Public Perception of the UConn Program | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Public Perception of the UConn Program

Status
Not open for further replies.
I agree with OPs point, but my answer to any amount of hype about other programs is we have 4 NCs since 99 and they don't.
 
This is just a reflection of a university that until recently didn't care about public relations. Has great and good coaches which have hated the press (until Ollie) and in general have not been welcoming to the media. Even the columnists from the local press (who should be the biggest boosters because UConn is where their bread is made) have rocky relationship with the sports teams.

Connecticut as a state hates boosterism. If you say something good about Hartford or Connecticut prepare for huge backlash from the citizens. Propose a ball park or other new idea and you'll be lambasted. Nobody wants to get too high or too low. There is a definite negative vibe to the place.

Connecticut produces few journalists or PR types compared to Syracuse or other northeastern universities.

There is no discipline when it comes to messaging. Imagine if every time someone from associated with UConn basketball they repeated the phrase "best basketball program of the 21st century." Imagine if it said this on our press material and media guide. Or suppose every time someone associated with the university mentioned Storrs, Connecticut, they added "basketball capital of the world." It would become ingrained and it would be repeated.

I'm not suggesting those phrases just using them as an example.It's how Dallas became "America's Team" and how Boston became "Red Sox Nation" Those team had messaging discipline. It doesn't matter where the phrase comes from, what matters is embracing and repeating.

So to some extent, we are the ones responsible for our under evaluation.
 
.-.
Here's the thing, at least basketball-wise I think our public perception is better than many here think. 4 national championships in 15 years will do that. Our games on typically nationally broadcast. We have a young charismatic coach who took over for our HOF coach, who was one the best ever. Yeah we don't get the perennial hand job that Duke gets or the preseason adulation that Kentucky gets and it seems like our national championship run are portrayed as the other teams dropping the ball rather than us marching to victory, but in the end after all the Duke ranking banners and 'Cuse and Kentucky discarded tee-shirts, championships matter and I wouldn't trade ours for all the press adulation in the world.
 
Last edited:
AAC is part of the equation. I am not sure other schools would be as willing to play out of conference games with JC as they seem to be with KO. Georgetown needs a game with us because our level helps them be relevant. Similarly, that Florida regular season game last year was huge. Power 5 leagues are not above conspiring to play hard out off conference games with each other while playing midmajor and below cupcakes to prove they play lesser leagues. I'll gladly be the underdog with a chip on its shoulder ands trophies in the case.
 
I don't want the media adulation that Kentucky or Duke gets. Flying just below the radar suits us and helps us maintain a blue collar, chip on our shoulder culture and mentality. I think it's a crucial component of our success
 
I agree with the OP but I think there are some rationale factors in the perception of us:
1) Our conference
2) Our last 2 championships were "upsets" where we did not have a dominating season
3) We are not far from a point where our entire relevance was in question. Save the lectures on if they were deserved but Nate Miles, APR, conference realignment and JC's health and retirement had us wondering if we would survive. Take away AB's 3 point play and many are still are wondering about our future and our coach.

In spite of the above we are underrated compared to the "blue bloods" even after UNC's recent lack of success and academic problems. Other schools that can't compare recent NCs with us. I don't get it.
I also don't get recently walking into the Footlocker (excuse me if it is not the wite store) in the Milford mall, and seeing walls of Giants, Jets, Pats, Yanks, Mets, Sox and 2 boring UCONN tee shirts. I think they had more Whalers merchandise than UCONN!

The rationale part of this will get better. The irrational part will be tougher. The investigations at SU and UNC might help. Better marketing would help. Ollie's personality will continue to help. Another NC w/in a few years would make it real hard not to take us seriously.The retirement of old guard pundits and announcers who can't think beyond 20 years ago (Vitale and others) will help
 
BUHusky10 said:
First off, let me start by saying nothing pleases me more than watching the UConn men prove doubters wrong and make deep runs that make every other fan base jealous and bitter. Yet this program of our, despite having won 4 national championships in the last 15 years, a feat that can be rivaled only by the likes of Wooden+UCLA and Duke in the early 90's, is seriously lacking in an important department. Despite all this massive success, the program has a massive gap between actual performance on the court, and the perception of the program in the eyes of the impartial national viewer of the game. Despite showing absolutely zero signs of slowing down on a national level, UConn is still continually slept on, and at some point this disparity must be shown to originate internally from the program's directors itself.

