Rumor: The Coming <soft> Rebrand

Discussion in 'Chicago Fire' started by Jasper_Black, Jul 23, 2018.

  1. firefan2001

    firefan2001 Member+

    Dec 27, 2000
    Oswego, Illinois
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    If it's renamed the word FIRE won't be in it.
     
  2. firefan2001

    firefan2001 Member+

    Dec 27, 2000
    Oswego, Illinois
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Beat me to it.
     
  3. xtomx

    xtomx Member+

    Chicago Fire
    Sep 6, 2001
    Northern Wisconsin, but not far from civilization
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    If that happens, then yes we can say that.

    I doubt this happens (but I am usually wrong about soccer things).
     
  4. moleman

    moleman Member

    Jan 7, 2017
    Yes, they would have extinguished the “Fire” the same way they extinguished any excitement or relevance this team once had.
     
    goldclover repped this.
  5. harrylee773

    harrylee773 Member+

    Jul 28, 2004
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    We'll rebrand to a hashtag and officially become #cf97 - it's like the 2018 version of becoming the Chicago Rhythm!
     
  6. xtomx

    xtomx Member+

    Chicago Fire
    Sep 6, 2001
    Northern Wisconsin, but not far from civilization
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    That would be sad.
    Maybe "officially"
    #hauptmanout.
    That would be more fun
     
    skinut and harrylee773 repped this.
  7. Fighting Illini

    Fighting Illini Member+

    Feb 6, 2014
    Chicago
    It's a real shame that Hauptman's incompetence is leading us down this road, because I always felt that the name, logo and uniforms of the Fire was the best work of MLS 1.0

    The TV show is a big problem though, there are no two ways about it. You can't have the Google results of your own name be a confusing mishmash.
     
    nowherenova, moleman and goldclover repped this.
  8. bunge

    bunge BigSoccer Supporter

    Oct 24, 2000
    Its why Guppy added “Soccer” to the side of Toyota Park.
     
  9. #84 willydonc, Jul 27, 2018
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2018
    If they weren't so rudderless/stupid at the time they should have sued the makers of the TV show about the name and made them change it to something like Chicago F.D. To those who say you can't trademark the name I say when Spike TV launched Spike Lee filed suit later joined by the heirs of Spike Jones (not Spike Jonze) on the defense side. That suit was settled for a bundle of cash. In fact the "club" seemed to endorse the link.
     
    goldclover and Fighting Illini repped this.
  10. harrylee773

    harrylee773 Member+

    Jul 28, 2004
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Even without the show, I think we would've ended up with a different name had we come about even a few years later, after SEO became a larger part of corporate branding strategies (ugh- corporate branding strategies in a thread about soccer is so icky, but necessary). You're still going up against the municipal service and the historical event in the search results without the show, so I think that even if the logo and imagery paid homage to the concept of "Fire" as it pertained to the team name as we know it now, it wouldn't be part of the official name if we were a 2005 (for example) expansion team instead of a 1998 (announced in 1997 but originally supposed to have been among the first teams in 1995 and then 1996 after the delay in getting the league started) expansion team. Like they say, hindsight is in the eye of the tiger.
     
    Fighting Illini repped this.
  11. sportscrazed2

    sportscrazed2 Member+

    Jul 30, 2008
    Mordor, Middle Earth
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Worst ice cream flavor
     
    song219 and xtomx repped this.
  12. firefan2001

    firefan2001 Member+

    Dec 27, 2000
    Oswego, Illinois
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    So we would be Chicago FC, Chicago United, Real Chicago etc., I'd take Chicago FIRE over any of those.
     
    wolvesfirehope and goldclover repped this.
  13. xtomx

    xtomx Member+

    Chicago Fire
    Sep 6, 2001
    Northern Wisconsin, but not far from civilization
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Hot dog, Italian Beef and Pizza-flavored ice cream
     
    skinut and nowherenova repped this.
  14. harrylee773

    harrylee773 Member+

    Jul 28, 2004
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    No idea what we'd be, it just wouldn't make sense to have named the team Chicago Fire in a world where search engines largely determine how, and whether or not, people discover and keep up with your brand, given the ambiguity of the term. In the mid-90's, we were nowhere near where we are today with that, and it's not like many people (especially in MLS/soccer) could have predicted the pace of that progress.
     
    moleman repped this.
  15. lethargytartare

    lethargytartare Member+

    Oct 2, 2000
    Magrathea, Horsehead Nebula
    Club:
    Yeovil Town FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Scotland
    frankly, when the team was announced I thought the name was stupid. In 1998 I'd have been far happier with an FC or SC.

    most new sport / expansion team names are moronic attempts to roll together marketing strategies and merchandising opportunities by stealing a naming tradition started organically by baseball.

