Creating the first truly global Supercross Championship brand
Sector
Motorsport
Disciplines
Brand strategy / Brand identity / Brand Development
The Result
Fully adaptable brand identity system and assets for:
all creative scenarios both physical and digital
all commercial requirements including partner / host city
A refined and sophisticated aesthetic that assumes a position of leadership for WSX
Values created through collaboration to help guide the business and recruit the best talent
The Competitive Edge
Creating a new supercross brand that nurtures existing fans as well as growing and exciting a completely new fanbase.
“Pangaea was able to distil our brief and create a brand mark which set us apart from our competitors before a race had even been run. The design, aesthetic and appeal of our brand mark set the tone of our championship; it provided an instant visual elevation within the motorsport category which nailed the brief”
For the last 20 years, the US focused AMA Supercross and its riders dominated supercross on the world stage. At the end of 2021 everything changed when SX Global were handed World Championship status by the FIM allowing them to create The FIM World Supercross Championship, WSX. This was the first, truly global supercross championship so it needed a confident, authoritative and future facing approach in the way the brand presented itself to it’s audiences whilst tastefully acknowledging the heritage of the sport; Pangaea was chosen to strategically advise as well as create the brand identity.
With the pilot season kicking off at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff in October 2022, Pangaea had a condensed timeframe to create the brand from the ground up. Coherence was just as important as the end solution given the number of Teams, Partners and Broadcasters that would require brand assets to create marketing that was 100% consistent with the brand guidelines.
Creation of the brand was driven by the the principal aim to excite existing supercross fans as well as capture the imagination of the uninitiated, conceiving and growing a completely new fan base to attend the family focussed adrenaline charged events through the rest of the year, into the 2023 calendar and beyond.
The competition for audience attention was broad and included all stadium entertainment, diverse music, family productions and beyond. So the brand needed to stand out and on it’s own feet. As such, the identity comprised an energetic, bold colour palette, highlighted by blazing orange and charcoal grey. A design aesthetic was formulated that reached back to classic supercross culture, but pulled forward with a contemporary, modern design sensibility.
The logo and brand elements were intentionally grounded in the geometry of supercross, featuring a visual system of shapes and angles that call upon the most recognised features and elements of supercross tracks. Sharp angles and geometric curves carry through the visual outlines of whoops, rhythm sections, doubles, triples and hairpin turns, all tied together to create a simple, yet powerful and authentic visual identity.
These new brand elements ensured that the FIM WSX Championship has an instantly recognisable, in fact, unmistakable visual identity for fans. As the season commences and progresses, it will be exciting to see the brand role out across it’s advertising - digital, print, video and television; as well as clothing, online customer journey and ticketing, and across the imposing stadia involved with the roaming format.
“These new brand elements will ensure that the FIM WSX Championship and our Grand Prix events have an instantly recognisable visual identity for fans, clearly identified within the sport … Led by the simplistic power of our WSX logo, the bold combination of blazing orange and charcoal grey will become the visual calling card for the WSX Championship for many years to come, and the flag we carry at the forefront of our efforts around the world.”