.......

Please discuss and tell me why you think I hate UConn (which I genuinely dont, in fact its one of my greatest joys and source of pride).
Expand ...
You're absolutely right about the marketing. All New England land grant schools are basically the same. The New England state governments ignored them forever because there were excellent private schools around that the state leaders - the movers and the shakers - all attended. The state land grant was effectively a part of the public assistance system, where the lower classes could go to college and get a "good" education, become teachers, enter the work force, etc. This is not the approach of the states where you don't have such a proliferation of high quality private schools. Michigan, for example, put their resources into U of Mich, and it shows and it paid off.
Of all the New England land grants, Connecticut has gone the farthest to reverse this trend and undo the damage. Still, the "up in Storrs" mentality continues to this day. That is the mentality that Storrs is so far from Hartford, and so far from Fairfield County, New Haven County, that you just kind of hope and trust it will run itself responsibly and intelligently without having to give it too much on hands attention. The first guy that tried to make a change was none other than John Rowland, a Villanova grad, who recognized that a lot of money had to be spent on taking the campus and community out of the dark ages and into the 21st Century. Unfortunately, we have continued to appoint political hacks and non-management types in key leadership positions, people without energy or vision, and the organization suffered as a result. Up until Susan Herbst, that is. She is really the first "management" type of president I can remember having at Uconn. Malloy also continues the Rowland tradition of spending on higher education faculty and facilities. One of the main reasons I support Malloy. It will be very easy for a Republican governor who wants to cut taxes and spending to target Uconn. But I digress . . . .
 
That's why it's called the "land of steady habits." Very New England. In fact, so New England that Fairfield County doesn't want to be part of the state. They want to be part of New York, and who can blame them.
Uconn is afraid of boosterism. Afraid to be laughed at if they fail. Afraid of those "looks" you get when you show off, the snickers and the comments. I say just go for it. Nothing to lose now. I don't know who runs marketing at Uconn. I suspect it's someone who's been a state employee for the last 19 years and you can't fire him. They should just hire whoever markets the Dallas Cowboys and let them run it . . .



Palatine said:
This is just a reflection of a university that until recently didn't care about public relations. Has great and good coaches which have hated the press (until Ollie) and in general have not been welcoming to the media. Even the columnists from the local press (who should be the biggest boosters because UConn is where their bread is made) have rocky relationship with the sports teams.

Connecticut as a state hates boosterism. If you say something good about Hartford or Connecticut prepare for huge backlash from the citizens. Propose a ball park or other new idea and you'll be lambasted. Nobody wants to get too high or too low. There is a definite negative vibe to the place.

Connecticut produces few journalists or PR types compared to Syracuse or other northeastern universities.

There is no discipline when it comes to messaging. Imagine if every time someone from associated with UConn basketball they repeated the phrase "best basketball program of the 21st century." Imagine if it said this on our press material and media guide. Or suppose every time someone associated with the university mentioned Storrs, Connecticut, they added "basketball capital of the world." It would become ingrained and it would be repeated.

I'm not suggesting those phrases just using them as an example.It's how Dallas became "America's Team" and how Boston became "Red Sox Nation" Those team had messaging discipline. It doesn't matter where the phrase comes from, what matters is embracing and repeating.

So to some extent, we are the ones responsible for our under evaluation.
Expand ...
 
