The logo will change, but CF Montreal sticks to its name

We tried to get the worms out of his face, Thursday morning, when he met the media during a club volunteer activity with the organization Projet Harmonie, in Mercier. To be continuedconfined himself to repeating Gervais, specifying each time that the club would bring back many elements of the history of the Impact, who will never die, never, never, neverhe later added.

It dates from before my arrival. Meetings were led by Joey Saputo, said Gervais in the press scrum. We are listening, and certain things kept coming back to the existing logo, that we had to go back to our history, to our past. I’m completely in line with that. There were exchanges with supporters, our supporters, our business partners, the media.

Bad luck here for a little preview of the new emblem. Perhaps on the training side, then, where Wilfried Nancy was precisely at the disposal of journalists?

I haven’t seen it, Nancy announced. The club made this decision. Just be a little patient, and you’ll see the idea behind it. It’s very consistent. Makes sense.

So… did you see it or not, Wilfried?

He is handsome! I haven’t seen it, but I imagine it, he replied this time. We had meetings to explain the vision to us in relation to the logo and, with the way it was described, I can imagine it. He is fine.

Good. Samuel Piette, then?

I had some echoes, I did not see it, also supported the Quebec player. See when it comes out.

We will have tried.

We can at least understand that we are going back to basics. The Pigeon agency, designer of the logo that I proudly wore at the beginning of the century, underlined the president, and that of the MLS revealed in 2012, returned to service with the club.

Blue should find a prominent place in the logo if we translate the words of Gervais, who mentioned from the outset the club’s new marketing campaign where this color is featured.

The new logo is ready. All that is missing is the endorsement of the MLS, which never spits on the possibility of approving each comma of a press release – so a logo…

Our intention is to do so before the end of June, Gervais said. We have to work hand in hand with the league. The trademark, the logo does not belong to us. He belongs to the league. Any disclosure must be made in concert with the league and with the equipment supplier Adidas. We talk with them. As soon as we get the green light, we’re going to unveil the logo.

” On our side, I said it when the announcement of my arrival was made, I want transparency, I want us to be proactive. It’s the most proactive one can be today. »

It remains to be seen how the supporters will welcome this new logo, those who were mentioned in the first sentence of the short press release sent on Wednesday to confirm this change.

Gervais said he met with all the supporter groups and that these were productive meetings with good energy and openness.

I hope to collaborate with them so that all our supporters come back, because our players only want that, affirmed Gervais. They want our most passionate supporters back at the stadium. I work very hard on this. It will take some reconciliation on both sides.

The question of the name is nevertheless likely to continue to be talked about, despite the insistence of the club in this regard.

Daniel Nahmias-Léonard is one of the co-founders of Ultras Montreal. He has since left the group and is no longer a season ticket holder. He argues that bringing the name Impact back into the world is the right thing to do, since he feels thatmore people asked for a name change than a logo change. Beyond the new identity, he deplores an attitude problem.

In fact, it’s a half measure, he said. It’s strange, they say they listened to the supporters, and they present a new logo without having consulted them. We seem to contradict each other.

The subject is similar with Dominique Ritchot, a member of the 127 Montreal group who also chose not to renew her subscription.

It proves us right. It shows that this rebranding was unnecessary, she noted. They say they consulted, but consult whom? I imagine they must have followed what he said to each other on social networks. I dare to hope that they consulted people who had made proposals.

We can also find this kind of speech on social networks since the announcement of the club, as well as other publications more sympathetic to change. The Ultras Montreal, who are calling for a return to the old name, had not yet responded to the message from Radio-Canada Sports.

Samuel Piette says he understands those who are obsessed with the Impact name. He simply wants the exchanges to take place with respect.

For some, in the rebranding, the problem was the name. For others, it was the logo. For still others, it was the snowflake, the colors, it doesn’t matter, listed Piette. Everyone has their own opinion, their own problem that they see as bigger than the others. Those for whom the logo was the problem, and not the name, will be happy – or not. But yes, I think everyone is entitled to their opinion, I respect that.

If the name Impact never gonna diebut that CF Montreal is here to stayGabriel Gervais is looking for ways to bring the two together.

Can we gather all the supporters in the same section behind the goals and call it the Montreal Impact section? We are already bringing it back through the Montreal Impact Foundation. We can also do more with the Academy. There are all kinds of waysassured Gervais.

I’ll be the first to tell you: I had the best years with the Impact, he continued. I want it to stand out more with our elders, our history. We have work to do. But the name is CF Montreal, and Montreal is at the center of everything, our community. That’s how we approach it.