"Army West Point Black Knights Cadets The Corps."

[ashokan]

Navy Twitter: "To recap, this is what Army is going by: Army West Point Black Knights Cadets The Corps."



I like the new logo compared to the old knight. I always liked the Athena Pallas helmet/sword motif (especially shield relief on Herbert). I read people who don't like the sword looking as if its cutting through the helmet and thats a fair point.

As to the rest of the changes I don't know how much comes from West Point and how much comes from Nike. I read a lot of the same jargon on other sites where Nike has shuffled the deck


"Georgia is tweaking its uniforms in an effort to promote a consistent and unified look across its teams...McGarity said Georgia and Nike have worked during the past 15 months to "better define and align our athletic branding, which includes things such as marks, logos, typography, fonts used on uniforms, facility signage, apparel and the like."

Nearly all 15 of Georgia's sports used a different font, whether it was letter or numbers. Now Georgia will have brand identity guidelines that embrace the history and tradition of Bulldogs athletics while still reaching an expanding audience, McGarity said."

What I thought was an Army special project, now seems part of broader Nike formula

I understand there is complaint about people not getting that Army and West Point are the same, but I don't understand trying "to help" the crowd that doesn't get it by juggling the name.

On one hand, I've read people wanted to emphasize West Point academics. That's fair since I know West Point has has substantial egineering and science traditions (infrastructure construction, astronauts etc). On the other hand, I know how the military culture is resented by some and they would like to see a "kinder/gentler " USMA that's just a Stanford with camo and more PT.







This post was edited on 4/14 7:24 PM by ashokan

Don't call them Army!

 

[ashokan]

I should have added I don't think there is that much "confusion" about Army Vs West Point. I just think there are surveys that show more people would by stuff that says "West Point" on it instead of just grunty old "Army". Hence the confuuuusion.

This post was edited on 4/14 7:07 PM by ashokan

 

[centuryman]

Love the new uni's and logo and all that stuff, but the name Army West Point is just stupid. I mean, seriously, it is just stupid. Say "Navy Annapolis" a few times and think about how insanely stupid that would sound, and then remind yourself that is what we just did.

we've got a bunch of folks in our program that just don't seem to have a friggin clue on how to hire a coach, how to run a program within the confines of the military system, and now they seem to have no idea on how branding works. One key part of branding is......don't make it sound stupid.

When we play Rice, it going to be "Army West Point versus Rice the good private school in Houston that people aren't sure what city it is in"

When we play VMI, is it going to be "Army West Point versus that military school in the south that isn't named the Citadel"

I mean, seriously, how can something like this happen?

 

[snoopy72]

I totally agree, I like everything but the name. Army West Point is clumsy.......How about Air Force Colorado Springs. I will never say Army West Point, but I bet the mandate has already gone out at USMA to be sure never to just say Army or West Point. I guess it is possible to change 200 years of tradition.

 

[Big_DNY]

I just hope that if you can change 200 years of tradition then you can change 13 years of losing to Navy. I think it was mentioned in the THR, would there be any need to rebrand if we had beaten Navy 5 or 6 times in the past 13 years?

 

[ashokan]

"Say "Navy Annapolis" a few times and think about how insanely stupid that would sound, and then remind yourself that is what we just did."

I researched around to see if there was any hint of "confusion" about Navy vs Annapolis and didn't see a crumb. With Army you find even Monken saying he finds recruits confused about Army vs West Point. I read one anecdote about a recuit claiming (in a tweet) that he was offered by "Army University".

I don't doubt some few people get confused. I don't doubt some people get confused by NY State Vs New York City. Don't see such ill informed people as a reason to change things. Sal Interdonato said he thinks problem is that Army hasn't won much, and that winning will fix problems more than logo and namming gimmicks.

I still find all this hard to believe. I still think Nike has a lot more to do with all this than just Army. The "confusion" thing seems more like an excuse for wanting to tinker with marketing (which is Boo Corrigans specialty and where he focuses).

I mentioned Georgia in first post. Other Nike associated schools have all the same lines for their makeovers.



"After Wednesday night, the look of Illinois' athletics programs will be different.

Following an 18-month collaboration with Nike, Illinois will unveil a full-scale rebrand of logos, uniforms and brand at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Wednesday's event is the first of back-to-back events to kick off the new era.

"It's been a while since we've looked at our logos and how we are branded. We felt like we needed to update our brands and our marks and move them into the 21st Century," athletic director Mike Thomas said in a video previewing the rebrand.

All 19 varsity sports will be overhauled to create a unified brand and mark across the athletics programs.

"It's unique. Not everyone gets to do it," football head coach Tim Beckman said. "You're trying to move your program forward, and this is one of the things that can move it forward."

One of the main goals of the rebrand is to establish a singular identity and consistency throughout the sports..

"They were looking for consistency. There were many, many oranges," said Clint Shaner, senior graphic designer for Nike, in a promotional video released by the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. "It really varied sport to sport, and they wanted to feel like they were all a part of one school and have one color palette."

A key theme of the whole process has been updating the look of Illini athletics, while still maintaining a traditional look. Nike's tagline for the rebrand is, "Respect the past. Represent the future."

"It brings together the past and the future," Beckman said. "It's cool."


So Illinois has all the same lines without the MacArthur frosting on it lol. Nike is driving this remake bus. Thats why Navy isn't suffering "confusion". You can see why Army and Nike spent 18 months on rebranding - Nike was doing half of college football at the same time.







This post was edited on 4/15 11:52 PM by ashokan

Illini athletics prepare for Nike rebrand

 

[centuryman]

I have no idea, but I am guessing that back in 1997 when Navy was just as Awful as army has been for the last 20 years, there may have been more confusion about navy versus annapolis.

Any way you slice it, army west point is a stupid name. That would be like thinking people don't know that TCU is the same school as Texas Christian University, so the school decides to start calling themselves "TCU Texas Christian University."

its dumb. Another dumb boo decision.

 

[ashokan]

"That would be like thinking people don't know that TCU is the same school as Texas Christian University, so the school decides to start calling themselves "TCU Texas Christian University."

Hah that's funny.

Not that they couldn't use a new mascot. "Go horned frogs!" doesn't have much going for it lol




This post was edited on 4/16 2:26 PM by ashokan

 

[BrentDavis]

Yes, Boo's decision.

No way the Supe had anything to do with it.

 

[ashokan]

Actually the name jiggering began under Hagenbeck (who also changed alma mater lyrics and had girls get mad at him). The boat was already moving when Caslen got on it.

From 2008:

"The new image originated with Lt. Gen. Franklin "Buster" Hagenbeck, West Point's 57th superintendent. He briefed members of Congress and presidential appointees about the moniker makeover at a recent meeting in Washington, D.C. The name's not changing, per se. It's just that USMA will now conscientiously introduce itself as West Point...

West Point hopes wider name recognition will benefit recruiting. Its prestigious engineering and leadership programs face stiff competition from the Ivy Leagues, big state schools and other military branches.

"We're doing this to ensure that America's brightest young men and women know about (us)," Hilferty said.

West Point will unfurl a series of name conversions in the coming months. All the athletic fields, including the acclaimed Michie Stadium, where the football team plays, will sport new surfaces that scream "West Point" in addition to the traditional "Army" logo."

Like I said above, there's a desire to become "Stanford with camo and PT"



This post was edited on 4/16 6:56 PM by ashokan

Goodbye USMA, hello West Point