BLK signed until 2017

[Capitano_Cotch]

Gotta love the power of marketing.
A well known apparel manufacturer logo makes a Richmond jumper 'cool'.

We're a big club, we deserve to have a globally recognised brand providing our apparel.
The off-field merchandise of Hawthorn, Carlton and Essendon is much better than ours currently.
Our polo's, hoodies and coaching jackets look amateur in my opinion.
Plus, I can't help but think that we would sell more product with a brand such as Adidas, Nike or Puma.
The Richmond jumper is very hard to get wrong, but the other apparel does not look good at all.

 

[Richo is God]

Wish RFC made the merchandising manufacturers be more consistent with the yellow. I reckon of all the AFL approved gear I have there would be 10 different shades of yellow even taking into account variations from aging

They would have a specific PMS colour, I don't understand why they are all so different

 

[Rich01]

We're a big club, we deserve to have a globally recognised brand providing our apparel.

Plus, I can't help but think that we would sell more product with a brand such as Adidas, Nike or Puma.

Once again, the power of marketing has worked its charm here. The allure of a big brand on our apparel selling more product is an assumption. Would these bigger brands also charge more to the consumer for the privilege of wearing their product? Probably.

And would the prestige of signing a high profile apparel brand mean that the RFC receive significantly less in their contract than if they signed with a smaller brand? Nike and Adidas have a stable of internationally well known clubs - would they pay top dollar for RFC? Doubtful. An up and coming brand looking to increase their awareness in the market place might though

I'm for maximum dollar return for the RFC.

As for the off field apparel, I don't think it's too bad, but I do agree with you, there are other clubs in the league that have better.

 

[NZ_Tiger]

The supporter stuff they make is by and a large shit quality and inconsistent sizing. Bad decision buy the club.

 

[Capitano_Cotch]

Once again, the power of marketing has worked its charm here. The allure of a big brand on our apparel selling more product is an assumption. Would these bigger brands also charge more to the consumer for the privilege of wearing their product? Probably.

And would the prestige of signing a high profile apparel brand mean that the RFC receive significantly less in their contract than if they signed with a smaller brand? Nike and Adidas have a stable of internationally well known clubs - would they pay top dollar for RFC? Doubtful. An up and coming brand looking to increase their awareness in the market place might though

I'm for maximum dollar return for the RFC.

As for the off field apparel, I don't think it's too bad, but I do agree with you, there are other clubs in the league that have better.

I understand your point, completely.
However, the 2 biggest selling jumpers in the AFL this season were Essendon, closely followed by Hawthorn (both adidas).
Even Carlton sold more jumpers than us and they have almost 20,000 less members.
That's appalling from our point of view and is probably why a big brand does not want to jump on board.

The off field merchandise is very poor.
The polo's and jumpers do not even fit properly.
Needs to be fixed.

 

[Rich01]

However, the 2 biggest selling jumpers in the AFL this season were Essendon, closely followed by Hawthorn (both adidas).
Even Carlton sold more jumpers than us and they have almost 20,000 less members.

Would be interesting to see the correlation between memberships and jumper sales by club. I'd be thinking the WA clubs would rank highly. There should be some relativity between memberships and jumper sales- even as a guide. Although if Carlton sold more jumpers than us that is alarming. I wonder whether that would be our sales being relatively low or theirs relatively high - which one is the anomaly.

 

[Capitano_Cotch]

Would be interesting to see the correlation between memberships and jumper sales by club. I'd be thinking the WA clubs would rank highly. There should be some relativity between memberships and jumper sales- even as a guide. Although if Carlton sold more jumpers than us that is alarming. I wonder whether that would be our sales being relatively low or theirs relatively high - which one is the anomaly.

If it helps, our jumpers were the 6th best selling in the afl.
Carlton were 5th.
The only reason I can think of for us being so low, is the fact that the jumper did not change at all from 2012 to 2013.
It was exactly the same template by KooGa, with exactly the same sponsors.
Will be interesting to see our sales next year with the re-branding.

