Our jumper

[bornadog]

In my humble opinion (which anyone can take with a grain of salt), it's not just the silly looking jumper in isolation, but rolling, snowballing effect that comes with it.

We don't seem to have put a foot right since winning the GF. I thought that it would be the dawning of a new era - an independent, fierce dynasty, rolling good on field results (not necessarily another flag, but at least being up amongst it) and showing the AFL world at large that we could "stick it right up them!"

Instead, lost half the GF team, have languished in the bottom half of the ladder, appear to have no spark or inspiration and are then made a laughing stock of the AFL at large by selling this ridiculous looking kit. We appear to have reached the top, panicked and run back into our shells, only to come out again when the AFL dog-whistles. What or who's fault that is, I have no idea. But now is not the time to try to be innovative with our kit. Be innovative on the field for god's sake and thump some other teams and then we can have a look at sparkles on our jumper.

Spot on MJP, I may be conservative when it comes to changing the game from what it is with new rules, but stuff like this is great for the club and has everyone talking. As you say this is not a permanent thing and if it was we would all march down to VUWhitten Oval.

This is what the club says:

Tom Morris: "A portion of the money made from the jumper will go to the Make a Wish Foundation. The Bulldogs are adamant it's not just a money maker, it is also to help attract young fans, with Marvel being such a big worldwide brand. The players were asked before ticking it off"

[GVGjr]

Okay, I'll take your word for it, but he looks like he's gritting his teeth to me.

He mentioned it at the season launch

[GVGjr]

The advertising generated by the media will certainly give it every chance to sink or swim and it's a good debate.

[Rocket Science]

Bevo looked stoked at today's pre-game presser.

[G-Mo77]

The advertising generated by the media will certainly give it every chance to sink or swim and it's a good debate.

I don't call the debate and publicity we're getting from it good at all, it makes us look like an even bigger joke than what we are already. Do people honestly think that we'll get more in the gate because of this, a bigger hit in the ratings or a bump in membership? It's a bit of fun, yeah sure it is but so was AFLX. The same people I see applauding this ridiculous jumper were the same people up in arms about a ludicrous preseason game.

[Axe Man]

For:
Innovate or die say sports marketers as Bulldogs' jumper sparks debate

Sports marketing experts have applauded the Western Bulldogs' controversial decision to wear a Thor-inspired jumper in the first AFL game at the re-branded Marvel Stadium.

Club captain Easton Wood displayed the jumper for the first time at the Bulldogs' season launch on Tuesday night and the reaction on social media to the decision was swift and mostly negative.

However Iconoclastic's Ben Parsons, the founder of Ministry of Sport and a leading sports marketer, said such innovation was necessary otherwise sporting codes would lose relevance.

He also had a message for sports fans trying to make sense of the decision.

"You ain't seen nothing yet," Parsons said.

"I think they should be applauded for trying to do something different rather than rolling out the same mundane stuff.

"They are trying to engage with a difference audience group. That's alright."

Thor is a Marvel-created character played by Australian actor and Western Bulldogs' supporter Chris Hemsworth and the jumper is understood to be one part of a wider marketing strategy between the Bulldogs and Marvel, which also has a naming rights deal with the AFL.

While the financial component of the deal remains unclear the relationship is seen as a potential opportunity for the Bulldogs' brand to grow as they connect with Marvel Entertainment, a subsidiary of Walt Disney Company.

Parsons said it was a bigger risk for clubs to do nothing although they still had to be aware of supporter reaction.

"You've got to worry about the negativity but you have to see where they are coming from," Parsons said.

RMIT Marketing expert Dr Con Stavros agreed with the Bulldogs' decision saying it made sense from a marketing perspective.

"If a club can stand up and say this is our home stadium, it's about entertainment, it's about tying us in to that kind of world, it's part of something we are trying to build that's positive," Stavros said.

"If you just stand up and say someone chucked us enough money so we decided to do it than that is not a great story.

"The Western Bulldogs fans are attuned to this idea that we have got to be innovate, we have to try different things to succeed."

More components designed to attract fans to the opening round match between the Western Bulldogs and the Sydney Swans at Marvel Stadium are expected to be communicated in the coming days.

