V8 Supercars launches new positioning + brand identity via branding + design agency Hulsbosch
Australia’s 3rd largest attended and 4th most watched television sports event, V8 Supercars has today launched a new positioning and contemporary brand identity created by award-winning branding and design agency, Hulsbosch.
This coincides with the sport’s 2017 Gen2 strategy, which paves the way for additional engine configurations and body shapes alongside the current V8 Supercars.
V8 Supercars migrates to a new media partnership with broadcasters Fox Sports and Network TEN, commencing a six-year agreement in 2015 and this has allowed for an opportunity to reposition and rebrand the high-octane sport.
The Hulsbosch brand and visual identity reflects the V8 Supercars business growth strategy and successfully communicates an ability to cut through as a populist brand with a broader appeal for current and future fans.
V8 Supercars is the corporate endorser brand of the sport with a calendar of 14 events each with a unique DNA. The masterbrand represents the brand as a whole and will be actively integrated within each race event. The refreshed brand identity will be part of all marketing strategies and consolidates a brand framework for the future of the sport.
Hulsbosch pursued vigorous consumer testing and contributed to research groups across Australia. An online survey and extensive key stakeholder interviews provided a detailed and in-depth understanding of the evolution of the sport.
The research and insights revealed a clear set of attributes and values for the brand – extreme energy, visually stunning, teamwork, respectful, relentlessly progressive, passionate – that have all been carefully integrated into the creative outcome. These reflect how V8 Supercars is perceived as one of Australia’s most physically challenging sports with elite athletes engaged in brutal combat, driving the world’s toughest racing machines.
Says Hans Hulsbosch, executive creative director, Hulsbosch: “An unforgettable and exhilarating race experience, touring car’s new icon colouring of ‘red’ displays a notion of fast and furious speed. Thrilling trackside showdowns are represented in the curvature of the ‘S’ and combines with a signature of intensity to drive through the ‘esses’. From the side positioning, the ‘C’ represents the strategic-thinking and power of the V8 Supercars Championship. Primarily the unique brand is a reflection of the courage of our Australian-based speed heroes.
“The ‘SC’ moniker is a simplified identification and will generate a genuine presence as a stand-alone icon for the sport, developed as an enduring brand to stand the test of time.
Similar to successful identifiable icons Hulsbosch have created for Woolworths, Masters, Rebel and Qantas.”
The Hulsbosch brand solution is a strong and relevant mark, which provides clarity for the passionate V8 Supercars fans, stakeholders and importantly the V8 Supercars teams and drivers.
It will promote the V8 Supercars Championship as the premier motorsport category in Australasia and acknowledges its position as one of Australia’s biggest sports. In addition, maintaining the series recognition globally as the best touring car category in the world and as a leader in motorsport entertainment.
V8 Supercars CEO James Warburton prioritised strategies to transform and reinvigorate the sport including a relaunch of the sports brand.
Says Warburton: “The time is right for a striking and dominant identity as we head to the next phase for the sport, on and off the track. V8 Supercars is dynamic, aggressive and intensely competitive. The sport needs an identity that represents these characteristics on a global stage.”
Before the first calendar race in February 2015, the V8 Supercars rebrand will be integrated into all corporate and marketing collateral, events, digital, sub brands and special programs; including the Dunlop V8 Supercars Championship.
Hans Hulsbosch, Executive Creative Director
Jaid Hulsbosch, Director
Phil Wadewitz, Designer
Emma Stone, Senior Account Director
Elena Ghatt, Senior Account Manager
4 Comments
But this is pretty bad.
Normally I like Hansies stuff but, not a fan of this. All I can see is a G.
makes me think of bunnings….
I like the idea, I think it’s the right solution – a red S like Superman, makes the mark instantly acceptable, and serves viewers’ predilections. A big tick to Hans for that brilliant thinking. I do not however, like the execution. It’s close, but no cigar. It lacks artistic flair and craftsmanship. Those stripes feel unresolved to me and I did not see the letter C in the negative space until I read the article where it was mentioned. Also the bend in the S looks like a kink in a garden hose, it just doesn’t flow like it should, like a race car would around a corner. To me that is disappointing.