Newcastle United are hoping their redesigned club crest will help them compete on a marketing front with the likes of Arsenal and PSG
Newcastle United are hoping their redesigned club crest will help them compete on a marketing front with the likes of Arsenal and French giants PSG
Newcastle United unveiled their new crest on Thursday morning, ending a 791-day consultation process with supporters and leading industry experts that they believe will open new doors in the marketing sphere.
But rather than radically change the design of the previous badge, Newcastle have merely refined it, polished up the edges and made it smarter, sharper, cleaner and, crucially, more consistent.
For example, there are thousands of different iterations of the badge around St James' Park alone and the 'intricacies and irregularities' of the previous design, that has been used since 1988, meant it was difficult to replicate at a high quality when it came to merchandising and the club's digital footprint.
As such, the new crest feels very much like the old crest and that is deliberate. Newcastle engaged with 19,500 members and season ticket holders, with 84 per cent of those surveyed wanted the badge to be refined rather than overhauled and a significant majority rejected a circular design.
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It meant a revolution of the badge was never considered, with the example of Juventus replacing their badge with a 'J' being cited by club insiders ahead of the unveiling of United's new crest, and the club listened to what the supporters wanted rather than go for a radical re-design.
That also meant keeping all elements of the previous crest in the new one, giving the club's chief creative officer Kenneth McIver - a lifelong Newcastle fan who sits in the Leazes End on matchday - a strict brief to work with.
McIver is seen as an expert in his field and has been involved in the kit designs of England, Barcelona and PSG in his previous role as global design director for Nike Football.
His design process was guided by the data collected from supporters and while they overwhelmingly told the club they wanted to retain all elements of the previous badge - the hippocampi, the black-and-white shield, the lion and the flag - they also told them the castle was the most important element, with 55 per cent of respondents making that clear.
And that is why the castle has become the 'key secondary mark, signature and device' in a new brand system [seen below] that chief marketing officer Steven Taylor opens new storytelling avenues in the marketing sphere that would not have been possible if they switched to a more simplistic design.
Newcastle United's new club crest and logos
Newcastle United's new club crest and brand logos(Image: Newcastle United FC)
The hippocampi is a nod to Newcastle's industrial and maritime legacy, the castle has represented the city for centuries and the shield is linked to the club's 1969 Fairs Cup winning side.
The club feel that not only retains regional pride among the hardcore local support but also allows them to educate new fans globally about what the club represents and the history of which it has been built on.
Taylor feels the new design, driven by McIver and his team, will put Newcastle in the same conversation as Arsenal and PSG, who are seen as world leaders when it comes to marketing.
It is another strand of CEO David Hopkinson's long term vision for Newcastle's men and women's teams being able to consistently compete for the Premier League and WSL titles by 2030.
Whether that ambition stands up to scrutiny remains to be seen but certainly it is another example of the 'self-care' Hopkinson believes the club can take to accelerate the process of closing the revenue gap between themselves and the 'big six' clubs in the Premier League.