UConn Branding

[freescooter]

The point wasn't that there are actually "wooly" huskies out there with longer/shaggy coats. The point is that the artist who created the previous Husky logo drew it based on his dog which was half samoyed. So it was not based on a true rendition of a husky.

And to get really technical about Wooly Huskies, long hair on Huskies is considered a fault if the dog has it because it collects clumps of snow. So we either had a half samoyed husky logo or a husky with a genetic defect as it relates to working husky dogs.

all of which is totally irrelevant when you consider that the former Husky was clearly and universally identified with the University of Connecticut and its athletic teams. In the same way that the Trojan figure(which is really based on a Roman soldier from many centuries later) is Southern Cal, the green clothed leprechaun is identified with Notre Dame despite the fact that in Irish traditions leprechauns don't wear green, its usually red or brown, and they wear tri-cornered hats,or sometimes stocking caps or pointed caps but neverthe type of hat ND's sports. The white husky that may not have been a perfect representation of a perfect husky, is identified with UConn and has been for 15 years with minor modifications. Since 1935, beginning with Jonathan II we have been represented by a white husky. But the last version was probably one of the most identifiable ones in college athletics. Changing it because "it wasn't really a husky" is comparable to McDonalds replacing the golden arches because they were really yellow not gold. to repalce it with something so generic would be like McDonalds replacing the golden arches with glass doors.

 

[FAIRTIDES]

Disagree. UConn just screams championships. "Connecticut" screams J. Crew penny loafers. And half the country probably can't locate Connecticut on a map.

Did J Crew buy Bass and replace the "Weejun?"

 

[Dann]

all of which is totally irrelevant when you consider that the former Husky was clearly and universally identified with the University of Connecticut and its athletic teams. In the same way that the Trojan figure(which is really based on a Roman soldier from many centuries later) is Southern Cal, the green clothed leprechaun is identified with Notre Dame despite the fact that in Irish traditions leprechauns don't wear green, its usually red or brown, and they wear tri-cornered hats,or sometimes stocking caps or pointed caps but neverthe type of hat ND's sports. The white husky that may not have been a perfect representation of a perfect husky, is identified with UConn and has been for 15 years with minor modifications. Since 1935, beginning with Jonathan II we have been represented by a white husky. But the last version was probably one of the most identifiable ones in college athletics. Changing it because "it wasn't really a husky" is comparable to McDonalds replacing the golden arches because they were really yellow not gold. to repalce it with something so generic would be like McDonalds replacing the golden arches with glass doors.

exactly. the new logo is to far of a stretch from the old one. thats the whole point. i dont care as much here as others about the blue vs white. i think there is a nice in the middle that can be met on that. for me its simply not a uconn husky, its to far off so the brand power built up over time is just gone. the red outline makes me want to do bad things to ppl and its a slap in our face. there is a reason we are surrounded by that color schools wise and its hated. then wartde and susan outline our brand and logo in red. unreal. why dont we just change the blue to a lighter blue so we look more like duke and uk while we are at it.

 

[hthusky74]

When Memphis calls itself umem or uphis u let me know. Your takings for profit and comparing it to a non profit. Your taking a national dilevery business and comparing it to a college. One drives around in trucks and handles brown boxes the other teaches, researches and plays sports. Glad we're on the same page here.

Michigan
Alabama
Florida
Texas
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Tennessee
West Virginia
Virginia
Maryland
Ohio state
Penn state
Illinois
Michigan state
Iowa
Nebraska
Utah
Washington
Oregon

And so on. Then there is the northeast with private schools and city schools. If there was ever a region where a state brand could show up and rise to the top it's where we sit. Yet we decided to throw the nickname as our brand out there. There is not any other region of the country where there are BCS teams without a state name. For every Baylor there is a Texas. Wake. North Carolina. Vandy. Tennessee. N western Illinois. Meanwhile up in the northeast we have Rutgers, Cuse and bc. It begs for a state name. So we went with a nickname. For decades we watched real football down south and west make fun of the northeast. Those small schools up there blah blah. We are the chance to kill that talk and rise above the region. Instead we act like we want to join them.

