Eliminating the A-Roo

[zen]

I personally don't believe that the "Z" logo is quite stylized or distinct enough to evoke a brand on sight.
It might be different if Akron was a top BCS school with consistent national exposure where a mundane letter symbol can evoke representation of an entity, but we are not that, and as it stands in 5 years the Z logo will still be just a semi-obscure logo.

I still think they should swep the points more, swoosh top and bottom strokes as if robust yet graceful samurai blades, and increase the accents.
After seeing it a few times, people will recognize what it is and who it belongs to.

[a-zip]

You're joking right? After we won the national championship in 2010 everything with soccer has had the A-Roo logo inside of the blue oval, with one star over it on just about everything involving the program, including the on the field jerseys. The warmups have THAT logo too. It's also on the bags and everything else related to the team. When I was flying to New York a couple of weeks ago I saw one of the coaches in the Akron-Canton Airport. How did I know he was a soccer coach? Because he was wearing A-Roo in blue oval with a star over it gear, with a bag that matched.

If you went to the basketball game where all the soccer alumni came you recieved this poster with the very logo I'm talking about on the bottom.

Now, I'm not saying that I hate the Z logo...I just think it's asinine to completely eliminate the A-Roo. My coffee cup in front of me as I type this, has a giant A-Roo on it. Half my gear has the A-Roo on it. Moving A was very obviously dated. It looked like it was from the 80's. The A-Roo doesn't look dated at all.

We should not be in the business of eliminating logos. Find new and interesting ways to encorporate them. A couple of years ago the new Rowdies shirt had a Z logo with the A-Roo Logo superimposed inside it. That was a really cool, modern shirt that utilized two of our unique logos. I liked it.

Athletics should be creative, not lazy. Changing from A-Roo to Z is lazy.

You are talking about a poster that was created for an event. The team did not wear the donkey when they won the national championship. I think you are seriously overreacting to a change in logo and branding. Who said they Donkey A was being eliminated….I don't see that anywhere? Why is it "lazy" to change to a Z (that looks the same regardless of what side of the basketball court you are on….kinda cool I think). Why does a change have to be an elaborate change? The name ZIPS is one of the most unique in all of sports…..I think it is a great idea to use the Z……who else could use it?

[ZipsBurgh]

Here is a warm-up from the National Championship era.

And here are a couple decent players wearing a jersey with the a-roo.

[a-zip]

Here is a warm-up from the National Championship era.

And here are a couple decent players wearing a jersey with the a-roo.

You people are f(&*ing unbelievable. You are so bent on trying to find an Akron soccer player with the donkey that you miss the point….The FACT is no success tied to the donkey - our National Championship soccer team did not wear it on their jerseys when they won the national championship…... our basketball team does not wear it. The only team that wore it prominently was our football team (who has sucked for a long time). I think it is smart to try and get away from that association. The losing is old and so is the donkey. You can post all the pictures you want of the donkey on a t-shirt, practice warm up, bag…it is not associated to winning.

[ZipsBurgh]

I'm honestly indifferent to the whole thing. I like both logos. I was just responding to the "I have NEVER seen the Donkey-ARoo on any of UA's soccer jerseys, warm ups or Cub Cadet field." and the pictures you posted following.

And even if the "fact" is that you don't see success tied to the logo, that doesn't mean others don't. That logo represents Akron athletics (good or bad) for a lot of fans. I think the Z will get to that point as well.

[K92]

The number one thing that stands out about the soccer unis is they're blue and gold.

[a-zip]

The survey conducted last year may have had something to do with the phase out of the A-Roo. Or not. Who knows? Here's the link if you want to vote again. It's still active.

https://akron.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_9zapqXETcrznWvz

So maybe…..just maybe….it has more to do with this than TW and his family liking it.

[K92]

I like the old varsity A logo. I think it's timeless and we never should have stopped using it. I always liked it because it was basically the BYU logo turned upside down and everybody knows we are the BYU of the Midwest.

[Balsy]

Nope. Don't see the Donkey on the national championship team.

Still don't see it

Hence the reason why I said AFTER we won the national championship. But facts be damned, Z is going away. We're going to continue having fun having no identity. Good luck attracting any current students to support the team when you're changing logos everyother year!

#ThinkSmall!

[Balsy]

You people are f(&*ing unbelievable. You are so bent on trying to find an Akron soccer player with the donkey that you miss the point….The FACT is no success tied to the donkey - our National Championship soccer team did not wear it on their jerseys when they won the national championship…...

What logo do you think was run on national television when The Zips were playing in back-to-back National Championship games?

