Country Base: USA
Industry/Sector/Keywords: Events, Media, Performance, Ticket Sales, Exchange, Sports Fans
Below: Before and After Images in Slide Show, Summary, Credits

Summary

Industry Setting

Fifteen years ago, StubHub was a tech startup in a sector associated with streetcorner entrepreneurs outside stadiums. It offered a marketplace that was convenient, safe and legal. And its initial mission was to make noise, to grow substantially before deep-pocketed competitors woke up to the opportunity. The brand burst on the scene in bright blue and hazard-sign-orange, focused on baseball, football and basketball.

Challenge

Fifteen years later, with StubHub now the number one secondary ticket market and its deeper-pocketed competition spending liberally, the brand turned to its next mission – inspiring deeper, wider trust, more unshakeable loyalty and expanding beyond sports fans, while not alienating them.

Strategy

The target now included fans of music, theatre, any live entertainment, as well as sports fans. But the truth of this wider audience, confirmed in research, was that, deep down, they were all the same. The fan who paints himself in team colors is not fundamentally different from the fan who dons her cowgirl outfit to go see a favorite country artist.

They’re all looking for the catharsis they find at live events. So was born the “Let your fan out” rebrand and ad campaign, implemented across TV, print, outdoor, the web and the social web. The look was crisp, organized, clean and, at the same time, fun, lively and dynamic. And the revamped ID was built for broader usage and a more confident, contemporary company. Bright blue was dialed down. Hazard-orange left behind.

Result

Having helped the company grow by double-digits over the previous three years, the agency recognized that its own was a tough act to follow. But within six weeks of the relaunch, StubHub in October 2015 – not ordinarily a peak ticket-buying period – had its best sales month ever.

Credits

Client: StubHub – www.stubhub.com

Brand Strategists/Designers: Duncan/Channon – www.duncanchannon.com

Creative Director: Michael Lemme
Designer: Jennifer Kellogg
Designer: Sean McGrath
Brand Strategy: Robert Duncan
Account Director: Eric Dunn
Account Supervisor: Melissa Bryant