Shameless self-promotion, part I

Let's post a few of my Rake articles, starting with the first one I wrote for them way back in May 2003 ...

“It’s A Wild!”

Minnesota’s amazing hockey team. We’re so proud of it! (Them?)

by Patrick Donnelly

May 23, 2003 (from the June 2003 Issue)

All those late nights in April and May spent watching the Minnesota Wild’s astonishing West Coast playoff run left many bleary-eyed observers across North America rubbing their eyes and wondering the same thing: What the hell is it? On fleet forward Marian Gaborik, it looks like a cheetah. On plodding veteran Andrew Brunette, maybe more like a three-toed sloth. Of course, it could be a meerkat, a chinchilla, or a bloodthirsty panda.

We’re talking, of course, about the Wild logo, that mammalian Rorschach test that adorns the jerseys of the State of Hockey’s favorite underdogs. Its actual identity is… well, let’s hear it from Matt Majka: “We’ve never said what it is,” explained the team’s vice president of marketing. “It’s a Wild.” Well, of course it is. How could we have doubted it?

“The question we get most is, ‘What is it? Is it a cat? A bear? A wolf?’” Majka said. “It’s a Wild, and it’s whatever you see in there. It was purposely designed to be interpretive.” A female hockey fan with whom I am closely acquainted said, “It’s got to be some kind of a cat. It’s not a wolf or a dog—wrong ears, wrong head shape.” And I thought, Ears? Man, I thought those were the eyes…

“We get the ‘a-ha’ factor a lot,” Majka said. “People step back and see things they hadn’t seen before. Some don’t even see the animal head at first.” True, there’s plenty to see in the pictogram: pine trees, the northern lights, a full moon, all icons of the Minnesota wilderness. And the team surely gilded the lily with the official, regionally inspired name of each color, too: “Forest Green,” “Minnesota Wheat,” “Harvest Gold,” and “Iron Range Red.”

After Minnesota was awarded an expansion franchise in 1997, one of the first steps was to settle on a nickname. At the time, “Wild” drew some criticism, but now it feels like a comfy old sweatshirt, especially compared to the other clunkers that comprised the final five: Blue Ox, Freeze, Northern Lights, Voyageurs, and White Bears.

Majka said the fans were instrumental in the next step, too: developing the team’s brand—the logo and colors. With the help of the marketing agency Hall Batko and creative firm SME Design, the team conducted some 300 fan interviews, and the top choice quickly became obvious. “It was a landslide,” Majka said. “The fans led us right there.”

It was the beginning of a torrid affair; the fans love what they see. The Wild’s jersey was the top-selling NHL sweater in the country for the team’s first two years in the league. The numbers aren’t all in yet, but this year it’s bound to make another strong showing. “NHL jerseys are generally popular locally and regionally,” said Majka. “It’s unusual to attract national attention. But we’ve got a unique logo and it’s really been a mysterious attraction.”

Now the only mystery is the design of the team’s third jersey, which will be unveiled this fall and worn in select home games. Majka, who is, after all, a marketing professional, wouldn’t give many advance hints. “We’re going to keep it simple. It will honor the heritage and tradition of hockey in Minnesota,” he said cryptically.

Due to a change in NHL rules, road teams will wear their white jerseys next year, so the Wild will don their fetching green sweaters at home when they’re not wearing the new alternate jersey. The league stipulates that teams with third jerseys shall wear them 15 to 18 times per year, but given the superstitious nature of hockey guys, head coach Jacques Lemaire (who went sockless for much of the playoffs) likely will make the final call. “If Jacques wants to wear the third jersey every night, I’m sure we’ll wear the third jersey every night,” Majka said with a laugh.—Patrick Donnelly