5 things you need to know this week

From Twitter outlining controversial changes to its timeline to the Premier League revamping its brand identity, here are the five things you won’t want to have missed this week.

1. Premier League looks to shed ‘corporate’ image as it unveils new brand identity

In a bid to shed its corporate image and create a more attractive proposition for sponsors, the world’s most lucrative football league unveiled an ambitiously colourful rebrand this week.

The new identity, which was created in partnership with global agency DesignStudio and Robin Brand Consultants, includes a ‘modern take’ on the Premier League’s lion icon and aims to work in digital and broadcast formats.

Set to launch this June ahead of the 2016/17 Premier League season, the new visual identity comes as the league drops its title sponsorship model for the first time. Moving forward, it will simply be titled ‘The Premier League’.

“We have looked at lots of other sports and governing bodies to see how they do it. There is lots to learn from American sports [brands] in particular, which aren’t title sponsored and have brand and consumer expressions like the NBA,” explained Richard Masters, managing director of the Premier League.

“Our current visual identity is very corporate, very blue and white like lots of other sports brands are so we felt we needed a fundamental shift.”

2. Twitter says it wants to be the ‘leader in live video’ and outlines timeline changes

tweet

Revealing its fourth quarter numbers this week, Twitter said it attracted 305 million monthly active users – down from 307 million active users in the previous quarter and the first financial quarter in Twitter’s history where the number of monthly users has not grown.

And chief executive Jack Dorsey said Periscope will now be crucial to getting user numbers rising again. “We really want to focus on live, because we think it’s the fastest and easiest way to understand the power of Twitter and get into it. And once you see an event unfold on Twitter, there’s a real sense of electricity,” said Dorsey.

This week, Twitter also outlined controversial changes to its timeline that allows people to catch up on important tweets that they may have missed while not signed into the service. The new feature deploys a ranking basted system that places impetus on tweets that Twitter deems most relevant to individual users.

However brands shouldn’t worry about the changes as the update means “only the best content will shine through whether it comes from an SMB, large brand, consumer, or athlete you follow,” according to Twitter.

3. Channel 5 rebrands as it claims its ‘diverse’ content doesn’t get the credit it deserves

channel 5

Acknowledging that its former visual identity had ‘lost its way’, Channel 5 unveiled a major rebrand this week. 

Channel 5 is hoping a new interactive logo and cinematic indents will give its content ‘the respect it deserves.’

Its VP of marketing Jo Bacon says the project, which has taken 13 months to complete, saw Channel 5 reach out to media and PR agencies to ensure the repositioning was attractive to advertisers as well as viewers.

She told Marketing Week: “The new design and creative reflect the breadth of content that Channel 5 encompasses while strengthening our position among ABC1s and the 16-34 year old audience. If we can strengthen there, we will ultimately be more attractive to advertisers.

“People perhaps put us in a box, but this is a channel that makes important documentaries such as Body Donors or Ben Fogle’s New Lives In The Wild. There’s amazing diverse content being created here and we are not a brand that has been given enough credit for that.”

This is quite possibly the first time Ben Fogle has ever been described as ‘amazingly diverse’.

4. How wearables are changing the face of sports brands

fitbit

You might have noticed people wearing Fitbit bracelets down at the gym lately. And according to Lucy Sheehan, Fitbit’s head of marketing for EMEA, you’ll be seeing a lot more  in the future.

Speaking this week, she said Fitbit has the potential to hit half of the UK population.

Sheehan told Marketing Week: “With people caring more and more about their health, these are devices that can span the entire population, there’s so much untapped potential for us to link up with organisations such as the NHS. We can hit half the UK population in a relatively short space of time, it isn’t unrealistic.”

Last year, Fitbit, which is still the market-leading brand for fitness wearables, grew its revenues by 168% year-on-year during its third quarter. And Sheehan says the brand could also expand its fitness technology to VR.

“We are focused on delivering the best technology but only on devices that people want to use. There’s endless long-term potential, for example, in how VR can change the fitness category,” she added.

VR headsets – coming to a gym near you.

5. Asda turns to former Saatchi & Saatchi man for new marketing boss

asda store

This week, struggling supermarket giant Asda announced the appointment of Andy Murray – no, not the tennis player but the founder of shopper marketing agency Saatchi & Saatchi X – as its new chief customer officer with former marketing boss Barry Williams set to leave the supermarket after eight years.

Asda, which is due to update the market on its Christmas trading later this month, saw like-for-like sales fall 4.5% in the three months to the end of September, marking its fifth consecutive quarter of falling revenue.

To help it return to growth, Asda’s chief executive Andy Clarke is rolling out Project Renewal this year, with the supermarket using the 18-month drive to introduce further price cuts on everyday items. He will also be hoping Murray can reignite its marketing and brand perception.

“I am delighted to welcome Andy Murray to Asda as our chief customer officer,” said Clarke. “His deep understanding of global retail trends, creative marketing and customers’ shopping habits will bring a new dimension to our strategy to overhaul our offer, merchandising and value proposition and transform all of our stores, starting with the largest 95 stores.”

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