Finding an identity for Northeast Florida’s new pro men’s and women’s soccer clubs is the next important step in the development of a USL Championship and Super League teams for the First Coast region.
JAXUSL has been working diligently through the club’s branding process and has taken a great deal of time to engage and consult with club supporters and the wider Northeast Florida community to make sure that identity is authentic and meaningful.
The organization has held several listening sessions and toured the region with a series of Town Hall meetings which started in January featuring club managing partners Steve Livingstone and Tony Allegretti where the welcome from fans on the First Coast has been warm and enthusiastic.
In addition to working with local brand and marketing agency St. John, JAXUSL have brought in soccer branding expert Erika Bjork, who has assisted a number of USL clubs including Rhode Island, Sacramento, San Diego, Spokane, and Union Omaha, by helping define their identity and directing their brand development.
Bjork spent the last week in the Northeast Florida market, touring the area and meeting with fans, stakeholders and experts across the region.
Erika explained: “Creating an identity for a new organization is never easy; it is even harder for a sports team. Most of the work is done before pen is applied to paper to create the design.
“Research, community insights, understanding what other names or crests exist in the soccer landscape, are all important. Ideally, if you can identify the emotional connections between those supporting the team, and the place in which they live, you will always create something loved by the community. This will always be the basis for your culture, your crest and your club’s purpose.”
To that end, Bjork and JAXUSL held a public listening session sponsored by GotSport at Island Wing Company in Bartram Park where around 30 fans worked with Bjork in sharing their input followed up by another listening session, this time specifically with a group of 30 season ticket deposit holders and sponsored by Mocama Beer, that was held at the JAXUSL offices.
“The best football crests or badges are worn over the heart and represent the people and place for which they symbolize,” added Bjork. “JAXUSL has been doing the work, including hosting these listening sessions, to ensure their crest is no different. It will be unique to Jacksonville and Northeast Florida and will become a symbol of pride for the region.”
In addition to meeting with the supporters Bjork toured the region with JAXUSL CMO Tony Allegretti and visited with the local artist community, historic society, Visit Jacksonville, and long-time soccer coaches and players who have lived in the community since the early days of soccer here.
JAXUSL managing partner Tony Allegretti, said: “It’s been great having Erika’s expertise on hand to help guide us through this process. Her approach has been highly inclusive and extremely effective, and you can see why her methodology has produced some strong results in the past.”
Fans will have to wait a little while longer as JAXUSL and Bjork define the brand further over the next few months with an announcement on what the clubs will be called expected sometime in the summer.
