Instead of Power what would you prefer

[240volt]

35,000 people dressed up as pirates at Adelaide Oval.

All with a parrot on there shoulder.

 

[240volt]

Port Pooh

 

[dirty2]

The blacks would be a simple but effective Nick name.

 

[El_Scorcho]

Perhaps. I don't think it would have worked in an AFL context though. We still live in 'clubland' and any notion of being a 'franchise' is looked down upon. (which was evident in your retort about Big Bash branding)

I don't think it's as bad as you think it is. There is a very real possibility that we'd be in the exact same situation if we were called the Pirates. In other words the issues that are the biggest concern for the identity of the club have nothing to do with the nickname.

I agree generally, but there are several NFL teams that very successfully manage to keep their heritage front and centre. Look at the Packers, the Bears, the Giants. The NFL for all the razzle dazzle is a very traditional league. Our branding would have to centre that tradition regardless of what way we went with it to be successful, but we didn't. So we were left with a large proportion of the supporter base feeling really uneasy with how much we'd abandoned our heritage from a branding perspective, and we had nothing to show for it.

It's only a hypothetical, but I would dispute this very strongly.

It's my assertion that if we'd originally gone in as the Pirates, then the franchise would now no longer be connected to PAFC. The identity issues we had would have been magnified by such a significant amount that the split would have been too great to mend.

This issue is not just about branding. There were a whole raft of things that had to occur for our transition into the AFL to be successful. There were things that needed to happen, but they needed to be balanced with what could happen, (eg what was allowed, what we could afford, what made sense, etc), and the strategy was aimed at getting the most that we could get considering the incredibly unique situation we were in. Power, as tenuous as it is, still has a link to our SANFL days. It's why it was chosen.

It is a hypothetical so we'll never know, but I think history has shown the Power moniker to be a failure. You're absolutely right that we had 1 shot at it and we had a lot of people wanting their say who were quite short sighted.

I don't believe the Power nickname was received as a nod to the SANFL days by the supporter base. If that was the intention, it was a swing and a miss.

Since we're talking hypotheticals, if we had gone in with the Prison Bar guernsey and the Power nickname, I don't think anyone would be calling for us to be renamed as the Pirates. Not even you. This shows that the issue is less about comparing the various options of nicknames and more about building an identity that includes the preAFL history. I've said this before; the Power strategy was a sound one, it was the execution of the various components that let it down.

I've always maintained that the dogs breakfast that we started with was definitely a case of too many line cooks crowding the kitchen thinking they were cordon bleu chefs.

It's hard to know whether i'd be more content with Power if we wore the PBs, but I generally agree. Certainly a lot of the issue is that I feel we threw away our heritage for a weak identity and it almost killed us. We still have a weak identity. That identity would be greatly strengthened by the PBs.

I don't agree that Power was a sound strategy. A 90s NBA style nickname a 90s NBA style colour, 90s uniforms. We completely eschewed timelessness for trends. A clear mistake, and given the breadth of it, it seems to have been a top down strategy. I think Power was an integral part of that. I don't think we'd have gone with Power in 1985 or 2010, it was a very 1996 name.

You'd be throwing away the equity built up over 26 years to satisfy a small portion of supporters who want to follow a team called the Pirates? There's no way that would fly.

Regardless of what you personally think of the Power brand, it does have equity. Replacing it now with something disconnected from our brand and our heritage, like Pirates, or Dolphins, or Sharks, would be a * up of immense proportions, particularly in light of the identity issues we have already had, and have resolved to a certain degree.

If I were David Koch, i'd sack Hinkley, and then i'd announce that we were moving away from the Power branding to focus on Port Adelaide. I'd then slowly introduce pirate imagery into the marketing over time. We wouldn't need to be called the Pirates, that part actually doesn't matter too much, it's more about the branding. It'd work, because it's a really obvious fit for the reasons I outline every offseason.

IMO, the name will be there for a long while yet, but I wouldn't be against it being used less and instead just using "Port" as the informal nickname. It's already used to some extent.

Interestingly, in the 80s as a kid, I don't recall referring to us as "the Magpies" and apart from the occasional "carna maggies" at a game, it was always just "Port". Yes I wore a windcheater with a big * off Magpie on it, but the club that I barracked for was Port and I called myself a Port supporter.

