One of the recurring threads on the message board of the website for fans of the University of California (Berkeley) sports teams, www.Cyberbears.com, expresses heartburn about why the outside world doesn't realize that "Cal" is the same as "Berkeley." Writers conclude that the rest of the world is populated with idiots who are too ignorant to understand the obvious. One observer familiar with the emotional attachment that college sports fans have to their old schools, alleges that Golden Bear alums and friends brought the confusion upon themselves by not dumping the Cal identifier and building equity in "Berkeley". I think this idea sucks, but read on.
"My thought," he said, "is that 'Berkeley' is a strong brand -- it has world-wide recognition as an excellent university. My assumption is that the radical hippie connotation has faded over the last 40 years, leaving the strong academic reputation as the primary connotation of the Berkeley name. It seems to me that by using 'Cal' as their identity in sports, they've squandered an opportunity. They're not taking advantage of their well-established brand (Berkeley). They've left themselves open to confusion with other UC schools, and they could even be confused with Cal State schools. A lot of people probably don't realize that 'Cal' and 'Berkeley' are the same school. I think they've made a mistake by not using the Berkeley name for their sports teams.Of course, my views are untainted by any actual knowledge or expertise in the marketing area. So I'm wondering what you think about this. Any ideas?"
OK, here goes: Now that "Cal" can finally boast a really good football team, after so many years as a hapless bottom-feeder, it's amazing the kind issues that fans come up with, but this is beside the point. My response to this is to agree with those observations about self-inflicted confusion but only up to a point. The point has to do with history and the way that brands -- cult brands -- evolve over time. And the big difference between the brand of your old school and commercial brands in the product marketplace. Legacies are legacies, neither necessarily good nor bad. "Cal" has been, well, Cal since long before the inception of the U.C. system and its many campuses. And if there ever were such a thing as a "cult" brand, it would have to be the college whose sports teams you root for. This means that the common language -- the brandspeak -- tends become part of the lore, the tradition, and coin of the realm for that particular brand. It's not going to change. Indeed, it's going to put down deeper roots with every generation. IMHO, Cal fans are evidently taking themselves waaay too seriously these days with their concerns about whether people in Knoxville or Iowa City don't know Cal-Berkeley from Cal-Davis. Or care. These guys were more fun when they were losing.
Comment Preview