Has the Spartan image been sold to the highest bidder?
MSU Basketball Coach Tom Izzo likes to portray himself as “a blue-collar kind of guy,” but in reality he’s a Swoosh kind of fella — a Nike guy.
During a recent press conference, Coach Izzo dressed down alumni who oppose the new Nike-created logo. He was quick to say “I’m so disappointed with our group of alums” who oppose the redesign of the old Spartan logo. But what he didn’t tell the audience was that he works for Nike.
And he gets paid handsomely, to the tune of $300,000 a year, to represent and wear their branded clothing and equipment. Other perks include a $25,000 annual merchandise credit for Nike equipment and oodles of Nike equipment for basketball camps and four assistant coaches, as well as a bonus package that takes into account post-season games.
Meanwhile, agitated alumni nationwide have formed Facebook fan pages opposing the new logo redesign, attracting tens of thousands of vocal and often vitriolic fans. A fan page called “The Old Spartan Logo will soon reach 50,000 fans, if it hasn’t already, and the vast majority of posters clearly oppose the new Nike-inspired logo. The number of Facebook fans opposing the logo far surpasses the number of actual alumni members which should tell you something. Read some of the comments and then watch the video below where Coach Izzo said the new design and branding effort was “not just a good move but a brilliant move.” (For that kind of money, what would you say?)
Good Intentions…Bad Execution.
I don’t believe that Tom Izzo is consciously defending Nike in order to save himself $325,000 per year (not when Coach is already a millionaire many times over).
However, I do believe Izzo should have disclosed his financial stake before chastising the fans who are starting their own ‘blue-collar’ or ‘grass-roots’ opposition to the logo redesign. Perhaps what Coach doesn’t grasp is that as Spartans we take immense pride in our logo and bristle at the notion that some team of Nike marketers looking for something to do produced such a half-baked product to represent our brand.
Hopefully Mark Hollis and the rest of the powers that be at MSU recognize the need to crowdsource such important decisions — which directly impact MSU ‘Brand Ambassadors’ (also called ‘fans’) — in the future.
I enjoyed reading your post Bill. Go Green!
Joe Mescher
Michigan State University, Class of 2004
Eli Broad College of Business, Marketing Major
[email protected]
Great post Bill! I also agree with the previous comments concerning crowdsourcing! Even if MSU’s marketing team didn’t do any test-marketing, it’s really difficult to believe that a marketing giant like Nike would not.
Well said, Bill. Izzo is a great coach and a wonderful ambassador for the university. But the amount of money he and his program get from Nike (and he’s far from alone in the college coaching ranks) can’t help but color his opinion on this issue.
Love it ! Hate It !!! Who Cares ? Whatever your opinion, check out the Facebook Page,
” The Old Spartan Logo ” Tons of opinions,suggestions and observations.
While on this page, check out , A Graphic Artist Point of View , in Discussions.
Graphic Designers, Art Directors, Marketers and Public Relations people, voice your professional opinion in this format. Constructive Criticism may be helpful to MSU as they deal with this Public Relations and Marketing Train Wreck. Peace.