Ad Age | Washington Football Team Enlists Code and Theory to Find New Name Following Review
The Washington Football Team—catchy as the name may be—is getting a rebranding, and Stagwell Group’s Code and Theory is getting the assignment.
The Team announced late Monday that it selected Code and Theory after a review. The agency was the incumbent that came up with the interim team branding for the just-concluded season along with a “No Name But Team” campaign. The next phase of the branding will involve selecting a permanent team name, identity and brand.
Washington Football Team acquired some campy cachet, and coincided with the franchise becoming the first to win an NFL division title with a losing record. But the name was always meant to be temporary. In a statement, Team President Jason Wright said Code and Theory is perfect for the “next phase” of the team’s “rebranding journey" because of its “deep knowledge of the process.”
Washington dropped the long-controversial Redskins name and logo in July in the wake of social justice protests. The team has received more than 10,000 name suggestions and creative artwork examples from the public via washingtonjourney.com, a platform that also will let fans share ideas about improvements in the game day experience.
Besides its rebranding, the team has been caught in a vortex of controversy over the past year including a Washington Post investigation that the team paid $1.6 million to settle sexual harassment allegations against owner Dan Snyder and a dispute among Snyder and three minority owners.
Former coach Jay Gruden last week criticized Snyder for how he runs the team, including a habit of overruling professional staff to make draft picks from his yacht (which in years past has been docked in Cannes during the International Festival of Creativity by Snyder, who sold his former agency group, Snyder Communications, to Havas in 2000).
The Team in December released quarterback Dwayne Haskins, a 2019 first-round draft pick, after reports of repeated violations of NFL COVID-19 prevention protocols. Haskins is the only first-round-pick quarterback to be outright released by a team in the past two decades.
About the Code and Theory Network
The Code and Theory Network is the only network with a balance of 50% creative and 50% engineers at scale. The technology and creative network within Stagwell Group is built to experience change for businesses that need to navigate the complexity of changing consumer behaviors, emerging technologies and AI. With a global footprint and the capabilities to work across the entire consumer journey, we crave the hardest problems to solve. The network includes the flagship agency Code and Theory as well as Kettle, instrument, Left Field Labs, Mediacurrent, Rhythm and Truelogic. Code and Theory clients include Amazon, Apple, JPMorgan Chase, Mayo Clinic, Microsoft, NFL, Pfizer and Yeti.
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newbiz@codeandtheory.comCode and Theory is a proud member of Stagwell Group. Stagwell is the challenger network built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our 13,000+ specialists in 34+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for their clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com
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