BY JOHN DAVIDSON
Rugby League Commercial director of marketing and communications Joe Steel has cast doubt over the effectiveness of a potential rebrand of Super League.
The brand and competition of Super League was introduced in 1996. But today a number of different sports and leagues use the ‘Super League’ moniker, and a change in name has been flagged previously as an aim for IMG.
However, Steel, who joined RL Commercial a year ago, believes a rebrand is not a priority for UK rugby league.
“I looked at that when I first came in,” he told Forty20 magazine.
“All rebrands hope for the silver bullet that will provide a new direction and change all our fortunes. I doubt that exists. With all brands, mess with them at your peril.
“The Super League has built equity for 30 years. Type it in Google, we are still the first product to come up. Yes, we have some competition, but it’s a name fans have known for a generation which has changed over the last few years with logos etc.
“It is more about the comms around it. We want to present it as something appealing and what fans say that is are the big hits, the athleticism, the fact that the ball is almost constantly in play, the speed overall… speak to any sport consumer and they say they are the things that attract them.
“We’ll continue to focus on the look and the feel – that’s where you’ll see any differences.”
Read the full interview with Steel in the September issue of Forty20 magazine.