    Having lived through 3 decades of USA sportscape's constant disparagement of soccer, I was deeply disgusted by MLS's ill conceived decision to bolt as many of the trappings of US sports traditions onto this iteration of domestic pro soccer as possible.

    that said, the horse is already out of the barn, and rebranding is stupid.
     
  16. lncolnpk

    lncolnpk Member+

    Mar 5, 2012
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    They should have protected their trademark vs the tv show
     
    bunge repped this.
  17. moleman

    moleman Member

    Jan 7, 2017
    The horse is dead and was long ago turned into glue/meatloaf. On the Chicago sports scene (and forgive the corporate speak), the Chicago Fire have virtually zero brand awareness. From management’s perspective, they are starting at square zero, and it’s easier to build a brand with no other connotations (e.g. Chicago SC or Chicago FC) than try to build a brand around something that:

    A. Already doesn’t work (thanks to ownership, but why fix that when you can slap a lazy rebrand on it instead?)
    B. Is already associated with three other more popular/significant things (The Great Chicago Fire, Chicago Fire TV show, and the Chicago Fire Department)

    All I’m saying is you better get your “Chicago Fire” gear now if you believe a rebrand is incoming. I personally don’t think it will happen because again it would require ownership effort.
     
    Fighting Illini, xtomx and harrylee773 repped this.
  18. Fighting Illini

    Fighting Illini Member+

    Feb 6, 2014
    Chicago
    This could all be much ado over a new logo or something a la the Earthquakes.
     
    harrylee773 repped this.
  19. Ke1n

    Ke1n Member

    Aug 9, 2011
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Don't forget about Jello

    [​IMG]
     
  20. Martininho

    Martininho Member+

    Feb 13, 2007
    Chicago
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Bridgeview Black Holes.
     
    harrylee773 and loonixxx repped this.
  21. loonixxx

    loonixxx Member+

    Chicago Red Stars
    Aug 28, 2004
    Soccer Limbo
    Club:
    Jagiellonia Bialystok SSA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The Process ™ SC.
     
  22. der sting

    der sting Member

    Oct 1, 2014
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Chicago Futility FC. The Chicago Futility, we “compete”!
     
    xtomx repped this.
  23. Old Man!

    Old Man! BigSoccer Supporter

    RIP Chicago Fire
    Mar 11, 2000
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    NRod said at the press conference that every fan has to decide for himself what level of emotional attachment he wants with the club. The name, the badge and the red/white colors are important to me as symbols. Change those things and this isn't the same club. For many this isn't the same club anyway, but if I squint my eyes I can pretend. This is particularly meaningful to me because things are so shitty right now that I have to hang on to memories and believe that, in time, things will improve. If the name/colors/badge are changed, then I'm likely done.
     
  24. Old Man!

    Old Man! BigSoccer Supporter

    RIP Chicago Fire
    Mar 11, 2000
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'll add that, I've always felt a responsibility to carry the Fire/soccer in America since the clubs inception. To do what I could to expose people to soccer, to buy jerseys, tickets and merchandise to try to bring people into the sport. If the club changes what I've spent so much effort to encourage, it's like saying that what I've spent decades pouring love into isn't worth anything because the people that really matter, are the ones who didn't respond to the name/badge/colors for whatever their reasons are. If the club wants those fans more than me, they can have them.
     
    LIZZIE, willydonc, goldclover and 5 others repped this.
  25. chiladd

    chiladd Member+

    Mar 21, 1999
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    To be fair the statement was "brand refresh" and not "rebrand" .
     
    willydonc and harrylee773 repped this.

Share This Page