Re-Branding the Bulldogs .. West Melbourne or Footscray not Western

[Nothing]

Is the potential change back to the Footscray Bulldogs the reason there may be other changes (jumper)?

After Freo has been through a contentious rebranding what parts of the Dogs are considered sacrosanct?

PS: this seemed like the best thread for this.

 

[Eastdog]

This thread has had some interesting responses and im very much for us going back to our original name the Footscray Football Club. I said in a post earlier that the Western Bulldogs was good in capturing the Western Suburbs of Melbourne and that I was used to the name (Western Bulldogs) but it would have been interesting if at the time the name change from Footscray to the Western Bulldogs did not occur - would we have got a boost in 30000+ membership toady. Come to think of it im one who prefers the suburban name than the name we've got at the moment which I just got used to. But the members should have some sort of a say on these kind of issues such as changing the name. All the other Victorian clubs didn't change there name to a particular direction (eg: Northern Blues, Eastern Hawks, Southern Saints, Country Cats, Northern Magpies) to capture a particular area. If we called ourselves the Footscray Football Club again we can re-market-ourselves again this time to the whole of Melbourne as well as the Western Suburbs. We should not be afraid to use the Footscray name again.

 

[RedWhite&Blue]

OK... We're talkng brands here and in my opinion Footscray as a 'brand' is more distinctive, has more grunt, more character, more history that can be built on than the bland franchise name that we now have.
Footscray sounds better, it rolls off the tongue well.
Forget about the suburb itself, that is irrelevant.
I don't think of Fitzroy Street when people talk about the Saints. I think about the whole Bayside Region.
I don't think of Victoria Street when people say Collingwood. I think of this universal Australia wide team with this great unique name, no, not a name but a brand.
Now how unique is the name Western? Not unique at all, pretty bland boring, sit on the fence type of name that is about as weak a brand name that you could ever come up with.
Footscray is as strong and distinctive a brand that exists in the AFL market.
You don't have to be so literal and treat people as if they are ****ing stupid by saying we are now named after a direction on a weather vane. Think about what is distinctive and strong, don't be afraid of where you've come from, build on it. Footscray is not unlike Brooklyn in America, the meatpackers district that was dirty, grungy, working class but is now full of trendy young professionals.
Is Brooklyn a great name? You bet it is, it would make a great brand. I could it on clothing, as the name of a car, a great sporting team name.
Footscray is our version of Brooklyn in America, just as distinctive, just as strong. Embrace it

 

[Eastdog]

You make a really good point RedWhite&Blue about the use of the Footscray name. This thread has been brought up many times before.

 

[UnCani]

Forget about the suburb itself, that is irrelevant.

What planet do you come from?

Mention Footscray to 10000 people in Australia and ask them what comes to mind? 9900 of them will mention Drugs, Uneducated, Immigrants, poverty and losers.

This is exactly what you want to associate our club with? We need MONEY.

Big sponsorship money does not flow to "Drugs, Uneducated, Immigrants, poverty and losers".

I was born and have lived in Footscray. I dont agree with the stereo type. But it is a fact. Dragging us back will surely write us off a club.

 

[fred cook]

What planet do you come from?

Mention Footscray to 10000 people in Australia and ask them what comes to mind? 9900 of them will mention Drugs, Uneducated, Immigrants, poverty and losers.

This is exactly what you want to associate our club with? We need MONEY.

Big sponsorship money does not flow to "Drugs, Uneducated, Immigrants, poverty and losers".

I was born and have lived in Footscray. I dont agree with the stereo type. But it is a fact. Dragging us back will surely write us off a club.

Here we go if we want to generalise

St Kilda : Drunks prostitutes drugs
Hawthorn : Boat shoes White people craft markets
Carlton asta Gang deaths lots of Italians
Collingwood : Public housing Aboriginal problems Heroin
Melbourne :Skiing Land rovers rich people

You can generalise as much as you want and yes Footscray does have its problems, but anyone knows it has a great art community and is one of the biggest growing suburbs
It cost about 600 k to buy a house in Footscray I dont think any of the below
Drugs, Uneducated, Immigrants, poverty and losers. could afford that

Throw in the huge growth area of Seddon Willi Spotswood Altona changing our name back to the scray wont be a big deal

Think about what is distinctive and strong, don't be afraid of where you've come from, build on it. Footscray is not unlike Brooklyn in America, the meatpackers district that was dirty, grungy, working class but is now full of trendy young professionals.


