Meet the ex-Nike brand boss getting Arsenal match fit off the pitch

In 2020, Arsenal sat down to map out their first brand strategy – a hefty project that involved everything from redefining the club values, updating the brand guidelines and new fonts to audience segmentation, brand tracking and building a data warehouse.

As part of this business overhaul, Arsenal hired ex-Nike brand marketer Adam Gardiner to help devise its new brand strategy. After a 12-year stint at the sports giant, Gardiner now serves as Arsenal’s marketing director.

Sitting down with The Drum in the grounds of Emirates Stadium, Gardiner says he came with a “blank canvas” and the brief to build a modern football club.

“As we move into this modern context and the globalization of football accelerates, we asked, 'What is it that Arsenal truly stands for? What’s its mission? What’s its purpose, its reason for being?'” he says.

The club redefined their mission and purpose to: ‘Arsenal acts for a winning team, culture and community.’ Gardiner calls it an “elegant” interpretation of Arsenal’s motto ‘Victory through harmony,’ which they have used since 1886. “It’s a lovely articulation, which we then build out all of our strategic work from. Everything we do drafts from that.”

Arsenal have been trying to sharpen its focus in the context of the commercialization of football, where criticism is levied at football clubs for prioritizing business over fans. When writing their brand strategy, it was essential to put supporters at the center, Gardiner explains. “That is what the essence of a football club has always been. It’s been about building community, but sometimes that can potentially get lost.”

Co-creating with fans

An example of this strategy in practice can be seen in Arsenal’s new stadium artwork. Supporters during a fan engagement session had told the club that the previous artwork was looking tired and needed a refresh. It was also outdated, with only male players featured.

Gardiner says the easy option would have been to reprint the artwork, but guided by Arsenal’s values, ‘always moving forward and togetherness,’ the team thought it was important to bring female representation into the fold and to include the fans. “The literal interpretation of togetherness is to do things co-create with our supporters.”

So, the club embarked on a yearlong consultation process with around 100 supporters, previous players and artists and creatives to co-design eight new artworks. The club then commissioned Turner-winning artist Jeremy Deller, Reuben Dangoor and graphic designer David Rudnick to create the work. All artists are Arsenal supporters.

“If we had briefed an agency, I don’t think it would have been anywhere near as impactful or anywhere near as good. The beauty of it is that we created it together, so the process was raw, and the output was so good we couldn’t do it on our own.”

Arsenal do work with some external agencies, but also have an in-house team called Arsenal Creative Studio.

North London is never far away

Along with the fresh brand strategy, Arsenal are on a similar journey with their digital transformation. Around 18 months of work have led to the recent opening of a data warehouse, as well as the club gearing up to introduce fan segmentation to their marketing and media planning. Brand sentiment is now tracked and reviewed monthly by surveying global supporters.

“Any marketer needs to balance the art and science; we all love the art, but you have to back it up with the science,” Gardiner says. “A lot of what we do is informed by data now.”

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This was put into practice last year when Arsenal conducted their biggest and most in-depth supporter research, asking supporters from all corners of the globe for their perceptions of Arsenal.

A key insight was that international supporters wanted to feel connected to the true Arsenal, not an Americanized version of Arsenal. This means bringing North London, and specifically Islington, to the global audience.

This insight informed the club’s US tour in 2023, which ran with the strapline ‘North London is never far away.’ During the tour, Arsenal set up a pirate radio station called Islington FM, broadcasting North London DJs and personalities to US fans. It culminated in a live music event in LA for 1,000 local supporters.

“North London is a melting pot of amazing culture and that is what resonates in America and Australia and everywhere in the world, so Arsenal needed to bring the very best of North London to fans,” Gardiner says.

. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/XgCry0hdtq

— Arsenal Football Club (@ArsenalGoleador) July 27, 2023

Its latest away kit, created in collaboration with Labrum London, is another example. Working with the British African heritage brand is a way to celebrate the well-established connection the club has to the African diaspora in London.

Always moving forward

Gardiner says after four years of work, Arsenal is starting to see positive results from having clarity in its marketing, although the club wouldn’t provide statistical data.

“It’s such an exciting time to be at the club; there is so much momentum. It’s everything from the digital space to the brand and even the performance. All of that is because we have clarity when it comes to our strategy. We are one club with one vision, all focused on the same things and the right things.”