Earlier this month I blogged about the importance of brand identification and put the spotlight on the Michigan State University Spartans in my Fans Identify with Sports Logos: The MSU Spartans entry. The new logo, designed by both MSU members and Nike, was leaked after being found on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Web site. The school was hoping to unite their 25 teams with one logo to strengthen their brand identification. Unfortunately, the 500 sports students that would be wearing these, and their fellow classmates were not impressed.

Michigan State Spartan Logo

The current Michigan State University Logo will remain.


Athletics director, Mark Hollis said, “After careful consideration, we will use the current Spartan logo design. Using sound branding principles, the university will continue to register some variations of our Spartan logo in order to ensure that this symbol is well protected and firmly associated with Michigan State University.”

Students at MSU are excited about the decision to stick with their current logo and believe that their efforts on Facebook and other social media sites helped to preserve their logo. Junior student, Meghan Conners said, “I definitely saw that there was a lot of support, especially online with students showing that they wanted the old logo, and that’s what they wanted to see and that’s what they wanted to wear around.”

MSU Spartan Fan

A MSU Spartan Fan proudly wears a promotional Spartan helmet- consistent with their current Spartan logo.


This is an awesome example of the importance of brand identification. The students of MSU were happy with their current logo. They identified with it and because of their allegiance to it, they were able to preserve it…at least for now.