KRC Genk
2020 - 2021
Rebranding
DIG DEEP & RISE ABOVE
Colours and football teams, it’s a sensitive topic. Just ask a Genk supporter if they want to wear a yellow jersey. Racing Genk was looking for a strategic rebranding and wrote a pitch. SUPERMACHINE was very eager to get it right. We didn't dare to touch the beautiful blue of Racing Genk but the rest of the branding was taken care of, including a new baseline and slogan for the supporters.
Genk is more than a football team. The glorious past, the top talents like Courtois and Debruyne, their social commitment, the trophy cabinet; all proof that Genk is a true top of the league team. And of course a full rebranding goes with that.
The key thought
Genk and its surroundings are bursting with history and symbolism. In search of the main idea for the rebranding, we delved deep into the glorious past of the club and the region. This was the starting point of the strategic exercise, in which we wanted to come up with a manifesto, a new slogan, tone-of-voice and brand architecture.
It soon became clear that Genk is much more than just a football team. Within the world of football, it is the smart challenger, who wants to come out from the shadows unexpectedly. Playing champion when no one expects it, letting top talents grow in their academy but also showing their social commitment through the Racing Genk Community. A team where style is important, a team that is proud of the past and a team that wants to go deep to be there in the future.
Creating winners on and off the field. Digging deep for that and ultimately rising above it all. Dig deep and rise above: that was the key thought for the rebranding.
|| Check out the brandbook
Shtijl and movement
Our designers were also inspired by that rich past. They opted for a robust but graceful typeface and let "dig deep & rise above" come back in the dynamics of the typography. The slogan comes from the ground, into the design, a movement that was also made in animation.
In that past, in the nature around the stadium and in the typical mining architecture the region holds, our designers also found some striking forms, which were immediately added as style elements to the new branding. This gave each sub-brand a unique touch. The logo was further refreshed and given some variations for use on social and other media. The colours were also reviewed, to make KRC Genk a true lifestyle brand.
Image and photography are an essential part of the Genk communication, so we provided templates and filters. The iconic shapes come back, as does the dynamism and movement. Players breaking through the frame, repetition, light colour grading and a coal effect as the ultimate nod to the mining past.
From football team to lifestyle brand
We made social templates, wrote the photography guidelines and each sub-brand (ladies, talent, society, e-sports) received their own mini-branding. The new style was translated into animations, social templates and a long list of taglines and catchy phrases.
All guidelines, the logos, the manifesto and a few handy tips were neatly collected in a brand guide, ready for use by the KRC Genk communications team. The brand architecture was translated into an exhilarating manifesto, the templates are ready for use, now all that's left is to score those goals.
