A brand new look for BSAC

As BSAC prepares to roll out a revitalised brand as part of its key strategic projects in 2017, SCUBA explores the story behind the new look and what it means for clubs and members.

At last year’s BSAC Diving Conference, a proposed new look for BSAC was unveiled. This updated brand is a key component of BSAC’s strategic priorities for 2017. The new brand and look is underpinned by the research and development behind BSAC’s five-year strategy, which has the strategic focus of making diving more relevant and accessible to all. New digital membership services, updated training materials (starting with Ocean Diver, see HUB, page 13) and a new website are all on their way.

New look for BSAC

The new look for BSAC presented to conference delegates included a new logo, strapline, colourway and strong, authentic imagery. This is the first time the club’s brand identity has ever been developed into such a complete package.

Samples of the very early sketches show the development of the new BSAC logo

The positive response from conference delegates to the modern new identity was the foundation to taking the brand consultation out on the road to clubs, members and key stakeholders. All of these sessions proved to be constructive and informative – opinions, feedback and ideas were collated and the brand team came back with a wealth of information as well as inspiration and ideas.

We consulted with a wide range of members – age, gender, diver and snorkeller, levels of BSAC and other agency experience – and there was a consensus that the BSAC brand needed to be updated. Our clubs and members want us to present a fresher image of BSAC, one that has a broader appeal as well as one that portrays an exciting and authentic picture of UK and club diving today.

Alison Dando, brand consultation team

Evolving BSAC’s brand

It was the groundwork for BSAC’s strategy that put the spotlight on the brand and how the organisation presents itself to the outside world. With its strategic purpose of ‘growing the nation’s love of diving’, BSAC needed a modern, relevant and recognisable brand identity for today’s diving market.

The new BSAC logo

The decision to move away from the use of Neptune in the BSAC logo was not taken lightly – it had to be for the right reasons and be done in a respectful way.

A new role for Neptune

A familiar face amongst BSAC circles, Neptune will still be part of the BSAC family, with his likeness to remain in the club’s coat of arms. The Neptune icon will also remain the main logo for BSAC’s charitable arm, the British Sub-Aqua Jubilee Trust, and will also be retained as a sub-brand for BSAC International Franchisees.

Your feedback

Member feedback gave the BSAC team the opportunity to create a modern brand that acknowledged BSAC’s long history of UK diving while remaining relevant to today’s divers and potential divers. The diver in the logo is designed to represent all divers and snorkellers and is unique to BSAC. The introduction of the new colourway, adding red to the blue of BSAC’s primary colour palette gives a nod to our UK governing body status and heritage while the turquoise represents our ocean environments. The new strapline – dive with us – conveys the diverse BSAC diving and club community – both in the UK and overseas – and our open invitation to all.

What happens next

There will be a staged roll-out of the updated BSAC brand, starting with the new Ocean Diver training materials in August, to ensure the new look is implemented in the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly way.

BSAC will also be releasing new member recruitment and promotional materials for clubs to use. Clubs will be directly updated on when these materials will be available as BSAC transitions over from old to new stock. Full guidance and brand support for clubs will also be provided throughout the brand release.

For more information please email us.

We have already found in our own member recruitment that the successful USPs are ‘thorough training for British diving’ and of most importance, ‘a strong volunteerled club ethos’. So we are delighted to see that these values are represented strongly in BSACs new brand – I’m looking forward to seeing the new materials!

Geoff Downer, Aldershot Dolphins – brand consultation participant

SCUBA magazine issue 69