Like a national anthem, coat of arms and other symbols, an effective logo has the power to arouse strong feelings and associations.
Whether it’s football, karate, netball or basketball a neat crest can do far more in terms of promotions and positioning.
However, the case may seem, a name and logo hold significance as they are key assets when sport entities strive to build a strong relationship with their supporters.
Any slight change in the traditional or original crest is therefore likely to create some angst or disappointment among followers.
A few years back, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool came under criticism for their redesigned crest, while Everton faced a petition by over 16 000 supporters due to rebranding their logo.
In regard to branding, Jwaneng Galaxy FC had a fair share of criticism from supporters when the team launched their redesigned logo back in October 2020. The new logo only lived for a day on its day of launch and it was the end of it until this day.
Seeking to rebrand, Galaxy sought to replace its old flat logo with a vivid 3D logo representative of the club’s changing dynamics. The old logo, a flat 2.0 design shield, is minimalistic and uses simple typography.
Inside at the top is the name of the club written in simple typography. The middle has a lot of white space with three diagonally placed stars, with the middle star surrounded with five other stars. Below the stars is a diamond embodied inside a ball. Attached away from the crest is the club’s motto in a grey ribbon.
Unlike the old logo, the new short-lived shield crest which was launched on October 27, 2020 looks more vivid and three dimensional. Aside from the ball in which a diamond was placed, all details are still there, the only difference being how they have been placed in the crest.
Interestingly, the new logo talks more history of the club as it has the year in which the club was established at the top, just below the diamond symbol. The stars on the short-lived new crest are not diagonal but rather assembled together like a true galaxy and the club motto, which is in a black ribbon is below them. Scarlet red and black are colours used on the new logo.
Tankiso Morake, the public relations officer at the mining club, said the new re-designed logo has not been dropped nor forgotten but it is under observation not only from the club’s management but also from supporters.
“Some of our supporters felt they were not engaged in the matter while some showed sign for fear of change. Because of this, the management decided to keep it on hold while all or most of the supporters are being engaged on which logo to go with,” he said.
As it stands, it is quite evident that supporters generate an additional buzz around the sport entity however, they enable revenue streams through various business stands.
“Some supporters felt we should stick to the old one but last week there were discussions around it. I think by October we would be done with the discussion regarding to the logo,” Morake added.
