November saw World Table Tennis (WTT) link up with Superunion Asia develop and launch a new WTT identity in an attempt to not only capture and engage new audiences, but also attract new commercial partners and inspire millions more people around the world to play the game.
WTT, which was created by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), only launched its inaugural tournament held in Macau in 2020. Despite being widely played globally, until recently table tennis was only taken seriously as a competitive and a commercial sport in a handful of countries so the ITTF sought to change this with the introduction of WTT and the launch of a refreshed brand which set out to changes the way the world sees the game.
The brief was to position WTT centre stage and to bring its elite players, thrilling events and exhilarating entertainment to the wider world.
The brand refresh was inspired by WTT’s vision to show table tennis in a different light and so Superunion’s creative strategy was to reverse the audience viewpoint by showing the game from the ball’s eye view: thus capturing the energy and skill of the game and allowing the world to see table tennis from a new, unique perspective – literally.
Thus, the reworked identity sought to reflect the drama, precision, skill, passion, and mental agility that the players bring to the table through a design approach which mirrors sports photography: capturing how each player focuses on the ball in motion, following the movements of the spinning ball at high speed.
The new look also aims to project uncompromising confidence through everything from the name, logo, colour codes and typeface, to a new signature black table and a redesigned theatre of play.
The redesign was introduced at a live launch event and amplified through WTT social platforms led by a flagship video.
WTT-superunion.mp4 from Superunion on Vimeo.
The redesign was launched ahead of the flagship WTT Cup Finals which take place in Singapore’s OCBC Arena between 4 and 7 December 2021 where all aspects of the new identity will be brought to life in front of the in-person, broadcast and streamlining audience.
The team working on the identity included Managing Strategy Director (Singapore & Asia) Ambrish Chaudhry, Managing Creative Director (Thailand & Asia) Dan Ellis, Creative Director (Singapore) Scott Lambert, Design Director (Singapore) Fu Le, Creative Tech Directors (Singapore & Asia) Pete Tong and Jessica Tan, plus Senior Designer (Singapore) Jie Ni Liew.
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Early signs suggest the WTT launch is working: the sport has attracted 563m fans around the world and table tennis has officially became the most watched sport in China after amassed 350m unique viewers in the months since it featured in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Plus several high profile new partners have joined the game: Coca-Cola and Tata have both taken title partnerships of all WTT events in China during 2021.
The sport’s growth is reflect in WTT tournaments taking place on the American continent for the first time ever in 2021 with new sponsor Liebherr taking an official title tie-in for the Championships in Houston.
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