WITH COLLEGE CONFERENCES REALIGNING, SOME NAME CHANGES ARE DEFINITELY IN ORDER.
Saturday, June 12, 2010 at 1:22PM So, let me get this straight. Nebraska and Colorado have left the Big 12 conference, leaving it with 10 teams (for the moment). Nebraska has joined the Big 10 conference, which has had 11 teams since Penn State joined it in 1990, but will now have 12 teams.
Does that mean the Big 10 will now become the Big 12 and vise versa? Probably not, especially since it appears the rest of the members of the Big 12 (which used to be the Big 8 until the mid-90’s) appear to be headed to other conferences. College football is steeped in tradition, so these conference names carry a lot of history and cache with fans, the media and the member schools.
The Big 10’s roots go all the way back to 1895. The modern conference most people think of was formed in 1949 and was, actually, made up of ten schools, until Penn State’s arrival. However, since Big 11 didn’t sound quite right, the Big 10 kept its name (although it integrated the number 11 into its official logo. But, with the arrival of a twelfth team, the name Big 10 sounds a bit silly. Same goes for the Pac-10 (formerly the Pac-8), which will now have anywhere from 12 to 16 teams depending on how many schools are invited to join. And, the Big 10 isn’t finished recruiting, either, looking to add up to four more schools itself, including the biggest college fish of them all, Notre Dame (which doesn’t belong to a football conference).
When the dust settles, the Big 10 will finally have to confront the reality of a name change, won’t it? After all, integrating the number ‘16’ into the logo would likely require the artist hired for the job to also have skills as a contortionist. Name changes are always cause for panic among companies and organizations. They worry about losing customers, creating confusion and, most of all, flushing the brand identity and equity they’ve built up over many years.
But, in today’s world, consumers are much more flexible and open minded. They understand the result of mergers and acquisitions is the death of familiar brand names. They adjust and accept. When BP acquired Standard Oil of Ohio in the mid-1980’s, the first thing the company wanted to do was rebrand all the Sohio gas stations as BP. My father-in-law was hired as a consultant for the name change. He argued in favor of leaving the Sohio brand in place. After all, this was the original oil company founded by John D. Rockefeller we’re talking about; one of the most recognized retail names in Ohio, with dominant market share and enormous customer loyalty.
But, Standard Oil also had gas stations in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Kentucky under the Boron brand, plus other gas stations under other brands throughout the country. BP insisted on moving ahead with a complete rebranding of all its gas stations. The mammoth undertaking took several years to complete and the Sohio stations were among the last to be converted, but by the early 1990’s, the conversion was done. Sohio had gone to that big brand retirement home in the sky. Even the refinery in my own town of Lima, Ohio, on the very spot were Mr. Rockefeller first discovered oil, was now known as the BP refinery.
How long did it take for people to get over the change? All the way until their next fill up. Thanks to a huge advertising campaign and some spiffy new station designs, people accepted the change easily. And, as soon as winter rolled around and they heard that familiar sounder on the radio reminding them that “BP gas prevented fuel line freeze up” people knew the world had not changed; only a name had. Of course, given BP’s current situation, they might want to consider another name change, as the corporate BP brand is now covered in oily goo from the Gulf of Mexico.
But, let’s get back to football. Yes, the Big 10 and Pac 10 are storied names in college football. But these new conference alliances are based much more on generating additional television ratings and revenue than on tradition. Rutgers in the Big 10? Unthinkable 20 years ago, but now a smart media play to access the New York television market. So, it’s time for the Big 10 to come up with a new name. The SEC (Southeastern Conference) works well because it doesn’t specify a number of teams, but does identify the geographical relationship between its members, all of whom are located in southern states east of the Mississippi.
It seems what matters most to this name is the word ‘Big.’ It describes the schools, which are mostly BIG state universities. Their football programs are BIG. Everything about the schools and the conference is BIG. And now, with the Big-12 going out of business, there’s less competition for the word. I think I’ve got a solution. With so many schools switching conferences, the Big-10 should make an offer to merge with the Midwest Athletic Conference, creating a name that works for everyone, plus it has the added benefit of a potential built-in sponsor.
Presenting-- the BIG MAC Conference!
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