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Post by illwauk on Mar 13, 2012 14:23:03 GMT -6
How often are such opinions really created by institution names?
We're talking about a BU fan on a fan board, who is most probably willing to accept any excuse to support his opinion. If you point out to him that UW-Milwaukee and UW-Green Bay are not (and have not been for many years) "branch campuses" of UW-Madison, and that UIC is not a branch campus of the UIUC (and has not been for many years), he'll just trot out three more equally lame excuses. Given that this fan lives in Indiana where all of IU's branch campuses follow the [University Name]-[Location] formula, I think it's rather logical and intuitive for him to think we're a branch of Madison. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_University#CampusesNotice that all of the IU locations share the Bloomington campus' colors, seal, motto and mission statement. The same holds true in Minnesota, California, and I'm sure a few more states as well. Our identity is completely separate from Madison's, which is just more of a reason why we should have our own name. So to answer your original question, I'd say quite often, and it's the responsibility of the Milwaukee administration to recognize this as a problem and do something about it. Some of the other examples on this thread, the Facebook ones, to me are far more likely to be typing errors than real confusions of UWM with other institutions. The immediacy of social media does not lend itself to proper editing or even spell-checking. The examples I've posted in this thread recently are just ones that I happened to stumble upon in the past few weeks. While I think the social media examples are still valid in that they show the practical flaws of our brand, I've seen far more damaging examples, such as research that was done in Milwaukee being mistakenly attributed to Madison, on a somewhat regular basis. Given that the university is banking its future on its development as a research institution, this is a serious problem that needs to be addressed.
i don't believe the name of our university seriously affects the perception of its quality, at least not of the basis of the evidence produced so far. The companies who hire UWM graduates, and the funding agencies who are awarding research grant money, etc, are very aware of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. They know the quality of the graduates and the research and the scholarship that is happening at UWM. That's all well and good if we're going to be satisfied with working entirely within the markets and communities we already have a presence in, but I think most would agree that would be an egregious waste of potential. In order to reach this potential, we need to be able to reach places outside of Metro Milwaukee and outside of Wisconsin altogether. This starts by adopting an identity that won't confuse the hell out of people who aren't familiar with the idiosyncrasies of the UW system's naming convention or cause them to dismiss us as "just a branch campus." i'm on board with the athletics programs branding themselves as the Milwaukee Panthers. i believe the brand will catch on as the Department of Athletics, and, to a lesser degree, the fans, insist on the brand being used. i have to wonder how insistent the department has been. As i said before, i get the impression that the branding has a lower priority with the department than it does with the more passionate fans, especially as evidenced by the people on this board. Perhaps we who are fans need to be making a case to the department that it would help the programs if the department insisted a bit more firmly that media outlets identify those programs as the Milwaukee Panthers.
In some cases, such as the JS, we may have to wait for leadership changes before silly policies are changed, but that is not to say that fans and the department should not remind the JS, as frequently as necessary, that their policies are silly.
Can't argue with any of this... well said. |
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Post by thegreengull on Mar 13, 2012 14:41:59 GMT -6
How about we do something similar to Buffalo. Buffalo’s official name is: University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. But they are commonly referred to as the University at Buffalo or UB.
We could officially become:
University of Milwaukee, The University of Wisconsin System
or
University at Milwaukee, The University of Wisconsin System
By doing this we will still be recognized as an institution of the UW system while creating our own identity and name brand recognition.
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Post by PantherU on Mar 13, 2012 16:24:09 GMT -6
How about we do something similar to Buffalo. Buffalo’s official name is: University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. But they are commonly referred to as the University at Buffalo or UB. We could officially become: University of Milwaukee, The University of Wisconsin System or University at Milwaukee, The University of Wisconsin System By doing this we will still be recognized as an institution of the UW system while creating our own identity and name brand recognition. I really like this guy. |
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Post by illwauk on Mar 13, 2012 16:55:33 GMT -6
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Post by thegreengull on Mar 13, 2012 17:38:48 GMT -6
Wow, thanks for the support
Go Panthers!
