-And the new name of the football team
from Washington is the Washington Football Team.
It's a placeholder for the 2020 season after team
decided to retire the Redskins name,
a nearly 90-year-old name that many found offensive.
A new name is coming, just not now,
the team's identity on hiatus.
Experts in branding and rebranding have some thoughts.
-It's not ideal to have this hiatus, as you say.
Most brands want to make a clean transformation.
-If you're talking about a brand going to market
that is going to get retail or online sales
or whatever it is immediately,
that might not have been a good idea.
-I'm very glad the franchise is taking this time
and doing it right.
You know, this is an 88-year-old franchise,
and this decision is for the next 88 years.
So doing it right is really important.
-Ed O'Hara is Chairman of SME Branding
and has worked with many teams and leagues around the world.
He helped the Washington Bullets become the Washington Wizards.
This kind of work.
-It's very difficult.
You're toying with the heart of a franchise.
You're toying with a fan base
that has lent its time and emotions for decades.
This family's one of the most passionate in the country.
-But putting off a name gives the team what it needs,
and that's time.
Making this kind of change
will take more than a could of months as originally thought.
-Very short. It's very short.
Because of all the decisions you have to make.
-Isabella Cunningham is a professor
in the School of Advertising and Public Relations
at the University of Texas at Austin.
-You have to have enough research data in place
so you don't make the mistake twice.
The worst thing that could happen is if two years from now,
they choose a name that also enters
in some kind of controversy
or doesn't show to be well-liked by a lot of people,
and then they think about changing it again.
That's really not a good thing.
-Who really owns this decision, and therefore, whose voice,
opinion should be consulted and included into that decision?
-To me, it's been 18 months to two years
typically for a major change like this.
-You can also mess all this up.
Andy Wilson is Head of Strategy for BBDO across Asia.
He's based in Singapore
and has done numerous rebrands and image refreshes.
-I think there are two fundamental risks or traps --
too much change obviously risks huge amounts of alienation.
The second huge risk is the degree to which
you can bring your stakeholders with you on this journey.
To really appreciate and get the feelings
and the pulse of the public
and the stakeholders is really critical.
If you get that wrong, your end solution
is just gonna come across as tone deaf.
-In a situation like this,
you're likely to lose some and win some.
You're likely to lose some of your fans
that are totally dedicated to your previous name
and don't understand the reasons for the change.
You're likely to gain fans
probably in the younger generation
that are excited about the fact that this fits their values.
-It's not just a brand, but it's a religion.
We invest in emotional capital, not just financial capital.
Their colors become our fashion.
We have their blankets.
Many other brands, many other categories,
that just doesn't happen.
We don't root for other brands.
We root for the home team.