As your discourse below indicates, at least in their repective regions and leagues, Vanderbilt is always referred to as Vandy, BC as BC. In addition Alabama is referred to as Bama, Tennessee and Texas both as UT, Georgia Tech as Tech, Mississippi as Ol' Miss, Rhode Island as Rhody, Massachusetts as UMass, Louisiana State is LSU, Texas El Paso is UTEP, Southern Methodist is SMU, Texas Christian is TCU, and on and on. No matter where you go the abbreviated nicknames are de rigeur. If not those, than the mascot name is utilized. I went to graduate school at UT (Tennessee) and believe me, at least with regards to sports you were referring to UT, The Vols, or The Big Orange. Alabama was always 'Bama or The Tide (didn't bother with Crimson, there is only one Tide). I think you are getting worked up about nothing. If we win games, you can call us Storrs Agricultural College and it won't matter.

 

[Dann]

As your discourse below indicates, at least in their repective regions and leagues, Vanderbilt is always referred to as Vandy, BC as BC. In addition Alabama is referred to as Bama, Tennessee and Texas both as UT, Georgia Tech as Tech, Mississippi as Ol' Miss, Rhode Island as Rhody, Massachusetts as UMass, Louisiana State is LSU, Texas El Paso is UTEP, Southern Methodist is SMU, Texas Christian is TCU, and on and on. No matter where you go the abbreviated nicknames are de rigeur. If not those, than the mascot name is utilized. I went to graduate school at UT (Tennessee) and believe me, at least with regards to sports you were referring to UT, The Vols, or The Big Orange. Alabama was always 'Bama or The Tide (didn't bother with Crimson, there is only one Tide). I think you are getting worked up about nothing. If we win games, you can call us Storrs Agricultural College and it won't matter.

all of those schools dont officially call them selves by nick name. we do now. thats the big deal. tennessee doesn't sign checks with "ut or the vols". we sign checks as uconn not connecticut.

 

[Husky25]

all of those schools dont officially call them selves by nick name. we do now. thats the big deal. tennessee doesn't sign checks with "ut or the vols". we sign checks as uconn not connecticut.

Just because you type it in a different thread, doesn't make it anymore correct.

1) Technically speaking, the University does not sign checks.
2) No they don't. It's the athletic identity branded consistently across the sports.
3) Click on this official link. "University of Connecticut" is still prominantly displayed in the main banner.

When was the last time you herad State College, Pennslyvannia?

 

[freescooter]

exactly. the new logo is to far of a stretch from the old one. thats the whole point. i dont care as much here as others about the blue vs white. i think there is a nice in the middle that can be met on that. for me its simply not a uconn husky, its to far off so the brand power built up over time is just gone. the red outline makes me want to do bad things to ppl and its a slap in our face. there is a reason we are surrounded by that color schools wise and its hated. then wartde and susan outline our brand and logo in red. unreal. why dont we just change the blue to a lighter blue so we look more like duke and uk while we are at it.