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Post by Hack on Mar 13, 2012 18:05:56 GMT -6
How about we do something similar to Buffalo. Buffalo’s official name is: University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. But they are commonly referred to as the University at Buffalo or UB. We could officially become: University of Milwaukee, The University of Wisconsin System or University at Milwaukee, The University of Wisconsin System By doing this we will still be recognized as an institution of the UW system while creating our own identity and name brand recognition. It really is probably the most feasible solution for all parties involved. SUNY is the best example of this working. However, if this were to happen, it probably should happen system-wide like SUNY ... so University of Green Bay, University of Oshkosh, University of Whitewater, etc. |
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Post by PantherU on Mar 13, 2012 18:10:11 GMT -6
How about we do something similar to Buffalo. Buffalo’s official name is: University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. But they are commonly referred to as the University at Buffalo or UB. We could officially become: University of Milwaukee, The University of Wisconsin System or University at Milwaukee, The University of Wisconsin System By doing this we will still be recognized as an institution of the UW system while creating our own identity and name brand recognition. It really is probably the most feasible solution for all parties involved. SUNY is the best example of this working. However, if this were to happen, it probably should happen system-wide like SUNY ... so University of Green Bay, University of Oshkosh, University of Whitewater, etc. They should at least be allowed to choose for themselves |
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Post by thegreengull on Mar 15, 2012 12:20:49 GMT -6
I posted this in another thread yesterday, but it appears appropriate to post it in The Milwaukee Branding thread as well: This is another example, among many, of how our university and athletics department needs to thoroughly address our naming and identity situation. It seems like the athletic department is marketing the athletics program and university as the Milwaukee Panthers. But if that’s the case why are all these news outlets calling us by different names. Plus, why is the official website of the athletic department www.uwmpanthers.com and not www.milwaukeepanthers.com or www.milwaukeeathletics.com or www.umilwaukeepanthers.com or etc… you get my point. There needs to be a real discussion with the powers that be within the university and the athletic department to address the naming and identity issue. What’s our name and identity, and how do we want to move forward? Do we want to move forward as a brand similar to UW-Oshkosh and UW-Superior or as a brand similar to the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Cincinnati? The name, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, was fine when the name was created in 1956. In 1956, the Wisconsin State College of Milwaukee, our university’s predecessor, and the University of Wisconsin-Extension's Milwaukee division merged to become the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Now in 2012, our university is a major public research university and the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area, and the second largest university in the state of Wisconsin, with an enrollment of 29,768 students. Our university is one of only two doctoral degree-granting public universities in the state of Wisconsin. Also, our university educates more students from the state of Wisconsin than any other university in the state, of the 29,768 students at our university, 26,676 students are from Wisconsin. The university has made tremendous strides as a major public research university as well. Research expenditures at Milwaukee have increased from $23 million in 2000-2001 to $75 million in 2011-2012. Also, the university has seen a 27% increase in enrollment and a 37% increase in degrees granted over the past decade. Also, Milwaukee has recently started two new schools, the School of Public Health and the School of Freshwater Sciences, which is the first graduate school in the nation dedicated solely to the study of freshwater. I think a workable solution to address our university’s name and identity problem is to slightly change our official university name. Currently our university’s name, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, is confused with the University of Wisconsin-Madison as well as 13 of the other University of Wisconsin System four-year universities. In order to strengthen our name and to create a strong identity separate from the other four year universities in the UW system I suggest that our university to change its official name to: University of Milwaukee, The University of Wisconsin System In this scenario our university would keep both its affiliation with the UW System as well the UW System name in our official name. From an informal perspective our university would be commonly referred to as the University of Milwaukee, or Milwaukee. This scenario would help our university to strengthen its name and identity separate from other institutions from the UW System universities on a national basis while keeping the affiliation and name of the University of Wisconsin System. www4.uwm.edu/discover/facts.cfmwww.wisconsin.edu/news/2011/r110609.htmwww4.uwm.edu/news/stories/details.cfm?customel_datapageid_11602=4009188www4.uwm.edu/discover/numbers.cfm |
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Post by uwmfutbol on Mar 15, 2012 13:14:21 GMT -6
It has to start with our own AD, and then with the JS. Until those two are dealt with, nothing will change.
I doubt it will ever happen, but I would love for us to re brand to the University of Milwaukee.
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Post by thegreengull on Mar 15, 2012 15:27:23 GMT -6
I agree, it has to start at the very top, with the athletic department and the university administration. As many people have pointed out on this board, building a stronger brand isn’t just going to benefit athletics but will greatly improve the university’s image overall.
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Post by PantherU on Mar 17, 2012 17:02:02 GMT -6
From a recent issue of SI on Tony Bennett's defense at Virginia, which he picked up from his dad Dick:
Now the Phoenix is a No. 12 seed, pitted against No. 5 Cal, an up-tempo scoring machine with Final Four aspirations and a soon-to-be No. 2 overall draft pick, Jason Kidd, at point. CBS tells viewers that Bennett is a "guru," but it's an indication of his employer's lack of prominence that analyst Ann Meyers refers to the school as "Green Bay Wisconsin" for the first six minutes of the game
Yup.
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Post by ricestillfumbled on Mar 20, 2012 11:23:01 GMT -6
Did anyone see the ad in th back page of the main section in the js today? I find it very disrespectful. Is there a way to post a picture on here?
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Post by JG Panthers on Mar 20, 2012 11:25:50 GMT -6
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Post by ricestillfumbled on Mar 20, 2012 11:25:54 GMT -6
Did anyone see the ad in th back page of the main section in the js today? I find it very disrespectful. Is there a way to post a picture on here? It shows a full grown Marquette player guarding a 6 year old Milwaukee player and it says underneath "if we start early, we can help your children reach their full potential" Are they saying the because I'm a Uwm alum I didn't reach my full potential? |
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Post by illwauk on Mar 20, 2012 13:35:21 GMT -6
That ads been out for awhile, I remember it being on one of the bus canopies by my old apartment. I never thought much of it though... I just figured that instead of using generic uniforms, which you often see on these types of ads, they chose to use replicas of the two local college programs to put a more "hometown" spin on it... no harm intended.
Granted, I can see why many Panther fans/alums might get defensive about this seeing as how it was in a paper that has been less than kind to our program, but it does us no good to put a chip on our shoulder or adopt a mentality that the world is against us. That's exactly why the entire sports world laughs at Cleveland fans.
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