I’ve noticed even in my own every day purchases that my buying habits have changed. New price points or repeated advertising messages entice me to try a new brand. Before I knew it, my brand loyalty had changed. Strangely even in my own tight purse these days, it still doesn’t stop me from treating myself to luxuries such as facials, hair products or restaurants that make me feel good. It’s now more than ever that I am loyal to those people/products/services, so that I am pretty much guaranteed a satisfied outcome. With a smaller amount of play money, I want to get the best experience for my dollar, therefore I am lured by extraordinary service.

Since I am new to Denver, I am not (yet) loyal to any sports teams, so attending a Rockies game is more about catching a tan vs. catching a win. Since boiling in the afternoon heat automatically constitutes a beer or two, I was seeking the nearest vendor when I had the most interesting offer to have my face and feet sprayed with a water bottle while also selling me a beer. Did I look that parched? No — cue Coors Field’s most reputable beer vendor: Brent Doeden aka. Captain Earthman.

He’s not hard to miss: with his trademark baseball hat (complete with pins, beer cans/bottles and alien antennas), colorful clothing and loud, raspy voice, you know when Captain Earthman is nearby. Not yet ready for a beer? No problem…he comes equipped with his misting water bottle, spraying anyone in his path or even dunks your baseball cap in his ice-cold cooler water. And in the event that you need a beer and he isn’t anywhere to be found, he also distributes business cards with his cell phone…so you can call him over and not miss a minute of the game.

Captain Earthman is a Coors Field staple and is continually awarded as one of the top 10 stadium vendors in the country. Although he works at various venues around the Denver area and even Rockies Spring Training in Arizona, you can always catch him at every Rockies game, working hard in the outfield bleachers.

Captain Earthman’s stadium popularity and nationwide notoriety is a representation of the venues he works and the products he sells. He unwaveringly offers service that goes above and beyond, which has me converted to not only always buying outfield tickets, but even forcing myself to drink a Coors Light. In the end, I am guaranteed a great beer, great service, a laugh, a cool down and overall, a great experience.

Can your customers say that about your service? Who is the brand champion on your team? Does your business stand out in a crowd?

-Rebecca Watry, BrandIron Account Manager

I am guilty of being a sports junky since my early childhood. And in that time, I have noticed athletic teams, both college and professional, always changing their logos and uniforms.

Most likely, everyone’s first thought is: “they change their uniforms for the obvious reason—money.” But this is not the case. Major League Baseball teams do not directly make profit from jersey sales. The MLB as a whole has official licensing revenue sharing from official MLB merchandise sold. The New York Yankees lead the MLB in apparel sold, but they do not receive direct revenue from those sales. The NFL and NBA have similar revenue sharing models. This opens the question, “why do they change their logo or uniforms?”

The first reason teams re-brand themselves is that they are starting a new era. Many times it is a front office change in ownership. The new owner wants fans and its competition to know that not only will there be a change in its uniform, but also a change in how they will run their operations. We have seen this in many professional teams. For example, the Dallas Mavericks made a change in their look when Mark Cuban took ownership of the franchise. You can see here their old logo and uniforms changed to the new look after Cuban took ownership. Not only did the Mavericks change their uniform, they changed how they compete and how they were coached and run from the front office. The same can be said for the Cleveland Cavaliers, whose old uniforms went from black and blue to their new look. The new uniforms changed when Lebron James was drafted, but the logo changed when new owner Dan Gilbert took ownership of the team in 2005. More examples of ownership changing and the uniforms changing related to a team’s success is the New England Patriots. They went from the angry Pat the patriot to a more statuesque look. Here is a better view of the old Pat. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim went from a Disney owned uniform to a more traditional look, and after the change, won the World Series.

The second reason for a team to re-brand its uniform is a change in venue. Some teams change uniforms when they get a new stadium. An example was when the Buffalo Bills rebuilt Ralph Wilson Stadium in 2002. The Bills went from these old uniforms to their new look. The Cleveland Indians did the same when they left Municipal Stadium to Jacobs Field (now called Progressive Field) in 1994. They went from old block lettering that was even used in the movie Major League to this fresher look.

Another reason for change is an attempt to disconnect itself from a long history of losing. Some of these eras can be a few years but some have been a few decades. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a great example. The Bucs were on a decade-long losing season streak with these beauties and changed to these more modern looking uniforms. After the change, it took Tampa four years to make it to the NFC championship game and the following year, Tampa won the Super Bowl. The Los Angles Kings started the “silver and black” era when they acquired Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers. The Kings went from a men’s league look to the more recognizable sweaters. The Cleveland Cavs had similar success after making a switch in uniforms. Once dead last in the league standings, the team made it to the NBA finals before losing to San Antonio. The Denver Nuggets made a change to their colors in 2003 when they drafted Carmelo Anthony out of Syracuse. They had a more traditional color scheme that was changed to a fresh and bright colored jersey.

Sometimes teams change the logo. The Seattle Seahawks once had this logo and moved to a fiercer looking hawk. The New York Football Giants made a change with this helmet logo to the current one. Sometimes a change brings good luck, the Denver Broncos went from these uniforms and logo to this new look. After the Broncos made the change, they won back-to-back Super Bowls in the 1998 and 1999 seasons. The Anaheim Ducks, formerly the Mighty Ducks, went from the Disney classic uniforms to today’s look and won the Stanley Cup two years after the change.

Not all changes have been for the better. Here are some that have gone wrong. This space look from the Dallas Mavericks only lasted one game. The MLB dabbled in this futuristic look shown by the Rockies and Seattle, which I deem horrendous. The one season NASL (National American Soccer League) team Caribous of Colorado may have the ugliest uniform in history of all uniforms which featured western style tassels. The University of Oregon football team has 384 different combinations of uniforms which range from unique to ugly. This is because Nike’s founders are former Ducks themselves and the world headquarters are located near the Eugene, Oregon Campus. The University of Colorado stole a play from the Oregon playbook with their new shoulder pattern design. When creating a logo or corporate image you might want to also make sure that it makes sense in that industry or within your company brand. In 1976 the Chicago White Sox had a double header against the Kansas City Royals and they ran onto the field wearing these interesting uniforms. Surprisingly the Sox only wore them for the first game of the double header. An opposing Royal, John Mayberry exclaimed, “You guys are the sweetest team we’ve seen yet.”

We can learn from the success and mistakes of sports uniform branding. You might want to consider creating a new logo when your company makes a change. If you change your mission statement or services you should consider doing a re-branding. The new logo or corporate identity created should be done simultaneously. You want to show this improvement in your approach and in all of your company’s materials. The change in your look should and will be reflected in the change you made internally within your company. This change in your brand must be calculated and well thought out to convey your message to your target audience and to the general public. At Brand Iron, we have made some great improvements in a company’s identity when they change their message or services. A great example of this is with our clients David, Hicks and Lampert and Caring Hands Chiropractic which can be see here.

For improvements in your brand or suggestions please call us at 303-534-1901.

For more information on the history of sports uniforms email Mike Slife: mslife@brandiron.net