Washington Football Team taps NYC marketing agency for rebrand

The Ashburn-based Washington Football Team announced Monday it has tapped New York City-based marketing agency Code and Theory as its agency partner while it continues its rebranding process and selects a new permanent team name.

With a branding partner selected, the team says this “kicks off the next phase of the team’s rebranding process, and will culminate in the selection of a permanent team name, identity and brand, as well as a reimagined approach to fan engagement and game day experiences,” according to a Washington Football Team statement.

After 88 years as the Washington Redskins, the team announced it was retiring the Redskins team name and logo on July 13, 2020. The decision was made following a June 2020 statement that the team would undergo a “thorough review” of the Redskins name “in light of recent events around [the] country.” By the end of July 2020, the team had said it would go by the Washington Football Team until it formally adopts a new permanent name. 

The Washington Football Team chose Code and Theory after reviewing “multiple agencies that competed for the assignment,” according to a team statement. Code and Theory partnered with the team to develop its interim Washington Football Team branding and “No Name But Team” campaign.

“When we decided to retire the name we’d had since 1933, we wanted to move quickly to make a change in time for this season, but also take the time to really get our new brand and identity right,” Washington Football Team President Jason Wright said in a statement. “We worked with Code and Theory to create the ‘Washington Football Team’ identity and all of the accompanying branding in record time. It has been well-received by our community, our players and our fanbase.”

In the interim, the Washington Football Team has also solicited input for branding suggestions through its Washington Journey website, which had received tens of thousands of submissions by October 2020, Marcus Stephenson, vice president of digital marketing and programming, told Virginia Business. Code and Theory also worked with the team on the Washington Journey site, according to a Washington Football statement.

“Changing a brand is not [done] overnight,” Stephenson said. “You can’t have it done in three weeks; you can’t have it done in six months. We’ve got to be diligent.”

Founded in 2001, Code and Theory employs more than 800 people and has worked with clients including Adidas, CNN, J&J, JPMorgan Chase, Pfizer and Xerox.

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