Commonwealth logo in overhaul

by Ed Kemp, marketingmagazine.co.uk 06-Oct-09, 08:30

LONDON - Commonwealth Games England (CGE), the body responsible for organising England's team at the Commonwealth Games, has launched a revamped logo and identity.

The new look will appear at the next Games, to be held in Delhi in October 2010.It uses a lion, also a symbol of the England football team, which replaces the previous rose motif.

The logo, created by Corporate Edge, carries the words ‘We are England'. ‘If you're going to be bold, you have to be contemporary and inclusive,' said Duncan Lewis, marketing director at CGE. ‘It must not be arrogant. Our logo is about pride in the traditions of English sport.'

The brand overhaul will also include the relaunch of the CGE website as well as marketing activity around key dates, such as St George's Day.

The branding will also be promoted for a week when the Queen's Baton Relay, the torch-carrying ceremony that begins the Commonwealth Games, comes to England in early November. Activity is currently being planned to run at Twickenham around the England rugby union team's Investec Autumn international against Australia.

CGE is also seeking partners for its first portfolio of brand sponsors, which will be drawn from within and outside the sports sector. The partners will be given category exclusivity.

‘We are keen to look at a number of categories and have a range of partners', said Lewis.

He added that he is also in talks to sign an official team kit supplier. ‘We have previously been funded entirely by Sport England, but if we can exploit our potential and reduce our burden to them, all the better,' he said.

The Commonwealth Games returns to Britain in 2014 when the event will be hosted by Glasgow.

The last Games were held in Melbourne, where the England team won 110 medals having won 165 four years earlier in Manchester.

Comments

Kevin Gordon - 07/10/2009

It makes me think of the foreboding sign in one football ground that says; THIS IS ANFIELD. It works. It makes a statement. It is proud of its heritage. It Commands respect. It makes you want to feel part of. I'd like to see it on individual shirts with the words: "I AM ENGLAND" and for collective team events "WE ARE ENGLAND" Can you imagine how great that would make a performing athlete or team feel just before the event? GREAT.