Extreme Reach becomes XR as Athletics rebrands video production and management platform

Brand agency Athletics has unveiled a new identity for the entertainment industry business Extreme Reach.

Now known as XR, the company has been at the heart of the entertainment business for decades - helping advertisers manage assets and the wider industry manage payroll.

But it also unearths and analyses a wealth of industry data for insight into over 1,000 brands, agencies and studios it serves worldwide.

It is this position as a forward-thinking technology partner that informed the brief tackled by New York-based design studio Athletics.

Starting with the logo, the team crafted the new identity system around the X, softening the letter and using that as a foundation to shape the accompanying R. When animated, the letters thin and thicken slightly, as if breathing – making the mark seem alive and intelligent. As a transitional asset – a lockup with a full 'Extreme Reach' wordmark was created for the launch.

As for the colour palette, Athletics channelled a diverse array of tones – modernist aesthetics inspired by fashion and skincare, film culture and research consultancies. Language itself also becomes a design object, with graphic repetition signalling vast momentum and extended reach.

This differentiated approach to colour makes XR instantly recognisable, bold, and warm, with an almost analogue, tactile feel. Freshly commissioned photography features people in motion, with an accentuated blur to underscore dynamism and forward momentum.

The expanded identity system also uses dynamic, generative patterns to create a variety of motifs and textures – composed of language and letterforms – all of which are intended to signify the brand's forward momentum. To accomplish this and equip the XR team with the capacity to scale their brand quickly and consistently, Athletics developed a custom tool that generates on-brand patterns with minimal input.

Louisa Wong, CEO of XR, says: "The XR brand launch follows a period of completing key integrations to provide clients with a single unified platform, transparency and control. As we transition to XR from Extreme Reach, XR is still the same company you trust to move your creative forward by delivering content to any screen, anywhere in the world, with valuable insights that help transform your business."

XR now operates in 130 countries and 45 languages, serving the top global advertisers and enabling $150 billion in video ad spending around the world. More than half a billion creative brand assets are managed in XR's enterprise platform.