Dan,
Its frieghtening to me and probably to you too, but you got it exactly on the nose. You can make modest adjustments (like the 90s logo to the 2000s one) but they elected to toss out the brand and all the equity it had earned over 2 decades for no apparent reason except "it didn't look like a true husky." It would have been a dumb move in any respect. to replace it with Donald the Toupee Dog, which could have been made by a 12 year old with access to clipart and MSPaint, was beyond dumb. I honestly think there were 2 motivations. 1st, donald is cheap to reproduce, unlike the other one which was quite detailed. 2nd Nike already designed the dopey eyeball helmet and that drove the logo, not the other way around.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Do the negative nancy's on this board think that the new logo won't be quickly associated with UConn? It's not like in a year or two every college fan isn't going to have a clue whose logo that is. UConn isn't a brand because of some cartoon dog, it's a brand because of performance and that isn't going to stop because of a new logo. ESPN isn't going to stop showing our games, other ADs won't stop scheduling us, etc. Changing a logo does not remove our entire history, despite the whining of a bunch of people on this board.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Dan,
Its frieghtening to me and probably to you too, but you got it exactly on the nose. You can make modest adjustments (like the 90s logo to the 2000s one) but they elected to toss out the brand and all the equity it had earned over 2 decades for no apparent reason except "it didn't look like a true husky." It would have been a dumb move in any respect. to replace it with Donald the Toupee Dog, which could have been made by a 12 year old with access to clipart and MSPaint, was beyond dumb. I honestly think there were 2 motivations. 1st, donald is cheap to reproduce, unlike the other one which was quite detailed. 2nd Nike already designed the dopey eyeball helmet and that drove the logo, not the other way around.

You officially win for most absurd complaint. There isn't an army of grandmas creating every team's logo in needlepoint. It's computers and I can assure you,the cost difference in producing one vs. the other is marginal at best.

 

[freescooter]

Do the negative nancy's on this board think that the new logo won't be quickly associated with UConn? It's not like in a year or two every college fan isn't going to have a clue whose logo that is. UConn isn't a brand because of some cartoon dog, it's a brand because of performance and that isn't going to stop because of a new logo. ESPN isn't going to stop showing our games, other ADs won't stop scheduling us, etc. Changing a logo does not remove our entire history, despite the whining of a bunch of people on this board.

You obviously miss the point about brands. And I doubt you've looked at the complexity of the old husky vs. Donald. Donald is cheap and easily reproducible on a computer. The other is far more textured and requires more complexity, even when produced on a computer hence is more expensive to reproduce.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

You obviously miss the point about brands. And I doubt you've looked at the complexity of the old husky vs. Donald. Donald is cheap and easily reproducible on a computer. The other is far more textured and requires more complexity, even when produced on a computer hence is more expensive to reproduce.

No, I don't miss the point about brands. You just happen to think that all goodwill this school has is tied up in a logo and that it is all lost once that logo is changed. All of that will be associated with the new logo once people start seeing it (basketball and football season). And I'm sorry, but the point about reproduction costs is just not true. Where exactly do you think these extra costs are coming from? Do you think someone is recreating the logo on a computer every time they produce a new piece of merchandise? Do you think some special equipment was necessary to handle the old logo? You're making stuff up to try and validate your point that the new logo was not in our best interest and you're grasping at nothing.

 

[Husky25]

As for Susan and Warde, don't be shocked if she is in the mix for the next ACC opening or the next Big opening. Warde is out of here as soon as he finds the right gig. He didn't take this job to run a mid-major department. If he gets out soon, both he and UConn will both be better off.

You and HFD should get together and play B.I.N.G.O. or something. What exactly is the right gig for Mr. Manuel or Ms. Herbst? Doesn't one have to have a list of accomplishments first? As far as I know UConn is not AAU and the endowment is sub-par (the two biggest things I read mentioned on these boards as deficiencies on the academic side). Manuel "screwed up" the Ollie situation (which he didn't), UConn was left out of the Realignment cash grab, and not dismissing Coach Pasqauloni are the major deficiencies listed under Manuel's charge.

Don't mistake activity (which many don't think exists, anyhow) for accomplishment. If Manuel or Herbst jump ship before UConn is in a better position, schools will think they are running from their responsibilities. That may work when a 24 year old goes from Blum Shapiro to The Hartford, but it doesn't work in quite the same way in such a high profile industry.

