The End of Venezia's Renaissance? Chief Brand Officer and Media Director Both Leave Club
Two key figures responsible for creating Venezia's new image and reputation have left the club. Brand director Ted Philipakos and media director Sonya Kondratenko have left their positions at Venezia to work full time with Greek division two club, Athens Kallithea.
The End of Venezia's Reign as World's Trendiest Club?
Until a few years ago, Venezia FC were virtually unknown to football fans around the world. They had played three seasons in Serie A around the turn of the century, their first since the 1960s, and had spent most of their history in Italy's lower divisions. In 2020, however, their kits started to garner attention in the football kit community. The following year, their first Kappa jerseys were launched to massive fanfare with a marketing campaign more typical of a luxury fashion house than a provincial Italian football club.
Venezia were relegated to Serie B at the end of the 21-22 season but the hype around their 22-23 shirts, complete with new crest, did not diminish. German design agency Bureau Borsche were responsible for the new crest, part of a visual rebrand that had really begun a couple of years prior when Ted Philipakos joined the club as Chief Brand Officer.
As he puts it on his own LinkedIn account, Philipakos "led the transformation of Venezia FC". By leaning on the culture, history and beauty of the city of Venice, the club has been presented as a lifestyle brand more than a football club, and the strategy has worked incredibly well. It's not just the kits that got a makeover. Their social media feed is carefully curated with artistic graphics a regular feature, their website was given a sleek redesign (also by Bureau Borsch) and they've released a photography book as well as fashionable rain and swimwear collections in Venezia's unique colour combo. They've also partnered with universities and cultural institutions in the city, giving them an appeal beyond football.
Artistic endeavours like the photography book and elegant matchday posters have become the norm at Venezia.
All of this has been under Philipakos' leadership, but he is not solely responsible for the transformation. Philipakos brought in Sonya Kondratenko as media director when he joined the club in August 2020, and the coverage Venezia's kits and various initiatives have received from renowned media outlets is thanks to her work. What's most impressive is that the club's footballing performances over that time period have been in stark contrast with their commercial growth. Being relegated from Serie A last season and currently sitting three points above the drop zone in Serie B does not seem to have affected their appeal.
Now after two and a half years, both Philipakos and Kondratenko have left their roles at Venezia to work on Philipakos' other project, Greek club Athens Kallithea. He has been president of the club since 2021 and has been recycling some of the techniques that proved so successful for Venezia; partnerships with Kappa and Bureau Borsche, kit launches stylishly shot around the club's home city, a new letter-based crest that doesn't look like a typical football club badge have already been introduced.
He has already succeeded in breathing new life into Athens Kallithea, and with his full attention and the expertise of Kondratenko they will surely continue to prosper and reach a status similar to that of Venezia. The Italian club however, will be keen to find replacements capable of continuing their progress. Significant groundwork has been laid, but it will be interesting to see if Philipakos and Kondratenko's successors will be able to maintain the trajectory that the club have been on for the last couple of years.
Do you think that the loss of these two important figures will impact Venezia's image and status going forward? Or has the hard work already been done? Can you see Athens Kallithea surpassing them in the cool stakes? Let us know in the comments.
