Cindy
Hobbyist player
Pickleball Panther
NHL-signed Brandon Fortunato and teammate Craig Martin. Their paddle brand went on sale in 10 days.
- Services
- Positioning, Product design, Brand identity, Website and store, Video post-production
- Industry
- Sporting goods
- Launch
- 10 days
- 10 days
- from the first day to a store selling paddles
- 2014
- Team USA gold at the IIHF U18 World Championship for co-founder Brandon Fortunato
- 189
- points for co-founder Craig Martin, second on the Jacksonville Icemen's all-time list
The challenge
NHL-signed Brandon Fortunato, a 2014 Team USA Under-18 world champion, and Craig Martin, one of the Jacksonville Icemen's top all-time scorers, had a sport they loved and no paddle, brand or store. Ten days later, Pickleball Panther was selling, and we had designed all three.
Photos: Andrew Fielder, Inside The Rink
The approach
The pickleball brand starts on the paddle face. We designed both.
Positioning came first. SFIA names pickleball the fastest-growing sport in the United States, so a new paddle needed a clear reason to be chosen from a crowded shelf. Then the paddles: we designed them ourselves, so the product and the brand came from the same team. Then the identity system: the panther logo and icon, the PANTHER wordmark, three business cards and Instagram templates, made to read the same on a paddle face, a store page and a phone screen. Last, pickleballpanther.com, open inside the same 10 days, and the post-production that cut the footage for every screen.
The brand
The Tempo paddle and the panther, designed as one brand.
Players
Power, grip and a leopard print, in the players' own words.
Bettina
Hobbyist player
Brandon Fortunato plays James Ignatowich for $100
The results
Paddle, brand and store for two pro hockey players, live in 10 days.
Positioning: a carbon fiber paddle sold on the founders' own story, two pro hockey teammates who found pickleball in Jacksonville.
Product design: we designed the paddles, and buyers write about how they look and play. "The panther print on the face is stunning," a verified buyer wrote on the store.
Brand identity: one panther look that holds from the paddle face to the store, the business cards and Instagram.
Post-production: one set of films cut for every screen the brand lives on, wide and tall, including two player testimonial films.
What it means for you
Ten days from no product to selling. Bring us your date.
The right customers decide before they call. When they look you up, they should find one company, not a logo from one vendor, a site from another and a video that matches neither. We run positioning, product and brand design, the website, video and post-production as one team, the way we did for Pickleball Panther.
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