Renamed three regional sports networks in Pittsburgh, the Rocky Mountains & the Northwest with the fabulous Big Bang Electrical.
The year-long process included internal staff workshops; an extensive competitive analysis of all sports brands (from shoes to teams to video games); fan research in sports bars; and immersion in three very different local sports cultures.
We wanted more that just a name or another three-letter acronym. We needed a clear positioning that the staff could own and help drive their internal culture; a concept they could use to create dynamic on-air messages; and a way to add meaning and depth to the viewing experience.
We also needed to find something that could be used across media platforms and across multiple sports –from hockey to golf. And we needed something that worked in Seattle where lonely sports fans nod to each other across a sea of apathy as well as in Pittsburgh where sports is a religion, where the entire town wears the team colors on game day, and where, when asked to bring in a picture of what sports means to them, fans simply showed us their tattoos.
But despite these differences, in every region both staff and fans talked about the experience of sport in the same compelling way. They told us they loved how sports reaches across generation and between total strangers to bring people together. That they love the energy and rush of an amazing moment of play that they were there to witness. And it was here at the intersection of exhilaration and connection that we discovered a powerful and untapped area. That when you watch sport, you become a part of something bigger.
The name ROOT was born out of this thought and works on several levels of meaning -all of which support the primary benefit of a regional sports team.
(From the About Us section of www.RootSports.com)
Emily Reed 