The European Tour has unveiled a new logo and brand strategy that underlines its new guiding principles of ‘Innovation, Inclusivity and Globality’.
The brand refresh coincides with the launch of a new website and a new app, both of which go live on October 1, ahead of the European Tour’s Open de España in Madrid.
The new branding features the strapline ‘Driving Golf Further’, which, according to chief executive Keith Pelley ‘seeks to underline the Tour’s commitment to engaging existing and new audiences through innovative tournament formats and immersive technology, as well as broaden the tour’s appeal to commercial partners’.
The new branding, which replaces the silhouette of Harry Vardon that was introduced in 2008, comprises a suite of assets, with a new logo, avatar and a range of graphic devices.
The European Tour’s new identity was unveiled at the Tour’s recently refurbished headquarters at Wentworth Club during the BMW PGA Championship. The building has undergone its first significant upgrade since the Tour set up its offices there in 1972, with the new-look interior boasting a modern, open-plan design, with glass-walled meeting rooms and enlarged office spaces to accommodate the Tour’s growing commercial and social media teams.
Pelley, 55, who has been pursuing a significant modernisation programme at the European Tour since his appointment in 2015, said: “It is an exciting time for us to unveil our new brand strategy. While we continue to celebrate our traditions and our core audience, the Tour has a strong desire to innovate and broaden the appeal of our sport.”
He added: “I see this as the next evolution of the European Tour. Over the last four years we have really built up the Tour through significant revenue increases in traditional sponsorship, and we’ve spent the last 18 months negotiating a deal with IMG that has resulted in us taking back control of out televised content and our world feed, which has really put us in a strong financial position for the future. Our tournament prize funds and the playing opportunities for our players are both at an all-time high, and now, with all the contracts we have in place, we’re in an incredibly sustainable position from which to take the Tour to the next level.”
Max Hamilton, Head of Commercial Partnerships, added: “Golf remains the sport of business, with 90% of CEOs playing the game, however we believe golf has to modernise and appeal to everyone to thrive. We hope our bold new creative and brand strategy will attract new partners who align with our new brand ideals.”
Part of the reason for the redesigned website and app is the European Tour’s new partnership with IMG Arena, the sports betting and content hub, which will collect and distribute the Tour’s official scoring data, offering fans enhanced statistics and insights from the 2020 season onwards. IMG Arena has developed a real-time, shot-by-shot data collection system which will be installed at all European Tour events, with its insights set to be available to fans via European Tour platforms and global broadcasters. The data will also be available to use for licensed sports betting markets, opening up a whole new level of fan engagement.
A trained scoring team will use GPS technology, connectivity systems and greenside cameras to collect data from every shot in European Tour event. IMG Arena says successful trials have been completed and further testing will take place across a host of events during 2019, with a view to the system being fully operational for the 2020 season, which begins at the Hong Kong Open at the end of November.