Inside the game: Eurosport’s rebranding
Last week, the Eurosport Group unveiled a new brand identity across its global multimedia platforms. spanning its operations in Europe, the MENA and Asia-Pacific. The launch marks the end of an 18-month branding review with new on-air graphics, a new musical identity and what’s billed as a’ soft’ evolution of its iconic logo. Global Communications Director, Heather Bowler, explains the thinking behind it all.
Q: Why rebrand now?
A: At the time of the 20th anniversary we took stock of where the group was and where it was going. Eurosport has gone through rapid expansion in recent years, thanks partly to technology, and today we are Europe’s leading sports multimedia platform. We are well known in the world of sport, but work needed to be done to broaden awareness of the breadth of our offer among the wider public. So we believed it was time to energise and modernise the brand to reflect this current positioning.
Q: What is the thinking behind the new identity?
A: The tagline that accompanies the communications campaign says it all: “All Sports. All Emotions.” We cover over 150 sports across our multimedia platform and live sport is in our DNA. Live sport creates emotions and that’s what keeps our fans coming back to Eurosport. This positioning is clearly reflected in our new brand identity.
We have developed a series of idents which reflect the core emotions we associate with sport, Empathy, Anguish, Anger, Surprise, Encouragement and Joy. They feature dramatic animation and were scripted and filmed specifically to capture all the vital elements which both fans and competitors share enjoying 18 different sports.
Q: What are the challenges of establishing a brand that’s effective across so many different types of screen?
A: In today’s cluttered media environment there are so many choices. Therefore a strong, trusted brand is crucial to growth – it’s not enough to just exist today, we need to be top of mind, we need to be talked about, we need to referenced. To do this a brand really needs to be desirable across all platforms if it is to stand out from the competition.
Q: There’s talk of the new brand positioning the company for future expansion into new territories and bringing on new products. Any hints as to directions here?
A:We will continue to expand across the world, embrace technology, establish lasting partnerships with industry leaders. But, most importantly, we will continue to provide sport fans with the best sports coverage, programmes and services to keep them passionate about our brand.