Most Recognizable Teams
 

I'm giving a presentation next weekend about the importance of Spirit and Marketing at a local FIRST workshop and I thought that I'd put it out there to see what some of the most memorable and interesting teams are. I'm looking for what sets them apart, not just for the teams that win the most, but the teams that seem to have that special something that makes them fun to watch whether they win or lose.

So, what are the teams that you look forward to seeing each year? Maybe they have a funny theme, crazy mascots, interesting robot designs, or some kind of funny gimmick, that makes them stand out.

Re: Most Recognizable Teams
 

Where's Waldo team 1547. They are an all girls team, and can really build a robot and have cool ways to make the robot. Always cheering in the stands at GTR and had a battery charging station like no other, they put an alternator on a exercise bike this year to charge them! Here's there website http://waldo.castle-ed.com/

Re: Most Recognizable Teams
 

We had a lot of people give really positive feedback on our team name. We won the Spirit Award at Waterford, too. It's not always the teams that have been around the longest that get noticed the most.

Re: Most Recognizable Teams
 

One of the teams I'm always on the look out for would be Team Titanium. As another local team, I'm sure that you're quite aware of their exceptional record. The thing that draws me to them are the eyes they have on the back of their shirts, and usually as some sort of screen on their robot. I really want one of their t-shirts. Another thing of theirs is Titanium - the Guitar Hero playing robot. Usually draws a crowd at Greater Kansas City.

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1717's jumpsuits and LED nametags are hard to miss.

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The Pink Team

do i really need to explain?

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No list of recognised teams would be complete without Exploding Bacon! I mean, I bet I could just go, "Oink Oink-

Re: Most Recognizable Teams
 

"BOOM?" hehe

111 - Wildstang

Re: Most Recognizable Teams
 

hmmm....
"FLOW-ER POW-ER"
*clap* *clap* *clap clap clap* *clap clap clap clap* "GO MOE!"
"ROLL-ING THUNDER"

So, Miss Daisy, MOE, and Rolling Thunder in addition to Exploding Bacon and WildStang. ThunderChickens, Hawaiian Kids, and Killer Bees, too.

I think "recognizable" to me usually means a very distinctive uniform--that hopefully carries into the robot and pit--and an awesome shout-out. 1511's red-white-black cameo, MOE's neon green, WildStang's tie-dye, and the Hawaiian kids (take a wild guess) especially excel at the former.

You've got to have a reason to be remembered, though. Case in point, I also never fail to recognize RoboWranglers, Simbotics, OP, or HOT. This is less about branding and more about being ridiculously awesome. (Their branding is good too, but nothing really compares to performance.) Locally, 433, 1647, and 103 stick in my mind for similar reasons.

Re: Most Recognizable Teams
 

From Michigan, I've got to throw in 217 the thunder chickens. The shirts are such a bright green there really hard to miss. There robot always has nice green on it too (great lights this year!). Also their robots performance doesn't hurt.

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I have always been amazed how even at Championships, you can spot all of the MOE team members in the room from a half mile away. MOE and Pink are, for my money, the most recognizable teams in FIRST.

Re: Most Recognizable Teams
 

In terms of visibility MOE and Pink definitely win. I always admire how the Killer Bees incorporate the bee theme into the aesthetics of their robot. The Robonauts and the Cheesy Poofs seem to have a talent for looking professional, in both their team appearance and robot.

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SPAM... With the superman like logo. (I guess you could also say the UberBots because the almost have the same logo.)

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Without a doubt, I agree!

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Team 254 has a nice blue robot with the signature transformers logo every year.

Re: Most Recognizable Teams
 

I gotta agree with tubatroopa. anyone can spot 254's pieces of art in any competition. Not only do their robots look cool, but their pits are amazing! It's like the people from Pimp my Pit came and had it professionally done.

Aside from them, another very noticeable team that hasn't been named yet is team 692, the Fembots. 233 aren't the only people in pink, and you can't go through SVR without seeing their pink uniforms and magnificent robots!

Re: Most Recognizable Teams
 

To me, the teams that everyone recognizes are the teams who pick a theme... and shove it down our throats until we can't possibly forget it.

Yes, PINK and MOE have that down pat. PINK, of course, has the color pink EVERYWHERE. On their shirts, their robot, their wigs. They shove pink down our throats until we can't help but associate that color with them. In the stands, the pits or the field, you see a mass of pink, you can't help but know that 233 is coming up.

It's the same principal with MOE and Wildstang, with the Neon Green and Tie-Dye. You see lime green, you're looking at either MOE or Thunderchickens. You see that mass of tie-dye, you're looking at Wildstang.

Another way to make your team recognizable is through sheer robot performance and imagery. I know, if I see a black and red robot, with red light coming out of it somewhere, I'm looking at a Robowrangler robot. Royal Blue? Cheesy Poofs. Honeycomb designs? Killer Bees.

The point is, to be recognizable, what you're looking for is a theme you can put into everything you do. The Killer Bees have been brought up. They take that "Bee" theme, and they put it in their cheers. Their robot. Their costumes.
What you need to do, is be able to build an association with your gimmick so strong, you could remove all references to a team name and number from a shirt and robot, and be able to still recognize whose team it is. Memorable logos help to.

If you're looking for examples, I know I could look at the following teams without their numbers or names, and recognize their robot or shirt:
33, 111, 148, 188, 191, 217, 233, 234, 254, 330, 340, 341, 359, 469, 781, 1114, 1503, 1511, 1625...
Well, the list goes on and on. All these teams either have a color, a logo, or a specific style that I will always be able to look at from the top of the bleachers and say "Oh, that's xxxx".

Hope this helps.

Re: Most Recognizable Teams
 

Leeland pretty much summed it up. Good job!

Re: Most Recognizable Teams
 

Autobots take umbrage with this statement. ;)

Re: Most Recognizable Teams
 

To me 47 and 65 will always be among the most recognizable teams for me.

47 had been rocking the orange as long as I can remember and their mascot always sticks with me. Course, that might have been because I saw so much of it on CD....

65 was the original black, red, white camo pants. To this day when I see black/red/white camo I think, "65 is here?"

Re: Most Recognizable Teams
 

Locally, the Girard RoboCats of Team 379 are very recognizable with their bright red shirts. They are also usually one of the more spirited teams in the venue.

CIA Team 291's orange button-down shirts also stand out.

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I think that 111 also falls into that category. Their team colors are always incorporated into their bot and spirit-wear very well. It's hard to miss!

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I find that it is a combination of theme and also having a great robot. At the Kansas City Regional, I always take notice of SWAT - Team 1806 because they dress up in SWAT team uniforms which is both cool and intimidating. Also, Team Driven (1730) - Great Pit and robot, Titanium (1986) Great logo with the eyes and consistently good robot, also I see kids wearing their shirts all over town, Liberty Robotics (1764) - Great Pit and very nice uniforms, and Ravonics Revolution (1710) - Very spirited and they have a cool boombox that they play while we are all waiting to get into the event that gets everyone psyched.

Re: Most Recognizable Teams
 

What Leeland1126 said.

But yes, having a relatively successful team helps, if nothing else than by appearing at more venues (e.g., CMP). I know several teams that have a great and unique team theme, carried for years, and makes you think of them whenever you see them...but they've only ever appeared at NJ, so even teams in Philly (under an hour south) wouldn't "recognize" them.

So, like many things in life, it is a combination of a brand and awareness.