I actually googled this and searched the NFL and Superbowl websites. Nothing.
Does anyone know why the NFL decided to change the old AFC and NFC championship trophy from those nice wooden and pewter things to the aluminum stripe, see-thru, poor man’s Lombardi trophy?
And has any one else heard that the Super Bowl logo is not changing anymore? Apparently this year’s version is the new standard version. They are only changing the roman numerals now. No city-centric themed patches or logos any longer.
Why are they doing these things? Can’t we just leave everything alone?
I noticed the trophies and wondered what the deal was. I just assumed those were player of the game awards or something. I don’t remember hearing a peep about it. If these are the permanent changes I think it really sucks, the old ones were classics.
Ditto the Super Bowl logo. I understand the desire to have a consistent brand logo that they can market persistently and develop a real brand identity with, but I loved the colorful city-centric versions. Hopefully the customization doesn’t entirely go away.
I agree. If you look at the new Super Bowl Logo, you can clearly see that there is nothing special or unique about it. There is no indication the game is in Dallas, there is no special font for the XLV, it’s just a corporate logo. Next year’s Super Bowl logo will look exactly like this year’s, except for the roman numeral change. I’m sure this decision saves the NFL a ton of money by not having to hire a graphics agency to come up with a new logo every year, but I for one will miss the unique logos.
As for the trophies, I can find nothing to indicate why the change. I never heard anyone complaining about the old ones, and to me, they were just as traditional as the Lombardi. Now, their is not one bit of difference between the AFC and NFC trophy except for the name (Hunt, Halas) on the front and the conference.
It has nothing to do with printing costs. It’s corporate branding. It takes tens of millions of dollars to impress a brand logo into the mind of the buying public. The NFL wants the Super Bowl logo to be as familiar as the Nike Shoosh, they want people to see the logo and know exactly what it is. They want to sell merchandise that carries the logo and charge people for it’s use.
Look how cool these are?
As you can see they do at least incorporate the backdrop of the stadium. So there’s some personalization. Hopefully the league wont be too strict about maintaining consistency. Maybe the color and font can be tweaked over time.
There wasn’t much difference between the previous versions either. They were identical except for the “N” and the “A”. I just thought the way they were distinct from the Lombardi was nice. Does everything have to be a bland football?
I didn’t mean to imply that the costs associated with printing was the issue. In fact, the actual printing costs will probably remain the same. I meant the cost to actually *design *the logo itself. Someone was getting paid every year to come up with the new logo.
So, they are applying a “brand” to the Super Bowl. I don’t really see why it’s necessary. After all, looking at the page you linked to, everyone of those logos is unique, and yet is immediately recognized as the Super Bowl logo. I don’t think the public is so dumb that they can’t figure it out.
This isn’t the same thing as the iconic shape of the coke bottle. That shape is incorporated into many of coke’s advertisements and products. The NFL is doing this to create a brand image on something that doesn’t really need one. Changing the stadium outline and the roman number on the logo is pointless except it saves the cost of coming up with a new logo from scratch.
I hope this thing is just a rumor.
As you correctly point out, there wasn’t much difference between the AFC and NFC trophies. But they looked very different than the Lombardi. I liked them. The new one is not attractive at all, and again, I don’t understand why they felt a need to redo the old one.
Half those logos were probably the result of a amateur design competition. It’s a pittance to mock these up. Even a top line advertising firm wouldn’t charge as much as what the NFL will be spending on hotel rooms this coming week. Hell, probably not what Roger Goddell is spending on his hotel room.
It’s Marketing 101. Mindshare is invaluable. None of it is strictly necessary but it all creates incremental income. Incremental income that the owners don’t need to share with the players. When the NFL sells advertising to companies those companies will be able to use the “Super Bowl” logo on commercials and packaging, all for a tidy additional fee. You see it now with the NFL logo plastered all over Coors packaging and Direct TV ads. If the NFL can create a second brand logo, one that’s persistent and recognized year round, they can sell it. It could add value to the advertisers during the Super Bowl who want people to instantly recognize them as the “official” whatever of the Super Bowl. The more persistent and ubiquitous a logo the more valuable it is.
The NFL shield is the Coke bottle, the Nike Swoosh, the Apple apple. They are universal and understood the world over. You can plaster one on a billboard, a baseball hat or a candy wrapper and they all convey the same image and associations.
The NFL has decided that it wants to have a second one. They are turning “the Super Bowl” into a brand in and of itself. The first way to do that is to brand it with a logo and start the arduous process of making it instantly recognizable even without a single word on it. Nike did it with the Jordan “Jumpman” logo and brand. You could argue that Nike didn’t need to create another brand, since they already had Nike, but by doing so they were able to broaden their appeal and stake out a larger chunk of the public consciousness.
When the NFL is successful, you can be sure that the Super Bowl ad prices will multiply even more and the merchandise in the stores will cost a little more and carry a few extra styles. All because it’s not just the NFL Championship Game anymore, it’s the Super Bowl™. It’s a whole other thing. Coors won’t just be able to buy the “official beer of the NFL” rights, they’ll have to buy a second “official beer of the Super Bowl” right or else risk Budweiser stealing their thunder come January.
Omni,
I see your point and I think what was confusing me is I’ve seen two logos this year. The standard one, with the Lombardi on a stand with the roman numbers on the bottom, and the other has Texas Stadium behind the Lombardi.
If the default SB logo is going to be the one without the Stadium incorporated, it will be generic enough to be recognized as the Super Bowl logo. Even shadowed, or outlined, that SB logo works because of the distinct look of the Lombardi Trophy. So, money is the answer once again, and your idea of a recognizable brand is the way to the dollar.
I don’t like it, but if I was on the receiving end of some of that money rolling in, I would want to know why the NFL didn’t do this 20 years ago. money money money money