Red Wings’ Survey Asks About Mascots, Alternate Jerseys

The Detroit Red Wings sent out a survey on Monday that included a lot of standard questions.

Things about how many games you listened to, watched, or attended.  Asking how you got tickets for the games you may have gone to.  Why you’re a Red Wings fan, how you became a fan, and how you would describe the City of Detroit.

In the middle of the survey, though, some very specific questions came up about the team’s identity, starting with “Do you feel the Red Wings should add a team mascot?” and its follow-up, “Why or why not?”

It’s possible that my response did not impact the next question, but after answering “no” and giving my reasons, I was funneled to a page that explained why a mascot would be of use.

A benefit of having a team mascot is more “team” involvement with fans, such as photos with the mascot, interaction with the fans during games, and attending events outside of the arena. This would also allow the Red Wings to have a bigger presence in the community without always relying on the players to be there.

I was then asked what I thought a potential Red Wings mascot should be.

 

The branding-related questions continued with “What does the Red Wings logo mean to you?” and “What does ‘Hockeytown’ mean to you?”

Then came the next potentially-controversial question: “Would you like the Red Wings Players to have an alternate jersey design to wear for some games?”  Which was followed by “If the Red Wings were to add an Alternate Jersey, what would you like to see in the design of the alternate jersey?”

The survey wrapped up with a handful of generic questions about demographics.

Do any of these mean that the Red Wings are definitely looking to add a mascot or an alternate jersey?  Of course not.  Any good business should be asking these questions semi-regularly, looking for opportunities to change how people perceive their brand.

That said, it’s a quiet August and the wording of the mascot and the alternate jersey questions seem more pointed than in previous surveys, at least as far as my admittedly-fallible memory goes.  This could be a sign of things to come or it could be nothing.  That mascot question sure reads to me like someone on the business side has determined that the team needs a mascot, for example, which makes it noteworthy no matter what the outcome.