Sport Manitoba
Uncovering the Number 1 Pick of Amateur Sports Organizations
Re-inventing Sport Manitoba’s visual identity, brand architecture and strategy, including platforms and messaging
The Story
Usually, when you’re a leader of amateur sports with connections to over 60 partner organizations, name and brand recognition aren’t a problem. But the shine of Sport Manitoba was hidden under layers of disconnection — only 8% of Manitobans knew about the organization. To further grow the non-profit and achieve its mission, Sport Manitoba drafted Brandish as its newest star player to take the organization to the next level.
The Problem
The public and internal stakeholders of Sport Manitoba shared a common problem: they weren’t entirely sure what exactly Sport Manitoba did. Its programs and services were masked behind a confusing brand hierarchy, and naming sponsorship agreements often limited what they could do. Sport Manitoba faced a stark and consistent problem every day: how do you tell your organization’s story when you don’t know how to organize yourself?
Our Insights
Our research experts dove into surveys and interviews, contacting both employees, public members and stakeholders to help us develop a strategy to tackle Sport Manitoba’s challenges. We determined the organization was hidden behind layers making it nearly invisible. There was a communication gap that was separating Sport Manitoba from its audience and from the organizations that Sport Manitoba supported and oversaw.
Our Solution
To bring Sport Manitoba the recognition it deserved, we mapped our approach into three stages. In phase 1, we reinvented the visual identity and brand architecture, strategy, platform and messaging, including brand new Sport Manitoba sub-brands. In phase 2, we rolled out the brand strategy and new visual identity by educating Sport Manitoba’s ambassadors, their internal stakeholders and staff through multiple education sessions. Lastly, in phase 3, we re-conceptualized the Sport Manitoba website and created a toolkit for future campaigns.
The Impact
Manitobans already supported Sport Manitoba’s mandate, they just didn’t know an organization was already championing this initiative. We raised Sport Manitoba’s recognition through clear messaging and created a new identity for their sub-brands which conveyed Sport Manitoba’s ownership.