Here's a hint: It was the most exciting thing to see my team's logo (THE A-ROO) plastered all over the ESPN broadcast.

[skip-zip]

Here's the deal.

Without commenting extensively on branding and marketing, let me just say this.

This change is MAJOR. This is not using the "A" in a different fashion, or modernized. This is an entirely new symbol.

A school of this size (just like a business of this size) spends TONS of money trying to establish an identity. When you abandon that completely to basically "start over", you are taking an incredible risk and forfeiting everything you have already invested in your previous, long-standing identity.

Good Luck.

[zippy5]

Hence the reason why I said AFTER we won the national championship. But facts be damned, Z is going away. We're going to continue having fun having no identity. Good luck attracting any current students to support the team when you're changing logos everyother year!

#ThinkSmall!

The #1 reason I attended events as a student was definitely the consistency of our team's logos. I can't imagine the drop in attendance if our basketball team started wearing a Z on their shorts or something.

[a-zip]

What logo do you think was run on national television when The Zips were playing in back-to-back National Championship games?

Here's a hint: It was the most exciting thing to see my team's logo (THE A-ROO) plastered all over the ESPN broadcast.

I am not sure, maybe the donkey was displayed but it was not worn by the team (heck, some columns still use the moving A ;-) I would not say the Donkey A is emblazoned in anyone's mind and when they see it they think "Wow….Champions!!!" If you want to use soccer as an example though, I would point out that since the donkey oval has been included on the team's JERSEY, they have not done a whole lot. I really don't think we would be abandoning much of a championship tradition at all. This is really a moot point.

The point I am suggesting is that our football team is the one that has predominantly worn the Donkey A and they have been embarrassing. A survey WAS done and apparently people wanted to move away from the donkey (unless you subscribe to the conspiracy that TW and Scarborough are trying to destroy and blew the survey off).

We have so many stupid logos, a consolidation needs to be done!!

BTW - talk about lazy………how bout the fact that we ripped off The University of Maryland's Fear the Turtle

We don't have a championship identity, its time to start one with the

[Balsy]

The #1 reason I attended events as a student was definitely the consistency of our team's logos. I can't imagine the drop in attendance if our basketball team started wearing a Z on their shorts or something.

Totally missed the point. Why get involved with something, and build an identity with something, when everything about it keeps changing. THAT's the problem. Changing a logo may seem insignificant...it's not. It's huge.

I am not sure, maybe the donkey was displayed but it was not worn by the team (heck, some columns still use the moving A ;-) I would not say the Donkey A is emblazoned in anyone's mind and when they see it they think "Wow….Champions!!!" If you want to use soccer as an example though, I would point out that since the donkey oval has been included on the team's JERSEY, they have not done a whole lot. I really don't think we would be abandoning much of a championship tradition at all. This is really a moot point.

The point I am suggesting is that our football team is the one that has predominantly worn the Donkey A and they have been embarrassing. A survey WAS done and apparently people wanted to move away from the donkey (unless you subscribe to the conspiracy that TW and Scarborough are trying to destroy and blew the survey off).

We have so many stupid logos, a consolidation needs to be done!!

BTW - talk about lazy………how bout the fact that we ripped off The University of Maryland's Fear the Turtle

We don't have a championship identity, its time to start one with the

I've been saying for a long time we need to be encorporating ALL of our logos, because it is something that makes Akron unique. I thought they were finally doing it with the new football gear, encorporating the Roo and the Z....but I didn't think it'd be in the process of eliminating another logo.

Yeah, start a new championship culture with the Z...I sure do remember when drug-dealing-gets-his-ass-kicked-off-the-team Alex Abreu was a center piece in the Z advertising, that was amazingly good press! Yeah! Championship Culture! Let's wear the Z logo uniforms and go out and lose another game on national television by 40 points! That'd be amazing!

More school colors, encorporate ALL logos. Build some pride in EVERYTHING that we have, not eliminating things because a President and AD want to pad the resume a bit.

[Zip_ME87]

Funny, I have NEVER seen the Donkey-ARoo on any of UA's soccer jerseys, warm ups or Cub Cadet field. Not sure I have seen it on any of our basketball jerseys either (our most successful teams)…..I do believe our basketball team has worn the Z for a while as they win 20+ games per season, MAC Championships - pretty good accomplishments.

​What has the football team accomplished in the first year wearing the Z….well, we won more games last year than the previous 4 combined with the donkey logo.

