LIV team manager makes wild claim about future plans

The general manager of a LIV Golf team has made his plans to scale the franchise crystal clear.

In fact, he’s made his ambitions for the side, one of 13 in the Saudi-backed startup league, higher than most.

Jonas Mårtensson, the former CEO of Mojang Studios, was named general manager of Cleeks GC in September and has outlined his aim to make the LIV team a household name.

That means not just in professional golf, but in global fashion.

The Swede helped scale Minecraft – the biggest-selling video game of all time – so is no stranger to huge projects. And this looks to be another.

Mårtensson, 47, was behind a Cleeks rebrand that was unveiled in January.

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“At the time I thought the visual identity of Cleeks didn’t really tell the story we wanted to tell,” he said in conversation with Forbes.

“We had a lot of conversations with our Captain Martin Kaymer and the team to decide what is the brand position we want and who do we want to be when we grow up?

“We love the sport. We want to celebrate and honour the traditions of the sport, and we want to also refresh it and be part of this new era which LIV is spearheading.

“That’s how we ended up there and we are doing it by being at the intersection of art, music and fashion.”

As well as creating a new logo, designed by firm AKQA, the Cleeks adopted the tagline ‘tradition refreshed’.

Now, according to Forbes, Mårtensson hopes his teed-up C logo can have people develop an affinity with the Cleeks. It’s believed it can be a major powerhouse and transcend the sport.

“You have to have people that love, and it and we have to build a community,” he said.

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“It helps when people who other people look up to and can relate to are wearing the logo. That’s what happened with the Yankees logo, it became a cultural phenomenon with lots of celebrities wearing the brand.”

While the Cleeks are currently 12th in the seasonal LIV Golf team standings, Mårtensson is prepared to build a brand that will hang around.

“I always tell the team we need to look at this on a ten, twenty, thirty-year horizon,” he added.

“It’s more about being consistent over time and building a brand that people can relate to. it’s always going to help if we have our players and team performing well. But I’m sure we will over time.”

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Tryst Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.