Lakeland Tigers To Get New Logo, Maybe Name

[Survival79]

Tigers to Get New Logo, Maybe Name

By Rick Rousos

The Ledger

LAKELAND -- The Lakeland Tigers, traditionally near the bottom of attendance and merchandise sales for Minor League Baseball, will have a new logo for the 2007 season. They may also have a new name -- that might not include the word "Tigers."

Ron Myers, the director of Florida operations for the Detroit Tigers, has wavered in the past year about whether to keep the Tigers moniker. He wants to do what's best for business, but has been reluctant to mess with tradition.

Myers now says that he is "totally open to whatever the creative geniuses say."

The creative geniuses: Jason Klein and Casey White, who own the San Diego-based Plan B. Branding. The company has been hired by the Tigers to do what the partners call "rebranding," which focuses on a new name, logo, marketing strategy, advertising, and maybe food and drinks.

Rebranding puts emphasis on the impressions, good, bad or indifferent, that fans glean during their night out.

A team can have the coolest logo and merchandise in baseball, Klein and White say, but if fans don't have a great time at the game, they're not buying anything.

Klein and White spent two days in Lakeland this week, including attending a Tigers game. They've formed some early, good impressions of the organization, Joker Marchant Stadium and Tigertown.

"This is one of the most colorful places we've been," White said.

Plan B. has so far rebranded 20 teams. One of its biggest triumphs is the transformation of the bottom-feeding Clearwater Phillies to the hugely successful Clearwater Threshers. To view its work, visit planbbranding.com.

While Plan B. is in the beginning stages of its work with the Tigers, Klein and White say the organization has a great ballpark, delicious food, cold beverages and treats fans well.

"They've got the basics down; now it's time to add some spice," White said.

Within a few months, Klein, White and Myers will sit down and come up with a team name -- or 10 of them. Next, Plan B. will come up with numerous drafts of logos, and one will be chosen.

Klein said one of their recommendations will be to connect fans with the history and tradition of Tigertown, including the dorm rooms, the baseball cafeteria and airplane hangars.

Klein and White are both 26 and have been best friends since kindergarten. They got their real start in baseball running the mascot department for the San Diego Padres.

Back then, their job was to make people laugh. But with their track record in reversing the fortunes of baseball franchises, nobody is laughing now.

Klein and White say they're rebranding a Major League Baseball team, but wouldn't, for obvious reasons, say which one.

They did, however, say that it wasn't the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Rick Rousos can be reached at rick.rousos@theledger.com or 863-802-7516.

[Tazz013]

Blue Jays, Mariners, Marlins, Rockies, and Royals are my top five guesses.

[McCall]

Hopefully Blue Jays. They need it baaaaaadddllllyyyy.

[ZBoyer]

That presentation on their website was really insightful. If they can do what they did with Clearwater to the Lakeland Tigers, that would be a heck of a turnaround. It looks like they do great work and they've been successful, so it's almost a no-brainer for a team that does so poorly.

[Dilbert]

Hopefully Blue Jays. They need it baaaaaadddllllyyyy.

Blue Jays are already in Dunedin, in the same league.

[Ez Street]

Blue Jays, Mariners, Marlins, Rockies, and Royals are my top five guesses.

Why the Royals?

They nixed the black, thank god.

Other than that, i think they are solid enough.

[Tazz013]

Blue Jays, Mariners, Marlins, Rockies,  and Royals are my top five guesses.

Why the Royals?

They nixed the black, thank god.

Other than that, i think they are solid enough.

They need something to generate more insterest in the team (read: sell more merchandise).

[navywhitestripes]

i'd say call them lakeland tigersharks, to tie in the area with the affiliated team(tigers)

[29a]

I hope it's the Jays, but I hope they don't go all "Swing of the Quad Cities" on it... what a disgusting colour scheme.

[TBGKon]

i'd say call them lakeland tigersharks, to tie in the area with the affiliated team(tigers)

This could work, but there's already a Threshers (Clearwater) and Hammerheads (Jupiter), so a third shark-related team is a bit of overkill.

I have heard rumors (since I work for the Threshers), that the name "Flying Tigers" or "Fighting Tigers" has been thrown around. If you need some assistance of what these names represent, here are som pics:

[Brendan]

My quess is the Royals or the Rockies. The Blue Jays just got new jerseys so I think it will be a couple of years before they get a new look. It could just be the Reds though.

