Durham CCC has undergone a rebrand ahead of the new season and will be looing for a positive campaign in 2019. Their Marketing Director David Jackson recently took the time to tell us more about their plans for the year ahead.
Rebrand
He told us, “We had carried out some work on the purpose, vision, values and behaviour of the club with the aim of focusing all staff and the team on taking the club forward. It seemed a natural step to then review the visual identity of the club to make sure it matched our new purpose.
Our new identity combines traditional elements associated with Durham Cricket, such as the Lion and the colours used, with a new dynamic creative design which resonates with our ambition to take the club forward into a new era of success both on and off the field.
The Lion head and capital ‘D’ have been combined to form a distinct stand-alone symbol that can be replicated across any marketing material or piece of merchandise. The original Durham team colours have also been utilised and contrast effectively to give a bold and striking design.
The new identity is designed to be emotive, inspiring, and most importantly, an identity that players, staff and fans can identify with and believe in.”
Impact
“Cricket is a global sport and with the development of modern technology, Durham Cricket is increasingly being viewed from across the World.
The rise in new formats of the game are encouraging a more diverse audience than ever before with more children, women and families being drawn to the game. It is therefore vital that we have a consistent brand with a universal appeal across all demographics to enhance our profile and maximise opportunities to grow the Durham Cricket family.
We hope the brand will resonate with existing fans and members but also appeal to the new audience which is being drawn into Cricket by the likes of T20 and the All Stars initiative. The Hundred tournament launching next year provides another opportunity to extend the reach of cricket in this country. We need to be ready to appeal to that audience and grow our fan base.”
Atmosphere
“The mood here is extremely positive at present. The club went through a bit of a tough time but that’s in the past. There have been a lot of changes from the top and throughout with a new Chairman, Chief Executive, Director of Cricket and a revamp of the coaching staff along with new players coming in.
Whilst the club has been extremely successful in the past the changes have brought a fresh approach and we are an ambitious group who all care about the club and are working together to take the club forward and hopefully, over time, achieve the success we have had in the past. There is a real appetite to be successful both on and off the field. We want to have a successful first team but also continue to grow the commercial aspects of the business and grow cricket at all levels in the North.”
2019
“We have a busy year ahead both on and off the field. The team are hoping to progress from last year. We had a good T20 campaign but we want to be more competitive in the County Championship this year. We are also hosting three games in the Cricket World Cup as well as concerts and a range of large events and conferences. We are also developing the retail and restaurant offering at the ground.
We really want to attract more families to the ground and have ambitious targets to increase attendances. This is an area we have been successful in over the last few years with improved attendances and many more children coming to games. We have won awards for our improvements in these areas and were rated as the best family experience in cricket so we feel we have developed a strong base to build from.”
Challenges/Ambitions
“There are always challenges in all aspects of business. I think for us, in terms of our ambition to grow our attendances and fan base, its competition for people’s time and their disposable income. People have less time and more options these days. We need to make sure Cricket has an appeal for everyone and the overall product we offer is as good as any major entertainment experience.
We have a lot of targets across the club. We would like to get promoted and re-establish ourselves as a force in English Cricket. We want to keep developing home grown talent through our academy and developing our women’s teams. Growing participation, attendance and engagement with the sport in the North is also a priority. Off the field, we have lots of plans to grow commercial revenues which will then allow us to reinvest in the infrastructure of the club and the squad.”