The new strategic and rebranding of Hapoel!

Hapoel “Midtown” Jerusalem Basketball Club is proud and excited to launch a wide-ranging strategic and rebranding initiative that redefines the club’s identity and the path it will follow in the coming years.

The initiative, built around the message Devotion Inspires, reflects the club’s commitment to excellence both on and off the court, its ambition to continue moving Hapoel forward in every aspect - professional, marketing, digital, commercial, and fan experience and its desire to deepen its connection with its supporters, the community, the city of Jerusalem, and the next generation of Hapoel fans. All of this is part of the vision to compete for every possible title and establish the club as a significant force in European basketball.

The new strategy was developed over the past year  as part of an in-depth research process led by the branding agency Firma, in collaboration with leading professionals, including Hapoel supporters. The process included comprehensive quantitative research among hundreds of Hapoel fans, alongside focus groups and in-depth conversations with supporters.

The new strategy includes a series of significant initiatives designed to enhance the fan experience, lead community-focused initiatives and activities, develop innovative digital initiatives, and create marketing and business opportunities for the club’s commercial partners, alongside a new brand language and a new crest. All of these elements reflect the ambition to continue growing, evolving, and leading - while preserving the identity, values, and DNA that make Hapoel Jerusalem the club it is.

Regarding the crest -  following disagreements and the desire among a broad section of our supporters to have a greater influence and take an active role in the process, we decided to pause, listen, and engage in an open and honest dialogue with our supporters over the past month.As part of this dialogue, and with the aim of giving a central place to the different perspectives and opinions, we chose to involve two supporter representatives in the final design process: Adam Amourai and Itamar Libergal, professional graphic designers who were also involved in designing the club’s current crest.The two played an active role in the design process, working closely with the firm's professionals, and together, they created the club’s new crest.

The new crest represents a modern design evolution while fully preserving all of Hapoel’s defining identity elements. The crest does not abandon any of our fundamental symbols - the Hapoel man, the basketball, and the lions of the city. Quite the opposite: it preserves them with great care. It was clear to us that the identity, heritage, and symbols most closely associated with the club should not change, but rather undergo a graphic evolution that connects our glorious past with the future toward which the club is heading.

Club owner Matan Adelson:”Devotion Inspires is much more than a slogan, it is the way we choose to lead the club. Our commitment to our fans, to the Jerusalem community, to professional excellence, and to innovation - all of these things drive us forward. The strategic and branding initiative we have worked so hard on is a declaration of intent about the kind of club we want to be. It expresses our clear ambition to move the club forward in every possible aspect. This initiative is not the beginning of a new story, but rather the next chapter in Hapoel Jerusalem’s remarkable story - one that we will write together with our fans, one that respects the past, acts in the present, and builds the future.”

Club CEO Oren Arielly:”Over the past year, we asked ourselves: What should Hapoel look like in the next decade? We realized that we are at a critical point in the club’s development - a bridge stage, where it is important for us to connect different groups of fans, young and old, Jerusalem residents and those living in the center, and to bridge the past with the future. In order to do this better, the new strategy was born - one that respects the club’s rich history and proud heritage, while also looking ahead with courage and a constant desire to improve.We want to be a club that leads not only on the court, but also in the fan experience, digital, community, and innovation. Starting as early as next season, our fans will begin to feel the change across all areas of the club’s activities. We are committed to building a modern, innovative, leading club without ever giving up on the values, traditions, and spirit that have made Hapoel Jerusalem what it is. I am pleased that, ultimately, we were able to turn the open dialogue with our fans into a meaningful collaboration. Together, we will continue moving Hapoel forward”.