One of the key things we’ve discussed in the last few classes is the idea of branding. A corporate logo or wordmark is one of the first things to come to mind when you see a firm’s name and vice-versa. This is why in order to market yourself effectively, you should have a very unique and easy to identify logo. Companies such as McDonalds, Virgin, Toyota, and Hewlett-Packard have logos that have been in the public eye for such a long time that they have become ingrained in our culture.
One of the biggest things holding the Vancouver Canucks back is the fact that they have changed their logo so many times that they have had trouble building a strong logo to go along with the brand. Since their inception in 1970, the Canucks have gone through 6 different jersey/logo combinations changing the colours from blue/green to red/black/yellow to blue/red/silver and back to blue/green. With all this constant shifting of logos, it is difficult for most fans to picture the exact same image when they hear the name “Vancouver Canucks”. One simply has to hear the word Canadiens and picture the bleu, blanc, et rouge of the legendary Montreal “CH”, or if the word Yankees is uttered in someone’s presence, they will automatically picture the hallowed navy blue or white “NY” depending on the background. If the Canucks want to improve branding, they really need to settle down, stop with the consistent changing of colours/logos and build a strong image that all fans can identify with.
Or we could just mash up all the jerseys into one...