Remember this about the new logo

[UConnNick]

UConn worked with Nike on this for 14 months. If it was that important to keep the husky all-white for tradition's sake, you'd think someone connected with UConn could have hinted it to Nike during development.

Wonder if they did and Nike just shunned it?

Think about it. Susan Herbst and Warde Manuel have been at UCONN for exactly two seconds. The folks in charge have nothing invested in UCONN's past, only in its future. These are the folks calling the shots. Perhaps they wanted to close the book on everything that has come before them and roll out nothing but new stuff to reflect the new direction of their regime. The problem is the new direction of their regime is straight down the toilet bowl at the rate they're going.

 

[Gurleyman]

Some woman designed the Nike logo in the 1970s and got paid around $40 for it. Not 40 grand. Forty dollars.

 

[Nostical]

It's interesting. I showed the new logo separately to about 20 kids and adults who are big Husky fans over the last few days. The kids were 8-12. The adults were in their 30's, 40's, 60's and 80's, lol. Since I didn't want one person's opinion to color another's, they were all seperate encounters. The outcome? I was very surprised at the UNANIMOUS dislike of the new logo. I fully expected one of them to go "Wow that's cool!" Never happened. When I asked the kids why they didn't like it the responses were essentially "It's ugly, it looks mean, and I loved Jonathan as he was. Some of the adults had similar thoughts. One person actually expounded on why they disliked it so.

"Our prior logo may not have been precisely a Husky, but that's what made him unique. It was iconic. When it showed up on TV you immediately knew it was UConn. The success of our teams over the past years with Jonathan as our logo had allowed it to be displayed a lot on the networks. If you showed a series of team logos and asked folks to identify the team, Jonathan would have been easily identifiable as UConn.This new version may more accuratley portray a Husky but so what--it's not unique to UConn. Show it on a TV screen before a highlight package and you'll be hard pressed to know what's coming--UConn? Washington? Northeastern? Someone, somewhere, somehow got too technical and lost sight of all the identity capital we had built up over the years. We had a unique representation that said UConn and we threw it away for canine accuracy. That's just not smart."

Will we get used to it? Probably. Will we sell more merchandise? Probably. Will I support it? Yes. But I'm frankly not impressed. If there was an on line vote of all alumni, I bet the new logo would be defeated in a landslide, and that's not the response the school was counting on

 

[Gurleyman]

If this change happened in reverse - if we had the new logo all along, but switched to a fuzzy Samoyed staring off into space and wanting to lick someone, we would be going batshit crazy about it.

The logo is fine. We didn't just come up with some sort of new concept on how to draw an animal's head that nobody ever thought of before, but it'll do. I'll buy gear the way I always have - unless the gear says something about being ranked #1 in December.

 

[HobokenHusky]

Some of you are unreal, do you really think that Nike and the school didn't do things like have blind focus groups vote? Do you really think one the worlds best marketing companies, and a top athletic school just slammed out some logo in 10 minutes and never thought about if the fans would like it? Yup, you geniuses were the first ones to think about an all white logo, you guys just blew that fastball by Nike marketing and the senior administration of UConn. For all the crap about the new logo, do you really think a Samoyed that was ready to lick you was an accurate portrayal of a Husky? You guys talk about maintaining a color scheme when the old logo wasn't even the RIGHT BREED OF DOG!!!! I am not a marketing guy, I know there are posters who know this better than I, but I do know something about rebranding and Nike's marketing and not only do I like the new logo, but I sure trust Nike more than the minority opinion on this board. Get real, the ship has sailed, you can whine about it all you want, but it ain't changing squat.

I wish I could like this twice. It has seriously turned into the twilight zone here. Change just freaks people the out I guess.

 

[HobokenHusky]

It's interesting. I showed the new logo separately to about 20 kids and adults who are big Husky fans over the last few days. The kids were 8-12. The adults were in their 30's, 40's, 60's and 80's, lol. Since I didn't want one person's opinion to color another's, they were all seperate encounters. The outcome? I was very surprised at the UNANIMOUS dislike of the new logo. I fully expected one of them to go "Wow that's cool!" Never happened. When I asked the kids why they didn't like it the responses were essentially "It's ugly, it looks mean, and I loved Jonathan as he was. Some of the adults had similar thoughts. One person actually expounded on why they disliked it so.

"Our prior logo may not have been precisely a Husky, but that's what made him unique. It was iconic. When it showed up on TV you immediately knew it was UConn. The success of our teams over the past years with Jonathan as our logo had allowed it to be displayed a lot on the networks. If you showed a series of team logos and asked folks to identify the team, Jonathan would have been easily identifiable as UConn.This new version may more accuratley portray a Husky but so what--it's not unique to UConn. Show it on a TV screen before a highlight package and you'll be hard pressed to know what's coming--UConn? Washington? Northeastern? Someone, somewhere, somehow got too technical and lost sight of all the identity capital we had built up over the years. We had a unique representation that said UConn and we threw it away for canine accuracy. That's just not smart."

