan is to "sell top recruits on a new age of full-service brand-building that goes beyond Matt Leinart levels, complete with social content creation, data-driven brand research, personal logos and podcasts." That starts with a "partnership with J1S, a full-service creative agency that has also worked with the likes of Oklahoma and Georgia Tech." USC will be the agency’s "only client in the West." The athletic department "hopes to have the creative infrastructure to exploit those advantages on the recruiting trail, while other schools adjust to the new world of NIL." USC had "already sought to rebuild the foundation of its branding and social media operation over the past year," striking a partnership in January with INFLCR to "bolster branding efforts even further" (L.A. TIMES, 10/30).
