Hoops

More on the Adelaide Fellas

EC, A really good question...probably bit of a 'chicken and the egg' debate here but I'll try to answer as best as I can. Firstly, yes I think the teams historical brand value has been lessened because of the name change&that is quite obvious to most (Please dont get this confused with their achievements because they will never loose any value!). If you look at some of the strongest sporting brands in Australia at the moment  Collingwood, Brisbane Broncos, Essendon Bombers, there havent been too many, if any, changes to their name. IMO A companies brand is only as valuable as the awareness it has in the market place - its Brand Awareness. "Brand Awareness" comes from a variety of things; some of which are the quality of the product, the consistency in its theme and the way it is marketed to its customers. The Lightning 'brand', that has been developed over the past decade has always been of high quality and has had a consistency in its messages to its customers - strong female role models, healthy living, hard working team basketball. And with the limited funds the team has had on offer, Chris (Jan in the past) and the girls have done the best job they can of promoting their team through public relations and 'pressing the flesh'. They have built a strong brand awareness with the basketball community and to an extent the wider SA sporting community. This might not have always translated into huge crowd numbers and sponsorship dollars, however, if you take into account the nature of professional womens sports (that there is minimal match day support and even less corporate support), and compare the strength of their brand on a 'apples to apples' level with other womens sporting teams, then they are doing a terrific job! Its this existing Lightning brand that attracted Fellas Gifts to part with their sponsorship dollars and was obviously seen by the company as a vehicle for them to promote their products. If the Lightning brand had no value, then they would have spent their marketing dollars elsewhere e.g. TV, Radio advertising or even with another sporting team. The newly formed Adelaide Fellas 'brand' hasn't achieved any of the accolades or brand awareness that the existing "Lightning" brand has, and so IMO, has a brand of lesser value. "Adelaide Fellas" are not the benchmark of excellence in the WNBL competition that the Lightning are, nor have they produced any WNBL Champions or Olympians. You may say that these two teams are one and the same brand, but I bet you that more average South Australian would know who the Adelaide "Lightning" and wouldn't have the first clue who the Adelaide Fellas are. As I mentioned before, that this new brand will take time to gather value, but at the present time it has a lower value then the old one. As I mentioned before, I think Fellas Gifts should be commended for supporting the Lightning girls so I certainly dont want to put a negative connotation on their involvement. The point I am making is that I think their is a strong, historical trademark that they have bought into, and with that comes a responsibility to both support it and work with it instead of discarding it for something that is an unknown quantity. If anyone wants to continue this topic of brand awareness, please email me as I dont want to harp anymore on this topic. Good luck for the season Lightning!

Correction to above - Is it the excellence..... not it is the excellence.....

Liam, while you make some very good points, I need you to clarify one point you make -

"1) The potential devaluing of a trademark or "brand" that has become synonymous with excellence in South Australian women's basketball"

What is it that's being devalued? Is it the name's historical value? It is the excellence in performance from the team now that the name has changed" It can't be the name's $ value as it has not attracted a sponsorship buyer like it has now. I think the the $ value of the name has increased with the Fellas' sponsorship as it is now worth what this buyer was prepared to pay for it.

I just feel for the guards like Erin- they will be constantly called 'Little Fellas' and Laura a 'Big Fella'.
It will be great to get out and have a look- Imagine telling the missus "I'll be back in 2 hours luv, just got to see a Fella about a basketball".
I think we should get over it and be grateful for a sponsor. However when I was a kid, I often wondered why no whites could play for New Zealand in rugby, because they were All Blacks.
Just hope White Lady Funerals sponsor 36ers.

Yogee,

It makes perfect business sense to ensure the longevity and the integrity of your brand name. Ask a company like Coke if they would exept a billion dollar cheque to change their name to "Cake" for a three year period - what do you reckon they would say? Of course the cash injection would be welcomed in the short term but the Coke name would be severly tarnished for many years and sales would most definately be negatively affected.

By working with the sponsor on a "partnership" with many facets, that is not reliant on 'renaming' as the main feature (as mentioned before things like joint marketing initiatives, dual branding campaigns, match day promos), which would ensure the company a quality return on investment, the club would not have to mortgage the team name. It just seems wierd that neither side could see that the Lightning trademark has an entrenched character within the SA community and that a corporate partnership should work alongside it...not replace it with their own brand.

I am sure the club worked very hard on this deal (it seems the dollar amount is a very good one for women's professional sports) and I am sure the money will be directed into much needed recourses...I just think somethings should be "untouchable". If the team is in a position where it has to surrender its name for dollars, then perhaps there are other areas that should be investigated to ensure financial viability - but I think the name should not be one of them.

Just my opinion.

I scratch my head a little on the name change for two reasons: 1) The potential devaluing of a trademark or brand that has become synonymous with excellence in South Australian women's basketball 2) The transient nature of corporate dollars in professional sport in the area of sponsorship. Let me say from the beginning that I am not suggesting that this sponsorship is a bad thing for one moment, in fact it is surely a huge boost for the sport in this state - BASA & Fellas Gifts should be commended. I just think its an interesting decision from Fellas Gifts to push the name change from their end and also for BASA to even put the name change "on the table" as a benefit to being a major sponsor of the team. This might be a weird statement to some - their have been some excellent examples put forward by a lot of people on this forum above about teams that "incorporate' sponsors names as part of the team name e.g. Pura Milk 36ers, Camry Crows. However, the whole point is that it is an 'incorporation' not a 'takeover' because in essence the main reason that a company sponsors a sporting team is to align itself with the strong brand association that the team has built up within a target market that the company has identified it wants to promote its products/services to. Fellas gifts have obviously chosen to align their name with the Lightning because of the strong 'brand' that the Lightning have within the basketball community, particularly the female and family demographics, and they see a market here to promote their gift stores to. However, the Adelaide Crows would never change their name to the Adelaide Camrys (no matter how much cash Toyota offered them) because they would be devaluing the teams brand name that has been built over the years within their supporter base, media and football community. In the same way by changing the Lightning team name to the Adelaide Fellas, the gift store is actually "diluting" the 'brand name' they have brought into; which, in away, devalues the product they have paid for. Building a "brand name" within your supporters, the media and the general community takes time - Adelaide Lightning "brand" has been built over almost a decade. Every player and coach who has ever represented the Lightning has added to it over the years, whether that be from team success (WNBL Championships), individual Accolades (WNBL MVP awards) or community work (which the girls do a great deal of). I am sure that the Adelaide Fellas could be built up over a similar period of time (5-10 years), however, in my experience in sponsorships long term partnerships are more of a minority. What would be the ramifications if Fellas ceased their sponsorship after two years and a new company came on board? Would the team name stay the same, revert back to the old Lightning name or take on the name of the new corporate partner? This chopping and changing disenchants supporters and goes against the integrity and value of the trademark. I think a terrific compromise would be for the team to keep its brand in tact and incorporate the gift stores name - the Fellas Adelaide Lightning. In this way the company gets their name alongside a strong trademark and, the club gets the sponsorship and the brand remains in tact. The Gift shop would also get a ton of good will and positive PR because of their compromise to keep a strong South Australian icon untouched. Lastly, name changes wont ensure that Fellas Gifts get an immediate return on their investment&it will more come down to how the company leverages its relationship with the team e.g. Match day promotions, DM campaigns, joint marketing initiatives as well as how BASA promotes the team in the community. Cheers