This can be fun, as well as frustrating. You need to select a theme or slogan around which you can build your event. A popular song? A popular movie? A fun meme? A hit TV show? Who knows? The important thing is that if you select a good theme, you can have your logo, decorations, music, etc., reflect that theme.

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Kentucky has used "Big Blue Madness," "Big Blue New Year," "Big Boo Madness," (the event was Halloween weekend), and "Rockin After Midnight." California State University-Long Beach plays in the Pyramid; therefore, they have "Pyramidnight Madness." Kansas has "Late Night with Roy Williams." In each of these cases, an identity was developed. The logo or mark appeared everywhere—in newspaper ads, on t-shirts, on flyers, all over social media, posters, on banners, buttons—you name it. The theme and logo were there.

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Tie the theme or slogan in with your mascot, team colors, community, coach, or whatever works for you. Many colleges simply use the name Midnight Madness and add a new slogan each year.

 

Since our event was not at Midnight, we went with the K-Town Tip-Off. K-Town is a "nickname" for the city of Kenosha. By keeping the name K-Town Tip-Off, we were able to build equity in the title. For variety, we changed the slogan or tag line each year. From "Serious Fun" to "It Ain't Midnight, But It's Madness," we tried to create new and exciting slogans to promote each year.

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At this point, you will want to develop a logo for your event. There are two schools of thought: create a new logo each year or create a logo that you will use every year to help build "brand" recognition.

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I prefer to keep the same logo (as well as the same name as explained above) and change the slogan/theme. The primary reason is that developing a professional quality logo or mark can be both time-consuming and expensive.  At least back when we started this event.  Now, there are many online logo design tools, or you can hire a freelancer through Fiverr.com

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When developing your logo, keep in mind that it may be used on various media, including newspapers, programs, t-shirts, flyers, banners, social media, websites, etc.). The design should look good in black and white or color. It is also a plus if the slogan can be integrated with the logo.

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Be sure to start working on the theme, slogan, and logo well in advance of your event. (we learned the hard way) These items will create an image for your Tip-Off. The image, if a good one, will help you for years to come. If your branding efforts result in an unprofessional image, it may take years to change.