 

[Groupie_]

The supporter stuff they make is by and a large shit quality and inconsistent sizing. Bad decision buy the club.

The collars on the jumpers are crooked, I've had to send back 3 jumpers until I came across one with an acceptable straight collar. The embroidery is also very tacky looking and everything is overpriced and I wouldn't care if it was a quality product like Nike or adidas

Agree re the sizing too

 

[Groupie_]

If it helps, our jumpers were the 6th best selling in the afl.
Carlton were 5th.
The only reason I can think of for us being so low, is the fact that the jumper did not change at all from 2012 to 2013.
It was exactly the same template by KooGa, with exactly the same sponsors.
Will be interesting to see our sales next year with the re-branding.

We haven't had a different jumper since reebok in 2010.

2011, 2012, 2013 were all jeep and bingle with the same template. 2014 will be the same template too :/ Adidas change their template every 1-2 years. Nike also have used the same template for like 6 years

 

[Capitano_Cotch]

We haven't had a different jumper since reebok in 2010.

2011, 2012, 2013 were all jeep and bingle with the same template. Adidas change their template every 1-2 years. Nike also have used the same template for like 6 years

You're right.
In 2011 however, we had the old logo.
This would have seen an increase in off-field merchandise being sold from 2012 onwards.
Hopefully BLK is giving us a good deal, cos I feel if we had put ourselves on the open market, we could have attracted a very big apparel partner.

 

[Groupie_]

You're right.
In 2011 however, we had the old logo.
This would have seen an increase in off-field merchandise being sold from 2012 onwards.
Hopefully BLK is giving us a good deal, cos I feel if we had put ourselves on the open market, we could have attracted a very big apparel partner.

We would have had Nike, Puma and Adidas lining up after our KooGa contract ended. They took Hawthorn and no way would they sell more than Richmond if Richmond were with Adidas

 

[NZ_Tiger]

The collars on the jumpers are crooked, I've had to send back 3 jumpers until I came across one with an acceptable straight collar. The embroidery is also very tacky looking and everything is overpriced and I wouldn't care if it was a quality product like Nike or adidas

Agree re the sizing too

I got a hoodie in small, and it fits me like a sack. I'm a large in all my other hoodies but when tried the large it was ****ing stupid. Tshirts I've bought however have been really short or really long. The designs on some of the stuff, which I assume we do in house are nice but the apparel it's self is substandard. I check out some of the Adidas stuff out in the outlet stores and the afl stuff is really nice quality.

 

[Groupie_]

I got a hoodie in small, and it fits me like a sack. I'm a large in all my other hoodies but when tried the large it was ******* stupid. Tshirts I've bought however have been really short or really long. The designs on some of the stuff, which I assume we do in house are nice but the apparel it's self is substandard. I check out some of the Adidas stuff out in the outlet stores and the afl stuff is really nice quality.

and now we're stuck with it till 2017

 

[TigersMan4]

The club would have to realise that the quality really isn't that superb.
it makes you wonder how much the club is in fact making from these. Must be a shit load.

 

[Rich01]

They took Hawthorn and no way would they sell more than Richmond if Richmond were with Adidas

You really think that a change in jumper name would sell thousands more jumpers? Are people really that brand conscious? At $120 a pop? People make their purchase decision on a label?
The jumper and the stripe is what it used to represent when you wore your colours.

Maybe I'm wrong and the word 'Adidas' on the front will suddenly see us sell an extra 10,000 jumpers if we do sign with them when our contract expires. Still seems a reach to me.

 

[Groupie_]

You really think that a change in jumper name would sell thousands more jumpers? Are people really that brand conscious? At $120 a pop? People make their purchase decision on a label?
The jumper and the stripe is what it used to represent when you wore your colours.

Maybe I'm wrong and the word 'Adidas' on the front will suddenly see us sell an extra 10,000 jumpers if we do sign with them when our contract expires. Still seems a reach to me.

