The SportAccord Convention World Sport & Business Summit for sporting leaders today confirmed its new brand name ‘SportAccord’ and unveiled a vibrant new logo. Following in the footsteps of SportAccord, the International Federation (IF) Forum also shared its refreshing new logo, proudly displaying its stylish new colours in similar fashion.

SportAccord and the IF Forum are now part of the renamed legal entity ‘GAISF Services and Events Association’ formerly known as SportAccord Convention. The alignment of names and the new visual identity provides the opportunity to set the scene for future activities of GAISF Services and Events Association. The new structure creates a platform which will continue to serve the needs of the global sports community, the international sports federations and their stakeholders while embracing and creating exciting new opportunities.

SportAccord stakeholders include: GAISF (Global Association of International Sports Federations), ASOIF (Association of Summer Olympic International Federations), and AIOWF (Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations).

 SportAccord and GAISF President Patrick Baumann said: “The new brand identity represents an exciting time for SportAccord and one of opportunity – as the name reflects our organisation’s heritage while allowing for a fresh vibrant look that symbolises its bright future.”

The new logo design was created by José Miguel Tortajada Aguilar, an international award-winning Barcelona designer whose accolades were achieved as a result of his work for many well-known brands.

His colourful and striking design complements the logo created for GAISF and makes a powerful impact – the prime purpose of any logo. Designer José Miguel Tortajada Aguilar explained his aim was to create a design which is memorable and practical, ensuring the logo is fit for purpose across any medium or platform. Delegates can look forward to experiencing the new visual identity at the upcoming SportAccord 2018 taking place in Bangkok (15-20 April 2018).

The French port city of Marseille hosted the Red Bull Crashed Ice speed skating event on January 14 and 15, 2017.

Nüssli rose to the challenge of creating Crashed Ice race track in the middle of the city, drawing on their experience of having delivered tracks for the event in Munich and Lausanne.

The race began with four skaters on the track, which began at the terrace of the Intercontinental hotel and finished in front of the Marseille City Hall.

The aim is to compete with the other skaters with the greatest speed, and finish the extreme track with sharp turns, high vertical drops, and other hazards as quick as possible. The athletes make daredevil jumps and reach speeds of up to 80 km/h.

Nüssli was commissioned for the construction of a 340 m long ramp, which included elevation differences of up to 26 m, as well as the assembly of four lighting towers, a podium, and nine television platforms.

Assembling the structure in the middle of the city was often complicated in terms of loading and unloading, Nüssli said.

View the event Movie on Red Bull TV.

Sponsorship will often be a brand marketing director’s first thought when considering a sports-related campaign. Thankfully, the old school "brand slap" model is dying a death and the sponsorships of today tend to be significantly more sophisticated than those we used to see in the "Noughties" and before. Companies seek increased authenticity and better connections with their ever more fickle and savvy target audience. And so the partnerships themselves have become subtler, deeper and more cleverly activated.

 Some brands, rather than seeking an association with someone else's event, bravely decide to run their own. The advantages are clear. Much greater control of the event and the branding associated with it, better access to the data generated and the increased sense of authenticity that comes from running the event rather than linking a brand to it.

But there are also significant challenges. For the most part, the planning and execution of a sporting event requires specialist skills, knowledge and contacts. These can all be hired in but good advice does not come cheap. Even if volunteers can be used to help “on the ground”, they need to be identified, trained, kitted out and managed.

Venue is of course a key issue too. Deals may need to be done with the owner of a stadium or with a host city or local authority. Roads may need to be closed and traffic plans drawn up and implemented. With some events, the police may need to be consulted.

There may be a need to confer with the relevant sports governing body too, for example to secure official sanction for the event.

Away from the operational nitty gritty, there are IP issues to consider too. What will the event be called? Is the name capable of trade mark protection and if so, in what territories should filings be made? Trade mark searches may be necessary to see what prior marks are on the register that may cause problems. Even generic sounding terms like “WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS” or “10K” may be incorporated into third party registrations.

Customer data is likely to be another vital issue. How is the business to go about obtaining the details of new potential customers? With respect to those already on its marketing database, does the business have the necessary freedom under its privacy policies and under electronic marketing laws to promote the event to them?

Any brand running its own sports event will want to maximise media coverage. Some companies may have the facilities and skills in house to arrange their own audio visual production. For many though, it will be necessary to appoint a specialist production company or, if more appropriate, a host broadcaster. The question of distribution must then be tackled. For bigger events, deals may need to be negotiated with broadcasters, potentially internationally as well as locally. Alternatively, the organisers may prefer to stream the event online, either through their own media player and website or potentially through a third party site like YouTube or Facebook.

In a short blog post like this it is hard to do much more than touch on a handful of the key issues a brand must consider and address in order to run its own successful sports event. There is a huge amount to be taken into account and the challenges can be immense for a business whose core focus is in another area, be it selling soft drinks, cars or insurance. Many a wise person, though, has found an eloquent way of making this point: Nothing truly valuable was ever easy.