Kardinia Park

Homeground Stadium Branding

Kardinia Park is a Geelong icon, steeped in history and visible from most of the surrounding area. Kardinia Park Stadium Trust manages and operates the precinct's principal asset – GMHBA Stadium – on behalf of the people of Victoria.

Overview

Despite its varied and lengthy history reaching back to 1872, Kardinia Park Stadium was suffering from an identity crisis. Five separate naming rights sales since 1999 had left the community unsure of who was responsible for the management and operation of the facilities. Enquiries were as likely to be directed to the name rights holders GMHBA Health Insurance as they were to be directed to the Geelong Cats Football Club.

Working with a complex stakeholder group and network of precinct partners, the Trust was pitching for major redevelopment funding and had reached a point at which they had to consider the stadium’s future. Additionally, they had a mandate to extend the life of the stadium for use beyond football or cricket matches.

The Trust was looking for an agency to assess and evaluate its brand strategy. Fluid Branding would have to deliver a new brand story that would help achieve its mission of overseeing the stadium and optimising the economic and liveability benefits to the advantage of the community.

Fluid developed a brand strategy and visual language that redefined the Trust’s audiences, considered the complex brand architecture and the focus of the internal communications and marketing team. Starting with in depth interviews with stakeholders, precinct partners, customers and potential customers, the strategy team reviewed the needs and desires of the varied audience groups, searching for commonalities and differences that could the brand could connect.

Photography: Cormac Creative Studios

Audience segmentations were created that defined the issues of global music and event promoters, sports brand managers and community event organisers. The approach helped define how the team could approach each persona with an offer that would be more appealing and realise the benefits of the stadium for that audience. The stadium was a place that everyone should be able to call home for a day. The local community, visiting teams’ fans, community organisers, team representatives, promoters, bands and their managers, all had to feel ownership of the stadium for the day.

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With the ‘Home’ at the heart of the brand’s identity, Fluid developed a visual language that helped the brand both stand out when required but also partner with event brands. The modular graphic elements allowed sporting and event brands to become the stars of the show, with Kardinia Park becoming a supporting brand platform for partner brands.

Following an in-depth signage, wayfinding and environment review, Fluid created a new wayfinding system that was implemented across the stadium to improve brand cohesion and ease of navigation. Additionally new mural artwork, digital display signage and uniforms were developed to align the Kardinia Park team with the organisation’s ambitious vision for its future.

The new perspective helped realign the Trust around how it could best serve the local community in attracting world-class sports, cultural and entertainment events to use the stadium.

The Victorian State Government announced that they would be proceeding with planned infrastructure upgrades. $142 million was designated for new professional standard unisex change rooms, a new northern entry plaza, sports museum, function room and a suite of technology upgrades including high-speed public wi-fi and LED signage. Additionally in 2022, Kardinia Park was host to global superstars the Foo Fighters, the realisation of a strategic realignment of their offer to global music promoters.

The branding was received an honourable mention at the international Creative Communication Awards in 2023.