Get your baseball WU gear while you can

[MadaboutWu]

WSU phasing out sport-specific Wu...

http://blogs.kansas.com/shockwaves/

Say it ain't so, Sexton! And to think I just gave him high marks in the basketball poll...

Seriously I don't see why they would get rid of baseball Wu.

[The Mad Hatter]

WSU phasing out sport-specific Wu...

http://blogs.kansas.com/shockwaves/

Say it ain't so, Sexton! And to think I just gave him high marks in the basketball poll...

Seriously I don't see why they would get rid of baseball Wu.

Given that we just won an award for best athletic marketing in the nation, I'll certainly won't quibble with these kind of branding decisions. Just Google the phrase "importance of brand consistency" to get plenty of discussion as to why a move like this would be made. Especially in light of the redesigned Wu, there was inconsistent branding here.





This is about keeping the branding of Wu consistent, and that makes sense to me. Given the fact that they are allowing baseball to keep the unique flying W logo, it seems like a reasonable balance to me.

[shocker3]

Given that we just won an award for best athletic marketing in the nation, I'll certainly won't quibble with these kind of branding decisions. Just Google the phrase "importance of brand consistency" to get plenty of discussion as to why a move like this would be made. Especially in light of the redesigned Wu, there was inconsistent branding here.





This is about keeping the branding of Wu consistent, and that makes sense to me. Given the fact that they are allowing baseball to keep the unique flying W logo, it seems like a reasonable balance to me.

HOGWASH! Just change the baseball WU to look more like the other WU. Baseball WU has been changed before as WU has changed over the years. That is the only change they need to make. I am totally opposed to getting rid of Baseball WU.

[The Mad Hatter]

If someone with some marketing expertise (or using evidence from someone with said expertise) wants to explain why the marketing program is wrong to want to get rid of sport specific Wu Shocks and keep brand consistency, I'm happy to have that discussion. If the only argument is that we've done it this way in the past and I hate change, then there probably isn't really any room to have a discussion.

[Anthroshock]

All that matters for baseball is this logo.

[pogo]

Its them old people that are a'gin change.

[shox1989]

Getting rid of Baseball WU sounds like a dumb idea to me. I guess I am just another old person. If brand consistency is so important that WU can't even hold a bat then keeping the flying W hat (which isn't used at all for basketball) makes no sense at all.

BTW- I am totally opposed to doing away with the flying W logo too, I just think it would be considered more of an inconsistency in branding then WU holding a bat.

[The Mad Hatter]

Getting rid of Baseball WU sounds like a dumb idea to me. I guess I am just another old person. If brand consistency is so important that WU can't even hold a bat then keeping the flying W hat (which isn't used at all for basketball) makes no sense at all.

BTW- I am totally opposed to doing away with the flying W logo too, I just think it would be considered more of an inconsistency in branding then WU holding a bat.

I don't think the flying W being allowed is in the same category as a consistent Wu. Having a single letter for hats is a commonplace baseball tradition, so the in-sport tradition provides a natural exception to the brand consistency issue. WSU has no other mark for a single W, so the flying W is not being inconsistent with how the athletic department handles that issue elsewhere. There is no similar baseball tradition of putting a baseball cap, bat, and ball on your mascot. Consider, for instance, the Louisville baseball cap:



The single letter is used only by the baseball team (and even in a different font than uniforms for other sports or even for the word Louisville on the baseball uniforms themselves), but the mascot on the back is the same cardinal logo that is used across all sports.

[shoxtop]

If someone with some marketing expertise (or using evidence from someone with said expertise) wants to explain why the marketing program is wrong to want to get rid of sport specific Wu Shocks and keep brand consistency, I'm happy to have that discussion. If the only argument is that we've done it this way in the past and I hate change, then there probably isn't really any room to have a discussion.

I think anyone with marketing experience has been well aware of this branding issue for some time. This should really come as no surprise especially now that GS is gone. Queue William's rant in 5....

[ShockTalk]

I don't think the flying W being allowed is in the same category as a consistent Wu. Having a single letter for hats is a commonplace baseball tradition, so the in-sport tradition provides a natural exception to the brand consistency issue. WSU has no other mark for a single W, so the flying W is not being inconsistent with how the athletic department handles that issue elsewhere. There is no similar baseball tradition of putting a baseball cap, bat, and ball on your mascot. Consider, for instance, the Louisville baseball cap:



The single letter is used only by the baseball team (and even in a different font than uniforms for other sports or even for the word Louisville on the baseball uniforms themselves), but the mascot on the back is the same cardinal logo that is used across all sports.

All that said, even having the Flying W can cause branding problems: http://verbalcommits.com/players/satchel-pierce (scroll down through the schools with interest).

[SubGod22]

Personally, I always found the sports specific Wu's odd. However, the flying W is unique to the baseball team and as stated above, works for the hats and baseball branding. I don't think losing baseball Wu is going to be a big loss.

[MizzouShockerFan]

I view the baseball WU along the lines of Texas Orange and Carolina blue. It's unique, and I think pretty cool.
If they are ok with some of these uni combos they rolled out this year, why not keep baseball WU???
Also, not only is there the giant logo in CF, it's also in the indoor facility. Seems like a lot of $$ to replace these logos. Maybe money better spent going towards the next phase of the stadium project.

[ShockTalk]

I view the baseball WU along the lines of Texas Orange and Carolina blue. It's unique, and I think pretty cool.
If they are ok with some of these uni combos they rolled out this year, why not keep baseball WU???
Also, not only is there the giant logo in CF, it's also in the indoor facility. Seems like a lot of $$ to replace these logos. Maybe money better spent going towards the next phase of the stadium project.

Very good point.

[shoxtop]

I view the baseball WU along the lines of Texas Orange and Carolina blue. It's unique, and I think pretty cool.

Both examples use items that are branded across all sports. This is what the athletic department is trying to do. By having one wu, you think of wsu athletics as a whole, not just one individual sport. In marketing terms, brand recognition across many products.

If they are ok with some of these uni combos they rolled out this year, why not keep baseball WU???

Which unis are you talking about? Baseball? Basketball? I would venture to guess that we will see brand unification across the board moving forward.

Also, not only is there the giant logo in CF, it's also in the indoor facility. Seems like a lot of $$ to replace these logos. Maybe money better spent going towards the next phase of the stadium project.

This is a very valid point and I will be interested to see what actually happens here.

[BenWSU]

I've always wanted WuShock's left hand to give the middle finger but that wouldn't go over with the marketing department