‘We didn’t want to see this as just an ad’: R\GA, BRING and A-Leagues on embedding sonic identity in culture
As many of Australia’s capital cities emerged out of some version of lockdown restrictions in the last months of December last year, the Australian Premier League (A-Leagues) saw an opportunity to embed itself in Australian culture with the launch of a new branded anthem and sonic identity.
“The game is crucial, but its what we put around the game,” said the A-League’s chief commercial officer, Ant Hearne at the BRING Artist X Brands Summit at the overseas passenger terminal on Thursday.
The challenge of creating a new brand anthem for the sports code was handed to R\GA in August 2021 following a competitive pitch, giving the agency 10 weeks to build the new anthem and campaign before the beginning of the 2021-2022 A-Leagues season. The new positioning came off the back of the A-League’s (formerly the APL) rebrand also led by R\GA.
An agency whose creatives have clearly never played a game of football in their lives, pitch a rap video, under the guise of it being “sonic branding” to a client who gets excited about doing something different – let’s see how this plays out in Western Sydney? Sonic branding is the last thing on the priority list this brand needs…. plus its absolute drivel. The A-League isn’t the EPL or the UCL…. start with the basics first, like a strategy and identity that isn’t about the periphery of fans, but talks to its main heartland.