Doggy community
Perusing the Bulldog’s members mag, there’s a lot of clues about who they think their community is. They cling pretty strongly to the western suburbs of Melbourne–they’re not really aiming for a supporter base beyond that. They don’t have much of a virtual presence which would give them that potential. Their community activities centre around Whitten Oval.
They’ve got events for kids lined up, and also they do activities designed to encourage new migrants to the Western suburbs to experience (and come to love) football. They also have a First Bounce program which helps members in a crisis. A program called Fresh provides alternative education for youth at risk in the west of Melbourne.
All good stuff, although none of it appeals to me personally. The Doggies doesn’t really see people like me as part of their demographic. I wonder how many other Doggies members feel slightly alienated from the way they present themselves?
The Doggies–and I suspect other AFL clubs–have to juggle a few tensions with regards their marketing. They have to sell their sponsors’ products to their community. The simplicity of the fan relationship is therefore slightly undermined by money. While I think fans are quite forgiving about this, and appreciate the need for sponsorship, the club has to be careful the extent to which it tries to market products.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Closed
Tags: community, marketing, sponsors
