Letter to Technician Editor,
Halen Mattison’s Feb. 20 Technician opinion piece “Is NC State losing the branding game?” was passionate but also included factual errors and misplaced assumptions. This letter intends to provide some historical background and a different perspective.
The Block S mark has been in use since the 1920s, not the 1890s. Prior to that, the university was known as North Carolina Agricultural and Mechanical College and had other name variations. Before 1920, logos were simple AMC or combined NC A&M scroll-type logos. (You may see some older pre-1920 logos this fall as we celebrate 125years of NC State football.)
Over the years, much of the athletic “branding” was delegated to an individual sport’s coach. A look back through Agromeck yearbooks will show that in the 1980s, football adopted the Diamond NCS, basketball used the generic “STATE” and other sports like baseball adopted a simple Block S without the N and C. It was a time when college athletic teams simply did not have all-encompassing sports apparel deals, and most college sports broadcasts were local or regional. Uniforms are more consistent today than at any time in our history, but there are still variations from sport to sport.
ESPN launched in September 1979 and began the real nationalizing and monetizing of college sports. Universities began registering trademarks and establishing trademark licensing programs shortly thereafter. NC State was one of the first universities to register its trademarks, including the Strutting Wolf, The Block S and WOLFPACK in 1982. Since 1982, there has been one major revision to modernize the three primary spirit marks; those are the primary ones in use today. Other marks were retired from use in 2000. We supplement those primary marks with our Wolfpack Almanac program, which allows limited number of licensees to offer vintage logo and style products for retail along with an icon that identifies it as a vintage trademark.
Mr. Mattison’s anecdote about his father’s rather late introduction to the Block S is interesting — and illuminating. It shows that despite the 1983 national championship victory in one of the most famous college basketball tournaments in history, uniforms with a generic “STATE” on them can be difficult to associate with NC STATE or recalled years later. That is where consistency and having a unique brand comes into play.
NC State has a strong brand identity foundation. We have been the “Red and White” since 1896 and there is no need to change that. We are lucky to have a unique brand and registered trademark for “WOLFPACK,” as many universities cannot register their team name because they are not unique. Had Yale University registered “Bulldogs” as its trademark, perhaps it would not have to share that name with 37 other college teams that came afterward. The same applies for other popular team names like Eagles, Tigers or Warriors. Besides being unique, “WOLFPACK” also brings with it a sense of teamwork, of having many diverse members working toward the same goal and of being family. Those attributes work well with athletic teams and our campus community as a whole.
NC State is on the right path to building an even stronger brand identity. While there is no central “branding office,” University Communications, Athletics and the Trademark Licensing Office regularly communicate concerns and work together. The recent university brand refresh focusing on the NC State name rather than North Carolina State University or NCSU is a positive direction. Three other universities have North Carolina in their name, and despite having different school colors and locations, it can still lead to confusion with some. Using the unique, three-syllable “NC STATE” helps set ourselves apart from all others.
I will not address the issues of what teams should wear, other than to say it is good to have one company to back all the team sports with their uniform needs and that Adidas® has been a good partner. The most important brand on our uniforms is our own brand, not which company made it.
Students and fans can help our branding by avoiding bootleg merchandise. Approximately 10 to 15 percent of product worn on campus, at PNC or at Carter-Finley, is counterfeit and not approved. Not only does this cause some of the branding issues Mattison pointed out, but it also takes sales from legitimate licensed partners and effectively reduces the amount of trademark licensing royalties that go to students, reducing scholarship revenues by $130,000 to $195,000 annually.
The key point and takeaway from Mr. Mattison’s piece is that consistency builds strong brands: traditional in the Alabama model, for example, or flashy and disruptive as in the Oregon model. That is as true for collegiate sports as it is for other businesses.
Gregg Zarnstorff, Director, Trademark Licensing
