Padel Social Club

Padel is the fastest growing sport in the world. Launched in the 1960s in Mexico, it’s a cross between tennis and squash, played by four players. In more recent times, the accessibility and social nature of the sport has led to huge growth in Spain and Italy, and the game now has over 25 million players globally.

With the UK lagging behind its European racquet-sport counterparts, Padel Social Club came to us to help create a brand which brings the sport to the UK audience.

CHALLENGE

Defining the best way to play

The recent surge of interest in Padel has brought a number of brands into the market, with most feeling quite functional and aiming for mass appeal.

Working with the founders of Padel Social Club, we needed to find a positioning that would differentiate their brand from the competition. By building on the social aspect of the game, we looked to develop a premium brand that goes beyond the sport and offers locations with a clear customer experience. One where, for a certain price-point, you can play in a high quality environment, but also enjoy food, drinks and other social activities with friends before and after the game.

INSIGHT

The status of the game

By choosing to develop a premium proposition at a subsequent price-point, we needed to ensure we built a brand for an audience that would be attracted to this offer.

To understand our target market, we built customer archetypes and looked at their associated psychographics.

We discovered that as well as being fit, active and socially outgoing, the audience was also status motivated. They want unique experiences, like to be ahead of the curve, set trends and avoid the mainstream.

Using these insights, we developed our brand idea.

PSC Case Study Billboard Mock Screen Res V1 2

PSC Case Study Hoarding Mock Screen Res V1

PSC Case Study Racket Mock Screen Res V1

IDEA

Play Original

Our brand idea taps into the mindset of a certain demographic — whether informed Padel lovers or open-minded fun lovers — these are the people who want to do things differently and take pride in originality and authenticity. Life’s independent thinkers.

Play Original also helps distinguish the business itself from the competition, acting as a promise to innovate in the world of Padel and not follow any blueprint.

PSC Case Study Bottle Mock Screen Res V1

Grounded in the game

To give the brand the required premium feel, we created an understated and elegant identity that is inspired by the shapes and forms found in the sport.

The logo was evolved from a previous symbol used by the founders, which we adapted to create a padel racket / location pin icon. The icon was then balanced with the word mark within a holding device that references the shape of the court.

The visual language of the court was carried through into art directed photography. Working with photographer Matt Davis we created a suite of unique imagery that balances a feeling of still life, sport and fashion photography.

To support the photography and further enhance the ‘Play Original’ idea, we used a quirky typeface with a mix of sharp angles and alternate characters that all align perfectly with the wider visual language.

PSC Case Study Earls Court Hoarding Mock Screen Res V1

Thisaway have been our creative partner from the outset and have been integral to shaping the business and defining our proposition. We look forward to continuing our journey together and collaborating on the exciting plans we have for the brand.

Kristian Hunter, CEO, Padel Social Club

Project disciplines

Brand strategy, brand identity, tone of voice, photography, copywriting, animation, brand rollout.