A SERIOUS SPORTING AND LIFESTYLE PROPOSITION
Sevens rugby has always been an attractive excuse to socialize and party with the rugby itself almost secondary. Indeed, as the saying goes at many Sevens events “If you are bored, turn around and watch the rugby.” With its re-introduction back into the Olympics in 2012, Sevens has quickly become a serious sporting proposition, helping to open new territories and markets in countries such as China, America and Russia.
Working with UR7s, our strategy behind the new UR7s National Sevens Series brand is to change the lifestyle focus to a sporting focus and instill a strong sense of professionalism and seriousness about the sport itself, portraying the high level of athleticism and skill that the series will feature, but of course without losing the lifestyle benefits that are part of the game.
Bridging the strategy and design meant we had to create an identity that promoted the key attributes of the sport such as agility, speed and precision,
and to reflect the lifestyle aspirations and values of both the athletes the fans – specialist athletes with a high-octane lifestyles. Of course there are the common requirements of ensuring that the identity would work well in the standard media of event branding, marketing, shirt badging etc. (the usual table-stakes), but given that it will be heavily used and promoted through new media, its suitability for and adaptability to web, screen and broadcast usage were important parts of the final design.
Ultimately, the new UR7s National Sevens Series and its identity represents a major move forward for the sport where the very best teams and athletes from around the globe will take part in consistent premier series competition – and we are looking forward to seeing the series grow in to one of the great rugby brands.