.-.
Gars, You are very kind to Gov. twice convicted. He received kick-backs from construction projects and appoined some of those hacks. But his efforts were a huge help
 
gars44 said:
You're absolutely right about the marketing. All New England land grant schools are basically the same. The New England state governments ignored them forever because there were excellent private schools around that the state leaders - the movers and the shakers - all attended. The state land grant was effectively a part of the public assistance system, where the lower classes could go to college and get a "good" education, become teachers, enter the work force, etc. This is not the approach of the states where you don't have such a proliferation of high quality private schools. Michigan, for example, put their resources into U of Mich, and it shows and it paid off.
Of all the New England land grants, Connecticut has gone the farthest to reverse this trend and undo the damage. Still, the "up in Storrs" mentality continues to this day. That is the mentality that Storrs is so far from Hartford, and so far from Fairfield County, New Haven County, that you just kind of hope and trust it will run itself responsibly and intelligently without having to give it too much on hands attention. The first guy that tried to make a change was none other than John Rowland, a Villanova grad, who recognized that a lot of money had to be spent on taking the campus and community out of the dark ages and into the 21st Century. Unfortunately, we have continued to appoint political hacks and non-management types in key leadership positions, people without energy or vision, and the organization suffered as a result. Up until Susan Herbst, that is. She is really the first "management" type of president I can remember having at Uconn. Malloy also continues the Rowland tradition of spending on higher education faculty and facilities. One of the main reasons I support Malloy. It will be very easy for a Republican governor who wants to cut taxes and spending to target Uconn. But I digress . . . .
Expand ...

Good post, I definitely see this sentiment among UConn fans and the administration when I was a student. UConn has built the tradition of a quaint, school out in the country, yet the truth of the matter is that UConn has far outgrown this. My main point in all of this is that UConn simply cant "just keep winning and proving everyone wrong" forever, which seems to be the sentiment of a few posters on this board. Our success in the last 25 years has been incredible, but all great things do not last forever. Once we slip out of the limelight for a few years (especially in this conference where if you aren't amazing, you are quickly forgotten) we could find ourselves in a sticky situation. A stretch of down years will put a bind on recruiting, and in 10 years recruits wont be tweeting about those great UConn championships from over a dozen years ago, they will be attracted to the "prestige" or "perception" of a program, because honestly that can go a long way on its own for a recruit who desires attention to prove his worth for the NBA draft.

Look at UK. They were hot during the '90s then fell off during the Tubby Smith/Billie Gillespie years until Cal came to town. Nothing really changed in Lawrence during the offseason transition from Gillespie to Cal, but the way the program was marketed and "sold" to viewers was changed dramatically, and recruits have responded overwhelmingly. Despite what many of you may think about all this being "too showy/classless" or you thinking its just a "fad", this is the future of sports and media in general in the internet age, and its not changing any time soon. Many people like that UConn, especially under Calhoun, had this "duck* what people think, we are going to do it the UConn way and win regardless" which believe me is incredibly satisfying as a fan, but again this attitude has nearly harmed our program irreparably. Look at how schools viewed UConn during conference realignment due to all the bridges that Calhoun burned with this mindset, and how we were treated during the APR ban days. UConn is in dire need of a master of PR and marketing to maximize this program to its potential, we are not a magical, cinderella story anymore.
 
All I know is being a fan for a few decades and winning 4 ships, makes everything else petty. I won't feed in to being a victim, snubbed, overlooked, etc.. because we have something other programs would kill for. We can't compete with uk, dook and perhaps UCLA in the 'blue blood' category but folks who really know about this are in senior housing and cemeteries.

I appreciate the OP's in depth discussion, but for me I could care less about the media's bias or uk/dook obsession. In the title game at halftime the reporter asked Ollie about uk being a 2nd half team, and Ollie slap her with the message that UConn is too. So I'll let our capable Coach handle the media,

I am happy as a pig in shiout, because when I rock my UConn gear in public (and out of state), everyone know who we are and what we are capable of.

The reality is that UConn is the best team in the land.
 
As stated endless times… the marketing / merchandising dept at Uconn is pathetic. How is it that we can't get a Shabazz Napier jersey last year?? How is that possible?? In state? at the Co-Op? As mentioned here… i can go into any Champs and find UNC, Duke, Kentucky gear… and we can't even get a jersey of our 1st team all-American. Disgrace.
 
chapwilvaug72 said:
check this yr home sched.

it week

who wants to sit on edge or SRO for coppen, baby u, centl state, minus degree clg, billys store crew u et al

whoosa

i donts believes its

+ you dudes debate percepts
Expand ...

