THE CLIENT

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London City Royals are the newest professional basketball team in Britain, and are hoping to elevate the sport in this country. Orfi Media were involved in the project since its conception, originally working to create the brand – including designing the logo and kits – and then managing social media, content creation and web and app development. The Royals needed to make an immediate impact, and as they want to swiftly develop a reputation for excellence both on and off court, it was crucial that we created a brand that was instantly slick, contemporary and memorable.

BRANDING

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The Royals gave us a brief that they wanted their identity to immediately separate themselves from what has come before them in British basketball. They are aiming for a level of excellence previously unseen in the British Basketball League, and want to be seen as cool, charismatic leaders as they do so. However, they also wanted to stress the importance of London’s communities to the team ethos, and to draw new fans to the sport. To achieve this we designed the logo depicting a crown mixed with a basketball in a minimalistic, modern style, using brands such as Nike and Apple as inspiration, as opposed to traditional sports clubs. The club colours are the red, blue and white of the British flag, and we used this to design the club’s kit, again aiming for a minimalist feel. 

DESIGN

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Effective design was integral to the brand development, and we applied the principles of that identity to create slick, impactful deliverables both online and offline. To promote and support the franchise’s debut home fixture we produced roll-up banners and larger banners for outside use, which were utilised around Crystal Palace. These were based on the theme “It’s Showtime”, carrying over a campaign from social media, and celebrating the team’s big-name signings, while keeping to the royal branding. We also used similar design themes to produce a 12-page programme to be sold at the stadium, as well as providing the copy for the whole publication. 

Social Media Management

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Part of our strategy for establishing the Royals as an innovative presence within the British basketball scene was to maximise their social media, using our skills and experience to separate the team from its competitors. Day to day that has come from clear, confident messaging with clean, crisp execution. But it is most evident through campaigns, such as the #basketballscominghome video publicising the team’s Crystal Palace roots, and the “Welcome to the #RoyalFamily” player announcements. 

• 470,000+ organic reach
• 3,500+ gained followers
• 61,800+ website pageviews (52% acquisition from social media)