Black is back for the Wolves

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

I had said in my last post that the Timberwolves needed some serious marketing help to promote yet another re-building team. They did one marketing move (which I had heard little about, until a few days later), and that was to unveil a new "alternate" jersey.

Many teams have three or more jerseys. There's a standard home jersey, and a standard away jersey. In the last few years, many teams find it fun to unveil a third jersey that is very different from the usual.

Sometimes the alternate jerseys look better than the standard ones. Sometimes the alternate jerseys are so unwelcomed by fans, that the team ends up scrapping them. One such instance was the NBA's Dallas Mavericks a few years ago. They had released an alternate jersey that had a very droll color scheme; and the fans showed their discontent in no uncertain terms. The team wore the jerseys once, and never wore them again.

The Wolves re-vamped their entire uniform a couple years ago. They had shortened "Timberwolves" to just "Wolves" on the front of the home jersey (from their early franchise days), and on the road jersey, exchanged "Timberwolves" for "Minnesota."

Just recently, the Wolves unveiled a black jersey. Everyone loves black. Black is a slimming color, and complements many other colors nicely. This is the second time in franchise history the Wolves have donned a black jersey. I liked the old black jersey better than the new black jersey.

Several years ago, the border on the jerseys was a black border with green pine trees, similar to the primary logo. With the latest uniform re-design, they scrapped the pine trees, and eventually took all the green out entirely. With the new black jerseys, a little green might improve things a bit.

At this link: http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/pressrelease_Wolves_Unveil_New_Black_Alternate_Uniforms_2010_11_23.html
you can see what the new jersey looks like. Personally, I think it's just a little too bland. Instead of complementing the colors, I think the black intermingles with them. There's no contrast.

Maybe that's in tune with the whole team's attitude, though. The Wolves have been nothing short of bland the last few seasons. Attendance has dropped, players come and go, there's more losses than wins. If the Wolves were looking to generate some excitement with this latest marketing ploy, I think they came up a bit short.

Kermit the Frog once sang, "It's not easy being green." In this case, a little green might help.

Thanks for reading.

Minnesota Twins PR Part 2 - Rebranding

In my second installment of analyzing the Minnesota Twins' PR, on the way to opening their new ballpark, I'd like to discuss their recent re-branding efforts, as they are headed into their 50th season of baseball in Minnesota.



The Twins re-branding effort does not have too many major changes. There are some small changes. The new primary logo is similar to what they have now, with the exception of the word "Minnesota Twins Baseball Club" added to it. This is a little strange to me. I think most people, especially those in Minnesota and neighboring states, understand full well that the Twins are a baseball team.



This is my opinion, but if your product is good (this applies to all business), if your company is respectable or if your company has been around for 50 years or more, you shouldn't have to tell people what it is. For instance, the big, cursive, capital G is the logo for General Mills. The logo says it all. People know the logo, they trust the products with that logo on it and they purchase products with that logo on it. General Mills' logo speaks for itself, they don't need to add to their logo "cereal company."



A good corporate brand should be able to speak for itself.



The Twins have also designed a commemorative logo to honor both their 50th season in Minnesota and their inaugural season at Target Field. Both were designed very well. The inaugural logo is maybe a tad overboard on the blue tones; but still looks nice. The colors on the 50-year logo blend very nicely together and create a sharp, distinctive image.



Lastly, there have been some more noticeable changes on the uniforms for the 2010 season. The road uniform seems to have undergone the most significant changes. It is a slightly lighter shade of grey (the Grateful Dead song is probably coming to mind right about now) than the previous road uniform that has been used since the 1987 season. The pinstripes on the road uniform are also gone. Instead of a block-letter "Minnesota" across the chest of the uniform, "Minnesota" now stands out in a very nice script logo.



The primary home uniform is virtually unchanged, but I've saved the best for last. Last season, the final season at the Dome, the Twins designed an alternate home uniform that replicated the uniforms the Twins wore the first year in the Dome in 1982. The Twins have designed another "throwback" home uniform that replicates the home uniforms worn in the 1960s at Met Stadium, when Twins fans cheered on Harmon Killebrew and Rod Carew. The color scheme, script logo and sleeve logo from the 1960s jersey is replicated in this new alternate jersey that will be worn for Saturday home games.



All in all, the Twins have done a good job in re-branding themselves for the next generation of baseball here in Minnesota. To take a look at the changes yourself, click this link: http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/min/photogallery/year_2009/month_11/day_16/cf7673110.html

Thanks for reading.

A 3rd jersey for the Minnesota Wild?

A ha, finally. an issue I love to write about: sports and corporate branding.

It has been announced that the Minnesota Wild (NHL) will unveil a "third" jersey to be worn this season. The unveiling will happen next Sunday at the Minnesota State Fair. There are speculations about what the jersey might look like. One can be found here: http://media.photobucket.com/image/Wild%20green%20jersey/puckdrawn/Concepts/MinnesottaWildConcept.png, and another can be found here: http://www.wildpuckbanter.com/2009/08/new-wild-jersey.html.

This is an interesting concept to me, sports teams have been using "alternate" jerseys for many years now. Some have been successful, and others have been total flops. However, the Wild had an alternate jersey a few years ago. The jersey seen here: http://www.icejerseys.com/item_details.php?id=5354.

What happened was, the NHL had switched jersey manufacturers. The league contracted with Reebok and their new Edge line of jerseys. The "Rbk Edge" was a custom-fit jersey, which was supposed to supply better comfort for players. And, the NHL made a rule that teams had to scrap whatever third jerseys they had, and couldn't unveil a new one for two years.

The Wild kept their white jersey, and opted to keep the red "alternate" jersey http://www.icejerseys.com/item_details.php?id=5354 and got rid of the original green sweater.

Here's what bothers me about the red sweater they kept. The logo on the front. In my estimation, a good and respectable corporate brand, should not have to tell you what it is. You will notice that the words "Minnesota Wild" surround it. Earlier in the franchise's history, the words "NHL Hockey" even appeared on a secondary logo the team was going to use.

If you see the logo for GM, you know that it's for General Motors. They make cars. The company does not need to put "auto manufacturer" on the logo. If you see an oblong "G" surrounded by a green and gold oval, you know that logo is for the Green Bay Packers. They don't need to put "We play football in Green Bay" on the logo. Let's not forget the Golden Arches. These are respectable, reputable, trustworthy corporations, that do not need to label what they are, or what they do, to get the point across.

I feel the Minnesota Wild made a mistake when choosing what sweater to keep. The Minnesota Wild have some of the best merchandise sales, if not the best merchandise sales in the National Hockey League. The only problem, most people can't figure out what animal the head belongs to, that you see on the front of the jersey. Is it a bobcat, cougar, a panther? No one knows. But, they DO know that logo.

On the other hand, looking at some of the concept drawings people have conjured up in their minds (the ones with a script font "Minnesota"), many sports teams in all professional leagues are putting the city or state of origin on their road jerseys.

Personally, I think the Wild should ditch the red jersey with the circle "Minnesota Wild" surrounding the cougar head (I'll call it a cougar). The Wild have made a name for themselves in the National Hockey League, in their ten years of existence - on the basis of their enormous fan base, merchandise sales and team ownership.

I feel that it is in the best interest, not just of the Wild, not just of sports teams, but of all corporations, to do their very best to cultivate a corporate brand, a corporate logo that is immediately recognizable - without being told what it represents.