MEMO to the AD and Marketing Department

[PK]

You guys have gotten one thing right...SMU needs a new image, but it's not the new image you get with new logos. SMU needs to change it's image to that of being a winning program...so leave our logos alone.

We are losing traditions left and right. The galloping Mustang has been our most identifiable logo for 40 years. The red Mustang should be plastered all over anything and everything that has anything to do with SMU athletics including caps, shirts, underwear....everything. I cannot believe that the homepage for SMU athletics does not have a red MUSTANG anywhere on the page...UN-FRICKING- BELIEVEABLE. Can you imagine UT downplaying their Longhorn??????? When you have a unique, not to mention really cool, logo...you don't downplay it...you build on it. I for one will not purchase anything with the new SMU lettering on it unless it has a galloping Mustang included with it.

I suspect I am not alone in these feelings...so I suggest you re-evaluate the direction you are moving in and soon!!! Spend your resources promoting the Mustangs to the public...not creating new logos or give those resources to the coaches to improve their recruiting.

[PlanoStang]

Jim C strikes again!

[couch 'em]

I sent and email to Copeland to express my views on a few things..... I got an auto-reply saying he is out of the office until JULY 25TH! Isn't a month a bit long for a vacation?

[ALEX LIFESON]

Oh, you didn't know? Jim takes alot of vacations!

[couch 'em]

[sarcasm] SHOCKING! [/sarcasm]

[MrMustang1965]

I sent and email to Copeland to express my views on a few things..... I got an auto-reply saying he is out of the office until JULY 25TH! Isn't a month a bit long for a vacation?

Ol' Jim is gonna have a LOT of emails to read when he gets back! Enough to keep him busy until Sept. 3, I suspect.

[NavyCrimson]

good show PK!!! GOTTA LUV YA!!!

couldn't agree more! looks like a corporate logo!

my gosh don't screw with the logo or go back to something from the 30's to the 60's era in addition to the running mustang!

many schools have more than one logo but they do have ONE OVERALL LOGO -

this is what happens when u hire people with no history or respect to our traditions & HERITAGE!

btw - i ain't buying anything either!

[MrMustang1965]

this is what happens when u hire people with no history or respect to our traditions & HERITAGE!

I've applied for several jobs at SMU over the past few years. I've never even had so much as the courtesy of a face-to-face interview!

[RGV Pony]

Everyone should bombard Copeland or whomever is responsible for screwing w/ the logo. It made a difference when OU tried to change their logo to look like Houston's current logo.

This kind of cr*p would be akin to Texas swapping their silhouetted longhorn for one resembling the Chicago Bulls logo.

[MrMustang1965]

RGV: Here's the guy to write. John Koerner, Sr. Associate Athletic Director. Here's his email address: [email protected].

When I first found out that The Spirit Shop would be closing its doors, I sent him an email (I posted it under the thread "The Spirit Shop"). Here's one part of the reply email that everyone might find interesting:

"The primary factor we considered in the vendor business plan was: "How do you plan to get more people wearing SMU merchandise?" This was a actually a very difficult question. However, "Advanced On-Line" presented a comprehensive business plan that surpassed their competitors.

Bob Sharp is loyal "Red and Blue". There are few people in this world more loyal than Bob Sharp. However the new company "Advanced Online" is also connected to SMU. One of the partners, David Dykhuizen an SMU graduate and football player from 1981.

After reviewing each business plan for the near future and beyond, it was determined that we should make a change. I worry that good fans like yourself will not give this new vendor a chance. However, they are determined to earn your business with hard work and a product that you will be pleased with."

And here's another statement from Mr. Koerner:

"If our change is not successful or is not embraced by our fans, we will look for another change. We are not satisfied with standing still. We want to improve and make things better and we will not be satisfied with just leaving things as they were.

One last comment. The Sprit Shop did a really good job at customer service and with catering to a narrow high economic Alumni base. But their product was not all that popular with the student population and with youth. To be honest, the 15 to 25 age group could not afford the merchandise. This is one of the things we want to change. We want to provide merchandise at the high end but also at the low end and middle."

Looks like I'll be emailing another letter to Mr. Koerner this weekend.

[Diamond Girl]

The new logo looks like something that would go over well for a high school or even middle school. They can take that, along with the drumline from the Mustang Band, and _________ (fill in the blank). What happened to tradition?! Being SMU alums, they should know better and remember pony pride.

[HixsontoLeVias]

...looks like a "second rate" C-USA logo, ala, UAB / So. Miss, maybe even UCF...weak.....give me a RED MUSTANG....long live Bob Sharp....David who???

[MrMustang1965]

...David who???

He's either a musician.
http://www.cvnet.net/cosmic/z_riders.htm

Or a doctor: http://www.healthgrades.com/directory_s ... ECC41E.cfm

or a runner: http://www.fwrunco.com/content/lostdogagegroups.txt

[NavyCrimson]

well said '65 -

what they're doing is changing the logo 'somewhat' (or adding a new one altogether to eventually replace the running mustange of 40 yrs) & TRY & get more sales like the pros are doing with they're continual changes in both baseball & football/

start winning & the logos sell themselves -

we've got the best logo on the market so utiltize it -

if u want to add some logos, go back to the 30's - 40's & use them - those were truly the glory decades for mustang football & then you'll make some sales for sure along with all the retro stuff that's popular today & bundle it together in a all new marketing campaign!!!

if these yahoos took time to talk with the alumni (who pay the bills) & study our history, they'll see SMU is much like notre dame & other schools with respect to our 'greatest' feats & wins are in the past which sells itself when u win on the field!!! H$%%$$!!!!! the whole country is going retro with products & sports & we again are going the opposite direction!!! what a joke!

if u want to use this crap (of course it wont sell - but go ahead dummies) - use them in addition to the running mustang of the past 40 yrs /

what they're suggesting now with this stupid lame-ass standing horse is rediculous / its the same BS quarter-angle that the carolina panthers are using & what PITT dropped (thank God!!! - i guess they got smart) & many other teams are using!!!

this is pitiful!!!

these guys have got their heads up their a$%%$#!!!!!!!!!!

what an embarrassement!

no more purchases for me!

take note guys: 'uniqueness sales'!

[EastStang]

I echo your sentiments. The SMU running Mustang is one of the most identifiable college logos in the Country, due in part to its longevity. Name three college logos that you can identify. The burnt orange longhorn. The razorback. That's pretty much it. Every other logo is too busy to be readily identifiable. A simple running Mustang says it all. Remember the time Coca Cola changed their formula to taste more like Pepsi and the result was that people stopped drinking Coca Cola. Or the time that Schlitz (the #2 beer at the time) changed their formula and disappeared from the marketplace. Change is not always a good thing.