Another Columbus (Crew) SC Refresh

With rumors of a quiet Supporters + Front Office meeting, a French-speaking MLS-focused Canadian Twitter account saying somethings coming, and the lack of Precourt's rebranding at the new stadium - well, it's probably safe to say yet another refresh of the Columbus Crew is on the way.

The good news for the "no rebrand" fans is that it looks like it won't be a complete rebrand and that it is merely a change in name with drops the "Crew" and an update to the logo/badge. 

Overall, it's bad news if this is all they are doing. Incremental change only muddles an already Frankenstoian brand in Columbus. Now that it has passed through multiple ownership groups over the last decade fans have seen more than just a logo change. It's been terminology, unfortunate kits, mascot drama, changes in hashtags, the list goes on.

Left among the wreckage of changes made by alfa males (and Dee, I guess) has been the fans. Each time this comes on they have to ride an increasingly annoying rollercoaster of emotions that always starts with the same hill climb called "I'm the new dude that owns the team and that branding that is part of your identity sucks (*leans over and whispers...* which means you suck)."

For me, it is inevitable that MLS Columbus will ultimately be some variation of the OSU Buckeye colors. Likely more black and gray, than scarlet and gray, but the same pallet nonetheless. It would most definitely increase sales and likely tickets (imagine "buckeye kits," "buckeye nights," or whatever). The colors and the term "Buckeye" are synonymous with Ohioans. So just go ahead and pull that band-aid off. 

But they won't. 

The only thing keeping that from happening are the quasi-self appointed leaders of the "official" supporters who have grown in power between ownership groups and attempts to move the team. I've watched this group since they started to form 12-13 years ago because matches up with when I started writing about the team. Their full story that goes back past the "save the crew" group is a post for another day, but one thing is for certain... each operating group has had different approaches to dealing with them. The Hunts thought they could help (they didn't). You could argue they caused the Precourt/Garber problem of disliking Columbus. And now, we see the beginnings with the new group. Anyway, none have really gone smoothly. 

Take from that what you will.

Let's go MLS Columbus Crew SC the hardest working former Steelers Jr-themed German-looking brand logo-wearing club in central Ohio.

New MLS Logo Out and About Town

After Major League Soccer (somewhat abruptly) released their logo last week, I've had some time see it outside the gated MLS community in both digital and printed form.

The digital side comes from time playing EA's latest FIFA 15 video game monster. There are a number of changes to that game on the MLS side and the inclusion of the new MLS logo is one of them. From that, I get a pretty good feel for how the new logo will fair on real life kits.

I wrote down some critical initial thoughts last week, but now? Long story short - it seems out of place. That's not that unusual though, their are a number of leagues that feel sort of forced or awkward, but that's also a reason to not change. This new MLS logo now falls in that forced category in the digital world. Not comfortable in her own skin and certainly not particularly noticeable for more more than a shoulder shrug and 'meh' among the thousands of flashing lights in a game like FIFA 15.

[I'm playing a lot of the game right now. More thoughts to come but in the meantime check out my latest here]

Next up is near and dear to me. The printed image. More specifically, the printed image out in the wilds of the sports universe. For this one I'll say it has a similar fate to the digital version. It gets a "what's that" glance than ultimately a shrug and move on.

I'll keep thinking on it but right now I'm finding it to be very disposable. Different. Even neat for a moment, till it fades off into a sea of brand junk.

There is a reason why some of these brands stay the same for so long, even if the image is stale or tired. Ultimately that boring logo earns its keep in familiarity. It might not be the coolest thing ever but people instantly know what it is when they look at it. A useful tool.

This is something the Crew is going through right now as well and I find myself asking the question of whether or not changing it is worth all the hard one familiarity over time.

It's sort of what the old timers say about that old reliable Chevy small block.

It'll run bad longer than most run at all.

"#NEWCREW" Yellow Dot

Yellow Dot

Today we saw the introduction of Yellow Dot.

The Columbus Crew. Columbus Crew FC 96. The MLS outlet in Columbus... (wait). Columbus' MLS team? World's first single entity franchise? Not sure what to call the team anymore. Down is up. Heaven is hell. Everybody is totally, like, "what's going on?". We are all just rudderless fans, writers, journalists, bloggers and / or crazy people right now. Biblical purgatory type stuff now that Yellow Dot has entered our collective conscience.

So many more questions. Do the events of today tell us that the "old" Columbus Crew is dying and a yellow dot grim reaper is on the scene to take it's soul? Does Yellow Dot even believe in the "soul" as we know it in western society? Are we to start the mourning process now? Should there even be a mourning process? Everything is just so sudden.

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The Yellow Dot is the design element the Crew is going with to get folks excited about the re-brand.

Sometimes these things hit right, other times they just sort of... happen. This Columbus one is leaning toward the latter. That's certainly not to say it doesn't matter but honestly, in the world of MLS we've seen so many branding changes in recent years. It's become tedious for anyone trying to follow along.

Ultimately, new Crew investor / operator Anthony Precourt bought his right to change this team anyway he sees fit. If "Yellow Dot" is his way of pushing aside 19 years of history just to scribble his name on it... so be it. It's his world now. But let us not let this day go without marking the end of the Crew's direct association with blue collar image. An image hard earned, as represented in the original logo herself. Just as the image of the workers in that logo, they are not important enough to be front and center of anything - even though the do the, uh, Work.

Lay her down easy Yellow Dot. Your dark place in history might be largely forgotten to history - but I'll remember it.