Clubs are allowed to submit home, clash, indigenous and an alternate jumper for events to the AFL with the AFL having to approve jumpers. The Thor-inspired jumper received approval from the AFL football operations and licensing department.

The Bulldogs' decision comes on the back of the AFL-marketed AFLX pre-season tournament held on February 22 that saw four teams wear superhero inspired jumpers with the marketing directed at children. The AFL said they were pleased with the outcome despite the fact it was spurned by many supporters and ticket sales ahead of the tournament were low.

[Axe Man]

Against:
Super blooper: the tale wagging the dog

Snug as that superhero outfit looked on Bulldogs captain Easton Wood, something didn’t fit.

“Kids see us as super heroes and role models,” said Wood, “just as they see the Marvel characters on the big screen, and now we can combine the two through footy, which is a unique and exciting opportunity.”

But they’re not so much combining the two roles as calculatedly conflating them. Superheroes aren’t real. Footballers aren’t superheroes. Kids need to understand the real distinction, not the fanciful conjunction.

Real footballers are sometimes heroic, sometimes venal. Rugby league trialled costumed superheroes a couple of years ago. The trouble is that on their way home from saving the world from evil, some of them have fallen into the habit of stopping by for a bit of indecent assault. It messes with the plotline somewhat.

But there is an even more banal reality. If footballers were true superheroes, fighting for honesty and truth, they would tell the kids that they’re wearing these outfits not to deliver justice, or even four premiership points, but to sell them stuff: movie tickets, posters, scale-model superhero outfits, all available in the Marvel shop downstairs, credit cards accepted.

This is the point. Football clubs have sold off their guernseys previously, for isolated one-off gains. This time, it’s the Bulldogs, playing in a stadium owned by the AFL, giving the shirt off their back to the naming-rights sponsor of that stadium, with a retail outlet on site. The vice-president of the football club and managing director of the Australian arm of the naming-rights sponsor are the same person. Talk about a snug fit. Does anyone think this is going to be a one-off?

We can’t say we weren’t warned. Marvel made it clear from the start that they intended not just to take possession of the name, but the whole stadium, and evidently all who inhabit it. “We look forward to a new era of entertainment for the stadium where we will push the envelope and continue to deliver world-class events and fan engagement,’’ said stadium chief Michael Green at the time the contract was signed. ‘‘This partnership will allow us to take the stadium atmosphere to the next level and create memorable experiences for a vast array of audiences and we look forward to delivering a truly game-changing experience.’’

Rugby league trialled costumed superheroes a couple of years ago. The trouble is that on their way home from saving the world from evil, some of them have fallen into the habit of stopping by for a bit of indecent assault.

And so here we are, in the Marvel theme park, replete with real-life superheroes, myths made men. Footy, make-believe, make-believe, footy: it’s all the same, is it not, all ‘‘galactic conflicts between alien worlds’’? Pay at the box office, divert yourself for a couple of hours, buy a jumper, go home happy.

Footy’s nothing like that, of course. For Bulldogs people, “truly game-changing experience” will have meaning only if they fall three goals behind the Swans mid-way through the last quarter in a fortnight. Game-changing experiences were what they delivered in spades in the 2016 finals series, a truly fabulous story. Do you remember their run-through at the preliminary final? “Our club was born in blood and boots,” it read, “not in AFL focus groups.” It characterised and defined the Dogs that year. Playing dress-ups in left-over AFLX stock surely sells them short now.

It is not a moot point. What do fans really know of the clubs they love? What endures? Players come and go, coaches come and go, philosophies come and go. A name, a nickname, a set of colours and a guernsey: these are the totems, binding club to fans, and both to history. Messing with the jumper risks messing with the fabric.

Superheroes and their legends are one thing, the tale wagging the Dog another.

[hujsh]

If we need to revive our post-flag merch sales we could always try not being you know, shit.

That's really it isn't it? Don't become a chore to watch and people may be more inclined to go to the matches, buy the merch etc etc

[Eastdog]

That's really it isn't it? Don't become a chore to watch and people may be more inclined to go to the matches, buy the merch etc etc

Yeah certainly playing better footy would help merchandise sales. Hasn’t been great since we won the premiership.

Need a big start to the season. Not holding my breath but we have a relatively good draw.

