Bringing Sport to the Community with the Bristol Sports Foundation

The Foundation has the support of a number of Bristol based organisations, Bristol City Football, Bristol Fliers Basket Ball team and Bristol Rugby. Not surprisingly there is a focus on these sports because of the patronage, but with a desire to increase participation the Foundation is also involved in badminton, volley ball and cycling events. Thus, the branding required, has to stretch across numerous sports rather than reflect the personality of one sport.

Pavilion was approached to produce a series of ball products and other equipment carrying the Bristol Foundation logo and the logos of various sponsors such as Bristol Energy. The balls ranged from volleyballs to basketballs and footballs. This may seem straightforward initially, however the production methods for a volley ball – hand stitched PVC - and a basketball – moulded rubber – are very different. The colour within a basketball being created partially by print and partially by placing die within the rubber compound before moulding. Moulded rubber dies are not guaranteed to be pantone matched.

Achieving consistency of brand across many products required real care, Pavilion had to work closely with the suppliers. Our issue was not just maintaining consistency across a single order of products but also setting up systems that ensure that future orders will also truly reflect brand colour. Promotional goods often face this issue but the challenge is greater when dealing with manufacturers in foreign countries. This is not just a language issue – but also an issue of culture and what is acceptable by marketers and what is not. There can be a view that because a promotional product is a giveaway the quality and consistency are not that important – this is not view we hold!