With less than a month between the conclusion of the protracted purchase of Mpumalanga Black Aces FC and the launch of the resulting club, North Ltd built an entire identity (extending to logo and kit) as well as brand equity that disrupted the professional soccer scene.
No strangers to stirring up the status quo with innovative ad campaigns activations and environmental designs, North Ltd began the creative process by delving into Cape Town’s rich history and diversity of football fans. Mike Bond, North Ltd creative director and designer, shares; “This starting point led to the idea of a proudly Capetonian team based within the city limits. Centred around the strategic concept of ‘A Team for the City’, we set about creating an iconic, modern, and unique logo".
"Although one purposefully devoid of any geographical or historical references, it needed to make fans from every walk of life feel proud to have it represented on their shirts, flags, and hats,” Comitis says. “We tried to keep it simple, bold and allow it to be filled with your imagination…and your own feeling towards the club.”
The logo was an immediate standout, distancing CTCFC from its competitors in terms of look and feel even before the new season had even kicked off.
Not content with having the team just look different from any other in the country, North Ltd insisted that it act differently too by engaging with fans across multiple platforms to hear what they had to say about the team’s brand colours and kit. Fans even got to vote for their preferred choice for the team’s away kit on Facebook and Twitter using #It’sYourCall.
“The brand, the colours, and the kit have got people excited, with fans feeling like this is something they can be an integral part of. We want to engage with fans on many levels going forward so they truly feel as if they are a part of the team,” reveals Comitis.
North Ltd was started in 2014 by brothers Shaun and Mike Bond together with friend Oliver van der Schroeff with the aim of doing things differently. Shaun Bond is renowned for his spatial design expertise, which included previous stints developing the Vida E Caffe and Frankie Fenner Meat Merchant brands. Mike Bond is an industry veteran having spent the previous 12 years in the world’s most prestigious creative departments including Mother New York and Weiden + Kennedy Amsterdam.
Today, the agency offers a full brand service executed by a multi-award winning crew armed with global experience and diverse skills sets. It subscribes to the ethos that any business challenge can be made better by applying creative thinking and craftsmanship which has led to many diverse projects and creations for their equally diverse list of clients locally and internationally.
The company has been involved in the conceptualisation and design of a variety of projects from apps to apparel and from furniture to bike parking systems. On North Ltd’s work, Comitis says; “In my many years of business in different sectors of the market, I have never experienced a company that just got it like North Ltd. I have launched fast food chains like Steers, football clubs like Ajax CT and property developments like Legacy and seldom did I find the team behind the brand get the ethos, the project and strategy so spot as North did.”
“This is just the beginning of our involvement in making Cape Town City FC not only one of the most iconic football clubs in South Africa and a case study for teams throughout the world, but a team for the City - a team for everyone,” says Mike Bond.