[Rocket Science]

For:
Innovate or die say sports marketers as Bulldogs' jumper sparks debate

Sports marketing experts have applauded the Western Bulldogs' controversial decision to wear a Thor-inspired jumper in the first AFL game at the re-branded Marvel Stadium.

Club captain Easton Wood displayed the jumper for the first time at the Bulldogs' season launch on Tuesday night and the reaction on social media to the decision was swift and mostly negative.

However Iconoclastic's Ben Parsons, the founder of Ministry of Sport and a leading sports marketer, said such innovation was necessary otherwise sporting codes would lose relevance.

He also had a message for sports fans trying to make sense of the decision.

"You ain't seen nothing yet," Parsons said.

"I think they should be applauded for trying to do something different rather than rolling out the same mundane stuff.

"They are trying to engage with a difference audience group. That's alright."

Thor is a Marvel-created character played by Australian actor and Western Bulldogs' supporter Chris Hemsworth and the jumper is understood to be one part of a wider marketing strategy between the Bulldogs and Marvel, which also has a naming rights deal with the AFL.

While the financial component of the deal remains unclear the relationship is seen as a potential opportunity for the Bulldogs' brand to grow as they connect with Marvel Entertainment, a subsidiary of Walt Disney Company.

Parsons said it was a bigger risk for clubs to do nothing although they still had to be aware of supporter reaction.

"You've got to worry about the negativity but you have to see where they are coming from," Parsons said.

RMIT Marketing expert Dr Con Stavros agreed with the Bulldogs' decision saying it made sense from a marketing perspective.

"If a club can stand up and say this is our home stadium, it's about entertainment, it's about tying us in to that kind of world, it's part of something we are trying to build that's positive," Stavros said.

"If you just stand up and say someone chucked us enough money so we decided to do it than that is not a great story.

"The Western Bulldogs fans are attuned to this idea that we have got to be innovate, we have to try different things to succeed."

More components designed to attract fans to the opening round match between the Western Bulldogs and the Sydney Swans at Marvel Stadium are expected to be communicated in the coming days.

Clubs are allowed to submit home, clash, indigenous and an alternate jumper for events to the AFL with the AFL having to approve jumpers. The Thor-inspired jumper received approval from the AFL football operations and licensing department.

The Bulldogs' decision comes on the back of the AFL-marketed AFLX pre-season tournament held on February 22 that saw four teams wear superhero inspired jumpers with the marketing directed at children. The AFL said they were pleased with the outcome despite the fact it was spurned by many supporters and ticket sales ahead of the tournament were low.

So being "innovative" according to the marketing masterminds is festooning our players with demeaning crap purportedly designed to appeal to kids but is really just a tawdry advertisement for the the benefit of the corporate ground sponsor at the expense of our identity.

THAT's their "innovation" ace in the deck, is it? And anything else is "mundane"? Gimme a spell.

YAWN would be my response to this cheeseball crap if it weren't my club falling prey to it.

[Eastdog]

Bevo looked stoked at today's pre-game presser.

Love your work RS.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Well done to the club. Marketing must be innovative and our market is youngsters who haven't formed allegiance.
This is a one off to start the season perfect timing. Its not going to be permanent thank God. We must market well in a very competitive market and an uneven playing ground.
Our current healthy financial state is due to some extraordinary gifts from Government and is the only time in out history that out finances have been healthy. We need to be proactive going forward especially without the immoral pokies. Go Dogs!

[Eastdog]

If win no one will talk about it anymore as will revert back to our normal strip in Round 2. I’m sure there will be another new scandal elsewhere.

Our focus now to pluck the Swans in Round 1.

[bornadog]

If win no one will talk about it anymore as will revert back to our normal strip in Round 2. I’m sure there will be another new scandal elsewhere.

Our focus now to pluck the Swans in Round 1.

Round two we will probably wear that disgusting white thing, looks nothing like our traditional jumper

[Doggy]

From the Herald Sun
Western Bulldogs’ Thor-inspired jumper proving popular with fans The Bulldogs Thor-inspired jumper may have polarised fans, but it's flying off the shelves.

More than 100 jumpers were pre-ordered in the 24 hours since the Western Bulldogs announced the distinctive God of Thunder guernsey.