Jump to content

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers new logo


Waffles

Recommended Posts

From the team's website:

xFZeqKOc.jpg

GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers have unveiled their new look for the 2011 season! The Midwest League affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers will have a new primary logo, new lettering on their jerseys and a new alternate baseball cap when they take the field next season.

The new identity was developed by Studio Simon, a Louisville, Kentucky-based sports branding firm. Studio Simon is the leader in Minor League Baseball identity design and has teamed up with over 100 professional, collegiate and amateur sports teams, leagues and businesses on the development of complete team identity systems. Studio Simon's portfolio of work includes the event marks for two Super Bowls, the brand identity systems for each of the Baseball Winter Meetings since 2003 and the official Opening Day logos used by all 160 Minor League teams.

"We were looking to freshen up our look as well as bring in new elements," said Rob Zerjav, Timber Rattlers team president. "The jersey logo is a little edgier than the past logo and we now have an alternate logo that does not incorporate the snake, which gives us some additional branding opportunities. We are also pleased to keep our very familiar 'W with the snake wrap' logo as this logo is what Timber Rattlers fans identify with and it continues to be one of the most popular logos in all of Minor League Baseball."

The new Timber Rattlers home jerseys will feature a silver 'TIMBER' placed on top of a maroon 'RATTLERS'. The outer stems of the 'A' and the second 'R' in RATTLERS have been extended and curved to resemble the fangs of a snake. The uniforms will be complimented by an all maroon New Era cap featuring the familiar black 'W with the snake wrap'.

On the road, the Timber Rattlers will wear traditional grey uniforms with a maroon 'WISCONSIN' across the chest. The outer stems of each 'I' in WISCONSIN have been extended and curved to resemble the fangs of a snake. The previous alternate black cap with silver bill will become the new road cap. The new alternate cap features the same "fang" technique used in the uniform logos and features a large 'T' and 'R' in the new lettering on the front of the cap.

Merchandise with the new logos is now available in the Timber Rattlers team store at Time Warner Cable Field and on the team's website.

Opening Day for the 2011 season is Thursday, April 7. Season ticket packages and tickets for groups of 20 or more are available now by calling 800-WI-TIMBER or by stopping at the Time Warner Cable Field ticket office from 9am to 5pm Monday through Friday.

I would've guessed they were a D-Backs affiliate with the colors, the snake, and the TR mark.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, they look a lot like the D'Backs.

Since the T-Rats had this same basic look for over a decade before the D'Backs, I'd say the Arizona club looks like the Wisconsin one.

You're right though... and that's just one of the reasons why I consider this a lateral move rather than an upgrade. Someone unfamiliar with the club would probably (and understandably) assume this is an affiliate of the D'Backs and not the Brewers. Not to mention they more-less kept everything that's wrong with their identity. They refer to Wisconsin when there's another Wisconsin team (Beloit) in the same league. They're named after an animal that's not even indigenous to the area... yes, I know Bears don't live in Chicago, etc; but I think that rule changes when you go so far as to identify as a specific species.

But most of all, there's so much history and prominence associated with the Appleton/Fox Cities Foxes brand... they're more/less the Packers of the Midwest League. The Timber Rattlers identity is associated with mediocrity and reeks of mid-90s kewlz (although you could argue that's appropriate considering where they play :D). You'd never know that this is one of the most successful teams in the history of minor league baseball and it's completely unfathomable to me why they don't revert.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers name, as I recall, was created to be more of a regional name, attracting fans from not just the immediate Fox Cities but Green Bay, the rest of Northeast Wisconsin, and even parts of Central Wisconsin (where they now have 2 Northwoods League teams, the Wisconsin Woodchucks and Wisconsin Rapids Rafters).

As for the Timber Rattlers new logo package... it's good that the "W" cap logo (with the snake wrapped around it) is still part of the team's identity, but I'd rather that they made it the full-time primary logo (it seemed like it was already) and perhaps spruce it up rather than create a whole new primary logo (a logo that seems a little too Arena Football-ish to me).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers name, as I recall, was created to be more of a regional name, attracting fans from not just the immediate Fox Cities but Green Bay, the rest of Northeast Wisconsin, and even parts of Central Wisconsin (where they now have 2 Northwoods League teams, the Wisconsin Woodchucks and Wisconsin Rapids Rafters).

The Packers never seemed to have that problem and the regional approach really only works for sports that are played mainly on weekends... being named after Wisconsin is not gonna get baseball fan X from Stevens Point to come to a Wednesday night game nor will that same person be discouraged from going to a Saturday game just because the team is named for Appleton.

I can understand why they changed their identity in the mid-90s... it was the thing to have a "kewl" mascot, the team hadn't been successful in quite awhile and they wanted to get people excited about the new ballpark. But now the only thing I find likable about the Timber Rattlers brand now is that it gives me a singular source for all the reasons for why I think marketing people are idiots.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really loved the set of this team. I seen them in person, and the R logo is just mint. The old wordmark I think was a lot better. I'm not a big fan of these spike/fang wordmarks. They just don't seem like baseball wordmarks. I don't really think its a downgrade... but I don't think its an upgrade. Lateralgrade I guess.

