Could SLU use a "Mizzou-like SEC" makeover?

[Billy Ken]

I'm not a fashion expert, but after reading a few posts tonight about our merchandise, could the Billiken use a nike make over? Most rebrands aren't very successful, yet would it help sell more gear to young people and use our unique mascot to our advantage? I never did understand why the university did not play up the mystic of the Billiken. I have no idea what would/could be done. With the talk of moving to the BE maybe and the hiring of Cheney and the recent buzz around soccer, baseball and of coarse basketball, would this make sense right now? Maybe people can't buy SLU merchandise because it's aimed towards old guys like me and not to a younger crowd? If you make it, will they want it? Can't do anything but seem to go up from where it is now. Thoughts?

[NextYearBill]

my small circle of SLU faithful ages 26-30 are DYING for fresh gear. this has been the case since we were in school. the time is right now

[JMM28]

my small circle of SLU faithful ages 26-30 are DYING for fresh gear. this has been the case since we were in school. the time is right now

+1. The only things I have are very basic blue shirts with a billiken head or saint Louis billikens on it.

[NextYearBill]

your present options include

1. Free t-shirts given away at games and promotions

2. T-shirts for sale that suck worse than free ones

3. sweatshirts with "SLU" across the front that my grandma sews on in a sweatshop under the student center

[willie]

Tell your grandma thanks.

[TheA_Bomb]

What? There is more SLU gear available today than ever before. Go to the shop in the Arena and SLU has the same stuff most other schools have. You can also buy stuff online. It's available. We don't have as much because we don't have as large a fan-base as State U.

As to the SEC brand on SPUMAC and Texas A&M stuff I think it's cute they're so excited to be associated with the SEC. I've been an Auburn fan since birth and I battle with aTm fans daily at work about football etc. So I went to the aTm game saw all the shirts and for some reason I thought to ask my 13 yr. old daughter, "Have you ever seen 'SEC' on Auburn shirts?" She replied, "Only on the Championship shirt." I had to pass that onto them hilarious. They are so proud of last season and they didn't even win the Division or the Conference. Anyway I digress.

[Billy Ken]

I have tried to buy Christmas presents at the Arena after games and it's slim pickings. In my opinion, it has a terrible selection. Butler isn't a state school and their fan gear blows us out of the water. My point is that even the kids on campus don't want to wear their own school's merchandise. My nephew has told me that the book store on campus has a much better selection, not much better he said than the Arena. I'm talking about a new logo Billiken and whatever else nike can do to get young people interested in the university. I hate to say this as an older guy, but I think unless you went to SLU or have some type of connection, it has a perception of being associated with a bunch of old people. A refreshed Billiken and word marks might help the programs image.

[Pistol]

Glad we started a second thread about this. The other one posted in the last 32 hours just wasn't enough.

[TheA_Bomb]

Billy Ken I'll just have to disagree. I'm not sure what the "kids" want but I thought the selection was good.

Glad we started a second thread about this. The other one posted in the last 32 hours just wasn't enough.

Whatever, Pistol go stalk some 17 year old's twitter account.

[Pistol]

Billy Ken I'll just have to disagree. I'm not sure what the "kids" want but I thought the selection was good.

Whatever, Pistol go stalk some 17 year old's twitter account.

Mike Crawford ‏@LikeMike32 Protected account6m

Eating steaks in the room with @tjlancona

Too old?

[Billy Ken]

I guess you either own the gift shop or a relative of yours owns it. My opinion....it is lacking, if that is the flagship gift shop (which it is) it needs some help. The selection is great if you like Holloway, Gliddan, Hanes instead of Nike.

[Bobby Metzinger]

I guess you either own the gift shop or a relative of yours owns it. My opinion....it is lacking, if that is the flagship gift shop (which it is) it needs some help. The selection is great if you like Holloway, Gliddan, Hanes instead of Nike.

Post of the Year. All the Nike stuff is bootlegged and not "authentic" Nike gear because some kid at SLU watched a documentary on sweatshops and child labor. The move to the BEast would give us a chance to get true Jumpman Jordan gear like GTOWN and Marquette. That's authentic gear. Get me some Iverson swag.

[jbizzle09]

Post of the Year. All the Nike stuff is bootlegged and not "authentic" Nike gear because some kid at SLU watched a documentary on sweatshops and child labor. The move to the BEast would give us a chance to get true Jumpman Jordan gear like GTOWN and Marquette. That's authentic gear. Get me some Iverson swag.

Metz has now officially given out 389 'Post of the Year' awards in 2013. While this may seem like a lot, it is well behind his 2012 pace, when he gave out a cool 1,157.

[Franchise_08]

It is easier to find Duke or Ohio State merch in this town than SLU. Schnucks and Dierbergs has Black and Puke Gold gear in front of the store.

[Billiken Rich]

It is easier to find Duke or Ohio State merch in this town than SLU. Schnucks and Dierbergs has Black and Puke Gold gear in front of the store.

That will change. I bought some nice SLU gear at places like JC Penney back in the spoonball days. I lose another 30 lbs and I'll be able to break that stuff out.....

[Bobby Metzinger]

Metz has now officially given out 389 'Post of the Year' awards in 2013. While this may seem like a lot, it is well behind his 2012 pace, when he gave out a cool 1,157.

