Twelve years ago today we were Badged and Branded. Ughrrrr !!! Fulham launched a new club logo on 24th May 2001 to mark what they hope will be the start of a successful new era and guarantee them a future source of funds. The old shield that has been used in various forms since the Second World War, please log in to view this image is owned by the Hammersmith and Fulham Council who could withdraw their permission or demand payment at any time. The First Division Champions also believed they were entering a new era and wanted a logo which would be attractive to supporters all over the world. Managing director Michael Fiddy said: "The new image has been designed to reflect the core values of the club. "We wanted to mark the fact that we are in the top flight after being out of it since 1968. We are very ambitious and want everything about the club to be progressive, stylish and exciting. We think the badge reflects that." Research into the design of the new logo started about a year previously after the arrival of manager Jean Tigana and supporters were involved through focus groups. A letter showing the badge and explaining why it was changing went out to some 20,000 season ticket holders and members. Ownership of a trademark was thought to be vital if the club wanted to exploit lucrative shirt sales and merchandising opportunities so the Club created their own so they can expand commercially without fear of outside claims. please log in to view this image
Somebody else wasn't happy about the new badge - [video=youtube;OKQWadlYYDU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=OKQWadlYYDU[/video]
I was against the change at the time, but I can see the logic for it. We're forever banging on about how Al Fayed should make more money available for transfer fees, wages, etc, but the change of badge was part of a plan to enable us to spend at the level required to flourish in the Premier League. Much as I preferred (and still prefer) the old badge, they made the right strategic call.
It seems our commercial dept is doing a good job. http://fulhamsfinest.com/2013/06/03/report-fulham-brand-34th-most-valuable-brand-in-the-sport/? At the time I thought it wasn't a great design to have to give up the old badge for, still not convinced that they couldn't have come up with a better one for the amount of time and money spent on the new badge. But now I guess it has become Established as our symbol all over the Premier and Football world. At least it establishes that our Colours are Black and White, Red, now all we need to do is put some stars and some Honors on it.