SEC basketball on the whole is pretty crappy (and has been for a while) so why doesn't it hurt UK?
 
dogfan96 said:
SEC basketball on the whole is pretty crappy (and has been for a while) so why doesn't it hurt UK?
Expand ...
This is absolutely true. Our basketball conference is better than the SEC.
 
.-.
Matrim55 said:
Because we lost three of our four best players (arguably 4 of 6) and, save for 2000, we've always sucked defending a title.
Expand ...
Small point, but save for the very end of the year, 2000 was pretty bad, too.
 
David 76 said:
Gars, You are very kind to Gov. twice convicted. He received kick-backs from construction projects and appoined some of those hacks. But his efforts were a huge help
Expand ...
Ironically, your former government might well have been the most honest politician in New Jersey. Those are pretty much "no calls" in the Garden State.
 
Husky999 said:
As stated endless times… the marketing / merchandising dept at Uconn is pathetic. How is it that we can't get a Shabazz Napier jersey last year?? How is that possible?? In state? at the Co-Op? As mentioned here… i can go into any Champs and find UNC, Duke, Kentucky gear… and we can't even get a jersey of our 1st team all-American. Disgrace.
Expand ...
I'm going say it is dramatically improved. At least I now don't cringe when I see our commercial during games. "Great pick" wasn't all the great but the Uconn country with the guy in overalls was abysmal. I think their is a recognition of the need for quality marketing (long over due in a school with a pretty decent marketing program) and a concerted effort is being made to correct it. Fairly or unfairly, I credit Herbst. I think she's a pretty savvy lady and were lucky to have her.
 
BUHusky10 said:
Duke's players have not played a single game, yet they are already assumed to be better than the reigning champions. .
Expand ...

Saying that the Duke game will give the first indication whether UConn is a legitimate threat to defend its title implies nothing about whether Duke or UConn is better, merely that Duke will be good enough that one might get a sense of how good UConn is from watching the two teams play. That you believe it is premised on an assumption that Duke is better and that you would write something so long based on that premise says a lot more about you than it does about the world in general.
 
Dave Carlson said:
Saying that the Duke game will give the first indication whether UConn is a legitimate threat to defend its title implies nothing about whether Duke or UConn is better, merely that Duke will be good enough that one might get a sense of how good UConn is from watching the two teams play. That you believe it is premised on an assumption that Duke is better and that you would write something so long based on that premise says a lot more about you than it does about the world in general.
Expand ...

Well Dook IS ranked #3 after losing their best player (actually their 2 best players. Rodney Hood being the other) from a 1st round tourney exit team... so the media DOES assume they're better. They even got 1st place votes, even though they lost more games than UConn did last year... all based on guys who were playing in high school a few months ago.
 
Last edited:
Timing is everything. I would have welcomed the OP ten, even five years ago. That's when there were problems. The last two years have seen a significant improvement in marketing the UConn brand. From the logo change (a smiling dog might be nostalgic to us, but this new logo will gain greater appeal among casual fans) to UConn vs. Connecticut because it isn't state specific, I believe the university has demonstrated some intelligent thought about marketing.

There are only two programs getting an inordinate amount of hype - Kentucky and Duke. That's a marketing strategy by ESPN to create some unity in a fragmented market. Those two programs have large followings to start with and have received a bump in viewership because of the hype. But a large number of successful programs besides UConn do not get this treatment. The argument about UConn's success is valid, but up until the last two championships for UConn, UNC, Michigan State, Florida and Arizona were some top programs that did not get any of the type of hype Kentucky and Duke are getting. And they had equal or greater success than Dickie V's Duke. It is the media, and not the universities, that dictates what the public receives.

Merchandising is relative to demand. As others have pointed out, JC was not a likable coach, the program was given a black eye with the APR situation (unfair in my opinion) and the university dropped the ball in generating a passionate fan base within it's own territory.

