Branding

[djpaulydemon]

This weekend I finally made it to a game on time to see the first bounce. I noticed they had a heartbeat countdown before the match begun that used the guernsey/ heart logo that we've been using in the membership campaign. I really liked it and couldn't help but think that in the future if we were playing a side for a spot in the finals or in a packed MCG it actually would add an extra bit of excitement to the start of a game.

It had me wondering how everyone else here would like to see our football club portrayed?

* It's obvious that if we remain at the bottom of the ladder any branding is futile, but can we look at our improvements and suspend our disbelief for this thread please. This is a if we are hypothetically playing like a decent club in a few years type of thing.

What ways could we expand our membership/ fan base? What aspects of our history/culture/colours/logo/mascot should we accentuate?

I think we have two strengths with our name actually being the name of the city rather than its suburbs and our mascot being unique to the AFL and other sports around the world. What are your thoughts?

 

[PerfectFooty]

i think that maybe if the club was more successful i would be playing a lot of "high way to hell" before and after games, or a least get the cheer squad to sound it off. Ties into our mascot very well and would downplay our stereotype and would reflect on the club as more gritty angry or aggressive.
i don't know how i would incorporate it, and doing that sort of branding now would be pointless as we would mocked week after week. further down the line it would be more appropriate, would seem similar to the "let your demon" out campaign which i was big fan of.

 

[Dory_77]

I think the current logo is pretty tacky; I much preferred the simpler ones from the early-mid 2000s. I also think that our history, while great, is just history and shouldn't be used as a crutch to keep justifying our existence or used in marketing. We've got to write make more history and keep focusing on the present.

 

[Demon 16]

Topless cheerleaders.

 

[djpaulydemon]

I think the current logo is pretty tacky; I much preferred the simpler ones from the early-mid 2000s. I also think that our history, while great, is just history and shouldn't be used as a crutch to keep justifying our existence or used in marketing. We've got to write make more history and keep focusing on the present.

I agree. It's a frustrating coincidence that since we changed to our "historic" logo we have been the worst team in the modern era of football. Our current logo comes across as a convoluted attempt to stay relevant in an expanding competition. Successful teams like Geelong and Hawthorn say that once they've won their premiership its back to square one and their focus is on being able to win the next years trophy, our image on the other hand is that "we were here first" or "we made the rules, stop making fun of us".

Our club seems to be a symbol of the old Victorian era Marvellous Melbourne, with its old institutions, links to the MCC and the stereotype of the blue blood supporter. I think we could link that history with the emerging large population that are starting to live in the CBD and Southbank. The CBD alone is adding something like 6000 people a year at a 20% growth rate and a lot of this new population is part of cosmopolitan professional elite/ cultural creative class that are always actively looking for ways to engage and acculturate into their new city. If Melbourne could claim the CBD as their stronghold those people looking for a way to participate in Melbourne life would see AFL as a way in, and our club as the most historically rich and prominent club to go and see.

I guess the point is we need new ways to expand our club, we shouldn't just settle for being a small club when we have so many advantages .

 

[Cudi_420]

our image on the other hand is that "we were here first" or "we made the rules, stop making fun of us".

Our club seems to be a symbol of the old Victorian era Marvellous Melbourne, with its old institutions, links to the MCC and the stereotype of the blue blood supporter. I think we could link that history with the emerging large population that are starting to live in the CBD and Southbank. The CBD alone is adding something like 6000 people a year at a 20% growth rate and a lot of this new population is part of cosmopolitan professional elite/ cultural creative class that are always actively looking for ways to engage and acculturate into their new city. If Melbourne could claim the CBD as their stronghold those people looking for a way to participate in Melbourne life would see AFL as a way in, and our club as the most historically rich and prominent club to go and see.

I guess the point is we need new ways to expand our club, we shouldn't just settle for being a small club when we have so many advantages .

