Lightning strikes with Nomad's designs for sports betting brand Betano

You may not have heard of Kaizen Gaming, but they're a pretty big deal. Based in Athens, this GameTech company operate two brands, Betano and Stoiximan, in 16 countries and employs more than 2,500 people across three continents.

Betano is focused on online sports betting, and if the name rings a bell, it's probably because it was a main sponsor of Euro 2024. They also sponsor several football teams across Europe and Brazil, including Aston Villa, Porto, Sporting Lisbon, and Benfica.

In preparation for the Euros, they asked London-based studio Nomad to create a new identity to bring their sportsbook and casino to life.

Nomad have a lot of form in this area. Known for their work for the Premier League, EA Sports, World Baseball League and the FA Women's Euros, we recently covered the football strips they created for East London women's community club Hackney Laces and fictional BBC football team Hawx United. So we were keen to see what they came up with, and they've delivered the goods yet again.

The brief

"Whether placing a $5 bet to transform a dreary kickoff into a major showdown or hitting the jackpot on your final free spin, Betano adds a dash of excitement to the every day," says explains Ash Watkins, creative director at Nomad.

The rebranding aimed to set them apart in a competitive market during a crucial year. As a global partner of two major football tournaments and a front-of-jersey sponsor for many teams worldwide, Betano needed a brand identity ready for the world stage, one that conveyed its values of being playful and responsible.

Graphic elements

The visual identity is centred around a logo based on a lightning bolt. "Rapid payouts, super-fast updates reflecting real-world events, and the sheer adrenaline rush that iGaming offers made this the perfect symbol for Betano," explains Ash.

With energetic custom lettering and a detachable 'B' for icon use, the logo delivers the kind of impact that a sporting world stage requires. "As an official global partner of Euro 2024 and Copa América 2024 and a sponsor for sports teams big and small around the world, the logo was designed with the brand's primary marketing strategies in mind," says Ash.

"We created it to light up stadium LEDs on the biggest stage and to serve as a jersey sponsor that fans are proud to wear, from the stadium to the streets."

Inspired by the logo's lightning bolt icon, the patterns and graphic language of the wider create a flexible brand system that energises every touchpoint across the brand.

Illustration suite

Nomad also commissioned Ed McGowan to create an illustration style depicting characters and players in surreal scenarios, blending sportsbook and casino iconography uniquely. The idea was to avoid the kind of generic stock photography that dominates the sector and inject personality across the brand.

"At the risk of sounding clichéd, working with the whole team at Nomad has been a pleasure from the start," says Pablo Puertas, marketing director at Kaizen Gaming. "Both at the personal and professional level.

"The interpretation of the brief and the aesthetic and technical execution has surpassed our original expectations," he continues. "And what started as an exercise to modernise our previous identity has ended up as a full revamp of our logo and distinctive brand asset system.

"We now have a well-defined, unique, memorable and contemporary brand identity that we all feel very proud of, so I can only thank the team at Nomad for all the effort and the journey so far."