I love a good style guide, to be honest I kind of find them exciting...is that wierd?!!
Anyhoo, I like Etihad Stadium's Style Guide. In a word its "Brilliant".
Etihad Airlines have assumed naming rights of the previously named Telstra Dome, a 55,000-seat boutique sports / entertainment stadium in Melbourne, with a retractable roof and located on the Docklands, right next to the city. Naming rights for Etihad kicked in on the 1st March.
Before being known as Telstra Dome, it was Colonial Stadium. It's sometimes difficult to effectively re-brand a stadium, but it's a high-power 'awareness' strategy if done well. This begins with first defining your objectives, your positioning and brand strategy. It's from there that you can build a meaningful, thorough and effective Style Guide. It's 'change management' on a very large scale...and brand is just so so important. Everything must be "singing from the same songbook"!
The new logo and it's tagline reinforce a clever new positioning strategy. "Get inside the experience. Brilliant." Come to think of it...what was the positioning of 'Telstra Dome'? Not sure there was one.
I like this. Instantly we think of the stadium's key points of difference....it's an 'indoor' stadium, it's more than just a sports venue, and it's "brilliant" - helping to reinforce the heightened atmosphere inside the venue, the faster speed of play, and the closer view of the action on-field.
There is no other product or service that I can think of using the word "brilliant" in Australia. So that's a good find. It's a word that has a broad degree of appeal.
The arch on the logo also reinforces the shape of the venue, a depiction of the arch of the roof at Etihad Stadium, a unique feature. Again, a direct association to the venue.
So what goes into a good style guide? It's actually termed a "Brand Identity Guide", such is the importance of first defining brand and positioning strategy. The welcome page states:
"These guidelines control the tangible aspects of the Etihad Stadium brand, reflecting its objectives and enabling the consistent and accurate application of the Etihad Stadium brand logos, graphic devices, typefaces and colours on all brand collateral."
The guide covers: What creates a brilliant experience; Brand essence and positioning; Venue strategic business plan; Brand essence chart; Brand loyalty pyramid; Marketing slogan; Tone of voice; Power words and phrases; Visual identity; Brand marks; Clearspace; Embroidery; Minimum size; Colour palette; Correct use; Incorrect use; Brand typefaces; Visual brand graphics and devices; Uniforms; Signage system; Accessing files; File naming convention.
As you would expect, a range of logos have been created for all uses and membership types in the guide (eg: Medallion Club). It extends further to all signage, and to include primary colours, secondary colours and even "Tone of Voice" and "Power words and phrases".
Here are some of the "Power words and phrases" you can expect to hear in the promotion of Etihad Stadium: Brilliant; exciting; close to the action; friendly, fund and safe; spectacular playing surface; under one roof; dynamic; one of the world's great stadiums.
The strategy of Etihad to use stadia (worldwide) as a key brand awareness strategy in its new travel markets is reinforced with other integrated promotion. Here's a tram spotted running alongside the stadium in the lead up to the 1st March. I have also since heard radio ads, seen TV ads, a billboard on the way to the airport, and received a direct email. Nothing..eh-hem...NOTHING beats an integrated marketing campaign in building a better brand.
Time will be the judge of how effective the campaign has been, but it is off to a good start! Look out for the new '2009 Etihad Stadium e-diary' we will be launching soon too!!
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