Lotus tweaks logo and adds soccer sponsorship
As part of its rebranding, Lotus has introduced a new take on its traditional logo, revising a graphic and tweaking the font of a wordmark. Lotus traditionalists will be happy that the new logo retains founder Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman’s ACBC initials. The evocative, rounded green triangle on a yellow roundel remains unchanged, though the silver surround has been trimmed and fonts for both the brand name and Chapman’s initials have been shaved of serifs. Chapman would be pleased by the lightness added to his logo.
The new logo will premiere at this season’s first game for the Norwich City Football Club Canaries. Lotus and the soccer team have entered into a multi-year sponsorship deal that will put the new Lotus logo on pitch-side digital billboards at the team’s home field stadium and on team warm-up jackets for all Premier League games. English soccer teams are relegated or elevated to lower or higher tier leagues based on their win-loss records, and Norwich was recently elevated to the top-echelon Premier League, giving Lotus an opportunity to get its logo on a high-profile stage. Norwich is the largest city in the Norfolk region nearest to Hethel.
The soccer team’s new state-of-the-art training facility and academy for youth players have been rebranded The Lotus Training Centre and The Lotus Academy. All academy players’ jerseys, from the teams under nine years old to the more advanced team capped at 23 years old, will bear the new Lotus logo.
Lotus is in the early stages of transforming into what it describes as “a global premium performance” brand, starting with the $2.1 million electric Evija hypercar. With the backing of corporate parent Geely, Lotus will be investing significantly in expanding its model range, even looking at making something more practical than its hair-shirt sports cars. Lotus currently employs about 1200 people at its Hethel facilities, which include the company’s business headquarters, its main engineering and design operations, and sole assembly plant.
To announce the new sponsorship, Lotus and the NCFC have produced a short video, which stars team principal Delia Smith giving former Canaries star Darren Huckerby motion sickness in an Evora.
Simon Clare, who heads global marketing for Lotus, said in announcing the sponsorship deal, “This partnership joins two iconic Norfolk brands as they accelerate onto the global stage together. Both share a desire for innovation and, as we herald a new era together, we are incredibly excited about playing a part in the development of Norwich City Football Club and its talent. Today we are investing in that future.”
Ben Kensell, CEO of NCFC, said, “This is a momentous deal for us. We’re so thrilled to partner with one of the most iconic and high-profile brands not just in Norfolk, but across the UK and internationally. I’m proud that our resurgent Club is partnering with Lotus at a time when it is relaunching its brand into a new and exciting future. The synergies between our two businesses are striking, and for our Academy players to be proudly wearing a shirt that has such a well-loved logo on is really special.”
