Wigan Warriors Unveil New Badge After Brand Refresh
Rugby League side Wigan Warriors have unveiled a new brand refresh, including a new badge.
The club teamed up with design agency Nomad off the back of rebrands it carried out for both the Premier League and Sky Sports. The Warriors say the result is a new ‘digitally-focused’ design, intended to appeal to a new generation of supporters.
The change sees the old coat of arms style badge replaced, with a newly-designed Warrior featuring at the centre of the rebrand.
The club says it still retains elements of the old design, including the shield and the team’s cherry and white hoops colour scheme. The motto for both the club and the town, Ancient and Loyal, is also included on the badge.
“As part of Super League’s adoption of a broadcast-first digital strategy, they did an individual audit of Super League clubs – to inform clubs where they thought they were at. The main feedback we got was that our crest was outdated, old fashioned and probably not recognisable. This reaffirmed what we had been thinking for a while – that we needed to do something with our badge,” said Kris Radlinski, Executive Director, Wigan Warriors (pictured above).
“We’ve made no secret over the past few years that we need to attract a younger crowd. We do have an ageing fanbase, so we need to look at different ways in which we can engage and inspire the next generation in this hyper-connected world we are now living in.
“The whole process has taken just over a year, from the initial brainstorming meetings, through the design process and then ultimate sign off. With a project of this size, consultation from all stakeholders has to be an important consideration which is why speaking to a cross-section of fans was critical in this process.
“In addition to the badge change, we will also be enforcing a new working culture, in which our workplace will, again, bring us in line with all leading companies in the world. Using staff picked values and standards, we will drive quality in everything we do to provide a superior product on and off the field.
“The old crest will always be there in our heritage and will be visible in relevant circumstances, helping to lead us into the brave new world by reminding us of where we come from and where we want to be heading. We’ve had so many players who have worn that crest and we respect that, and we have to never ever forget that. But we also have to look forward. This is us looking forward and saying this has to happen to keep us up to speed with the modern world, modern sport and modern broadcast and digital strategy.”
The club says it has engaged with a number of fans from ‘different backgrounds’ to gauge thoughts on the badge, which will be accompanied by a new social media strapline, #NeverGonnaStop, taken from a line in the Wigan fan chant, ‘We Are The Boys’.
