Jacks merchandise

[jackmd]

Just stopped at the connection and the bookstore. Picked up a nice hat at the connection. Bookstore has a lost of nice stuff but way overpriced. More reasonable at the connection but not as high a quality.

If I knew a portion of my purchase for overpriced merchandise was going directly to SDSU athletics it would be a lot easier to drop the cash. Otherwise, I would just as soon give it to the Jackrabbit club.

Anyhow, hitch covers are on their way, I got my hat, now I just need some carharts with the Jacks logo. I bet my wife could make this happen. When you see a brand new blue hat with the SDSU stretched logo on it at the FB game tomorrow, the tall scrawny guy with it on is me.

A stop at the Sports Connection and the bookstore is definitely worth it. Someone needs to make replica jerseys happen. I would drop a fair amount for one of those.

[SDSU16]

Re: Jacks merchandise

jackmd

Hope to see you at the social after the game. We met 89rabbit last week.

Should be a great time.

GO JACKS

[OK_Jackrabbit]

Re: Jacks merchandise

Ditto on the replica jersey. Call me a geek, but I'd like to have one to wear on Saturdays while my wife and I sit and listen to the game on the Internet.  I'd also like one of those cool SDSU logo game balls.

Good, licensed merchandise would benefit the athletic department financially and would benefit the university by providing a consistent "brand" identity.

[1stRowFANatic]

Re: Jacks merchandise

They need the replica jerseys to be available all the way down to infant sizes. I can "suggest" what to wear for my 4-year old (most days); but have to save my power on the 14-year old for those occasions when formal wear is required.

But seriously, we have given many replica jersey's as baby gifts even though they cost more than the usual bib etc.

I guess I am surprised that the replicas are not available already at the bookstore. Hopefully that was due to Hurricane Ivan, like the hitch cover, and not the result of no one at SDSU getting it done.

[SDSUFAN]

Re: Jacks merchandise

I dont get the thread about SDSU apparellel or merchandise, and this sounds grand daddy-ish but in the 1960's all there was available was the sweat shirt with Weard Willie the Hobo and a few others with Jackrabbits on them.  The apparellel seemed expensive then too.  Again clothing styles were much different then too.   Most of the male students  went to basketball games in formal business suits, white shirts and ties and hoped they would meet the love of their life after the game at Horatios or the college sponsored dance in the Union building.  The male female ratio was about 5 to 1 in favor of the ladies.  Not as many women attending SDSU then as there are now.

So anything available now is a grand improvement over the past. I wish there were a way for the SDSU HPER to work with the BookStore on this matter.  Many of the away games I have went to seem to sell apparell in some form.

In fact I remember the AD at UN-Kearney was personally selling sweatshirts at a SDSU-UNK basketball game and after the half was over, he wheeled a rack of sweatshirts into a stowaway closet and locked the door. It was like this was his personal responsibility.  I dont expect Fred to spend his time selling sweat shirts, but it would be helpful if some arrangement could be made to sell merchandise at athletic events.  If we have someone on this board with connections to the workings of the SA Bookstore, please comment on what this is all about.  Maybe the Bookstore could start an endowment for student athletic scholarships and donate the profits from sales at athletic events to this endowment.  Just a thought.

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[OK_Jackrabbit]

Re: Jacks merchandise

Yes, anything available is an improvement over the past. But the issue here isn't just some personal frustration with a lack of quality merchandise. The issue is money for the university and athletic department.

I'm not sure SDSU even has any licensing program for its logos, mascot, and name (and licensing means money.) I did a trademark search for South Dakota State University and there was only one registered trademark, and it was an expired Cereal Bowl logo. The word Jackrabbits, by the way, is trademarked by a toilet brush company. I'm not kidding.

North Dakota State University has trademarked the name of the university so that when the name appears on merchandise, NDSU potentially gets paid. Most universities have trademarked their logotypes, mascots, etc. That gives you control over how your university name, logos, etc. are used on merchandise.

Now trademarks and licensing are separate issues. But it seems to me that if the university was serious about controlling its identity and enhancing its brand, registering trademarks would be an important step. The first step, of course, is to hire professional graphic designers to create quality logotypes that will appear on licensed merchandise.

USD's new logotypes and merchandise are of higher quality than the cheapo template stuff that is sold in the SDSU Bookstore. You may dislike "South Dakota's Outhouse" but you can't argue that their new athletic identity isn't well done. We can do better, of course. We have the Jackrabbit (one of the most unique mascots in college sports). We have the "flying SD" logo that appears on the football helmets. We have the Campanile logo. You can find a few apparel items with those, but honestly, they're just not well done. They look cheap and aren't of the kind of quality you can find for other univerisities' apparel. And there is no consistency in the use of the logos.

