Cape Girardeau marketing legend Riley applauds new WFT name

Jim Riley of Cape Girardeau's Red Letter Communications thinks the Washington Football Team (WFT) made a good choice when it selected "Commanders" as its new nickname Wednesday.

"My knee-jerk reaction is I like it. There is an axiom, a constant truth, in all of marketing that states, 'People respond to you the way you present yourself to them.' I suspect the team did a lot of research to find out what a commander symbolizes to people — probably concepts such as trustworthy, authority, strength, high principles," said Riley, who founded Red Letter in 1981. "The thing we try to do in branding is tie your brand to something already deeply ingrained in a positive way in the collective consciousness of the nation. In my mind, it's a pretty solid choice."

WFT abandoned the moniker "Redskins," the name of the team for 83 years.

Following 18 months of market research, WFT selected Commanders from a list of finalists, which included Armada, Brigade, Defenders, Presidents, Red Hogs and Red Wolves.

The name Redskins was abandoned in July 2020 under growing pressure from those who believed the nickname was offensive to Native Americans and connoted racism. A team spokesperson said WFT had received more than 40,000 suggestions from fans.

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