Nor are there blue ones. That was their "justification" for changing one of the most identifiable logos in college athletics into one of the most generic. You walk into a gathering with the old logo and everyone knew it was UConn. I've had it happen in Florida. I've had it happen in New Orleans, in LA, in Portland Maine and Portland Oregon and even in Madrid Spain. People recognized that logo as representing UConn. Whether it was an accurate depiction of a husky is irrelevant. It has been replaced by a piece of clipart, and clipart that ignored UConn's tradition on top of that.

1. Find me a Blue alligator (Florida) in the wild.
2. How about a Blue Devil (Devils are depicted as red)?
3. How about a purple husky dog (U-Dub)?
4. Aquila chrysaetos', or Golden Eagles (BC's original mascot), is niether maroon, nor gold, no does it typically have a white head, ala a bald eagle, which is also not Maroon or Gold.
5. Compare #4 above to the Kent State Golden Flashes, whose mascot actually is a golden eagle...with the correct colors, wearing a Kent State jersey.
6. And finally...
Stanford University is located in Palo Alto, California. "El Palo Alto" is the redwood tree. Why then is the Stanford Cardinal (bird or color), represented by, what looks to me as, an evergreen tree...that is green, but notcardinal red?

EDIT: Oh yeah the University of California at Berkeley Golden Bear is now half blue.

 

[Husky25]

exactly. the new logo is to far of a stretch from the old one. thats the whole point. i dont care as much here as others about the blue vs white. i think there is a nice in the middle that can be met on that. for me its simply not a uconn husky, its to far off so the brand power built up over time is just gone. the red outline makes me want to do bad things to ppl and its a slap in our face. there is a reason we are surrounded by that color schools wise and its hated. then wartde and susan outline our brand and logo in red. unreal. why dont we just change the blue to a lighter blue so we look more like duke and uk while we are at it.

UConn's school colors are National Flag Blue and White. The red is merely an accent. It was also added in the mid-90's to FB and BB uniforms, so it was indeed a aprt of the old uniforms and logo (red tongue). Our National Flag includes National Flag Blue (and White). Adding Red was not a far leap.

 

[Husky25]

Dan,
Its frieghtening to me and probably to you too, but you got it exactly on the nose. You can make modest adjustments (like the 90s logo to the 2000s one) but they elected to toss out the brand and all the equity it had earned over 2 decades for no apparent reason except "it didn't look like a true husky." It would have been a dumb move in any respect. to replace it with Donald the Toupee Dog, which could have been made by a 12 year old with access to clipart and MSPaint, was beyond dumb. I honestly think there were 2 motivations. 1st, donald is cheap to reproduce, unlike the other one which was quite detailed. 2nd Nike already designed the dopey eyeball helmet and that drove the logo, not the other way around.

Any logo can be made using clip art. That is no longer a reason...err...excuse.

 

[BHusky]

You obviously miss the point about brands. And I doubt you've looked at the complexity of the old husky vs. Donald. Donald is cheap and easily reproducible on a computer. The other is far more textured and requires more complexity, even when produced on a computer hence is more expensive to reproduce.

What is the difference in reproduction cost between the 2? I cannot imagine it is more than a few pennies if there is in fact a difference in cost. I don't get the argument that Nike made the new logo to save reproduction costs as a company with $25B in revenue. And ultimately won't the copmpany that reproduces the logo incur most of the cost which would be the likes of Nike, The Game or any other vendor who will produce UConn gear with a logo. Nike redisigned Cal's logo as well and I would argue that they made the new bear logo more complex than the traditional Cal trademark which would increase costs for reproduction.

 

[junglehusky]

For the record I am fine with the red outline. It sets us apart from nearby navy blue/white teams (Penn St., Yale, UNH, Yankees, probably a bunch of Div II teams). Only two other schools come to mind with dark blue / white / red - Arizona and Gonzaga and UConn will never be confused with them. My only problem was whether it was being applied consistently across different UConn teams - either all with red trim or all without - and now they've fixed that.

