Formerly the UEFA Cup, the competition was re-launched and re-branded in 2009 as the UEFA Europa League (UEL). As one of the most dynamic and engaging football competitions, 29 clubs from 11 countries have claimed the European title in the last 50 years. With the introduction of the UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) in 2021, not only was a brand identity required for the new UECL, but the existing UEL brand identity needed to evolve to create space for the new competition. Since the two competitions are played on the same night and sold as a combined package for media and marketing rights, a carefully balanced approach was required to create an identity that worked well as a unified system, as well as individually.
TEAM’s Brand department provides UEFA with creative, design and project management services that support the development, creation and management of the UEFA club competition brands and their visual identities. TEAM engages regularly with UEFA’s commercial partners to maximise usability and with fans to ensure the brand identities are relevant and highly engaging. Over the years, we’re proud to have helped transform the UEL brand into what it is today.
Years before a competition cycle begins, UEFA and TEAM collaborate to evaluate the current identity and co-create an evolved brand positioning. Extensive market research is conducted, bolstered by surveys with commercial partners and fans, to assess the health of the brand identity and benchmark it across other sports and consumer entities. These brand insights, along with proposed competition format changes, together inform the brand identity strategy. A comprehensive brief is developed, which ultimately develops into the formal Request for Proposal (RFP) document.
TEAM’s role in this collaborative effort is to prepare and run the tender, suggest and select agencies and review and collect all creative submissions. The conclusion of this process is the appointment of a winning design agency that is tasked with developing the identity. Then, once an agency is appointed, TEAM project manages the creative development and delivery of all assets.
Successful agency management depends on successful relationship management. TEAM’s Senior Brand Manager, Bie Brosens, must strike the right balance between supporting and stretching the agency to ensure UEFA receives the value and service levels it requires, while allowing the creative agency to flourish. Ultimately, all stakeholders must be satisfied, all deadlines met, and maximum innovation fostered.
Throughout the entire process, TEAM works continuously with the UEFA Brand team to review the appointed agency's progress and check-in with internal stakeholders, depending on which brand packages are being developed. The total process, from brief to delivery takes about two years and is a massive organisational undertaking.
The creative challenge for the 2021-24 cycle was to establish a system that allowed both UEL and UECL to work side-by-side, but also to function as strong independent brands. The designs also had to work across numerous applications – from on-screen graphics to in-stadium signage.
Together, UEFA, TEAM and the winning design agency, Turquoise Branding, defined the unifying design concept of energy waves to link both brands. Both competitions would not be what they are without the energy of the players and the fans, and so the UEL brand’s existing energy waves were reimagined to convey the emotional energy radiating from the tournaments. While sharing the concept of the energy wave, each competition’s unique brand essence is captured in their own identities and draws from the physical attributes of its trophy:
Besides creating a cohesive brand identity system for Europa League that encompasses two stand-alone competitions, the new identity also established the look and feel of Thursday night football across Europe with global broadcasters implementing the branding across their coverage. The individual and combined identities were used to deliver a comprehensive and flexible package to give fans a rich and unforgettable match-night experience. Whereas, on social channels, to maximise engagement with fans across a broad range of content and platforms, a bold and versatile social media toolkit was developed for each competition.
With over 800 individual assets being created and delivered, a keen eye and strong project management skills are needed to ensure each asset meets UEFA’s high-quality standards, whilst working to tight deadlines.
A complete brand identity package includes Off-Air deliverables, which are mostly static artwork or graphics for use on printed material, and On-Air deliverables, which are the animated sequences of graphics that are used on broadcast screens.
For the 2021-24 UEL/UECL brand identity, the required Off-Air deliverables included:
And On-Air deliverables included:
By evolving the UEL brand and extending its principles to the new UECL, the result was an ambitious and distinct new brand identity system synonymous with Thursday night football.
The success of the 2021-24 UEL/UECL brand identity has also been underscored by the four awards it has won since it was launched:
Through close collaboration and an immersive approach to understanding the competitions, the clubs, the commercial partners and the fans, TEAM is able to support UEFA in creating identities that are highly recognisable and engaging, building awareness and excitement.
