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TORONTO, ONTARIO (December 3, 2021) – Source For Sports (SFS), Canada’s largest sporting goods retail buying group, is dropping the puck on a comprehensive brand transformation and a new promise to customers: “We Fit Your Game.”
The transformation includes a new brand identity and tagline, a new store shopping experience, and a new e-commerce platform. It is the result of two years of planning and development, conducted in partnership with Conflict, an independent Toronto-based strategy, design, and advertising agency and Julie Prévost-Hilaire of JPH design d’intérieurs.
The SFS network includes more than 150 stores in Canada and the U.S., owned and operated by member partners. For more than three decades, its knowledgeable and community-minded store owners have equipped customers with the sporting goods they need to do the activities they love with confidence. The cornerstone of each store’s success is personalized service delivered by expert staff.
The announcement — the first rebrand for SFS in more than 20 years — is meant to reinforce that value proposition to athletes of all types: from pro-level competitors to weekend warriors to total newbies. In the months ahead, the company will introduce elements of the transformation, with a full launch planned to coincide with the key Back to Hockey marketing campaign in July 2022.
“Like any good coach, we know our team’s competitive advantage: We are experts at understanding the needs of our customers and finding the right fit for each,” said Brad Hause, President of SFS. “So, in planning this transformation, we looked at every touch-point in our customer journey and asked: How can we enhance what we do best?”
A New Brand Positioning And Identity
“As with many legacy brands, after 20-plus years in the market, we needed to take stock and understand how customers see our brand today and what is important for the future,” said Donna Finelli, Chief Marketing Officer of Source For Sports. “What really resonated with Canadians is our belief that when it comes to sports, no two players are the same. We are uniquely positioned to help customers find the gear that is right for them – because of our commitment to highly personalized service combined with our expertise. And we saw the opportunity to bring this to life with a new tagline and a reinvention of the SFS brand identity.”
The rebranding includes a complete reinvention of the SFS brand identity:
- New logo: A new SFS logo featuring a stylized S, comprising two parts to symbolize customer and staff coming together to find a perfect fit. The logo is designed to be bold, consistent, and recognizable in all uses, from social media icons to store signage.
- New tagline: The new tagline, “We Fit Your Game,” emphasizes the personalized service and product knowledge athletes get when they shop at SFS. It is a customer-centric update of “We Know Our Stuff,” the brand tagline for more than 20 years.
- New Source Exclusive Collection: To reinforce the new identity, SFS is launching a branded collection of high-quality hockey accessories, including base-layer garments, hockey bags and skate guards.
The new brand identity will start to roll out across various store locations now, with a national marketing launch planned in July 2022.
A New Store Shopping Experience
In an effort to create a modern and inviting shopping space for customers, SFS stores across Canada will start to roll out new design standards including signage, updated exterior colors and materials, merchandising fixtures and branded graphics.
The enhanced shopping experience can be seen at Cleve’s Source For Sports in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, which is a ground-up new concept store build, that brings all of the elements of the new brand identity to life from the inside out:
The new design standards are scalable across store formats and sizes, to reflect the needs of the independent store owner group. The changes should be visible in most SFS stores by July 2022.
“With this reinvention, SFS is modernizing itself,” said Niall Kelly, partner and creative director, Conflict. “There’s an old saying in packaging design: The package is the promise. That extends to brands. If things feel new, clean, exciting and thought-through, those feelings extend to the customer experience.”
A New E-Commerce Platform
As part of its digital roadmap and to ensure customers have access to an enhanced omni-channel shopping experience, SFS will launch a vastly expanded new website in early 2022. The site is built on the powerful Shopify platform, which will facilitate an enhanced e-commerce experience, including:
- A comprehensive marketplace: The new SourceForSports.ca will include inventory available at their network of stores across Canada spanning all sporting goods categories.
- Click and collect: Shoppers can conveniently browse products available at their closest SFS store and buy online and arrange to pick up in-store.
- Home delivery: Customers also have the option to have products shipped to their home.
The new website will launch in January 2022, with the new brand identity added in July 2022.
Combined, these key brand initiatives position SFS store owners to deepen brand trust among existing customers while developing meaningful relationships with new ones.
“It is the right time for us to evolve,” added Hause. “As we all know, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought great challenges for independent retailers, but it has also created an opportunity for a great rebirth. We were given a chance to give our customers new reasons to shop with us. And with this transformation, we are giving them many.”
About Source For Sports
Source For Sports® is part of Sports Distributors of Canada (SDC), a North American buying group with over 150 stores in Canada and the U.S., including Source For Adventure (outdoor division). SFS combines the buying and marketing power of a national brand with the local flavor and service of stores that are independently owned and operated by members of the local community. www.sourceforsports.ca