It’s out with the new and in with the old for SMU’s logos for athletics. Focus groups conducted with students and alumni concluded that both groups wanted a traditional approach to the logos for SMU’s teams.
Accordingly, the current SMU block letters are out and a more collegiate style block is in.
Two groups of students and two groups of alumni were convened during various times in March to discuss a variety of topics related to SMU athletics. According to associate athletic director for Marketing and Public Relations Richard Sweet, the biggest goal was to get people’s thoughts on the current logos.
SMU had 35 variations of logos for the department before the focus groups began, Sweet said. Most were the logos derived from a focus group and marketing company two years ago. That produced the current marks for athletics, notably the “swoosh” SMU letters and the 3-D blue and red Mustang.
But the focus groups convened this time produced different results.
“The ‘swoosh’ letters were disliked the most out of everything,” Sweet said.
Sweet said newer logo treatments were looked at, and both students and alums liked a more traditional script for the letters in an arch shape. Some respondents said they thought the arch in the letters reminded them of the Hilltop.
“They resonated to a more collegial, classic look,” he said.
The primary logo will remain the running pony that has defined SMU athletics. The focus groups disliked the 3-D variation produced two years ago. They also thought the pony was unique and strong enough on its own to represent SMU’s teams.
“It can and will stand alone and be representative of SMU,” Sweet said.
The focus groups’ thoughts matched up with sales at MustangLockeroom.com, the official online store to purchase SMU athletics gear. Merchandise with the pony or the traditional script sold better than items with the “swoosh” letters and the 3-D pony.
The “swoosh” logo goes away at the start of this coming season. Promotional materials for the football season already feature the new marks.
Another area of discussion for the focus groups was the shade of colors for SMU logos. While the red remains essentially unchanged, the groups resonated with a shade of blue that is lighter than the navy currently used by teams. PMS 286 is the official color, which can best be described as a royal blue. PMS 186 is the official red.
Sweet said the athletic department has been working with the university’s News and Communications Office to make sure that both areas of the school are on the same page.
Other parts of the focus group discussed game day atmosphere and other athletics related issues. The student groups said they were frustrated more students don’t show up to games. But they get so frustrated, Sweet said, that they wind up not going either – creating a vicious cycle.
“It’s our job to figure out how to get them in,” Sweet said, adding that both student groups had a desire to have a spirited student body. The students also said they had problems relating to some of the teams in Conference USA, and they were interested in having strong rivalries in conference.
The alumni liked C-USA more than the students – but only because they thought it was better than the Western Athletic Conference, or WAC. They expressed a desire to have a better conference profile than SMU currently has.
Both groups, Sweet said, believe there is a positive movement in athletics and that good things are starting to happen.