I'm very bullish about many things going on. The negativity is behind the university. KO and Diaco are likable and approachable, and the university is marketing itself quite professionally. They upgraded the media department. The promotional videos are significantly improved. They hired terrific interviewers that meet with the coaches and present these interviews to the fans. First night was electric and professional. They've pushed into Fairfield County with bb games and NYC with a football game at Yankee Stadium. They've upped the OOC schedule to reduce the impact of a weaker conference. And they are getting the students involved. This idea of having a practice for students is a wonderful step in the right direction to generate interest among passive students. I would guess that there is a long term plan to increase the student seating in venues once the university improves its funding from the media. For now it's important to get donors to contribute.

The women's bb program has enjoyed the largest national audience among women's college bb fans for some time now. I believe KO will be the ambassador to move the men's program in this direction. And don't discount Diaco. When he gets the football program turned around, the university will get a big bump with the media. I also believe the universities commitment on the academic side will have a big impact. We just have to be a little patient. Up until then I plan on wearing my UConn gear wherever I go. I wore a UConn sweatshirt at the North Carolina fair this weekend. I wanted to remind them that they were correct in advocating for UConn over Louisville.
 
.-.
Dave Carlson said:
Saying that the Duke game will give the first indication whether UConn is a legitimate threat to defend its title implies nothing about whether Duke or UConn is better, merely that Duke will be good enough that one might get a sense of how good UConn is from watching the two teams play. That you believe it is premised on an assumption that Duke is better and that you would write something so long based on that premise says a lot more about you than it does about the world in general.
Expand ...

Your opinion of Duke's strength, based on absolutely zero minutes of gameplay or statistical evidence, shows the validity of my point. Last year, Duke had arguably the best scorer in the nation in Jabari Parker, that kid was an absolute stud. His sidekick, Rodney Hood, was also a legit lottery pick throughout the entire regular season. These two guys are now gone. So ignoring what recruits they have coming in, Duke is left with Rasheed Sulaimon, Amile Jefferson, the Plumlee no one cares about, and painfully underwhelming Quinn Cooke as their lead PG who as we have all seen is the position that dictates a teams success at the college level. Even Duke fans are have been disappointed by Cooke's performance at Duke the last three years. Duke lost more games than UConn last year, went into the tournament seeded 4 spots higher (3 vs 7), lost in the first round to Mercer, lost roughly 40% of its scoring to the draft (on a team that didnt seem to have much defensive aptitude), and now fills those positions with a group of 18 year old KIDS who were in high school drinking chocolate milk in the cafeteria just a few months ago. No analyst or sports writer in the nation has seen one single second of this current crop of "blue chippers" play against college bodies and defenses, yet they are the third best team in the nation in an almost unanimous fashion, even being egregious enough to give them multiple 1st place votes? How is my point here even remotely overblown or dramatized like you imply. Preseason polls in college basketball are absolutely meaningless and everyone knows it, which is why I am of the opinion that the champions should start the season at #1 or near the top, regardless of what talent turnover has occurred, because the fact is 3 weeks into the regular season the real rankings will begin to take shape and will correct themselves.

This treatment that Duke receives is exactly my point. I dont blame Duke in the slightest, in fact I envy their proactivity in the matter. Duke, over the last few decades under Coack K, has achieved an incredible amount of success that the program has never even come close to prior to K. So while winning championship after championship, what do they do? They invested heavily in their program and their image, creating this perception of perpetual "eliteness" and success, despite whether they have the #1 recruiting class coming in, or the #30th, doesnt matter, the general public sees a freshman walk out wearing a Duke uniform, and while knowing absolutely nothing about the kid or his accolades, assumes him to be one of the best in the nation. This is a common feature of all the great college sports programs in the nation, whether it be Texas, Alabama, Michigan, USC, Duke, UK, UNC, etc. And this is what UConn needs to do, in fact, this is what UConn should have started doing after our first title in '99 when things became real. Instead of sitting back with the "oh we have 4 titles, people know we are good already attitude", UConn, like Duke, should be investing heavily in its image and brand, so that when the current class of 2018 high school recruits are mulling over their offers, they image themselves being at the true center of the college basketball world while wearing the UConn blue, not waiting for a flashier program with a more dazzling image to come along so they can jump aboard. Right now UConn is the king of bringing under-recruited guys to the top of the totem pole, yet the truth is we cannot compete for recruits with the likes of the top programs (our recruiting statistics prove this), and as such we must make changes to remedy this. As for those who love our current model (which I do as well of course), we must not forget that our last two titles came in a major time of uncertainty and the pieces of our roster truly fell in place perfectly, it was almost divine. Yet their is nothing wrong with maintaining our current model while supplementing it with a few top recruits every couple years which will be sure fire studs, which Ollie in his time in the NBA has already shown a great eye for.

