Bracket Challenges

Sagac had two different clients, WABPAC, the political action committee for Western Alliance Bank, and Constellation Employee PAC, the political action committee for Constellation Energy, wanting to develop a contest to drive engagement around the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments in March. While these programs may be similar in structure, it was important to create differentiation between each program in order to ensure we were providing our clients unique experiences that feel connected to their respective brands while also being dynamic and engaging. The deliverables for each client were slightly different, but each required custom branding for the program as well as branded deliverables like brackets, emails, and meme imagery.

WABPAC Materials

To get a better appreciation for how each bracket challenge program relates to the PAC brand in general, here are various PAC materials I designed for WABPAC. They would often ask us to produce a branded graphic for a program or event that would then be included in a monthly newsletter or other email communication. Following these images is a multipage Ambassador Guide I developed for WABPAC.

WABPAC Bracket Bonanza

WABPAC asked us to produce a logo for the program along with fillable PDF brackets for both the Men’s and Women’s Tournaments. These designs feature the brand colors, typefaces, and branding elements to create dynamic collateral that is also functional for the operation of their program. We would input the team names as soon as they were announced. The PDF is laid out such that you can intuitively tab through the document to input your picks and then save the document. In addition to the primary logo, we also created a special St. Patrick’s Day version for a reminder email.

The 2024 WABPAC Bracket Bonanza won two Silver Pollie Awards for Best Fundraising for Independent Committee, PAC, or Super PAC and for Fundraising Best Use of Email. This campaign led to 16 new PAC members and raised $6,000. The 2025 Bracket Bonanza program led to at least 10 new PAC members and raised conservatively $10,000. In conjunction with the other materials we created for WABPAC, we helped them move from $215,000 in annual receipts in their first year as a PAC in 2023 to $325,000 in annual receipts and 267 new members by the end of 2025.

Campaign Results

2024 Silver Pollie Award for Best Fundraising for Independent Committee, PAC, or Super PAC
2024 Silver Pollie Award for Fundraising Best Use of Email
16 new PAC members and raised $6,000
At least 10 new PAC members and raised conservatively $10,000

Constellation Employee PAC Materials

Here is a small sampling of some of the materials I designed for Constellation, including banners, an enrollment form, and two of the Constellation Employee PAC Annual Reports. The 2025 Annual Report generated a 6% click-through rate among all eligible employees, resulting in their best-performing email so far in 2026 by click-through rate when it was distributed.

Constellation Employee PAC Bracket Challenge

Constellation Energy utilizes wave patterns in their design language. I referenced this through the use of the seam pattern on a basketball to introduce texture and movement into the design. I wanted something that felt poppy and vintage in this campaign, while still referencing the design language and colors of the PAC. We were also asked to create some fun meme images featuring executives within the company. We were provided images of these executives that I was able to adapt with AI tools. I added a basketball into one of their hands in one image and had them holding a basketball together on a basketball court in another image. The client enjoyed these fun images. This campaign was purely for participation, so there were no fundraising objectives or associated donation data, but it did result in a rate of 7-10% participation across the entire company, which was a strong success.

Campaign Results

789 entries
7-10% participation across the company