The Big 12 is bolstering its agency roster as it tries to sharpen its identity amid upheaval inside college sports conferences. Translation has been hired to lead creative and strategy and will work alongside the Big 12’s incumbent agency, LDWW.
The hiring gives Brooklyn-based Translation a significant foothold in college sports, after years of experience with pro sports leagues and teams, including the NBA and Brooklyn Nets. The hiring was orchestrated by Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark, who joined the conference on Aug. 1 after stints as chief operating officer at Roc Nation and CEO of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment Global, the parent company of Barclays Center and Brooklyn Nets. Yormark said he is familiar with Translation and its CEO Steve Stoute from when the agency worked for the Nets.
“We needed to add some creative firepower,” Yormark said in an interview. “I felt there was none better than Steve, personally, and his agency to accomplish some of the things that we want to do—which is to contemporize, modernize, connect with youth culture, and most importantly, to put our brand and our conference on the consciousness of future student-athletes.”
He suggested the conference would lean more into music and influencer marketing.