Marlins striving to reconnect
New logo, jerseys a way to re-engage with community
MIAMI — After unveiling their new logo and jerseys on social media, the Marlins hit the streets throughout Miami on Friday to show off their new look.
Showcasing black Marlins jerseys and hats, players and top management officials mingled with fans in the South Florida community to celebrate their re-branding rollout.
The team officially changed its colors to Caliente Red, Miami Blue, Midnight Black and Slate Gray as the Marlins’ new ownership group looks to start a new chapter in South Florida.
“There’s a different commitment that we’re going to have with our community that’s never been experienced in the past, and we needed to have a new look associated with that,” Marlins president of business operations Chip Bowers said.
“We did a lot of research to say, ‘What should that be?’ What we found with the Caliente Red and the Miami Blue are these are colors that resonated with people. They got excited about it and they felt like it was Miami. They felt like it tied back to their culture. If they’re Latino, to say ‘It feels like something that was in the Dominican or something I might have seen in Cuba.’ It also ties back to some of the early kind of Marlins looks and feels.”
The Marlins kept a tight inner circle as the team crafted their new logo. Bowers said only 4-5 people, led by CEO Derek Jeter, were involved from the very beginning of the process in order to avoid leaks. Working closely with Major League Baseball, that group gradually expanded to roughly 20 as the team prepared to roll out the new jerseys.
The reaction to the uniforms has been pretty positive on social media, as fans have rapturously shared pictures of the new threads.
While the Marlins are making visible changes throughout the organization — including moving the home run sculpture out of the ballpark and renovating seating — Bowers still hears a common refrain, which relates to the team’s notable struggles. Coming off a 98-loss season, the executive understands fans’ frustrations, but believes all of the elements — both on-field and off-field, go hand-in-hand.
“We’ve had fans ask us all the time, ‘Why are you focused on a logo? Why are you focused on the ballpark? When are you going to focus on the team?’,” Bowers said. “The reality is we’re focused on all of it.
“What’s not going to be as obvious is the money, time and resources we’re investing into our player development and our farm system. You can see it in the moves we make. But that really comes to life with those guys getting a little bit older and working on their craft.
“What we have to do on the business side is work on that tipping point, and so that’s why we’re doing those things to immediately prove to the community and to the fan base that they can believe in us and trust us. When we make you a promise, we’re going to deliver on it.”