This isnt simply about self-promotion, this much like a new growing business or brand, you have a closing window of time while your product is on top to ensure that it stays there so that the "next new thing" doesnt come along and take your place. We must invest in our own future because the dividends will be invaluable in the future. In 10 years, God forbid we dont keep our current pace up, the general public's short term memory will not remember our great runs as fondly, but what will always last is that image of strength and greatness presented by the likes of Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, UNC who have established themselves properly so that no matter how many decades of mediocrity they suffer, they continue to get top talent and kids begging for offers. As much as I love this program we are far from this level, and all the factors mentioned throughout the thread like marketing, perception, PR, and keeping up with internet and fashion trends, as trivial as you may think they are, are pivotal to creating this image and ensuring our long lasting success.
 
Last edited:
I nominate BUHusky10 as the new best Uconnfan/boneyard poster. keep up the good work, you are absolutely right on all counts. The fact you have to even argue your points here is amazing.
 
BU, I've read all of your posts in this thread and I still don't understand what you think UConn should do. Specifically. Not just 'get more shirts in stores' or 'get overrated like Duke'. What specifically do you suggest UConn should do to improve marketing and branding?

I have one very clear idea that I think we'd all agree would help - hire tcf, immediately.

But other than that I tend to agree with fleud's post above. So tell us specifically what measures you'd propose.
 
I end up traveling around the country a good deal for work and really anywhere you go, you see the Duke/UNC/Kentucky stuff. However, the local colleges dominate over them, as they well should. For example, you should see how crazy people go over the Iowa State Cyclones. You can't even walk into a grocery store in Cedar Rapids without being slammed with Cyclones merchandise. I don't really know where I'm going with this so I'll end it here.
 
selles said:
BU, I've read all of your posts in this thread and I still don't understand what you think UConn should do. Specifically. Not just 'get more shirts in stores' or 'get overrated like Duke'. What specifically do you suggest UConn should do to improve marketing and branding?

I have one very clear idea that I think we'd all agree would help - hire tcf, immediately.

But other than that I tend to agree with fleud's post above. So tell us specifically what measures you'd propose.
Expand ...

To start, let me say that things have changed in the last 2-3 years and improvements have been made. If I was in charge here are some changes I'd look into:

