GROWING THE PACK

Strategy/Art Direction/Design

3M views increased site traffic 1352% | Evil Geniuses was now valued at 255M

Esports is still growing and finding its footing. Fútbol is the most recognized sport on the planet. How do you tell the story of two brands that seem so far apart in the minds of the public?

EXECUTION
Evil Geniuses were now part of the Wolverhampton family, and they part of ours, there needed to be a visual to make the union official. To do this, we needed to find the similarities that brought us together in the first place. Our Creative Director went to work.

Both brands are disrupters, always trying new things and making noise in their respective sports. We are challengers that question the status quo and innovate to change it. The imagery needed to convey this “aggressively playful” vibe while feeling like a natural extension of both teams.

We chose elements like the Wolf eyes and our Live Evil mantra. Then combined our brand fonts and colors in a way that felt purposeful but with just a taste of an energetic fan made mash-up.

To seal the deal, we redesigned our jersey. We placed the Wolves official badge on the chest right across from our classic EG crest. Then brought in Wolves elements like the eyes on the lower right, and a fun lock up of our logos on the back of the neck.

Most noticeably we added a stripe of classic Wolverhampton "Old Gold” that carves its way across the front of the jersey and up the back. As the deal got closer to announcement, the creative team cranked into overdrive to tell the whole story. In a matter of days we created the release cadence of content and crafted tons of new pieces wrapped around our new merch, jersey, and branding.

Once the “brand” was established EG created a video to tell the story in a concise way. We settled on a simple white “line” that acts as a non invasive narrator. This line visually ties together all of the ways these teams are the same.

The video starts with the arena that both teams compete in. We then show the commitment and passion that our players AND fans have for the game. Then bring to life the ways both teams disrupt through exciting new talent choices and unexpected gameplay.

Finally we top off this story by showing that we both celebrate our victories as a pack. Both the Wolves and Evil Geniuses have a long history of wins and we come together in these moments to tighten our bonds and raise each other up. This storytelling worked, and it become real for the fans of both teams. The message of togetherness resonated and the question of why an Esports org and a Fútbol club got together became obvious.

RESULTS
The story dominated headlines, the launch video racked up 3M views, our site experienced a 1352% increase in traffic, and Forbes picked up the story announcing that Evil Geniuses was now valued at 255M.

PR, Brand, Video, Social