Kooga have never changed their template while they've been with us. Adidas change theirs every year and this is another reason why they sell more - people want what the players are wearing.

I bought my kooga jumper in 2011 and have not bought one since as it hasn't changed at all.

 

[WATiger86]

Jesus. Any excuse to bitch and moan eh?

 

[KiwiTiger]

BLK is a global brand. Many may not be familiar with it but if you watch rugby league and union, as I do over here, you will note that it's very prominent in the UK Super League, the upcoming League World Cup, the Heineken Cup Union and the ITM Cup here in NZ. It is effectively the international brand of KooGa Aust and we should be honoured that they are using the mighty RFC to launch it in the AFL marketplace.

Haere Ra

 

[flaps]

What happened to that Reebok template that was leaked?

 

[Ned_Flanders]

It's not just the logo, it's the manufacturer of it. Different brands have different quality jumpers.
Imo, Adidas has the best ones

you are aware these places dont have their own factories, they subby the work to factories in China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, etc, who basically supply for all their major competitors as well (in most cases for the bigger factories)

I never worked on AFL textiles, but from other products I can advise variation only occurs because:

1) any potential patented materials they (the brand owner) may have exclusivity on

2) price spec (this is the biggest - pay more you get the more expensive dyes/fabrics)

3) licensor demands (i.e. RFC/AFL spec and requirements)

My experience is 2 and 3 are the bigger factors. Doesnt mean shit if a factory can make a Rolls Royce, if you give them the blue prints for a Commodore and only $30k you are kidding yourself if you think you will be getting a Rolls Royce by default

 

[Ned_Flanders]

They would have a specific PMS colour, I don't understand why they are all so different

Often it comes about with range innovation. Easy way to make your product look fresh is to change your PMS

AFL clubs seem all over the shop on this - some very rigid, but others have a significant amount of variation going on

 

[Ned_Flanders]

We would have had Nike, Puma and Adidas lining up after our KooGa contract ended. They took Hawthorn and no way would they sell more than Richmond if Richmond were with Adidas

They would sell more, but would the deal with these guys return more to the club?

No point selling more if the profits per sale fall significantly because more is staying with the supplier

 

[NZ_Tiger]

BLK is a global brand. Many may not be familiar with it but if you watch rugby league and union, as I do over here, you will note that it's very prominent in the UK Super League, the upcoming League World Cup, the Heineken Cup Union and the ITM Cup here in NZ. It is effectively the international brand of KooGa Aust and we should be honoured that they are using the mighty RFC to launch it in the AFL marketplace.

Haere Ra

Is the quality going to improve? Has the substandard manufacturing ever been discussed behind closed doors as far as your aware Kiwi?

I watch a fair bit of union and only second tier teams wear Kooga. Ie. Wallabies. While the boks have Canterbury, All Blacks Addidas, England Nike.

Addidas as a partner brings a whole new level of exposure and lots of opportunities for cross promotion. Far more than BLK.

 

[Wallaby]

I really like my Kooga jumper. Fits really well and the yellow is far better than the Reebok yellow was.

Am pretty confident the club wouldn't choose second rate apparel so I just hope it was a good deal contract wise to lock us in for so long.

d
Why not? The only consideration is the money - not how supporters feel in their replicas. If Dodgy Bros offered enough dosh, clubs would fall over themselves to sign up.

 

[PHX]

Why not? The only consideration is the money - not how supporters feel in their replicas. If Dodgy Bros offered enough dosh, clubs would fall over themselves to sign up.

All about the money? Are you suggesting there would have been no consideration how the players feel in the jerseys and how progressive BLK are with technology in the decision?

But you're right, supporters opinion doesn't hold much weight. All the supporters that are being antsy about this are probably just materialistic and want to be seen in Nike or Adidas, and are assuming just because BLK/Kooga aren't International conglomerates their apparel won't be worth wearing. Having purchased a Kooga jumper my opinion is they're wrong.