Australia’s 3rd largest attended and 4th most watched television sports event, V8 Supercars has launched a new positioning and contemporary brand identity created by branding and design agency Hulsbosch.

The Hulsbosch brand and visual identity reflects the V8 Supercars business growth strategy and successfully communicates an ability to cut through as a populist brand with a broader appeal for current and future fans.

Hulsbosch pursued vigorous consumer testing and contributed to research groups across Australia. An online survey and extensive key stakeholder interviews provided a detailed and in-depth understanding of the evolution of the sport.

The research and insights revealed a clear set of attributes and values for the brand – extreme energy, visually stunning, teamwork, respectful, relentlessly progressive, passionate – that have all been carefully integrated into the creative outcome. These reflect how V8 Supercars is perceived as one of Australia’s most physically challenging sports with elite athletes engaged in brutal combat, driving the world’s toughest racing machines.

Hans Hulsbosch, executive creative director, Hulsbosch, said: “An unforgettable and exhilarating race experience, touring car’s new icon colouring of ‘red’ displays a notion of fast and furious speed. Thrilling trackside showdowns are represented in the curvature of the ‘S’ and combines with a signature of intensity to drive through the ‘esses’. From the side positioning, the ‘C’ represents the strategic-thinking and power of the V8 Supercars Championship. Primarily the unique brand is a reflection of the courage of our Australian-based speed heroes.

“The ‘SC’ moniker is a simplified identification and will generate a genuine presence as a stand-alone icon for the sport, developed as an enduring brand to stand the test of time.

Similar to successful identifiable icons Hulsbosch have created for Woolworths, Masters, Rebel and Qantas.”

V8 Supercars CEO James Warburton said: “The time is right for a striking and dominant identity as we head to the next phase for the sport, on and off the track. V8 Supercars is dynamic, aggressive and intensely competitive. The sport needs an identity that represents these characteristics on a global stage.”

Before the first calendar race in February 2015, the V8 Supercars rebrand will be integrated into all corporate and marketing collateral, events, digital, sub brands and special programs; including the Dunlop V8 Supercars Championship.

Credits:
Hans Hulsbosch, Executive Creative Director
Jaid Hulsbosch, Director
Phil Wadewitz, Designer
Emma Stone, Senior Account Director
Elena Ghatt, Senior Account Manager