The Milwaukee Brand

[skrapheap]

Aug 6, 2012 13:32:24 GMT -6 illwauk said:

Regardless of whether or not UW-Madison (or whoever else) is responsible for the confusion, the fact remains that it exists and needs to be addressed.

i have yet to read anything on this board that suggests that the confusion, to whatever extent it exists, doesn't need to be addressed. There are at least a few of us who don't think changing the name of the university is the most effective way to deal with it.

[Lutzow10]

I dont think its about changing the university. Just trying to focus on the milwaukee part of the name and use the UW part much less. Officially i dont have a problem being UW-Milwaukee but most people feel that branding our athletics and/or school with a different moniker. I mean technically we are te university of milwaukee. We are just the university of milwaukee in the wisconsin system.

[uwmfutbol]

I agree about the need for stronger branding. UW-Madison will always be the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but their brand is Wisconsin. Our brand should be Milwaukee, even if the diploma and seal say the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

[illwauk]

Aug 7, 2012 7:32:40 GMT -6 skrapheap said:

Aug 6, 2012 13:32:24 GMT -6 illwauk said:

Regardless of whether or not UW-Madison (or whoever else) is responsible for the confusion, the fact remains that it exists and needs to be addressed.

i have yet to read anything on this board that suggests that the confusion, to whatever extent it exists, doesn't need to be addressed. There are at least a few of us who don't think changing the name of the university is the most effective way to deal with it.

Then why not share with us the ways you think would be more effective?

Aug 7, 2012 8:16:59 GMT -6 Lutzow10 said:

I dont think its about changing the university. Just trying to focus on the milwaukee part of the name and use the UW part much less. Officially i dont have a problem being UW-Milwaukee but most people feel that branding our athletics and/or school with a different moniker. I mean technically we are te university of milwaukee. We are just the university of milwaukee in the wisconsin system.

This is VERY good point that I haven't really seen anyone make yet. We may share California's naming convention, but our alignment is completely different. Where all of the UC's share a mission statement, seal and colors, all the UW's are autonomous institutions with different missions that have little in common aside from being partially funded by the Wisconsin taxpayers. Objectively speaking, University of Milwaukee is just a more accurate and honest name than University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

[Deleted]

(please before responding with criticism that this is nonsense and I shouldn't mention this in light of other much larger issues with our hoops team (the men's team), do realize that this is a free country with free speech and nobody required you to click on this link- thanks in advance).

I didn't really know where to put this, so I figured here would be appropriate. I hate to beat the dead horse on this topic (just as many hate the Fire Jeter dead horse), but:

www.buffalobulls.com/sports/mbkb/2012-13/schedule

Buffalo is able to get branding right. We are getting a lot better (see- website banner/main page updates that emphasize "MILWAUKEE" and esp. the changes to bookstore apparel (I forget who on here works there- but thanks for spear-heading that effort), but still not even close to having a solidified "MILWAUKEE PANTHERS" brand*.

I love how Adrian Tigert and Daron Sutton have promoted the "Milwaukee Panthers" brand. They have been very consistent on TWC32 broadcasts. As was ESPN on the ESPN3 game @ UNI.

And I am a rabid follower of Kevin O'Conner's stat briefs and game recaps (I probably steal 3/4 of my blogs content from it, PantherU and this discussion board.. lol (hey now- I don't charge money to view www.milwaukeepanthertracks.com and I (after deciding I didn't want to see it die like much of the Milwaukee fan base already has) just paid GoDaddy to renew the domain for 2 years!). But I really, really wish he wouldn't alternate between UWM Panthers, UWM, Milwaukee and Milwaukee Panthers. Maybe it's a UW System directive...

I doubt it though. I just wish people in the positions to make the decisions about how we are referenced/branded would be consistent and call our athletic teams simply and only: THE MILWAUKEE PANTHERS. "UW-Madison" is fine for academics. As is "UW-Milwaukee" for our academics. But please, show me a shirt that says, "UW-Madison Badgers". They don't exist, because Wisconsin established the Wisconsin brand (as we have been slowly but surely est. the "Milwaukee" brand.

Buffallo can do it. Why not us? It boggles my mind that if you search ESPN for "Milwaukee" we come up next to the Bucks and the Brewers, yet our own university cannot distinguish between an athletic "brand" and the name of a university.

I know it's a hard balance to weigh (and I am no marketing guru)- but it can, and will eventually be done (hopefully sooner than later). Again, I mean no offense to K. O'Conner (he is an encyclopedia of Milwaukee Panther Hoops info and I guarentee he loves this program more than nearly anyone on here). I just wish we would ditch (or at least temper references to) "UWM" and "UWM Panthers". The "UW Badgers" do not exist.