#FirstAndForever *faceapalm*

I don't understand why the club hasn't expanded into the CBD. Southbank, South Melbourne, Docklands, all growing, thriving areas. Add in East Melbourne around the 'G which will eventually expand once they build over the train tracks (which is only a matter of time).

Why is the Demon Shop in a no-standing spot at the bottom of the MCG on a fast roadway? For crying out loud, get a shop in the CBD!

The Schwab era at least tried to DO something, build a culture and icon around the MCG. No club has as close an affiliation with the ground, it is quite romantic in that the club IS the MCG, the MCG is Melbourne: they wouldn't have existed in their current form without the other.

The club has struggled to settle itself somewhere. Whether that's because there are faceless MCC folk pulling the strings keeping the club limited to its current foundations, or if whoever walks through the doors comes down with a case of ineptness: there lacks fundamental identity that has held the club back on and off the field.

For someone so obsessed with US sports and marketing, Schwab seemed to harp on about "history", when, really, US sports teams are very firmly focused on the "now". Melbourne has always been fuelled by its own overstated sense of worth, which has blinded it from the reality.

Ditch the logo, stay true to the Melbourne and Demons name, the MCG, and make a name for yourself IN Melbourne. There is just no stability.

 

[Supermercado]

Why is the Demon Shop in a no-standing spot at the bottom of the MCG on a fast roadway? For crying out loud, get a shop in the CBD!

I would say because it costs next to nothing to rent there. Agree with the sentiment but how much extra benefit/sales are we going to get from spending big money for a CBD shop? How much money does it make on gamedays that justifies it being exactly where it is? I know you can wheel a truck full of merch out and sell it at games no matter where the physical shop is based but I can't see any move justifying the expense when we're skint and nobody wants to wear our merchandise anyway.

As for the history I love all that shit, but anybody who thinks telling kids how good we were 50 years before they were born is going to be a key reason for them to start following us is off their nut.

 

[Cudi_420]

I would say because it costs next to nothing to rent there. Agree with the sentiment but how much extra benefit/sales are we going to get from spending big money for a CBD shop? How much money does it make on gamedays that justifies it being exactly where it is? I know you can wheel a truck full of merch out and sell it at games no matter where the physical shop is based but I can't see any move justifying the expense when we're skint and nobody wants to wear our merchandise anyway.

As for the history I love all that shit, but anybody who thinks telling kids how good we were 50 years before they were born is going to be a key reason for them to start following us is off their nut.

Well this is a thread about branding, not about sales. Branding is an expense: if you expect to make a direct profit on the costs used to enhance your branding, you're doing it wrong. It's an evolutionary application of change as to how people perceive your brand: you invest short term for a long term gain.

Say, if a tourist is in the CBD, and sees "Melbourne Football Club store". That's branding. They don't need to buy anything. The store has done its job. I think we've all attached ourselves to a brand at some point in our lives without having actually engaged with the brand itself. It's just a visual reminder.

I see your point though, but the club could still do a better job in getting itself out there, away from the grounds and the usual spots. At the moment it seems like it's hiding. Granted you need to give people a reason to care, but the club's affiliation with the city itself has been mostly ignored for most of its history, and it's a damn shame. I see tremendous upside in having a CBD store, and maybe a pop-up store on game day. The current location is a farce that serves only as a reputable outlet on game day.

 

[Oscarman]

Topless cheerleaders.

I seem to recall Sam Newman saying once that if a porno was shown on the big screen before the game there would be 50,000 there by 12.15 for a 2.10 game. It was part of a discussion about the lack of curtain raisers or anything else before the game.

I always thought showing a new release movie before the game would get a few more through the gate.

 

[Topkent]

I seem to recall Sam Newman saying once that if a porno was shown on the big screen before the game there would be 50,000 there by 12.15 for a 2.10 game. It was part of a discussion about the lack of curtain raisers or anything else before the game.

I always thought showing a new release movie before the game would get a few more through the gate.

What a brilliant Idea