Branding specialist Icon played a major role in delivering The Ryder Cup’s look and event presentation at Gleneagles last month. The company dressed all the tees, grandstands, camera towers and scoreboards in addition to providing some signature pieces within the tented village, media compound and for both the opening and closing ceremonies.
Working with original designs developed by Ryder Cup Europe’s creative agency Total Design, Icon supplied almost 10,000 individual items, all of which had to be collated, delivered and installed by a crew of 42 over a month-long build-up. The 18th Green Grandstand alone carried over 430m2 of branding. Added to that were the 21 other grandstands, 14 big screens, over 300 wayfinding signs, 400 crowd barrier jackets, two kilometres of fence dressing, 147 flagpoles and eight interactive pods with built-in RFID technology.
Wherever possible, elements were recycled from The 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor, where Icon delivered a similar programme, and re-branded to the event’s new livery. Icon also worked with Ryder Cup Europe over the preceding 12 months to develop the scope of works for the look, branding and wayfinding at Gleneagles.
David Gurney, Icon’s head of golf operations, said: “The Ryder Cup is a huge challenge, from the initial production phase through to the on-site build. Given the sheer scale of the event we have to be very flexible and ready to adapt to new demands each day, and we fully appreciate the trust that Ryder Cup Europe place in us by awarding us this responsibility.”
Ryder Cup operations director Antonia Beggs added: “Icon has been a trusted member of the operational team, not just for The Ryder Cup, but also for other major events on the European Tour at home and overseas for nearly 40 years now. It is a tribute to their high standard of workmanship, reliability and flexibility that this relationship has lasted for so long and we continue to place our faith in them to deliver outstanding results for an event of the stature of The Ryder Cup.”
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