Description:

Basketball New Zealand is committed to changing the game for women in sport.

In 2022, to add further impetus to the fastest growing game in Aotearoa and kick-start a new era for women’s basketball, BBNZ launched a new, elite, women’s league. Providing a new pathway for young talent. Partnering with SKY to ensure mass exposure of the competition. And, through pay equality with the men’s NBL, attracting the best players – both Kiwi and international – to our shores to elevate the sporting standard to the next level.

Starting from the ground up, we created an uplifting, aspirational, brand identity for the league and its five franchises. One that expressed the essence of basketball, an international sport, rooted in a modern Aotearoa. One that our elite athletes could wear with pride. That would inspire support across the nation. And that girls could identify with and feel they belonged to.

We tipped off with in-depth engagement with the leading lights of women’s basketball in Aotearoa: managers, coaches, youth development officers, Olympians, current professionals and up and coming stars in NZ and in the NCAA. We uncovered what made basketball (particularly the women’s game) special. How the sport makes a difference to young women. And the opportunity they perceived in the new league.

Out of this process came our core narrative for the league, centered on the concept of “soar”. Reflecting the experience of the game. The opportunity for our athletes to express their power, creativity and swagger as shining examples for all to see. And the league’s ambition to inspire the next generation to aim higher, on and off the court. Working with BBNZ’s kaumatua we landed on a te reo expression “Tauihi” (to soar, to glide in the air). And rooted the origins of our league in the origins of Aotearoa by linking our narrative back to Kuramarotini, wife of Kupe the navigator who was first to lift her gaze to see the mass of white cloud signalling land and cry out “He ao! He aotea! He Aotearoa!”.

Following on from this, our league logo is a representation of a basketball swishing through the net. The top half shows the ball just before it disappears through the hoop. Below this, the net is made up of a simple taniko/tukutuku triangle pattern – a combination of Niho Taniwha and Aronui designs. These symbolise determination, tenacity, striving for excellence, and the pursuit of knowledge. Look closely and you can see an arrow design within the taniko pattern, which symbolises our name Tauihi...to soar.

In collaboration with franchise tikanga Māori partners, we developed team names and logos that combined our masterbrand narrative with their own regional identities. This led to all five teams having te reo Māori monikers – a national first for a sporting competition.

The Tauihi brand system includes a taniko based pattern, deconstructed pattern graphic assets, and a bespoke typeface.