Style Refresh for the Polish Football Association
With the participation of representatives of business partners, retailers, distributors, and the industry media, the Polish Football Association has presented the new identification of its licensing programme. The refreshed style guide, featuring seven graphic lines tailored to different audiences, responds to the needs of a demanding market and sports marketing trends.
A visual identification with the supporters in mind
The new graphic identification of the licensing programme has been created having in mind the fans of the Polish national team and companies that want to develop products devoted to the most popular sports team in Poland. The document considers in detail how licensed products are developed and promoted. The fundamental element of the identification is the crown. The inspiration came from the Polish emblem. The shield and its outline were separated from the negative space between the two crowns. The new visual strategy was comprehensively developed by the PZPN graphic design team.
“Our new style guide is the answer to how we want to build relationships with fans and business partners who support our national team every along the way. For the first time ever, we have designed such extensive content material, all in order to manage even more effectively the brands and projects of the Polish Football Association,” said Grzegorz Stańczuk, Marketing and Sponsorship Director of the PFA.
The presentation of the new style guide took place during a meeting of the PZPN licensees held in Warsaw. During which representatives of the Association summed up previous activities related to merchandising, functioning of the fan shop and cooperation with manufacturers of various gadgets and accessories dedicated to fans. The vast potential related to the development of national team-themed products was also highlighted, mainly due to the popularity of football in Poland and the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.
A strategic approach to commercializing football’s popularity
The licensing programme of the Polish Football Association is a collection of products with images of male and female players of the Polish national team and recognisable trademarks, including the logo of the national team and the United by Football slogan. It is an offer not only for football fans who want to be even closer to the Polish national team, but also for producers to create unique products. The Polish Football Association has been developing this project since 2013, constantly collaborating with market leaders in their respective fields. Today, with a portfolio of several hundred products accompanied by the online shop is set as a model for other European football associations. In 2016, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) awarded PZPN and the licensing programme with the UEFA KISS Marketing Award in the Best Commercial Partnership category.
“The Polish national football team is by far the most popular sports team in Poland. The 220 million products sold since 2013 is a clear message to us that Poles love football and expect products with the national team brand,” adds Karol Tatar, Senior Marketing Manager of the PFA.
All licensed products of the Polish Football Association are marked with a caption reading Official Licensed Product of the Polish Football Association. A product marked in such a way is a guarantee of the highest quality and an assurance that it was manufactured in accordance with the standards of the Polish Football Association. Thanks to the three-stage acceptance of the products, they are tested in many respects: visual, usable and substantive.
#KierunekKATAR, a unique World Cup with the Polish national team
The Qatar World Cup will be the fourth consecutive international football tournament for the national team. Final play-off game against Sweden (2:0) attracted over 54,000 spectators at the Silesian Stadium and 6 million in front of their TV sets. The Polish team will start the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar with a match against Mexico on 22 November, and the next two games will be against Saudi Arabia and Argentina, four and eight days later, respectively. This tournament will be unique for a number of reasons: it will be played during the ongoing league competitions, in fully air-conditioned stadiums, and the head coaches will be able to call up as many as 26 players.
Preparations for the tournament in Qatar include the national team’s appearances in the UEFA Nations League. The Polish team will face strong opponents this June and September, taking on Wales, Belgium and the Netherlands. The first match of the competition will take place on 1 June in Wrocław, where we will face the Welsh team.
Rich offerings, proven quality and continuous development
Morning coffee in a mug with your favourite football player and doing a jigsaw with our football heroes in a family circle during the evening? All this is possible thanks to products with images of the Polish male and female national team players, which are available in the Fan Shop of the Polish national team (sklep.laczynaspilka.pl), large retail chains, petrol stations, bookstores and press outlets. Younger fans will love school accesories, scarves, colouring books, bedclothes, board and card games, and collector’s cards and figures. In addition, there are phone cases, mugs, water bottles and content-rich books. The offer also includes a large collection of garments, with the official match t-shirt of the national team at the forefront. If you are interested in creating products under the Official Licensing Programme contact the Polish Football Association via
marketing@pzpn.pl.
