Wide Right, Los Angeles Rams Miss Rebranding Opportunity

Posted on Wednesday, January 20th, 2016 by

Rams Logo St Louis vs LAWhen the news was announced that the St. Louis Rams NFL team would be moving to Los Angeles for the start of the 2016 season, many people got excited. It would be a new beginning for the struggling franchise, in the city that they called home 1946 to 1994.

However, some of the excitement has been dampened by the clear lack of effort and creativity in the branding of the new Los Angeles Rams.

LA Rams Ram Head LogoI should start by admitting that the Rams logo isn’t bad. In fact, not one Blade staffer included it on their “Worst NFL Logo” list in 2014,

but that does not mean that there wasn’t a chance for ownership to make a bold and significant change when they started packing their gear into moving trucks.

The reality of the situation is that sports franchises regularly rebrand without any real reason whatsoever. But now, when a great opportunity with a whole lot of motive is presented, the only changes to the Rams branding are slight adjustments to the blue and gold in the logo.

It’s a disappointment.

Some may argue that the brand is trying to hold onto their time and loyalty in St. Louis, but that’s nonsense, because if that were the case they wouldn’t have moved in the first place. Others may say that brand recognition is a factor, but I don’t buy that either, because the NFL is one of the most powerful brands in North America, Los Angeles is a big trendy city, and this is the kind of news that will get people interested… even without a pre-existing logo and uniform design.

Vintage LA Rams LogoThere was no need for the LA Rams to mirror the St. Louis Rams. Hell, they could have gone back to the old LA Rams logo in yellow and blue and then you could have claimed nostalgia.

Personally, I wish we could have seen a new logo using elements of the old yellow and blue, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. And if it does it probably won’t be for another 5 years, because the team can’t very well rebrand after season #1 when all of your new fans have gone out and bought jerseys, t-shirts, foam fingers, and such. And if they do, that’s a bad decision.

The LA Rams have fumbled, throw a flag for a personal foul, this was a rebranding opportunity that no fewer than 5 other NFL teams really could desperately use, and they passed it right up.

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Posted in: Branding
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Joshua Murray

About Joshua Murray

Fuelled by ideas, opportunity and coffee, Joshua attacks the social media landscape every day with a purpose. His experience in retail, customer service and public relations have combined to give him a 360 degree view of social media for brands and he is committed to helping all of his clients leverage their voice in the social sphere.