1 December 2008 - New Brand for Olympic Sport

PRESS RELEASE   Lausanne (SUI) – 1 December 2008     New Brand for Olympic Sport   At this past weekend’s Council meeting in Lausanne, the Olympic Capital, the leaders of the International Archery Federation (FITA) made a decision to move ahead with the launch of a new brand – ‘World Archery’.   The new ‘World Archery’ brand aims at unifying all of the activities, events, and members of FITA under one brand name that will be centrally promoted by FITA and its Continental Associations. Represented by a new and dynamic logo, the ‘World Archery’ brand will be launched during the outdoor season and fully presented at FITA’s 2009 Congress.   The development of the new brand is the outcome of the Archery World Plan. One of the first tasks of the Archery World Plan was to develop a clear understanding of the values and image of international archery. From this, the new brand ‘World Archery’ was developed with the strategic cooperation of TSE Consulting, and the design by former Saatchi and Saatchi designer Nick DARKE.   FITA President, Prof. Dr. Ugur ERDENER, said: ‘The ‘World Archery’ brand is one of the first of many new developments that will be seen to come out of the Archery community in the next few years. The development of the new brand demonstrates our drive and thirst for development. We have taken a lead in focusing on our sports brand to ensure it remains competitive in today’s market.’  Focus on further enhancing archery’s international events is also a main priority at this stage of the Archery World Plan. FITA has launched in recent years the concept of hosting events in very special places: the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens, the Mayapan pyramids in Mexico or the Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai to name a few. Accordingly, the FITA Council has awarded the World Championships 2011 to Turin (ITA) photo who proposed two beautiful venues: the Venaria Royal Palace & Gardens and the Piazza Castallo, which was the “medal plaza” of the Torino Games. The Italian city was in competition with Paris (FRA) and both bids submitted excellent candidatures.   The Field World Championships 2010 has been awarded to the Castle of Visegrad in Hungary. Furthermore, FITA is looking at changes on the competition formats to make them even more dynamic. Developments in this area will be presented at the FITA Congress in 2009.   The Archery World Plan was adopted at the FITA Congress in 2007 and will run from 2007 to 2012. It focuses on key changes that should be made to archery over the coming years to strengthen its recognition as an important Olympic sport. The plan describes a total of 24 Focus Areas within archery that will be examined over the duration of the plan.   Other decisions of the FITA Council will be communicated in our monthly FITA INFO newsletter.   Didier MIEVILLE FITA Communication