Milwaukee Admirals Logo Change Sinks to New Deppths

OPINION - Apparently someone from the Milwaukee Admirals looking to refresh their logo reads Variety, the movie trade rag. They must have noticed that the box office for all things pirates is up this year after the release of Pirates of the Caribbean 2.

There is nothing, after all, more logo worthy than a lusty pirate. Disney will make millions splashing Johnny Depp's impression of Keith-Richards-as-pirate on to hats, shirts, coffee mugs, and slews of toys. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a Pirates of the Caribbean dog water bowl... "Dead Dogs Wag No Tails.."

The logo and lettering, which, according to the Admirals press release, was designed by a Milwaukee ad agency, appears to us to be neither fish nor fowl. It's not a pirate. It'd not an admiral. It looks more something you would see from Party City than a quality AAA hockey club logo. The modern lettering suggests neither pirates nor the majesty of the old logo "Admirals." It has a coolness factor of about a 2 on a scale of 10. The graphic might fare better with some improved lettering. In our universe of 700+ teams, there are a lot of logos, good and bad. Why does this one deserve much comment?

The move to redo the Admirals publicity materials and merchandise should have been a complete overhaul rather than a marketing-to-the-moment band-aid. There are TWO organizations called the Admirals in the American Hockey League (AHL), a remnant of the life raft that the surviving International Hockey League (IHL) teams clambered aboard when the league's ship was going down. The AHL has both the Norfolk Admirals and the Milwaukee Admirals.

The new look further complicates branding in the AHL. There is the Portland Pirates club, which already has the pirate theme down. So now Milwaukee is brand muddling both with Norfolk and with Portland.

It's a mess that no one wanted to address during the acquisition of the clubs. Perhaps it was time, with the Milwaukee club looking to establish a new identity for itself, to scuttle the Admirals moniker and find a logo and identity completely their own.

They might choose Brewers, which, while appropriate for the community might already be taken.

If you reach into the history of Milwaukee, you don't fare much better. Milwaukee has been called the "Rust Buckle" of the Rust Belt, crown jewel of an aging industrial base. It has been called the "Cream City." Calling your club the Milwaukee Creamers is like naming your kid Percy and sending them on to a playground to get the snot beaten out of them.

The "Beer City" and the "Brew City" both have possibilities. Perhaps the Milwaukee Six Pack. Or the Milwaukee Brews.

Milwaukee is known as the "City of Festivals" as well. Calling themselves the 'Milwaukee Par-te' (Party) might improve beer sales. Teaming up with a local brewery might not be bad either. The "Old Milwaukees" could beat stadium naming for a new club revenue source.

Milwaukee is still in cheese country, what about a cheese-themed team name? The Milwaukee Muensters. Yet, no: A hockey puck shaped like a round of muenster would be a bit too cheesy to garner much respect around the league.

Apparently finding a fan-friendly handle is a problem in Milwaukee. Marquette University tried using the "Gold" as a school team name which was mocked by Milwaukeeans.

While they might have to make peace with the Big Mouse Marketing Machine, an homage to that hip rebel pirate caricature that Johnny Depp portrays might be in order: The Milwaukee Sparrows.

It has great promise. After all, when Disney and Pixar release their next bird-themed picture, the management at Milwaukee can jump on that bandwagon too by switching from the pirate to a cute, marketable song bird.

Team logos should not be lost in the marketing hype of the moment. The AHL needs one Admirals club, and a team with a name and a logo that reflects well upon a triple-A hockey league. This, dear friends, ain't it.

Comments

[Randy]

The new Ads logo is an embarrassment. An online petition has been started at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Admirals/

Please sign so the front office knows what you think.

[someone]

Do you really think that the logo was just designed in the last month to capitalize on Pirates of the Carribean? Really? You seriously believe something so dumb? You think things like this just appear out of nowhere in a matter of days? Redesigns like this (whether they're good or not) take more like a year to get together.

[Brian Ross]

There are more than a dozen companies, including the clothing maker "Big Dog" in Santa Barbara, California, that have Pirates of the Caribbean-themed merchandise that either launched with the film or came out during the year-long hype fest that preceeded it. AdWeek, which the designers most probably read, was talking up the pre-Pirates hype in articles going back into late 2004. Could you really think that this was designed in a marketing vaccuum?

[Admiral's Fan]

Do you even know the origin of the "Cream City" label? It's a light colored brick unique to the area.
The logo was approved over a year ago. It's not a pirate; listen to the story on the Admiral's website. It's a tribute to a 30 year history of minor league hockey in Milwaukee. 600% increase in merchandise sales in one week. Bad logo? Hardly.

[Another Admirals Fan]

600% increase of zero is still zero though.

[A real Admirals Fan]

The new logo and colors do not to the history of the team.

Also, for a logo that has a 72% disapproval rating, I would have to think that in the long run, merch sales will go way down. When you introduce a new logo, whether it's a piece of dookie on a stick or the greatest logo in the world, people are going to buy the new merch to wear to the games. Next year the sales will probably be worse off than before.

[Patrick]

The name Milwaukee Admirals does not refer to a sea going boy but to the original owner of the team, an appliance seller who merchandised the Admiral brand of appliances. If the team was true to its origins it would have harvest gold sweaters and a nice appliance window to see the other sweaters go round and round. Roscoe, aka Cheeto, the team mascot, could befriend a washing machine that would spew out t-shirts for the kids. And the team could offer free wash and dry at a local laundromat chain from their blimp. Wouldn't that be the ticket for success? Did Joe Locher, the advertising designer behind the logo, blow this? Merchandise sales seem to say no, but they would need to be compared to changes by other minor league hockey teams to be sure. After all, people could be buying this logo because of its novelty, in other words, they expect a new logo soon. Then this piece of shit would become a collectors item, wouldn't it?

[Anne]

I keep hearing people defend the logo by saying "watch the video" or "read the story" at the Admirals' site.

Helpful branding tip from someone in the industry: If you need to make someone go read the backstory on your new logo -- especially a sports logo -- to get it, it ain't workin' right.

[adult]

Maybe the logo for anyone Milwaukee team should be a hanky crybabies!

[New Admirals Fan]

I will admit at first I did not like the new logo and preffered the previous one. However, it grows on you over time and I like the look and colors. It was because of their change and theme that I became a Ads & Hockey fan. The fact I hear people dislike it, makes me want to buy more of their merchandise, thanks.

[ADSFAN08]

AFTER TWO SEASONS OF THIS LOGO I STILL HATE IT! WHAT WERE THEY THINKING WHEN THE DECIDED THIS. EVEN THOUGH I DISLIKE IT A LOT I WILL STILL AND ALWAYS BE A DEVOTED FAN TO OUR LOVELY ADMIRALS.