Will we get used to it? Probably. Will we sell more merchandise? Probably. Will I support it? Yes. But I'm frankly not impressed. If there was an on line vote of all alumni, I bet the new logo would be defeated in a landslide, and that's not the response the school was counting on

The fact that you showed it separately to people doesn't matter. They all knew it was the replacement husky. They were bias opinions just based on that fact. I bet if you showed the same people the exact same logo and said it was for a new team, they would like it. People are just adverse to change.

The capital built up isn't what you think it is. I showed my buddy the new logo, who is very into sports and not an alum, from NJ, and he said. "It's cool. Honestly, it doesn't matter much. You guys are UConn. That is what matters. It's UConn. The mascot is secondary." I feel the exact same way.

 

[CAHUSKY]

Do you really think they had focus groups with students, alumni, CT citizens, etc.? Do you know anyone who served on one? .

Yes. A number of athletes, coaches and a few posters here on the yard. Do you really just think they pulled this out of their asses?

 

[CAHUSKY]

Will we get used to it? Probably. Will we sell more merchandise? Probably. Will I support it? Yes. But I'm frankly not impressed. If there was an on line vote of all alumni, I bet the new logo would be defeated in a landslide, and that's not the response the school was counting on

And if you did this same poll in 5 years you will find that people universally like it and won't believe we went 30 years with. A Samoyed as a mascot. That's how rebranding usually works. Did you poll any of them as to their feelings that the husky logo wasnt even a fricken husky?

 

[husky8273]

See Husky logo Q & A from Kyle Muncy -

http://today.uconn.edu/blog/2013/04/husky-logo-qa/

 

[storrsroars]

"Except he doesn't."

ZLS you just confirmed your contemporary ignorance. Every single person in the universe has a "point". Doesn't make them right though. Even Snookie has a point when she talks. Doesn't make her right either. Haha. The challenge is not being ignorant toward their "point" and trying to understand where it comes from and why. Yes, even Snookie. What factors caused her perception? Are they familial? Societal? Intelligence based? Experience based? What info is she drawing upon? You have to ask these questions when ppl make arguments. I would say freescooter has some understandable factors to go along with his perception. But so do you. You may be right and he may be wrong, but he has a point.

I can tell your more intelligent then your frustration is making you act right now..Don't let people you disagree with, frustrate you so much. There is too much disagreement in the world to let it get to you. That's what I try to do now anyway. It ain't easy though. Snookie makes me wanna bang my head against the wall when I hear her speak...but I realize she is a person too, and something has helped to cause her to be that way, though she is also at blame for her continued wrong perception of reality too....

After reading this, I can tell I'm going to be spending much of this weekend looking for other signs of the Apocalyspe.

 

[uconnforlife]

It's interesting. I showed the new logo separately to about 20 kids and adults who are big Husky fans over the last few days. The kids were 8-12. The adults were in their 30's, 40's, 60's and 80's, lol. Since I didn't want one person's opinion to color another's, they were all seperate encounters. The outcome? I was very surprised at the UNANIMOUS dislike of the new logo. I fully expected one of them to go "Wow that's cool!" Never happened. When I asked the kids why they didn't like it the responses were essentially "It's ugly, it looks mean, and I loved Jonathan as he was. Some of the adults had similar thoughts. One person actually expounded on why they disliked it so.

"Our prior logo may not have been precisely a Husky, but that's what made him unique. It was iconic. When it showed up on TV you immediately knew it was UConn. The success of our teams over the past years with Jonathan as our logo had allowed it to be displayed a lot on the networks. If you showed a series of team logos and asked folks to identify the team, Jonathan would have been easily identifiable as UConn.This new version may more accuratley portray a Husky but so what--it's not unique to UConn. Show it on a TV screen before a highlight package and you'll be hard pressed to know what's coming--UConn? Washington? Northeastern? Someone, somewhere, somehow got too technical and lost sight of all the identity capital we had built up over the years. We had a unique representation that said UConn and we threw it away for canine accuracy. That's just not smart."

Will we get used to it? Probably. Will we sell more merchandise? Probably. Will I support it? Yes. But I'm frankly not impressed. If there was an on line vote of all alumni, I bet the new logo would be defeated in a landslide, and that's not the response the school was counting on

Did you ask any teenagers because that's who we should be trying to appeal to and me and all of my friends love the new logo. Nike singlehandedly made Oregon football into a powerhouse I think they know what they're doing when it comes to rebranding.

 

[CL82]

I can't imagine some of the first prototypes...I'm sure there were some truly terrible ones in there.

Well I didn't feel comfortable mentioning it until now but I did have a source on the UConn side of things. You are absolutely correct that the final design was better than the original one. Here is an early prototype.

