During an unveiling event Thursday morning, it was announced that the new Atlantic League (Indy Pro) franchise in New Britain (CT) will be known as the “New Britain Bees.” See press release:
PRESS RELEASE – Thursday morning, at a press conference at New Britain City Hall, team officials announced “Bees” as the winning selection for the team nickname of the Atlantic League’s New Britain Club. In attendance were New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart, newly named Team Special Advisor Bill Dowling, Principal Owner Frank Boulton, Partner/Advisor Michael Pfaff and Atlantic League Executive Director Joe Klein.
“Bees” was chosen from a final list of five, which included Stingers, Hornets, Hammer, and Hard Hitters. Winners from the public “Name the Team” fan vote were on hand as well to receive prizes, including 2016 season tickets and suites.
During the press conference, two team wordmark logos were unveiled, along with team colors of gold and black. The wordmarks were designed by Skye Dillon of Skye Design Studios, a brand identity and design firm located in the greater New York City area. New Britain’s nickname, the “Hardware City”, is inspired by its manufacturing heritage as well as its status as home to Stanley Black & Decker, a world leading provider of tools and storage. Its motto – – “Industry fills the hive and enjoys the honey” – – is a direct reference to this robust history and inspired the new Bees’ identity, beginning with the complimenting wordmarks unveiled today.
The roman lettering was rendered to feel as if it were crafted from metal, bold and strong like the city. As with the script version, each letter is connected by honey, and a beehive icon has been integrated to reinforce this sense of community.
A full family of marks will be released in the coming weeks.
The New Britain Bees are a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and will begin play at New Britain Stadium in April of 2016. For further information, email info@nbbees.com, call 860-826-BEES (2337), or visit the newly launched nbbees.com.
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Surprising they didn’t spell it with a ‘z’.
Been… You’re totally on it. Beez would have been much better from a trademark, differential, and branding consideration. The “Z” could possibly have appealed to NB’s large Polish population as well as frequently used in their language.
In reading the endless comments on facebook about the name announcement, the most popular, reoccurring comment is “It’s better than the Yard Goats…” I am not sure the ownership of this team was looking for a comparitive response to an existing bad name as the desired emotional attachment to announcing their new name. Branding is all about emotional attachment.
… the response ownership wants is.. “Absolutely LOVE this name… when is merchandise available????” I did not see this comment anywhere, or anyone ask about merchandise.
Burlington Bees, Salt Lake Bees, New Britain Bees. Couldn’t come up with something original?