Also, when we almost beat Michigan with the white Z, people commented to me that our uniforms and the Z looked really cool. The looked pretty good beating Pitt too.

http://www.lostlettermen.com/slideshow/cfb-top-10-ugliest-helmets/

http://uniformcritics.com/football/college/akron-zips/

Quote - “That weird animal in Akron’s primary logo within the capitalized A is actually a kangaroo. It first appeared on the Zips’ gold helmets in 2002 along with an updated custom font.”

Quote - "Alas, it just doesn’t look like she belongs on a football helmet. It’s also hard to tell that she’s a kangaroo. A quick glance and you’d think she’d be anything from a deer to a donkey. And the back of the ‘roo crossing the “A” is just ill-conceived. Perhaps an Akron creative arts major can create a demon kangaroo for the school’s teams."

Huh? You were kidding, right? Clueless?

No success at all associated with the A-Roo???

National Champions Shirt:

Look at Porter's shirt in this picture of the team taken on the field at Harder Stadium immediately following the Zips National Championship win.

These are the replicas, but the same design as the "real" gold ones.

[a-zip]

Again, you guys are missing the point. I could sit here and have a picture posting battle with you or point out players that died, used heroin, flunked out, quit, and lost TONS of games while wearing the donkey logo….but I won't

THE POINT IS THAT THE DONKEY IS NOT A WELL KNOWN LOGO THAT IS ASSOCIATED TO MULTIPLE CHAMPIONSHIPS!!! If you want to say our soccer team from 5 years ago made it a household logo….you all are the clueless ones.

Damn people, we are not getting rid of our mascot Zippy (who is well known). Many schools, even powerhouse schools, change their logos and marketing.

Outside of Akron, most people make fun of and don't even know what that Donkey logo is. READ THE ARTICLES I POSTED. Fear the Roo is pretty cool but it was ripped off from Maryland.

The Z is unique!!

Rebranding 101

https://aytm.com/blog/research-junction/rebranding-essentials-why-rebrand/

http://www.vim-group.com/top-ten-reasons-rebranding/

[3rd&twenty]

Here's the deal.

Without commenting extensively on branding and marketing, let me just say this.

This change is MAJOR. This is not using the "A" in a different fashion, or modernized. This is an entirely new symbol.

A school of this size (just like a business of this size) spends TONS of money trying to establish an identity. When you abandon that completely to basically "start over", you are taking an incredible risk and forfeiting everything you have already invested in your previous, long-standing identity.

Good Luck.

This is NOT an entirely new symbol. This picture was taken in 2003 and based on the dirty brim, it wasn't new. The Z logo was delivered with the A-Roo and all other logos with the Joe Bostik rebrand. It's not a "start-over".

[Balsy]

Damn people, we are not getting rid of our mascot Zippy (who is well known). Many schools, even powerhouse schools, change their logos and marketing.

If there's so many of them...name them?

Yeah I sure remember when State Ohio University got rid of it's Block O logo and placed a a giant B in it's place in all athletics marketing! That sure brought out the fans to support the Buckeyes!

[a-zip]

[a-zip]

If there's so many of them...name them?

Yeah I sure remember when State Ohio University got rid of it's Block O logo and placed a a giant B in it's place in all athletics marketing! That sure brought out the fans to support the Buckeyes!

You bring up a valid point Balsy. OHIO STATES BRAND AND LOGO ARE RECOGNIZABLE AROUND THE WORLD AND ASSOCIATED TO MULTIPLE CHAMPIONSHIPS IN ALL MAJOR COLLEGE SPORTS……I agree, it would be stupid for them to change.

[Zip_ME87]

Again, you guys are missing the point. I could sit here and have a picture posting battle with you or point out players that died, used heroin, flunked out, quit, and lost TONS of games while wearing the donkey logo….but I won't

THE POINT IS THAT THE DONKEY IS NOT A WELL KNOWN LOGO THAT IS ASSOCIATED TO MULTIPLE CHAMPIONSHIPS!!! If you want to say our soccer team from 5 years ago made it a household logo….you all are the clueless ones.

Damn people, we are not getting rid of our mascot Zippy (who is well known). Many schools, even powerhouse schools, change their logos and marketing.

Outside of Akron, most people make fun of and don't even know what that Donkey logo is. READ THE ARTICLES I POSTED. Fear the Roo is pretty cool but it was ripped off from Maryland.

The Z is unique!!

Rebranding 101

https://aytm.com/blog/research-junction/rebranding-essentials-why-rebrand/

http://www.vim-group.com/top-ten-reasons-rebranding/

And you missed my point.

You stated "Funny, I have NEVER seen the Donkey-ARoo on any of UA's soccer jerseys, warm ups or Cub Cadet field.", and the pictures I posted showed your implied assertion was wrong. Although you may never have seen the A-Roo on any of UA's soccer jerseys, warm ups or Cub Cadet field doesn't mean they weren't there. You just didn't look and were making an uninformed statement to support your case for the "Z"ero.

