Drop clevelandguardians into your favorite browser and here is what see what you’ll find:

While the Cleveland Indians baseball team would have liked for you to find their new logo when completing a clevelandguardians search…no such luck.

It’s not the new and improved Cleveland Indians you’re finding…it’s a roller derby team located in Cleveland!

The Indians had good intentions.

They wanted to leave a name and a mascot/logo that didn’t represent inclusiveness and acceptance.

Here is an article that speaks to the new name and what it was supposed to represent:  New name

All seemed reasonable I’m sure…new name, new look…WHAT??? I’M SUPPOSED TO SEARCH THE URL??  A question some unsuspecting in-house marketing person asked.

So what the heck happened?!

Apparently the in-house “agency” at the Cleveland (former) Indians forgot to do the most basic thing when looking for a new name:  SEARCH THE FREAKIN’ CLEVELANDGUARDIANS NAME!!!

We decided to reach out to an editor from one of the biggest advertising publications in the industry to get his perspective, and this is what he said:

OK, here it is: The “clevelandguaridans organization likely should’ve gone with an agency to handle the naming, rollout, redesign and research (you can’t Google ClevelandGuardians.com?), but they decided to go in house. All of the above came from the team’s in-house marketing staff. I understand that teams have robust in-house marketing and media departments these days, but the blind spots created by those departments are becoming more evident.

Consider the Seattle Kraken. They didn’t even research their city well enough to avoid a trademark dispute with a dive bar in the U district. The team had to change the name of the bar at its practice facility as a result. They’re STILL being sued.

The lesson here is twofold: 1. Leave the big stuff to the pros and 2. Always have someone you can pass the buck to.

So you marketers….in-house teams create efficiencies, but they can also create problems…and they can limit opportunities.

Having an agency that can bring more discipline, broader perspective, smarter thinking, greater scale…can ultimately put you in a better position to win the day!

So if you’re concerned about your in-house team and its ability to deliver effectively for your brand, look no further than us (RSW/AgencySeach) to help you find a new, best-in-class  firm – either to replace the one you have…or to complement them.

Give us a call or drop us a line (msneider@rswagencysearch.com) and we can help!

Thanks!