  • Keep building on First Night in the direction established this year. Events like this are exclusive to the top programs, and UConn must be one of them. Upgrading lighting systems (this years projection system with the logo was a great start, and apparently the school is planning on a major lighting system upgrade within the next couple years), and the general aesthetic of Gampel and XL could use work. Gampel is a classic, but the seating and facilities including the locker rooms are only a few steps above high school gym quality (Champions Center helps alleviate this).
  • Increase the University's presence on the internet and social media in general. Hire actual video editors to produce our hype and promo videos that have been popping up lately in the last few years. If you noticed, in the last couple years they have improved exponentially (see: ) because the school actually contacted an actual production company, in my freshman year at UConn this department was primarily reserved for student interns/volunteers, which as you can expect you get what you pay for.
  • We are a 45 minute drive from ESPN, the self-proclaimed capital of sports coverage in the world, we NEED to take advantage of this. UConn cant maintain the Calhoun mentality when it came to the media and outsiders, gladly Ollie seems like the polar opposite on this front. We need to make sure ESPN treats our blue and white games and scrimmages like it does for UK, etc. Ollie and Geno should have their own monthly programs (I know Geno has one already) that ISNT on public access TV, this would actually be profitable for ESPN given a guarenteed base of viewers within their own state, but I understand this bullett point may not be as clear cut as I am making it, but proactivity is key, and I think Calhoun's abrasive nature made no one like ESPN or media want to associate much with the program, which as you all saw during CR, hurt us.
  • Stop treating the students, the programs most fanatic fans, as second class citizens in terms of seating. I know this isnt exclusive to UConn, but look at the student sections of schools like Duke, Michigan, Pitt, MSU. The students deserve at least one side of the lower bowl section, yet each year ti seems the student section has gotten smaller and farther from the action, especially at XL. Watching nationally televised games of UConn at XL or Duke/Michigan at home displays a clear gap. For Duke and Michigan for example, the crowd seen on the telecast is the students standing and screaming from start to finish, it gives an image of a much more diehard fanbase. At UConn these seats are reserved for donors and season ticket holders, which I absolutely understand from a business standpoint, yet with a program like UConn, it has been created from the ground up in the last quarter century almost exclusively by the Coaches, Players and the Students. I can understand a program like UNC putting their students in a baseline section, because with nearly a hundred years of history comes several generations of die hard fans, this is not so much the case at UConn.
  • Invest heavily in marketing and design. Many of our posters on the BY have complained about the new logo (which is that classic CT/UConn attitude that has prevailed for the last two decades), but the reality of the fact is that it is a major upgrade. 3rd party fans not associated with UConn around the country have seemed to strongly prefer the new logo and I dont blame them. It presents a more marketable, modern, and most importantly, professional image. The new logo is much more versatile for clothing and merchandise. In addition, the University needs to establish stronger relations with Nike, Champion, and other designers to improve its branding quality. Just by a simple search for "UConn shirt" on amazon you see a wide range of products with almost ZERO uniformity across logos, designs, styles, or even colors for god sake. Here is an example of a shirt design from the late '90s to early '00s: http://www.amazon.com/Uconn-Huskies-T-shirt-Ladies-Athletic/dp/B00GW56MG8/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1414470240&sr=8-10&keywords=uconn shirt , if you were a current student, would you want to wear that? Here is an example of one of the rare new designs that we actually can purchase that show some improvement: http://www.fanatics.com/COLLEGE_UConn_Huskies/UConn_Huskies_Thriller_II_Pullover_Hoodie_-_Navy_Blue . There is a huge difference in style and aesthetic.
  • Just look at Amazon's (the largest online retailer on earth) inventory of UConn products, it is pathetic, I wouldnt order a single item here even if they were free of charge: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=uconn shirt .
  • And here is the same search but for UK: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=university of kentucky&rh=i:aps,k:university of kentucky
  • These design improvements require working with distributors to make sure that our apparel is sold in retailers across the country, alongside the products from UK, Duke, ND, UNC, etc who are now, without a doubt our peers on a performance level. This establishes a legitimacy to the consumer, especially those far from UConn. There is no reason UConn cant use this opportunity to create a base of fans across the country who simply root for UConn because they are David to the Goliaths (big time programs), we exhibit a blue-collar attitude at UConn and impartial fans really love that, time to cash in and make them speak with their wallets.
  • All these improvements will result in greater perception from those outside of the program, which is the main person this entire post is regarding. Of course every member of this board loves UConn and is loyal no matter what, but the truth of the matter is that Connecticut is a small state that cannot simply support a program of this size with in state fans. We need to expand outside of the Northeast and attract a certain breed of viewer, much like the stereotype of Duke fans often not having gone to Duke but because they are a program that exhibits an air of wealth, upper class White mentality, we can find our niche as well nationally, it all starts with branding.
 
Last edited:
.-.
Status
Not open for further replies.

Forum statistics

Threads
168,205
Messages
4,556,851
Members
10,442
Latest member
Virginiafan


Top Bottom