With just over 600 days to go until the next Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia in 2018, Team Scotland has unveiled its exciting new brand mark, as it aims to build on the huge success of Glasgow 2014 and deliver the most medals ever won at an overseas Games.
Following an extensive tender process and athlete consultation, the new brand mark selected was developed by the acclaimed Edinburgh based design and branding agency, Brand Oath. The agency is a specialist in the international sports sector helping various global cities in their race to host major sports events, including the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Other sports clients include British Rowing and Netball Scotland.
The new brand mark evolves from Team Scotland’s distinctive, well-loved thistle icon, giving it a modern, dynamic twist. The ‘jaggy’ leaves curl around from below to the embrace the thistle head and at second glance, the white space between the leaves and the thistle head reveal a star shape or sunburst – representing Scotland’s shining stars on the international sporting stage. The five points of the star, mirrored by the five diamonds accentuating the thistle head, is a visual representation of the Team’s brand personality traits: proud, united, ambitious, inspirational and inclusive.
Commonwealth Games Scotland Chairman, Paul Bush OBE said: “The profile and awareness of Team Scotland reached new heights as a result of the team’s incredible success at our home Games in Glasgow exactly two years ago. The level of interest in our athletes’ ongoing success has been phenomenal and this is reflected by the significant reach and engagement across all our social media channels.
“Team Scotland is no longer a once every four year entity and we are repositioning our brand to reflect this. We are playing a key role across Scottish sport, championing the success of Scots on the international stage and helping to inspire youngsters across the country to follow in the footsteps of athletes like Charlie Flynn, Ross Murdoch, Euan Burton, Jennifer McIntosh and Colin Gregor.
“The new brand identity is no longer linked to one specific edition of the Games and heralds a new, modern era for the Commonwealth Games movement in Scotland. It provides a strong foundation from which to communicate in an engaging and inspiring fashion with our audiences, helping us to continue to build positive relationships with fans, athletes and stakeholders alike – a ‘365 days a year’ relevant and engaging brand. We believe it also creates added value for the organisation, providing a commercially attractive proposition to our key funding partners and sponsors.”
Brand Oath has gone on to create a framework of themed applications for use across the extensive range of collateral required, including Team Scotland kit and merchandise, campaign advertising and promotional materials. The brand mark will also be used as a portal to showcase the team’s celebrated iconic photography.
Delighted to see the brand mark unveiled, Brand Oath’s founder and creative director, Bernie Shaw-Binns said: “The brief set was an exciting challenge. National identity, particularly where sport is concerned, is a fascinating area of communication. It was important to capture a sense of place and personality that ‘we’ as athletes, fans and stakeholders recognise and are proud of. To avoid the visual clichés, but also deliver on what international audiences expect and perceive to be ‘Scottish’.
“We believe the trick is to embrace our national identifiers, to reinvent them with appropriate respect and restraint, balanced with vision and modernity. Working closely with Team Scotland we believe we have developed a fantastic brand framework that represents, engages and inspires the athletes, the fans and our stakeholders – a badge everyone can wear with pride.”
Former Scotland Rugby 7s captain, Colin Gregor who played in two Commonwealth Games and is Team Scotland’s athlete representative said: “Being selected to represent your country is an extremely special moment and wearing the Team Scotland badge with pride is one of the key elements that unites all the different sports together. The thistle icon has been a firm favourite with the athletes for many years and it is great to see how it has been reinvented with a modern twist that will keep it fresh and relevant, particularly across digital platforms.
“Putting the team’s five values at the heart of the new mark is really important and will be a great way to share these with future team members. The new range of colours are very vivid and striking too and will work well on our team clothing.”
The first public showcase for the new brand will be for the 2016 Team Scotland Scottish Sports Awards which will be held at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on Wednesday 28 September, where the spotlight will be on the record number of Scots participating in Rio as part of Team GB and Paralympics GB as well as a host of other sporting achievements across the Scottish sporting landscape.
Table sales have been excellent, with sporting and corporate Scotland booking their places at the event to hear first-hand about some of those spine tingling sporting moments, created by our exceptionally talented athletes that make our nation so proud.
12 new awards will be presented, recognising the best of sport in Scotland, culminating in the Emirates Lonsdale Trophy, awarded to the 2016 Scottish Sportsperson of the year.
And next stop for Scotland’s Commonwealth Games athletes will be Gold Coast 2018. Team Scotland is launching its 2018 supporters’ campaign and guests will be invited to get behind the team as we aim to have our best overseas Games ever.
With only 150 seats left you are encouraged to book now to ensure your place at the sporting top table of the year: http://www.scottishsportsawards.scot/