Igniting Natitude: How the Washington Nationals Revitalized Their Brand, Their Team Culture, and the District’s Love for Baseball

Prior to joining Delucchi Plus as the newest production artist, I worked as a creative services intern for the Washington Nationals. It was an exciting and rewarding first chapter of my professional design career, but this internship gave me much more than I could’ve ever expected. I got the unique opportunity to contribute to the progression of a revitalized brand that was not only highlighting the youthful energy and authenticity of the district’s pennant-contending team, but firmly establishing an emotional connection between the team, the D.C. Metro Area, and the fans.

Entering its third season, the “Natitude” Campaign has been a huge success, but to tell the full story of “How Natitude Ignited,” we need to wind the clock back all the way to the late 1970’s.

“A city without a baseball team is a city without a soul.”

John Feinstein, before he went on to become one of the nation’s most successful and prolific sports authors, said that to his boss at the Washington Post in the fall of 1978, in regards to the hollow absence of the national pastime in our nation’s capital.

Now I know what you’re thinking: That’s a pretty bold exaggeration. There are plenty of places that are doing quite well without baseball: the musical roots of New Orleans, the eccentric and environmentally conscious lifestyles of Portland and the wildlife enthusiasm of Montana make for vibrant, prominent souls. But John had just returned from visiting a friend of his in Boston, and the city was caught up in the exciting and exhilarating drama of the heated Red Sox-Yankees Pennant Race.

Boston has always been a city of American tradition and innovation, “full of lovers, buggers and thieves” as the Standells colorfully described. But their oldest and most beloved tradition, one that they share with cities all across the country, has been baseball. It’s always been more than just a game. The emotional connection it forges between teams, players and the fans makes it a cherished human experience unlike anything else imaginable.

Fast forward to April of 2005. After a painstaking 34 years, the district finally had a baseball team again, but a problem was beginning to surface. While the Nationals began their focus on building a winning product on the field, they neglected to build a brand that connected to the fans. As the youngest team in Major League Baseball, they were nowhere near close to having the amount of brand equity as iconic or as prominent as that of other big-market teams against whom they competed. From “Pledge Your Allegiance” to “NatsTown” to “Get Your Red On,” none of their marketing strategies (accompanied by consecutive losing seasons) seemed to spark even a hint of genuine excitement across the D.C. Metro Area.

All of that drastically changed in November of 2010

The Nationals executive leadership group and ownership reached out to Forty Forty, a strategic brand consultancy and creative agency based in San Francisco. They were hired to begin developing a comprehensive strategic plan for re-positioning that would encompass initiatives across branding, marketing, advertising, sponsorship and sales to drive both long-term and short-term revenue growth.

The following month, Nationals GM Mike Rizzo stunned all of pro baseball and sports media when he signed Jayson Werth (a former All-Star and World Series Champion with the rival Philadelphia Phillies) to a seven-year, $126 million contract, the 14th richest in baseball history.

Forty Forty’s initial challenge was pretty straightforward: reposition and redesign the Nationals brand in a way that was simple, clear, and consistent with the exciting play from some of the best young players in the game. The key to this exercise was developing a comprehensive brand tool kit that can be used both internally and externally.

They began with the use of Trade Gothic, a sans serif typeface family created by Jackson Burke, the director of typographic development at Mergenthaler Linotype during the 1940’s. Since its birth, the typeface has been applied to a wide variety of design and advertising projects with condensed versions made popular in the newspaper industry for headlines. Type experts have acknowledged that while it doesn’t display as much unifying family structure as other popular sans-serif font families, it’s dissonance adds a bit of earthy naturalism to its appeal, making it an ideal choice for a promoting a young team on the rise.

Forty Forty then took advantage of the classic handcrafted typographic “Curly W” mark by giving it a heavier/bolder treatment to suggest its vibrant, charismatic identity. They also applied gritty, illustrative qualities to the player photos and default backgrounds with the intention of making an authentic and impactful impression on the fans. The core brand elements were finally capped off with the creation of an alternative script logo for branding progression and flexibility.

As the 2011 campaign debuted its new brand elements with the new slogan “Expect it,” COO Andrew Feffer wrote a letter to the team’s season ticket holders saying he believes that the long-term strategy “is beginning to show returns,” and that “we are determined to continue to do what it takes to elevate the franchise to the next level.” After the Nationals finished the season 80-81 and young stars like Jordan Zimmermann, Ian Desmond, Danny Espinosa and Drew Storen began to emerge, Forty Forty took a next big step that would go on to make a world of difference.

The new goals for Forty Forty heading into the 2012 Regular Season was evolving the core brand elements to enhance the collective personality and richness, and creating seasonal campaigns to set appropriate expectations. The Nationals discovered in the previous season that they approached the game with a new energy, determination and a competitive “badass” attitude. They called it “Natitude,” and it was about to take on a life of it’s own.

The new phrase and state of mind caught on pretty quickly across the city and region (especially with younger fans), and the Nationals, fueled by the gritty, passionate play by their phenom outfielder Bryce Harper, took the city on a memorable ride, finishing the season with 98 wins, making their first MLB Postseason appearance in franchise history and playing October baseball in the district for the first time since 1933. Jayson Werth, the team’s prized free agent acquisition from the 2010 offseason, hit a dramatic walk-off homerun in Game 4 of the National League Division Series to keep the season alive and forced the defending World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals to play a deciding Game 5.

And now here we are in present day. The revitalized brand has successfully highlighted the authenticity and excitement of the Nationals star players and team. As a fan even before working for them, it’s been a thrill to see the brand establish an emotional connection between the players, team, fans and community. While they did fail to reach the 2013 Postseason, the Nationals have continued to see a significant improvement in short-term business results, (ticket sales, sponsorship renewals, etc.) as well as a very positive initial response on re-branding toward their long-term goals of increased demand for the brand, fan loyalty, franchise value, and partnership interest. In their ongoing relationship, Forty Forty continues to provide strategic consultation and full creative development for all platforms and key partnership initiatives.

So that’s the story. I think it’s safe to say that John Feinstein is feeling pretty happy about how everything has unfolded up to this point. This great city has more than just a soul. It’s got nothing but Natitude. And with a new manager in Matt Williams, this team is on the verge of something really special, and I simply can’t wait to see them take the field.
GO NATS!