Now you post an expletive because that somehow strengthens your assertions which include "Outside of Akron, most people make fun of and don't even know what that Donkey logo is. READ THE ARTICLES I POSTED. move Fear the Roo is pretty cool but it was ripped off from Maryland. " Those articles don't prove that "most people" anything. I like the A-Roo and know a lot of people who agree with me, but I won't assert that most alumni, etc. like the A-Roo, because I have no data to back that up the same as you don't have the data. We had Zippers on our helmets at one time that some thought were "cool" while others thought we looked like we had crotches on our heads. Cool...the Zips look like penis heads to some.

You post links to why rebrand. I'm not arguing that there are not reasons to rebrand. I do argue, though, whether rebranding is wise for UA at this time and whether that rebranding has any real thought to it. Sorry, but I've never been impressed by TW, and so far, I don't see the thoughtful decisions from President Scarborough.

[Dr Z]

The Z logo was delivered with the A-Roo and all other logos with the Joe Bostik rebrand. It's not a "start-over".

Your right, I have the same one. It's so old, I only use it when cutting grass.

[a-zip]

I figured I would just use Notre Dame (which is a pretty well known brand/logo ). I don't have time to post Oregon and Maryland and others….. I've made my point.

Oh, there is one other question I would like to ask…... The title of this thread is "ELIMINATING THE A-ROO". Where did you hear it was being ELIMINATED???

[Zip_ME87]

The survey that the Athletic Department did that was mentioned...what does that data mean? Is it meaningful? What do they know about those who responded? What was the sampling size? Making decisions based on that data seems like more from the Athletic Department than the thoughtful decisions President Scarborough promised. I'm tired of new leadership coming into UA and changing things on their whims, IMHO. (actually, not so-humble)

[a-zip]

And you missed my point.

You stated "Funny, I have NEVER seen the Donkey-ARoo on any of UA's soccer jerseys, warm ups or Cub Cadet field.", and the pictures I posted showed your implied assertion was wrong. Although you may never have seen the A-Roo on any of UA's soccer jerseys, warm ups or Cub Cadet field doesn't mean they weren't there. You just didn't look and were making an uninformed statement to support your case for the "Z"ero.

Now you post an expletive because that somehow strengthens your assertions which include "Outside of Akron, most people make fun of and don't even know what that Donkey logo is. READ THE ARTICLES I POSTED. move Fear the Roo is pretty cool but it was ripped off from Maryland. " Those articles don't prove that "most people" anything. I like the A-Roo and know a lot of people who agree with me, but I won't assert that most alumni, etc. like the A-Roo, because I have no data to back that up the same as you don't have the data. We had Zippers on our helmets at one time that some thought were "cool" while others thought we looked like we had crotches on our heads. Cool...the Zips look like penis heads to some.

You post links to why rebrand. I'm not arguing that there are not reasons to rebrand. I do argue, though, whether rebranding is wise for UA at this time and whether that rebranding has any real thought to it. Sorry, but I've never been impressed by TW, and so far, I don't see the thoughtful decisions from President Scarborough.

No my assertion was correct. If you can find me a picture of the TEAM wearing the donkey roo while on the field, winning the national championship, I will apologize although it is really a silly argument. The point is the donkey is not associated to a powerhouse dynasty so who gives a crap if another logo is introduced. As I illustrated above, many schools (Notre Dame) do it and people don't seem to be getting their panties in a wad. The articles I posted are from outsiders (not you or I) making fun of the A-Roo logo….I believe they said something like they couldn't figure out if it was a deer or a donkey.

Balsy, no I don't have the data from the survey but TW and the administrators do. They have decided to make a change.

HOW IN THE WORLD CAN YOU SAY PRESIDENT SCARBOROUGH IS NOT MAKING THOUGHTFUL DECISIONS?!?!?! Decisions are being made on whims?!?!?! Are you all out of your minds!!? Do you seriously think no thought has gone in to all of this!!! No research has been done?!?! No surveys?!?! There are people a lot smarter than you and I collecting and analyzing data before making these MAJOR decisions.

These changes are scary….I will give you that. There is no guarantee of success but I do believe that doing nothing is just as scary. I do believe the education system is in a critical point and it is/will change. The WWW has changed everything, the economy is changing things. I think our administration is actually THINKING BIGGER, if it is rolled out properly this rebranding will be a success and we will jump ahead of Can't, BGSU, Toledo, etc…..I don't see that happening by operating the same archaic way.