If you want to talk about a perfect solution for the club, entering the AFL as just Port Adelaide FC, with no nickname, would have been the ultimate big dick move. Unfortunately, that wasn't to be.

The only other idea that I think had merit was something around the "Black Diamond" concept, but I'm not sure that it could have been implemented in a way that would have avoided the same issues we ended up having.

tl;dr
Port > Power > Pirates > Dolphins

I remember using Maggies a lot, but I was a kid. Certainly Port was centred in our branding. We might disagree on some branding stuff but I think we can agree that what we did in 1997 was obviously and disastrously wrong, even given the limitations.

Black Diamonds has never really worked for me. I get it, but it's a very strange nickname for a modern professional sports club. It's the kind of nickname that would only work if we'd introduced 100+ years ago and had kept it ever since, ie. Packers, Phillies, Canadiens.

 

[shewho]

We ought to investigate a First Nations name. That would truly be industry, in fact world, leading.

 

[TeeKray]

I think now that we've changed our guernsey and logo and moved away from all the power and lightning bolt stuff, our branding is pretty decent. The Power nickname is kind of a nothingness now. The only time you ever see that lightning stuff is Thunda Power and when they sometimes do those weird electricity noises and sideline graphics at the games. It basically might as well not be a thing.

 

[bomberclifford]

We ought to investigate a First Nations name. That would truly be industry, in fact world, leading.

What’s the Kuarna word for ‘Pirate’?

 

[TeeKray]

What’s the Kuarna word for ‘Pirate’?

Sackhinkley

 

[bomberclifford]

We ought to investigate a First Nations name. That would truly be industry, in fact world, leading.

Actually, if there is a Kuarna word for ‘power’ that could be interesting.

 

[bomberclifford]

Saw this and it made me think of this thread.

 

[Pappagallo]

Actually, if there is a Kuarna word for ‘power’ that could be interesting.

The Kaurna word for Magpie would be even more interesting lol.

 

[Pappagallo]

Huh turns out we’ve been there done that.

Magpie spirit can never be taken from Port Adelaide

The Magpie will forever be part of the fabric of Port Adelaide, with local Kaurna cultural custodians giving the club a language name - Kurraka.

www.portadelaidefc.com.au

 

[VineValerian]

Huh turns out we’ve been there done that.

Magpie spirit can never be taken from Port Adelaide

The Magpie will forever be part of the fabric of Port Adelaide, with local Kaurna cultural custodians giving the club a language name - Kurraka.

www.portadelaidefc.com.au

Would that be pronounced - Gurrarkah? Or something similar.

Similar to like why Kaurna is pronounced - Garnah?

 

[Pappagallo]

Would that be pronounced - Gurrarkah? Or something similar.

Similar to like why Kaurna is pronounced - Garnah?

I have absolutely no idea. I assumed that it’s said as it’s written but only because they didn’t make any special mention wrt pronunciation.

 

[Interstater]

I'm happy with that being our Indigenous Round jumper for the next 100 years.

I'm also happy with having an Indigenous Round for every home game.

 

[Launchpad McQuack]

I'm happy with that being our Indigenous Round jumper for the next 100 years.

I'm also happy with having an Indigenous Round for every home game.

Only confirmed racist Edward McGuire could object to this.

 

[1954]

I'm happy with that being our Indigenous Round jumper for the next 100 years.

I'm also happy with having an Indigenous Round for every home game.

Is the bloke in your avatar Bob McClean in the late 1940's early 1950's?

Edit
I just looked at the complete pic and Big Bob is in the centre a few slots to the left of the bloke in your avatar.

 

[Interstater]

Is the bloke in your avatar Bob McClean in the late 1940's early 1950's?

Edit
I just looked at the complete pic and Big Bob is in the centre a few slots to the left of the bloke in your avatar.

Nah it's my grandfather mate.

 

[AlkalineX]

My bad suggestion, in the 'piratical' theme: Reavers. :v

 

[dirty2]

Donnybrooks? Willaston might not like it but

 

[Jello_B]

Power Teal Sox

 

[Steve Dore]

Actually, if there is a Kuarna word for ‘power’ that could be interesting.

Not sure about Kaurna but there's one in Pitjantjatjara

 

[Premiers04]

Porty McPortface

 

[VineValerian]

The "Missed Op-Port-unists"

 

[Power Raid]

Old Ports