Clearly, it improved over time.

 

[8893]

This mascot sucks and if someone comes near me wearing something with this mascot on it I will tell them so and ask them why they have no support for our traditions.

I look forward to meeting you.

 

[8893]

What does Emily Noonan think about the new logo?

 

[CL82]

You know what? The same silly sons-o-bitches that are on this board complaining about the new logo today are going to be the same silly sons -o-bitches who will be complaining in about 10-12 years when the University decides to re-brand itself to meet 2023 standards and talking about how the 'old' logo put in in 2013 should be kept in order to retain our traditions. Even in 2013, no one is going to ask their opinion so whatever they come up with will be wrong.

Nah, for the most part, they'll be senile by then and won't care.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Did the Nike rocket scientists factor in the level of anger, disgust, animosity, lost morale, lost recognition (if we were a corporation the value of Jonathon from a recognition perspective would be millions of dollars) and lost donations a change would generate? Or did they just see this as an opportunity to sell a few more t-shirts with no risk to themselves? UConn is taking the risk with this and will end up with on their face. Nike will just swoosh on to the next suckers.

"I'm sorry, sir, I thought we were rooting for the same team? Did I give up my right to an opinion the moment I went to UConn? Is it hthusky74's way or the highway? Now if you could put on some pants and stop yelling at everyone, we're not actually on your lawn, sir."

 

[Husky1972]

When I asked the kids why they didn't like it the responses were essentially "It's ugly, it looks mean, and I loved Jonathan as he was. Some of the adults had similar thoughts.

Not Geno:
Head women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma says he is eager to see the new look on his student-athletes.
“This logo is everything that a Husky is supposed to be – powerful, aggressive, determined,” he says. “It is looking right through you and saying ‘Do not mess with me.’ This is a streamlined, fighting dog, and I cannot wait for it to be on our uniforms and court.”

Kevin Ollie is on board, too:
Adds head men’s basketball coach Kevin Ollie, “I absolutely love this new Husky Dog logo. It looks fantastic on our uniforms and I know that our fans will love it as much as we do. Our new identity is a look that I know I will be proud to wear.”

http://today.uconn.edu/blog/2013/04/a-new-husky-for-a-new-era/

 

[8893]

I love Geno and KO and their respective quotes, but don't they have (and/or want) separate contracts with Nike themselves, or are those prohibited now?

 

[CL82]

Did the Nike rocket scientists factor in the level of anger, disgust, animosity, lost morale, lost recognition (if we were a corporation the value of Jonathon from a recognition perspective would be millions of dollars) and lost donations a change would generate? Or did they just see this as an opportunity to sell a few more t-shirts with no risk to themselves? UConn is taking the risk with this and will end up with on their face. Nike will just swoosh on to the next suckers.

Yep, because they do this every year and they know that a limited number of fans will get their panties in a bunch for a week or two and then 99% of them will move on with their life. This isn't the end of the university by a long shot. Just my opinion.

 

[NHUConnfan]

Well I didn't feel comfortable mentioning it until now but I did have a source on the UConn side of things. You are absolutely correct that the final design was better than some of the original one. Here is an early prototype.

Clearly, it improved over time.

Like...where is the dog in that. I literally can't see it.

 

[CL82]

Like...where is the dog in that. I literally can't see it.

I know right? It kinda looks like a rodent ...and the production work is pretty weak. I am amazed Nike would put out that shoddy an effort.

 

[Gurleyman]

I know right? It kinda looks like a rodent ...and the production work is pretty weak. I am amazed Nike would put out that shoddy an effort.

It almost looks like a Blue Beaver.

Shame on Nike. Thank goodness someone stopped them. Before it was too late.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I read a long expose on the history of the Buffalo slug where they only presented it internally, not through focus groups. Of course, that was Reebok, but I do think you're presuming too much. The history of logos that are DOA shows that this can happen.

I think the vast majority of us like this new logo. I was surprised. I thought it was going to be much worse. That being said, they missed a big opportunity when they put a toupee on its head. I think the popularity of Penfield's husky speaks to that.

I'm going to quote you here upstater, and say I agree.

If we are on something we can probably not go back and forth 10 times right...Lol

 

[Bezzz]

Some woman designed the Nike logo in the 1970s and got paid around $40 for it. Not 40 grand. Forty dollars.

I had to look that one up. Actually, it was $35! But 12 years later, she got paid with "an envelope filled with an undisclosed amount of Nike stock".

The Swoosh

 

[hthusky74]

"I'm sorry, sir, I thought we were rooting for the same team? Did I give up my right to an opinion the moment I went to UConn? Is it hthusky74's way or the highway? Now if you could put on some pants and stop yelling at everyone, we're not actually on your lawn, sir."

Did you see your name or any reference to you in the statement you responded to by me? Are you paranoid or something?