Good merchandise will sell more. If it is licensed, SDSU will make money. Simply offering those template sweatshirts with "SDSU" stitched on by some company that sells the same thing to 100 other universities does nothing to enhance the value of your brand. You have to emphasize, and protect, what is unique about your institution.

[1stRowFANatic]

Re: Jacks merchandise

WHile this wouldn't apply to all potential logos, etc., I believe I remember reading one time that SDSU had looked into this with jackrabbit logo, and ran into some problems with Warner Brothers and a certain "wascilly wabbit."

[OK_Jackrabbit]

Re: Jacks merchandise

I have wondered about that. Maybe they should hire a designer to create a new rabbit logo that SDSU owns from the tips of the ears to the fuzzy tail. I suspect USD had similar problems with "Charlie Coyote" and Wile E. Coyote. They now have a set of logos that they can use as they wish.

[BHSSDSUFAN]

Re: Jacks merchandise

I know for a fact that the Sports Connection in Brookings had a company design some SDSU logo's.  They had the OK from the Administration, but then the Athletic Dept. (Fred) said no.  All SDSU merchandise does need to be licenced.  If I am wrong here somebody please correct me.

Also doesn't SDSU have quite of few marketing majors right on campus...put them to work. ??? ???

[Rabbit74]

Re: Jacks merchandise

Many of the logos etc. at SDSU are trademarked or wordmarked and licensed. They are listed and shown in the College Catalog. Go to the site below and then click on the section that takes you to pages 345-346..

http://www3.sdstate.edu/Admissions/U...alog/Index.cfm

[OK_Jackrabbit]

Re: Jacks merchandise

We need to keep in mind the difference between a trademark (TM) and a registered trademark (R). You acquire a mark by using it. Thus the TM on the SDSU logos. However, to gain nationwide priority for use, to protect yourself against someone creating a very similar mark, to allow you to sue and recover damages, etc., you need to register the mark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ($350 or so). Anyone can slap a TM on a logo they use, but that provides very limited protection against somebody essentially copying and using the mark as they wish.

That said, I think those catalog pages make my point. There is no unity in those logos. They're all over the place and really none of them (except maybe the flying SD that is on the football helmets) is very up-to-date. I counted seven or eight different fonts and the catalog says there are "various intertwined SDSU logos used by the athletic department." Unity and consistency are essential in branding and organizational identity. (Sorry to sound like a professor, but I do teach this stuff.)

Plus, SDSU probably can't use the rabbit much because of registered trademark issues (i.e. Bugs Bunny). Why not get a professional graphic designer to create great new, unified and dynamic logotypes for SDSU, put them on quality apparel and merchandise, and make some money for scholarships, athletic programs and, of course, for merchants like Scott at the Sports Connection?

This is really a basic PR and marketing activity that a sizable organization or institution generally just does periodically. The catalog pages of logos tell me nobody has been policing SDSU's branding for many years. There is inherent value in a brand, but that doesn't mean it doesn't need to be tended and enhanced (and protected against dilution by an overabundance of different identifying marks). And you can enhance your brand (and your bottom line) without losing the classic identity of SDSU in the process.

I'm sure it all seems nit-picky in a way. But take a look at our fellow Great West Conference schools. All have unified and dynamic branding that probably sells a lot of sweatshirts. We're the only one, by the way, that doesn't have our "critter" in the logotype on the GWC home page. And we have the best critter of the bunch.

The SU Jaguar logotype on Southern's football helmets is also really a great example of the kind of branding and identity-building I'm talking about.

[jackmd]

Re: Jacks merchandise

I'm sure it all seems nit-picky in a way. But take a look at our fellow Great West Conference schools. All have unified and dynamic branding that probably sells a lot of sweatshirts. We're the only one, by the way, that doesn't have our "critter" in the logotype on the GWC home page. And we have the best critter of the bunch.

The SU Jaguar logotype on Southern's football helmets is also really a great example of the kind of branding and identity-building I'm talking about.

I don't think its nit-picky at all. Its attention to detail and coming up to speed with our peers at the DI level. There needs to be action directed towards marketing and merchandise as a priority. I look forward to seeing more of the SDSU emblem and The Jackrabbit across the upper midwest.

[Jacks99]

Re: Jacks merchandise

But take a look at our fellow Great West Conference schools. All have unified and dynamic branding that probably sells a lot of sweatshirts. We're the only one, by the way, that doesn't have our "critter" in the logotype on the GWC home page. And we have the best critter of the bunch.

You remember that old childhood game?: "Find the one that doesn't belong"

http://greatwestfootball.collegesports.com/