As we know, marketing/branding plays a huge part in athletics. If you type"st johns", "stj" and "sju" into google, you will notice that st johns university does not appear in the top results. However, type "fsu" and florida state links come up. The 'latin seal' logo is black and red on some pages, and blue and red on others. The basketball team had red with black accented uniforms in 2012, now it appears to be blue accents. On some hats or jackets, a horse is the logo, while on others a rain cloud and lightning bolt, while the mascot is a bird. This is not acceptable. St. Johns was put in a tough situation after switching away from the redmen, but since then, it is impossible for anyone who isnt an alum/student to determine the schools mascot and colors- is it red white and black, or red white and blue? Why are they called the Red storm but have a bird mascot, and horse logo? When Syracuse switched from the orangemen, they made a smart move- they have stuck with one nationally recognized mascot (after some trials and errors), a simple name, and orange and blue colors. St Johns is a nationally recognized program. For decades, the administration has dropped the ball in the branding of the university, and even though it seems minor, it is a big deal. Any suggestions on what can be done?
The mascot, logo, team name and school seal have practically nothing to to do with the branding of any sports entity. Why so much time gets wasted debating this is beyond me.
In the early to mid 80's, in certain, ahem, urban areas, Georgetown apparel started popping up everywhere. This despite the fact that their nickname is the Hoyas, which isn't even an actual thing, and I don't remember one piece of clothing with their mascot- a bulldog- on it. How was that possible? It was possible because they were unabashedly black, played an aggressive style of basketball, and won alot. Why is Duke the favorite college team of most suburban enclaves on the East Coast? Because they play a cerebral brand of basketball , have players who would all look comfortable in an argyle sweater, and they win alot. Not because the Blue Devil is an awesome nickname or mascot. Not because their gear is rocking and cutting edge, although I believe that IS a way that schools in metro areas can help establish a brand. If you were a St Johns fan before you went to school there, or if you never went to school there, why did you become a fan? Because of the name, logo, mascot or apparel? Probably not.
Winning is the best way to establish a brand, and winning with a particular style is 1A. Having a partner like Under Armour, which is a marketing powerhouse, gives SJU a real opportunity to brand through apparel, but nobody wants to wear cool gear of a team that plays in the NIT. Once you're a consistent winner, you flood urban areas with free or reduced rate UA SJU swag, you sell $10 tickets in the second tier of MSG to any school in the NY/NJ/CT area that will take them. You partner with pop and hip hop radio stations in the area, get the trendsetters invested. Make it cool to like SJU basketball, the same way its cool to wear Under Armour. Pay Jay-Z 27 million dollars to wear a St Johns jersey in his next video, whatever.
Do that and no one will give a crap what the mascot is.