Tottenham Hotspur has made the news in the past weeks for a branding decision that’s raised eyebrows. Having unveiled a remastered brand identity in November last year, it has now asked broadcasters to refer to the club as either ‘Tottenham Hotspur’ or ‘Spurs’ – never only ‘Tottenham’. The aim? A sharper global brand identity. The debate? Can brands really dictate how people refer to them?
Who Defines a Brand—The Customers or the Executives?
In conventional business, brands are meticulously controlled – names, logos, messaging, the lot. But football clubs are not conventional. They are institutions whose identities have been forged through decades of devotion, tribal passion, and deep local roots. Spurs wasn’t created in a boardroom; it was born in North London, established by local schoolboys, named for a historical landowner of the Tottenham Marshes, and built by generations of fans who have lived and breathed ‘Tottenham’.
While Spurs’ leadership is pushing a top-down branding decision, the reality is that a football club’s brand isn’t dictated – it’s shaped by history and tradition, and owned by those who chant its name in the stands week in, week out.
Global Growth vs Local Soul – Can Spurs have both?
Yet, in an era where clubs are commercial juggernauts chasing global recognition, these local roots are sometimes perceived to be of secondary concern. While Spurs’ rebrand is likely a commercially driven move to protect trademarks, some have suggested it could be an attempt to sanitise the connection to its geographical and cultural roots in one of London’s less affluent areas. While this argument may seem somewhat far-fetched (it will continue to represent Tottenham in its full name, and the name of the stadium), any potential damage to the local connection should be a concern.
After all, in English football, your team isn’t something you ‘pick’- it’s often ‘inherited’ as part of family tradition or proximity. Unlike the franchised world of American sports, where teams relocate and rebrand for business reasons, UK football clubs are inseparable from their communities. Tottenham Hotspur isn’t just a global football brand – it’s a living, breathing institution, with its heart firmly in North London, and it must ensure it continues to reflect that.
Overbranding: The Fastest Way to Lose Fans
History proves it: when clubs meddle too much with their brand, fans push back hard:
- Cardiff City (2012): Swapped its home colours from blue to red, believing red was luckier and more marketable in Asia. Fans revolted and the club had to backtrack.
- Hull City (2014): Rebranding to ‘Hull Tigers’ was meant to attract global appeal. The FA and fans shot it down.
While Spurs may wish to tighten its brand guidelines, the reality is, fans are the brand. Their language, traditions, and loyalty are what give it meaning. If they reject the shift, the brand the club is trying to build will fall flat.
Can You Manufacture Passion?
This case also highlights a fundamental truth about branding: brands are not just logos or slogans – they are built through experience. While expanding the global fanbase is lucrative, will it manufacture the kind of passion that’s inherited, passed down through generations, and stitched into the fabric of the local community? A Spurs fan living in New York might buy a shirt, but the local fan who has travelled up and down the UK experiencing every high and low doesn’t see themself as a ‘customer’ – they feel they are an intrinsic partof the club. The risk? Alienate your core supporters, and you could hollow out what makes your brand valuable in the first place.
What It Really Takes to Build a Brand That Lasts
At Caffeine, we know that brands aren’t built by executives in boardrooms – they’re forged through experience, loyalty and the people who live them every day. The most successful brands don’t dictate from above; they understand what matters most to their customers and deliver it to them over and over again. The case of Tottenham Hotspur highlights a key lesson for all businesses:
- A brand is more than a name. It’s history, relationships, and lived experience. Changing a logo or enforcing a naming convention won’t redefine what a brand means to people.
- Your audiences shapes your brand. Every business wants to control its narrative, but brand identity is built in the hearts and minds of the people who engage with it.
- Great experience creates loyalty. Football clubs, like all brands, thrive when they create a sense of loyalty and belonging. Fans need to feel like an integral part of the conversation, whose experiences are reflected in the brand they love.
Tottenham Hotspur may be right to fine-tune their global brand, but must remember that true brand strength comes from customer affinity and loyalty, not just its marketing materials. The clubs that thrive – like the brands that win – are those that embrace their identity, respect their history, and build loyalty through experience.
Because in the end, a brand is not what you say it is – it’s what your customers believe it to be. And that’s something no brand should forget.