I've accepted for now the change away from all-white husky logo, I still think they could have provided some kind of explanation other than the Samoyed argument (which may have been valid but seems like an afterthought of an explanation. If not, at least the appearance of listening to alumni would have been nice but in reality even if they had a public comment period from the alumni and presented a valid reasoning to change it, the reaction would have been exactly the same (land of steady habits).

 

[hthusky74]

all of those schools dont officially call them selves by nick name. we do now. thats the big deal. tennessee doesn't sign checks with "ut or the vols". we sign checks as uconn not connecticut.

And...?

 

[Husky25]

For the record I am fine with the red outline. It sets us apart from nearby navy blue/white teams (Penn St., Yale, UNH, Yankees, probably a bunch of Div II teams). Only two other schools come to mind with dark blue / white / red - Arizona and Gonzaga and UConn will never be confused with them. My only problem was whether it was being applied consistently across different UConn teams - either all with red trim or all without - and now they've fixed that.

I've accepted for now the change away from all-white husky logo, I still think they could have provided some kind of explanation other than the Samoyed argument (which may have been valid but seems like an afterthought of an explanation. If not, at least the appearance of listening to alumni would have been nice but in reality even if they had a public comment period from the alumni and presented a valid reasoning to change it, the reaction would have been exactly the same (land of steady habits).

I realize it is quick and dirty, but to me, the all white logo (Subba's avatar) looks like a polar bear. They probably did it (put more blue than the older logo) to give equal billing to both official school colors. The red is an accent and I have never minded it, from 1996 to present day. It's like when Rutgers outlines their uniform numbers in black or something similar.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Do the negative nancy's on this board think that the new logo won't be quickly associated with UConn? It's not like in a year or two every college fan isn't going to have a clue whose logo that is. UConn isn't a brand because of some cartoon dog, it's a brand because of performance and that isn't going to stop because of a new logo. ESPN isn't going to stop showing our games, other ADs won't stop scheduling us, etc. Changing a logo does not remove our entire history, despite the whining of a bunch of people on this board.

Thank God there is still a rational man left. In less than a year, everyone except a few crumudeons who obviously have some sick obsession with Samoyeds will have forgotten the old logo. The new one will very quickly become associated with UConn.

And the primary branding being UConn over Connecticut is a great move. Everyone knows UConn and nobody knows us as Connecticut. The word UConn is a fantastic benefit compared to the many schools who don't have a catchy name. Cal means Berkeley, even though there are several others it could mean. UCLA used initials to stand out from Davis and Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara etc. Pennsylvania is an awkward sounding word, just like Connecticut, so both the public school, Penn State and the private School, Penn, use the short version almost exclusively.

 

[freescooter]

Thank God there is still a rational man left. In less than a year, everyone except a few crumudeons who obviously have some sick obsession with Samoyeds will have forgotten the old logo. The new one will very quickly become associated with UConn.

And the primary branding being UConn over Connecticut is a great move. Everyone knows UConn and nobody knows us as Connecticut. The word UConn is a fantastic benefit compared to the many schools who don't have a catchy name. Cal means Berkeley, even though there are several others it could mean. UCLA used initials to stand out from Davis and Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara etc. Pennsylvania is an awkward sounding word, just like Connecticut, so both the public school, Penn State and the private School, Penn, use the short version almost exclusively.

I don't have a huge issue with UConn. I'd prefer to keep it as an "informal" nickname like BC, UNH, UDub and so forth. But I really tink you and Warde and Susan badly underestimate the impact of the change to Donald. Fact is that the old husky was among the few logos that were easily identifiable with their universities. I've been in Madrid Spain with a UConn hat on with just the logo, no name, and had people comment about being a UConn fan, both Americans abroad and native Spaniards who had studied in the US. I guarantee that Donald won't be nearly as identifiable in the near future, and probably not in the distant future either, since he's like a short time fix until Nike decides to change it, or UConn decides to change suppliers. But in either case, this is a generic piece of crap, designed by some guy who is a computer jock, not a designer most likely. UConn got it for free. And it isn't worth a penny more.