Neither should the "UWM Panthers". We are Milwaukee and to people outside of Wisconsin- we need to make that clear. Anyhoo... sorry for the ramble & wish I wasn't too tired and burnt out from work to have to sit this one out and watch from home. 'Sure hope we can find that magic tonight.

*yes, I realize this ranks somewhere around #27 on our list of problems visa vi athletics... but I figured I would give Buffalo some credit. Now I hope we can beat them tonight at the K and get back on track. I'd be there (I've already missed 1 game this year which, as a (6? 7?) year season ticket-holder has only now happened 3x... but it was a long day at work, and quite frankly (I am one of the biggest cheerleaders), I want this team make me wake up and and be excited to watch them even after a long day.

And I know, it is what it is... but I already miss the Cell badly. Even if it was 1/4 full on most nights...

GO MILWAUKEE. WAR PANTHERS.

[Deleted]

Aug 9, 2012 14:37:53 GMT -6 illwauk said:

Aug 7, 2012 7:32:40 GMT -6 skrapheap said:

i have yet to read anything on this board that suggests that the confusion, to whatever extent it exists, doesn't need to be addressed. There are at least a few of us who don't think changing the name of the university is the most effective way to deal with it.

Then why not share with us the ways you think would be more effective?

Aug 7, 2012 8:16:59 GMT -6 Lutzow10 said:

I dont think its about changing the university. Just trying to focus on the milwaukee part of the name and use the UW part much less. Officially i dont have a problem being UW-Milwaukee but most people feel that branding our athletics and/or school with a different moniker. I mean technically we are te university of milwaukee. We are just the university of milwaukee in the wisconsin system.

This is VERY good point that I haven't really seen anyone make yet. We may share California's naming convention, but our alignment is completely different. Where all of the UC's share a mission statement, seal and colors, all the UW's are autonomous institutions with different missions that have little in common aside from being partially funded by the Wisconsin taxpayers. Objectively speaking, University of Milwaukee is just a more accurate and honest name than University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Good point illwauk. I read recently that UWM's funding from the state has dropped from something in the neighborhood of 40% when I was a freshman (2001) to about 15% today. Maybe I am way off- but there has been a significant drop off in state aid (for obvious state budgetary reasons).

We might as well be a private university. I will always fight, fight for UWM. But I think the University of Milwaukee makes a helluva lot more sense and would give us a helluva lot more freedom.

But then tuition would go up dramatically.. and I am a PT graduate school student. Dangit all!

Someday, some one in the big comfy chair will see a light-bulb go off and figure it out.

[illwauk]

So how sad is it to have just played a D2 school with the exact same colors and mascot that looks SO MUCH better than us?

[Lutzow10]

Idk. Not a huge fan of the panther logo or the claw. The claw has potential to look sick but its extremely basic. The panther head is not all that great. I agree that their font is pretty sick though. Especially with the monogram weaved into it. I am sure they prolly use that for their baseball team.

[uwmfutbol]

I disagree. I don't like their logos at all. Though I should be honest and clarify that I don't really like our logo or name either. "Panthers" is such a weak name. That's why I wish we would just be branded as Milwaukee basketball just like how Marquette prefers their school name rather than the Golden Eagles.

[PANTHERfan]

With you Futbol, that team's logo was cartoonish at best. I don't get the hate against the one thing this program is doing mediocre.

[Hack]

Bring back the Normals!!

[illwauk]

I agree, the actual Panthers are pretty basic, but that's just another one of its weaknesses of having a big cat for a mascot... how many ways are there to really draw a big cat for a logo? Either way, it's still better than ours. That wordmark, however... just plain gorgeous. And since it looks like something a beer company would use, something like it would be perfect for Milwaukee.

But that said, the only thing I'd want Milwaukee to change its nickname to would be Gulls... which is even more appropriate now than when it was originally used. A marine bird makes sense as a symbol for the university that spawned the world's first School of Freshwater Sciences, no?

[PantherU]

The Gold Gulls

[Lutzow10]

Gold Gulls or Golden Gulls would mean two gold bird mascots in this town. Battle of the birds

[illwauk]

I honestly think Gulls is a strong enough name to stand on its own without any qualifiers... most "color animal" mascots sound hokey and contrived. I'd even say that's a very big and overlooked reason why MU alums still aren't over "Warriors" (even though the Golden Eagle is one of the few examples of this that's an actual species of animal).

Gulls would also be unique in Division 1... the only other colleges that use it anywhere are a pair of D3 liberal arts schools on the east coast. That's a pretty good trait to have if you're trying to build a brand.