Transforming reputation
Perception changing strategy
The Premier League is known for exciting and competitive football by fans the world over. However, our insights demonstrated many groups across society regarded it as money-driven, distant and self-serving, a reputation that if left unchecked was likely to undermine its success in the future.
Strategy challenge
The Premier League is a highly successful football competition in which clubs and players clearly benefit, but it also invests significant amounts in the wider game where fans, communities and younger people also benefit from its success.
The strategic challenge for the brand was to grow a positive and sustainable reputation; not just associated with excitement and success, but also the good this success enables.
Emotional connection
The Premier League needed a brand that could make a positive and emotional connection with fans and non-fans alike, and engage its people, the clubs and partners in a new common purpose.
Purpose-driven
Achieving change is never easy, but making it happen when the interests of leading clubs, broadcasters and brands are paramount only heightens the challenge.
Robust market insight was essential, conclusions and recommendations had to be bulletproof. Extensive research was conducted to hear the opinions of fans and workshops were run to hear what staff, partners and broadcasters had to say.
We proposed a single Premier League brand architecture to bring the collective strengths of the competition and the organisation together as one. The new brand would be driven by a strong sense of social purpose and core values to activate change from the inside out.
Strategy
The new brand was supported by a set of strategic messages to help audiences understand the connection between the action on the pitch and the good work undertaken off it.
Engagement
We introduced the new brand through a series of workshops designed to inspire change across the organisation, from Broadcasting and Partnerships to Communities and Communications
Direction
For the first time in its 25 years the Premier League had a clearly defined strategy to grow its brand and reputation on and off the pitch.
Providing strategic direction, we worked holistically to embed the new brand within the organisation engaging each department, as well as clubs, partners, broadcasters and agencies.
Marketing
We recruited Design Studio to create a radical new expression of the brand; unifying, digital-first and purpose driven. Working closely with in-house teams, partners and agencies, we acted as strategic co-ordinators to ensure the new brand positioning underpinned all creative thinking in the run up to the start of the 2016/17 season.
Partnerships
With the aim of attracting more family orientated brands, we worked with commercial teams to integrate the new positioning and brand story within the sales process, helping secure new relationships with the likes of Cadbury and Coke.
Activtion teams
We worked with partners and their agencies around the globe to ensure the new brand felt right in broadcast and on-line, as well as in the stadium. We also defined a set of music principles that agencies and partners could use to guide the selection and commissioning of music and artists.
Communication
Communications. We encouraged an editorial change within the organisation, from writing about investment to writing about people. We wanted to use human stories to shift perceptions; showing how football inspires and changes lives so we ran storytelling workshops to explain how to tell compelling stories.
We also created a new tone of voice based on the core values and advised on the branding and messaging round the launch of Premier League Primary Stars communities programme.
The brand is now regarded as ‘an icon of British culture’
Brand value
Accountancy firms EY and Deloitte and brand valuation business Brand Finance have all calculated the current brand value at $10.2b, an increase of 40% since the rebrand was introduced.
Brand reputation
Measurement with both fans and non-fans has shown steady improvement. Notably the brand is now regarded as ‘an icon of British culture’, projecting the UK as ‘modern’ and ‘successful’. Furthermore, the majority think it ‘breaks down barriers with strangers’ and ‘helps connect people’. The new brand identity is consistently referred to as ‘modern’, ‘vibrant’ and ‘youthful’ and receives a positive response from the majority of fans and partners.
Partnerships
Revenues from commercial partners are up, and family favourites such as Cadbury, Coca-Cola and Amazon arrived to connect the brand with a new generation of fans.
Brand awareness
Prompted awareness of the brand around the world stands at 69%, an all-time high. Broadcast coverage is up to 188 countries with a weekly global audience of 1bn viewers. In the UK, teachers, parents and children have been drawn to Primary Stars and Super Movers (a JV with BBC Education) through a successful campaign, recruiting over 15,000 primary schools in just 6 months. se of 40% since the rebrand was introduced.
Income
The rebrand was never just about money, but while domestic broadcast revenues have slowed (remaining around £5bn), international broadcast revenues have increased and are likely to grow from current £2.3bn to £3.2bn by start of 2019/20 season.
We are incredibly proud of our work with the Premier League and the strength of our relationship. Now in our ninth year, we continue to be excited by the brand and the potential of what is still to come.
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