 

[Husky25]

I don't have a huge issue with UConn. I'd prefer to keep it as an "informal" nickname like BC, UNH, UDub and so forth. But I really tink you and Warde and Susan badly underestimate the impact of the change to Donald. Fact is that the old husky was among the few logos that were easily identifiable with their universities. I've been in Madrid Spain with a UConn hat on with just the logo, no name, and had people comment about being a UConn fan, both Americans abroad and native Spaniards who had studied in the US. I guarantee that Donald won't be nearly as identifiable in the near future, and probably not in the distant future either, since he's like a short time fix until Nike decides to change it, or UConn decides to change suppliers. But in either case, this is a generic piece of crap, designed by some guy who is a computer jock, not a designer most likely. UConn got it for free. And it isn't worth a penny more.

UConn and Nike have been strategic partners for years. The supplier is likely not changing. Recognition will come soon enough. MBB should make a deep March run, likewise the Women. Football hopefully wins some games and we're in business. The new logo attaches to a quality program.

I feel your Madrid example is anectdotal. Most people don't give a fly duckk (as evidenced by the scores of people that just walked by you saying nothing so much as, "Hola.").

 

[junglehusky]

I don't have a huge issue with UConn. I'd prefer to keep it as an "informal" nickname like BC, UNH, UDub and so forth. But I really tink you and Warde and Susan badly underestimate the impact of the change to Donald. Fact is that the old husky was among the few logos that were easily identifiable with their universities. I've been in Madrid Spain with a UConn hat on with just the logo, no name, and had people comment about being a UConn fan, both Americans abroad and native Spaniards who had studied in the US. I guarantee that Donald won't be nearly as identifiable in the near future, and probably not in the distant future either, since he's like a short time fix until Nike decides to change it, or UConn decides to change suppliers. But in either case, this is a generic piece of crap, designed by some guy who is a computer jock, not a designer most likely. UConn got it for free. And it isn't worth a penny more.

I gotta disagree here. It's much better than the current or past Husky logos of UW, NIU, Northeastern, or whatever high schools or Quebec Major Junior Hockey teams with Huskies as mascots you see on google. You are letting your feelings on the logo change cloud your judgement. Now if you merely want the administration to go with an all white Husky logo I'm right there with you.

 

[CAHUSKY]

Fact is that the old husky was among the few logos that were easily identifiable with their universities. I've been in Madrid Spain with a UConn hat on with just the logo, no name, and had people comment about being a UConn fan, both Americans abroad and native Spaniards who had studied in the US. I guarantee that Donald won't be nearly as identifiable in the near future, and probably not in the distant future either, since he's like a short time fix until Nike decides to change it, or UConn decides to change suppliers. .

Just a guess, but your brand awareness study with a sample set consisting of 4 Americans traveling abroad, 2 Spaniards who studied in America and no hats of other Universities to use for comparison probably wasn't statistically valid.

Also, would you mind giving an explanation why the new mascot won't be nearly as identifiable over time given similar exposure as the old logo? That's a strong summation and id be interested in hearing how you reached that conclusion.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Just a guess, but your brand awareness study with a sample set consisting of 4 Americans traveling abroad, 2 Spaniards who studied in America and no hats of other Universities to use for comparison probably wasn't statistically valid.

Also, would you mind giving an explanation why the new mascot won't be nearly as identifiable over time given similar exposure as the old logo? That's a strong summation and id be interested in hearing how you reached that conclusion.

See you just don't understand branding obviously. All of our recognition was tied up in that logo and is obviously not transferable to a new logo. Without it the UCONN name has no goodwill. We might as well be SCSU or Norwalk CC to anyone who isn't a UCONN fan.

 

[J187Money]

I don't own one piece of UCONN gear with the old logo on it (or where it is prominent). I never liked it. I like the new one better.