Raider Nation Brand Identity – More to Come

Raider Nation – Brand Identity Part 1

OK, there may be several teasers to the real lesson of building brand identity. What is undeniable is that a product or service can fail or succeed based upon the image that consumers have in their minds.

In 1996 the internet was secondary to the traditional marketing channels that existed at the time – meet and greets with the cheerleaders!! What was becoming clear, however, is that the internet could spread news and photos on current events much faster and across a much more diverse geographical base. Instead of only fans in the San Francisco Bay Area being able to see the latest news in the local rags there was now the ability to spread this info across the globe. No one appreciated the impact of the internet in this area more than I did when it came to formulating a strategy which would propel Raider Nation to the pinnacle of success.

The photos shown here were all published on the Raider Nation website exclusively and I, in effect, became the official photographer for events that were taking place at John Vella’s Raider Locker Room. The Raider Locker Room and Raider Nation became strategic partners in spreading the Raider Nation brand. Traditional brick and mortar retail was still the predominant method of sales in 1996 but to sell to a global fan base the internet was becoming the preferred marketing and sales channel. The symbiotic relationship between most retail outlets and the internet is taken for granted now, in 1996 Raider Nation was on the cutting edge.

WordPress Website Creation

For those who thought that WordPress was only for blogs………… Stay tuned for the new and improved ERRG website.

For an example of what can be done:

http://www.giantsnation.com/wordpress/

Raider Nation – The Concept in 1996

Think back to 1996…… The internet was in its infancy and no one had yet fully tapped the true potential in the area of internet commerce. Netscape, anyone remember them?, was the dominant player in internet browsers. They spun off multiple firms that hoped to capitalize on the internet – from hosting solutions to content creation. Digital cameras were archaic and the size of a shoe box if you could afford one – think about cell phones or portable computers as a comparison for how they developed. Going from big and expensive to small and cheap in a span of ten years or less. Hard to believe but in 1996 the wave known as the internet had not yet started to crest, but all the signs were there. Internet commerce was just a glimmer in various enterprenuers minds and how to truly capitalize in this area was also on a scale of small to large – the individual with some HTML skills all the way up to those implementing grand shopping schemes. Some were spectacular failures – does anyone remember Webvan?

Now think back to 1996 as the year after the Raiders had returned from Los Angeles. Oakland Raider fans from the days of Kenny Stabler, Freddie Biletnikoff, Dave Casper, etc. were riding a surge of adrenaline from their beloved team returning to where they should never have left. I happened to be one of those “old” Raider fans who looked to rekindle the glory of the Oakland Raiders but little did I know that I was about to catch the wave of the internet at just the right moment in time.  A time when fan pages were popping up anytime a fan wanted to post pictures or comments regarding the team. The majority of the sites at that time were primarily sites designed to talk about the team, the games, and trash talk with the other fans. No one had a concrete vision to combine the fan page with a concept such as Raider Nation – it did not exist.  The plethora of “Nation” sites you see now were all given birth by the success of Raider Nation. There would be no Red Sox Nation, Bachelor Nation, Niner Nation, etc. without the first website designed to capitalize on the internet and fanaticism – Raider Nation.

The official filing with the US Patent and Trademark office:

Many have come forward after the success of Raider Nation claiming to be the originators but none have the conclusive documentation being presented here to substantiate their claims. What I am presenting here is the history and origins that fueled the success of the concept known as Raider Nation. I will present the original graphics that were used to develop the Raider Nation website for which, of course, I owned the domain RaiderNation.com. Intertwined in the history will be the business lessons learned along the way.

I will take you on a journey that validated many things taught in business schools and the journey itself was an education in business that many never receive in an entire lifetime. Are you ready to rumble………..

Raider Nation – A Case Study

Coming soon – the genesis of a Nation, from concept to implementation. Below is original mock up design for t-shirt.