_CLEVELANDTHATILOVEIndians.jpg


SAINT IGNATIUS WILDCATS | CLEVELAND BROWNS | CLEVELAND CAVALIERS | CLEVELAND INDIANS | THE OHIO STATE BUCKEYES

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers name, as I recall, was created to be more of a regional name, attracting fans from not just the immediate Fox Cities but Green Bay, the rest of Northeast Wisconsin, and even parts of Central Wisconsin (where they now have 2 Northwoods League teams, the Wisconsin Woodchucks and Wisconsin Rapids Rafters).

The Packers never seemed to have that problem and the regional approach really only works for sports that are played mainly on weekends... being named after Wisconsin is not gonna get baseball fan X from Stevens Point to come to a Wednesday night game nor will that same person be discouraged from going to a Saturday game just because the team is named for Appleton.

I can understand why they changed their identity in the mid-90s... it was the thing to have a "kewl" mascot, the team hadn't been successful in quite awhile and they wanted to get people excited about the new ballpark. But now the only thing I find likable about the Timber Rattlers brand now is that it gives me a singular source for all the reasons for why I think marketing people are idiots.

My rule for regionalized naming is that major league teams are allowed to do it, and minor league teams are allowed to do it if and only if the primary market served has more than one population center. If it's bi-modal like Temple-Killeen, the Central Texas or Centex is allowed. Same goes for Quad Cities and Hampton Roads (though teams there seem to be opting out more).

Another good internal test for regionalizing names... if you're the team, are you spending any advertising money in those other markets you're supposedly serving? Appleton/Green Bay is tricky since it's a single TV DMA, but I doubt any TV advertising is broad brushed across the entire DMA, but rather the focused insertions you see with local cable systems. I doubt there's newspaper advertising outside the Fox Cities...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers name, as I recall, was created to be more of a regional name, attracting fans from not just the immediate Fox Cities but Green Bay, the rest of Northeast Wisconsin, and even parts of Central Wisconsin (where they now have 2 Northwoods League teams, the Wisconsin Woodchucks and Wisconsin Rapids Rafters).

The Packers never seemed to have that problem and the regional approach really only works for sports that are played mainly on weekends... being named after Wisconsin is not gonna get baseball fan X from Stevens Point to come to a Wednesday night game nor will that same person be discouraged from going to a Saturday game just because the team is named for Appleton.

I can understand why they changed their identity in the mid-90s... it was the thing to have a "kewl" mascot, the team hadn't been successful in quite awhile and they wanted to get people excited about the new ballpark. But now the only thing I find likable about the Timber Rattlers brand now is that it gives me a singular source for all the reasons for why I think marketing people are idiots.

My rule for regionalized naming is that major league teams are allowed to do it, and minor league teams are allowed to do it if and only if the primary market served has more than one population center. If it's bi-modal like Temple-Killeen, the Central Texas or Centex is allowed. Same goes for Quad Cities and Hampton Roads (though teams there seem to be opting out more).

Another good internal test for regionalizing names... if you're the team, are you spending any advertising money in those other markets you're supposedly serving? Appleton/Green Bay is tricky since it's a single TV DMA, but I doubt any TV advertising is broad brushed across the entire DMA, but rather the focused insertions you see with local cable systems. I doubt there's newspaper advertising outside the Fox Cities...

Appleton Foxes is a regional name though... I got the connection right away when I was 10 years old. I think it's pretty patronizing of the marketing geniuses at Appleton Baseball Club, Inc to assume that people outside of Appleton need to see "Wisconsin" to feel like its their team (and this is from someone who rarely passes at a chance to snark about the lack of intellect in Northern Wis. :D ). Besides, its been proven time and again at all levels of sport that success on the playing field tends to destroy whatever geographic borders the team is named for... which again, goes back to that little football team up the highway from Appleton that owes its entire existence to this phenomenon.

Not to mention that playing up their Brewers affiliation has been their main marketing point over the past two years, yet they keep an identity that's so close to what another NL team uses? It's just hard for me to see this as anything but a missed opportunity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't see why people have such a problem with them using the name "Wisconsin". Sure, there is a team in Beloit, but who cares. If I am not mistaken, there are only 2 'real' minor league teams in the whole state. (by real I mean teams with a major league affiliate, not any of the Northwoods League teams).

First of all, they are now a Brewers affiliate, so the whole state has a connection to the team.

Secondly, now that Beloit no longer is a Brewers affiliate, I feel much more allegiance to the Rattlers than ever as a Wisconsite. Plus, I lived about 1 hour from Beloit and over two from Grand Chute, and I would much rather fo see a Rattlers game since the stadium is nicer and Beloit's is a joke of a stadium. As far as I'm concerned, The Rattlers are Wisconsin minor league baseball, so they should keep the state name.

That being said, I like the logos here. The wordmark is a little too much like the D-Backs, but I think most teams want their primary logos to have the whole team name in it and the W/Snake logo didnt have that, although I hope the old W/Snake continues to be used more often than any of these. It's a classic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.