Glad you have a counter going. These are simply POY "candidates." The winner of the POY will be announced at the last home game of calendar year 2013. Surprised you didn't know that.

[Pistol]

I guess you either own the gift shop or a relative of yours owns it. My opinion....it is lacking, if that is the flagship gift shop (which it is) it needs some help. The selection is great if you like Holloway, Gliddan, Hanes instead of Nike.

Yeah, it makes complete sense that the gift shop would be family owned. That's how it works on most major college campuses.

Instead of handing out one of Metz's moronic post of the year awards, how about an Old Guy "missing the point" award? I was simply stating that a new thread whining about SLU gear one day after a thread with the same basic premise was started is redundant.

http://www.billikens.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=24570

[P.B.]

The SLU merchandise sucks and parking to get to the bookstore is worse. They could get some really cool shirts or shorts with the billiken. Rally house across from the Galleria has some ok things.

Jordan sponsored Cal, GTown, St Bonaventure, Marquette, UNA and Fresno St. last year. We would not be Jordan sponsored if we joined the Big East. Also, you can have authentic stuff not being sponsored by Jordan, that comment is incorrect.

[Bobby Metzinger]

The SLU merchandise sucks and parking to get to the bookstore is worse. They could get some really cool shirts or shorts with the billiken. Rally house across from the Galleria has some ok things.

Jordan sponsored Cal, GTown, St Bonaventure, Marquette, UNA and Fresno St. last year. We would not be Jordan sponsored if we joined the Big East. Also, you can have authentic stuff not being sponsored by Jordan, that comment is incorrect.

UNA? That comment is incorrect.

[Littlebill]

Have you been to the arena store recently? Do you not look? I'm wearing a blue Nike billiken shirt right now, which was bought at the store. They are getting a TON of hoodies, tshirts, and shorts. Its not there yet, but its definitely getting better.

Go online to collegefootballstore.com. They have a lot of name brand (nike) stuff. When was the last time you looked? 2010?

[MapleLeaf45]

I can't remember if it was this thread or the previous one where someone mentioned off-center and vertical letters on T-shirts but I think the university should be more attentive to putting out new fashionable gear. The nicer and more fashionable the clothing is the more often people will wear it out in their community.

I could complain that I want better Billiken gear for myself (which I do) but really I think it's in the university's best interest. From SLU's perspective it should be pretty simple... people pay the bookstore $20 for a t-shirt that is free advertising for the university.

A story from last night to emphasize that point. So a girl who graduated from SLU with me in 2012 is now a PhD candidate at KU. Well last night she was out running errands and was wearing a SLU t-shirt and a high school kid approached her and asked her about SLU athletics because the baseball coaches have been looking at him. She gave SLU a great endorsement and she told me he seemed really excited about the prospect of playing at SLU. Moral of the story: A T-shirt she paid for helped advertise SLU to a high school kid.

[HusakAttack]

Our gear is nowhere near the variety or selection of Mizzou and similar schools because we are not a similar school!

Our selection seems to be quite extensive when juxtaposed to comparable schools available gear. It has also seen a significant improvement over the last 3-4 years so hopefully it keeps going that way.

[Box and Won]

I can't remember if it was this thread or the previous one where someone mentioned off-center and vertical letters on T-shirts but I think the university should be more attentive to putting out new fashionable gear. The nicer and more fashionable the clothing is the more often people will wear it out in their community.

I could complain that I want better Billiken gear for myself (which I do) but really I think it's in the university's best interest. From SLU's perspective it should be pretty simple... people pay the bookstore $20 for a t-shirt that is free advertising for the university.

A story from last night to emphasize that point. So a girl who graduated from SLU with me in 2012 is now a PhD candidate at KU. Well last night she was out running errands and was wearing a SLU t-shirt and a high school kid approached her and asked her about SLU athletics because the baseball coaches have been looking at him. She gave SLU a great endorsement and she told me he seemed really excited about the prospect of playing at SLU. Moral of the story: A T-shirt she paid for helped advertise SLU to a high school kid.

Somewhat along those lines, here's an interesting article from a few years back on Cornell's "imagae committee" and the university's efforts to rebrand itself.

The committee's roots lie in a Cornell-Yale football game in Ithaca four years ago. Yale fans in the stadium were wearing hats and other neat gear unlike anything Cornell offered for sale, Mr. Cohl said. He talked about that with students sitting nearby, including leaders of the campus Republicans and Democrats.

All were in agreement, he said. "Nobody was wearing our stuff," he said. "We didn't have cool hats, we didn't have cool hoodies."

The committee's first effort was at the bookstore, which proved responsive. Bookstore managers agreed to produce a new line of hats and sweatshirts that looked vintage and emphasized Cornell's Ivy tradition. A blue fitted hat with a simple red C became a big seller, as did a red hooded sweatshirt with a small C on the front.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/22/nyregion/22image.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[Quality Is Job 1]

That will change. I bought some nice SLU gear at places like JC Penney back in the spoonball days. I lose another 30 lbs and I'll be able to break that stuff out.....

"Another..."? How much have you lost thus far?

[Billiken Rich]

"Another..."? How much have you lost thus far?

Been between 300 and 200 within the last ten years.....