Rebranding a classic.
We grew up with Wilson.
You may have had a Wilson baseball mitt growing up, or a Wilson football. Perhaps there is something in your garage right now with the Wilson logo on it.
Company
Speculative work
Wilson Sporting Goods Co.
Sector
Sporting Goods
Disciplines
Brand Strategy and Narrative
Brand Identity
Brand Architecture
Digital and Print Design
Case study
As market share leader in Team Sports, Racquet and Golf the Wilson brand is one of the most recognizable in the world. In research, among sporting goods manufacturing companies Wilson is one of the most admired and trusted brands in the world. However, its perception was higher than its presentation, if you like.
T Brennan Creative often takes on a challenge when there is an opportunity
to update a brand. (Full disclosure this is speculative work, Wilson did not pay
for this re-branding and case study). The challenge was to maintain the equity
within the brand and evolve the look.
The challenge:
Wanting to remain true to their existing brand and build recognition in new categories including fashion and lifestyle it was time to update their famous wordmark identity in support of that.
To evolve and identify with 21st-century trends and audiences.
In some categories, you could argue there was no reason for a brand refresh, such as baseball, football, and racquet sports. However, in other categories existing and new the concern was the current wordmark was considered dated.
The solution:
Evolution, not Revolution. Take the iconic companies' famous wordmark and bring it up to date without harming its tradition and heritage. After many strategic meetings, discovery sessions, and design exercises we discovered a revolutionary new logo just would not work for this iconic brand and a refresh wouldn’t be enough.
The impetus for this project would be to update and refine the famous typographical wordmark for more applications moving forward while representing and maintaining their past rich tradition and history. To carefully evolve the brand elements that are already there and use these
as a foundation for a basis moving forward.
The result:
The new Wilson wordmark remains easily identifiable as Wilson Sporting Goods with its rich heritage and brand recognition intact. At the same time, it is now positioned as a high-end premium lifestyle brand. Having a higher brand perception across every touchpoint.
The redesigned wordmark represents a new vision and strategy.
The brand values of heritage, innovation, performance, and
engineering still remain. While a contemporary, modern,
progressive, and upscale feel have been added.