The Roy­al Auto­mo­bile Club

Mod­ernising an icon­ic club for a new generation

  • Rebrand
  • Brand Strategy
  • Brand Identity
  • Design
  • Messaging
  • Tone of Voice
  • Photography

The RAC had become defined by one thing, and it was 
hold­ing it back.

Once a club built on progress, it had become nar­row­ly asso­ci­at­ed with motor­ing. It was respect­ed, but increas­ing­ly seen through a sin­gle lens. The rel­e­vance was fading.

We were brought in to repo­si­tion the brand, broad­en per­cep­tion and restore momen­tum. Not by rewrit­ing its her­itage, but by recon­nect­ing the Club to what it had always stood for: progress.

ALWAYS MOV­ING FORWARD

The Club was found­ed on curios­i­ty, ambi­tion, and for­ward motion.

Tra­di­tion here isn’t about stand­ing still.
It’s about car­ry­ing momen­tum forward.

“ODA took some con­sid­er­able time to research and under­stand the cul­ture of the Club and ensure that the rich her­itage was sus­tained in a cre­ative way”

Miles Wade, Club Secretary, The Royal Automobile Club

REIN­STAT­ING THE WHEEL

We restored the orig­i­nal car badge, plac­ing the wheel back at the cen­tre. A sym­bol not of nos­tal­gia, but of progress. A mark that sig­nals move­ment, ambi­tion and con­ti­nu­ity.
 

FOR­WARD MOTION

We root­ed the brand iden­ti­ty in the Club’s motor­ing her­itage, but expressed it through craft rather than cliché.

Pre­ci­sion. Tex­ture. Detail.

The tyre tread from the Monte Car­lo ral­ly-win­ning Mini was dis­tilled into a refined pat­tern, uni­fy­ing com­mu­ni­ca­tions with sub­tle con­fi­dence. A nod to his­to­ry, and mean­ing and ren­dered with restraint.
 

DRI­VING ASPIRATION

Pho­tog­ra­phy shift­ed from doc­u­ment­ing place to cap­tur­ing atmos­phere. Moments of occa­sion that cap­tured tex­ture of place and anticipation.

The RAC became less about facil­i­ties and more about feel­ing. A club peo­ple want­ed to belong to, not sim­ply attend.

“Demon­strat­ing uncom­mon intel­lect and shrewd per­cep­tion, ODA cre­at­ed a mod­ern brand iden­ti­ty sys­tem with a real spark of ingenuity.”

Miles Wade, Club Secretary, The Royal Automobile Club

CHAR­AC­TER­FUL COPY

We helped The Club find its voice again. Con­fi­dent. Wry. Effort­less­ly com­posed. A brand tone of voice that bal­ances tra­di­tion with light­ness of touch. Wel­com­ing with­out try­ing too hard. Intel­li­gent with­out being imposing.

It speaks as the Club does, with qui­et author­i­ty and a glint in the eye.

HON­OUR­ING HERITAGE

The radi­a­tor grille of a vin­tage Rolls-Royce inspired an own­able fram­ing device. A shape defined by sym­me­try and strength.

Applied spar­ing­ly, it brought struc­ture and ele­gance to Club com­mu­ni­ca­tions. A sub­tle nod to motor­ing prove­nance, ele­vat­ed into a mark of distinction.

A BRAND BUILT TO WORK ACROSS THE ORGANISATION

Every ele­ment had a clear role.

We trans­lat­ed the cre­ative strat­e­gy into a sys­tem the Club could use day to day – across com­mu­ni­ca­tions, envi­ron­ments, facil­i­ties, events, and inter­nal culture.

Work­shops aligned teams and built con­fi­dence, ensur­ing the brand wasn’t just under­stood, but adopted.

IMPACT

  • Received the highest number of member applications for 16 years

  • Year on year, total revenues increased by 9.5%

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