The British Horseracing Authority (BHA)

The new brand mark needed to be authoritative, modern and distinctive. BHA required an engaging and consistent look and feel that communicates the excitement of the sport. The BHA’s existing brand mark was virtually unrecognisable in a digital context – partly because the word mark and symbol were inseparable. As everybody in the industry refers to the governing body as the BHA, we decided that using this acronym would create a visually stronger identity.

We enhanced the equine symbol by giving it a more structured, rounded format. The new brand mark is easily separable from the word mark, which adds flexibility. Opting for a red, white and blue colour scheme reinforced the BHA’s British values. Imagery plays a strong role in BHA’s new brand. Our freelance photographer spent a day shadowing people behind the sport. The new imagery revolves around storytelling and adds a personal insight into horse racing.

Building on this, print collateral templates feature silks and patterns taken from jockeys’ clothing. As the feature in The Racing Post states, the BHA “has a fair bit to be authoritative about.” The governing body now owns a distinctive brand identity that truly reflects its world-class presence in the sporting industry.

Creating a data intensive, mobile first website.

The BHA wanted to be recognised as the first port of call for any horse racing query. The site had to be easily navigable for people inside the racing industry, the ordinary punter and those who are entirely new to racing. With pages and links sporadically added over time, the BHA site had become bloated and difficult to navigate. Starting the build from scratch, we implemented a sense of hierarchy. The navigation bar is now clearly split into five main sections, allowing for a more compartmentalised and rigid structure. Horses, jockeys and trainers now form new sections within the website, which makes it easier to find relevant information.

As horseracing is an outdoors sport, we ensured that information is easily accessible on the move. We built a mobile first website which gives access to information in seconds, as there are no large images. We worked with the BHA development team on creating custom algorithms for search and a brand new API. This ensures that the new site is incredibly intuitive and mobile, as well as featuring integral search.

The BHA’s chief executive, Paul Bittar, has expressed his delight at the new brand and site, and the Racing Post has written a glowing review. Although there is actually more data on each page than on the existing site, information is now displayed in a concise, structured way. This makes the site highly navigable for all target audiences.

The new structure clearly channels relevant content segmented to these three distinct audiences. Coupled with this restructure, Firedog created a new visual identity for the front-end of the site. It is now more welcoming, professional, accessible and friendly. Because it was important to represent the entire industry and not just the jockey cliché, we avoided the temptation of using the bright colours of the jockeys’ silks. Firedog opted for a colour palette born from the brand guidelines but supported by earthy, real industry colours supported by striking colour-treated imagery. Firedog managed the build including the installation of an easy to use content management system. The CMS allows the client to be self-sufficient with updating content, materials and imagery on the site. Firedog also provided a copy template document for the client to use in future to encourage best practices for SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) including key messaging and metatags. Due to the site being such a resounding success and representation of the industry, Firedog was tasked with the delivery of a second simpler site: Racing Excellence.