[SabreGuy]

Klein and White say they're rebranding a Major League Baseball team, but wouldn't, for obvious reasons, say which one.

They did, however, say that it wasn't the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Is it wrong that this makes me giddy with anticipation? Oh man, I have a logo addiction problem.

[BallWonk]

Blue Jays, Mariners, Marlins, Rockies, and Royals are my top five guesses.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was a long-term (read, planning now for 2008 rollout) rebranding effort for the Nationals. "Rebranding" doesn't necessarily mean "changing the name." Right now, the Nationals can hardly be said to have a brand at all beyond the generic "baseball in Washington." But the new owners have been taking quick steps since taking over the team to move toward a more definite identity in line with making the team a tourist attraction in addition to being a local team. The new ballpark will be much more convenient to the National Mall, and it would seem something like a dereliction of duty for any company in similar circumstances not to be aggressively studying its branding options right now.

What I've heard recently about the Rockies makes me doubt it's them, and the Royals are such a crummy organization that even if they were smart enough to reconsider their brand identity they would bring in second-rank consultants, not the A-team.

I could almost see the White Sox trying to figure out how to build on their recently increased national exposure to try to become a Yankees-like iconic team that people embrace without having any actual interest in the team or even the sport of baseball.

[Geoff]

Hopefully Blue Jays. They need it baaaaaadddllllyyyy.

Blue Jays are already in Dunedin, in the same league.

He meant Toronto.

[Mac the Knife]

I could almost see the White Sox trying to figure out how to build on their recently increased national exposure to try to become a Yankees-like iconic team that people embrace without having any actual interest in the team or even the sport of baseball.

That can be accomplished with four words: Win More World Series.

[Ez Street]

and the Royals are such a crummy organization that even if they were smart enough to reconsider their brand identity they would bring in second-rank consultants, not the A-team.

Actually the team and it's new GM are making strides to shed that perception.

There are rumours that if not next year but the year after the payroll could be up to 75 million.

Better than what is currently being spent.

[BigShoop]

i'd say call them lakeland tigersharks, to tie in the area with the affiliated team(tigers)

This could work, but there's already a Threshers (Clearwater) and Hammerheads (Jupiter), so a third shark-related team is a bit of overkill.

I have heard rumors (since I work for the Threshers), that the name "Flying Tigers" or "Fighting Tigers" has been thrown around. If you need some assistance of what these names represent, here are som pics:

that makes sense, because close to Lakeland, on I-4, is that airplane school....with the airplane stuck in the ground.....

i was thinking a "gator-themed" team name, since a) theyre nowhere NEAR the ocean, central florida is Gator country and c) central florida is alligator country

[pflava]

It's gotta be the Nationals. That makes the most sense.

No way in hell it's the Royals.

[Mac the Knife]

Washington Senators, Part III?

I know the Astros were thinking of changing their name to the "Houston Diesel" when they moved into their new stadium... maybe McClane (sp?) decided it wouldn't be such a bad idea after all?

Perhaps the Blue Jays have wised up to the fact that the team should have BLUE as the principal component in their identity?

Maybe the Angels are rebranding themselves the Los Angeles Angels of Orange County, El Segundo and Anaheim, Bingo Long's Traveling All-Stars and Anaheim, or something else that has everyone going "WTF"?

Then again, maybe the Dodgers are going to become the Anaheim Dodgers of Los Angeles, just for spite?

Who knows. My money's on a Nats re-do, particularly since the original was kind of done on the fly, but its fun speculating, isn't it?

[CubsFanBudMan]

Blue Jays, Mariners, Marlins, Rockies,  and Royals are my top five guesses.

I could almost see the White Sox trying to figure out how to build on their recently increased national exposure to try to become a Yankees-like iconic team that people embrace without having any actual interest in the team or even the sport of baseball.

On the White Sox: Would changing their identity at the height of their exposure accomplish that? I would say their current identity has been fairly iconic since the day it launched.

It was a hot cap right away (popping up in hip-hop videos, etc.) and has endured as a simple, classic look in part because the Sox stuck with it.

The fact the ever-changing Sox have kept it since 1990 seems to be evidence enough that it's here to stay. A 2005 title can't hurt, either. In all honesty, they might be the last team I'd expect to rebrand right now. I think they have an iconic 'Yankees' look, and as the Mad Mac says, I think all they need to cement it is more titles.

I don't know how the above reads, but it isn't meant to dismiss what you're saying. I'm actually curious to hear more on why this makes sense for the Sox.