Brand development for sports clubs

 

Brands of hope and glory – over land and sea.

We’ve recently created brand identities and the associated visual language for two sports clubs, both founded over 130 years ago. The clubs share common goals – one based locally working with the community, the other an International sports brand with a global network of supporters.

In both brand development projects we worked with committee members who were passionate about their respective sports. Both sensitive to heritage, ambitious to protect and expand their respective reputations to future audiences and use branding to maximise their respective strategic visions for their clubs.

The first is the mighty, unique Barbarians Rugby Football Club. Chairman, John Spencer outlined their new mission and approach to brand development.

“We’re really proud of our history and tradition which has helped shape our identity as a unique Rugby Football club. But things have changed, and now we stand for much more than just the innovative concept behind our formation back in 1890.

We’ve become a globally recognised name that represents the spirit and passion for rugby. We are committed to inclusivity, with our Women’s and Schools’ team and our Charitable Trust helping us reach new communities. We have no barriers to nationalities or beliefs.”

To help them achieve their future vision we began a process where we reviewed their brand story, values and strategic priorities. This was followed by a brief to refresh their website, digital and social communications.

As part of that process we created a digital first brand identity, considering all aspects of the brand identity, optimised for use on screen. The new design evolved from their original monogram woven shirt crest which is loved by thousands of fans around the World. Our design needed to be sensitive to the existing monogram whilst ensuring the new identity would be able to scale across new communication channels.

Our solution brought the motif  ”B” to the fore, sensitively overlaying the ‘F’ & ‘C’. Once finalised we created brand guidelines for its application across digital and print media. The club’s first version of an essential resource used to guide sponsors, promoters and global partners.

View the full Barbarians case study

The second sports branding project was for Sussex Yacht Club, based in delightful Shoreham by Sea. Following the recent construction of a magnificent, award-winning new clubhouse they briefed us to develop their brand communications in close partnership with Peripatus web design.

The brief from the SYC team was to ‘be dynamic, bring the flag to life, build engagement and attract a younger audience to help ensure the clubs future growth and sustainability’. We were given the opportunity to do just that.

Our brand repositioning workshop allowed us time to articulate the final brief and confirm the club’s brand vision. This gave us a clear understanding of what success would look like to support their strategy to promote the club to both new and existing members. We worked with the club’s key stakeholders to confirm their brand values, brand personality and Tone of Voice.

Rear Commodore & Hon. Treasurer, Sue Large Snr shares her thoughts on our process:

The brand identity workshop was revelatory with regard to unpicking what we really needed. Calm but intense they got us to identify our core values and desired tone of voice – it was almost like therapy. And during the course of developing the new logo and branding, gently encouraged us out of our comfort zone to arrive at a stunning new identity….which represents what we stand for/are about, principally the pleasure of being on the water – and is clean, elegant and above all, modern and stirring – the sense of excitement and adventure it conveys hugely exceeded our expectations.

We’re passionate about brand design and sport and love to rise to the challenge of respecting tradition whilst ensuring your club is fit for purpose for future generations.

See the full Sussex Yacht Club case study.

Get in touch with Creative Director Nick Davis to open a conversation about what can we do for your sports club branding.