Just came back from there an amazing place and yes it all of the above but people still flock there


I grew up in Carlton in the 70,s no one would go near the place then look at it now
Lived in Fitzroy during mid eighties very grunchy and full of students and very cheap look at in now
Bought a house in Yarraville for 58,000 dollars everyone laughed at me and told me it was a dive and should have bought in hoppers look at in now

Footscray will go like Brookyln, Fitzroy, Yarraville in a few more years and then become trendy and we will be part of that Branding if we change our name back

 

[Fossie 32]

Nice work Fred

 

[UnCani]

You can generalise as much as you want and yes Footscray does have its problems, but anyone knows it has a great art community and is one of the biggest growing suburbs
It cost about 600 k to buy a house in Footscray I dont think any of the below
Drugs, Uneducated, Immigrants, poverty and losers. could afford that

Hey Fred

You love Footscray I get it. If you want to use the club to help raise the profile of Footscray I get it. To the outside world it is a shit-hole. DO YOU GET IT?

Why cant we get sponsorship? Because we are associated to losers. If you live there you are associated to losers. I am not saying you are a loser but you are associated. Which part of this do you not understand? We need $20,000,000 per year to keep the club running. Losers have great difficulty in raising $20,000,000 per year.


DO NOT DRAG MY CLUB BACK AND DIRECTLY ASSOCIATE IT WITH LOSERS! We have spent many years taking small steps away from the loser image.

 

[SonOfScray]

Nice work Fred

Also thought that was some nice work.

I like the reflection on NYC, which is the greatest city in the world after Footscray. I think a bit of a look at the Yankees and maybe some of the Boston based teams is interesting.

I think I wrote on here already about my trip Fenway Park and how amazed I was at how much the ball team, despite experiencing a very long drought, was fiercely proud of its history and identity as a Boston club. Regardless of the name debate, it has been made quite clear to me in these types of threads that there is a very strong sentiment among some fans that we can't do the same.

Bullshit. You aren't a fan of a team, or a group of players, or an individual player. You are a fan of a Club. Clubs have identities, history and myths and legends. If you can't identify with any of that or are ashamed of it, you are a shit fan and should just do us a favour and buy your membership and start to beat the drum, or, **** off and follow whoever is winning at the time.

Can some one involved in the Fightback provide some thoughts on that type of fan? The self loathing type. Were they prominent in '89? I was a bit too young to remember it accurately but I'd have thought not, and had there been as many as there seems to be these days perhaps we'd not be around.

 

[Eastdog]

Both fredcook and UnCani make some good points. I was not born in Footscray or have ever lived there but the suburb has definitely changed from what it used to be. Its inner city proximity makes it quite expensive today to buy there. More professionals are moving in there now. The area is well served by public transport and has the facilities (eg: Western Hospital, Highpoint Shopping Centre and the recently redeveloped Whitten Oval). Footscray of course will have its problems but there are a lot of suburbs in Melbourne dealing with the same issues.

 

[fred cook]

Hey Fred

You love Footscray I get it. If you want to use the club to help raise the profile of Footscray I get it. To the outside world it is a shit-hole. DO YOU GET IT?

Why cant we get sponsorship? Because we are associated to losers. If you live there you are associated to losers. I am not saying you are a loser but you are associated. Which part of this do you not understand? We need $20,000,000 per year to keep the club running. Losers have great difficulty in raising $20,000,000 per year.


DO NOT DRAG MY CLUB BACK AND DIRECTLY ASSOCIATE IT WITH LOSERS! We have spent many years taking small steps away from the loser image.

What a load of crap if you asked any one generally from the East Suburbs or inner suburbs what they would think of the Western Suburbs they most likely would say Bogans and losers,generally speaking


Regarding sponshorhip companies like Mission aren't going to sponsor us because we are called Footscray yeah right.They will because we are the Western Bulldogs and this includes suburbs like Laverton, Werribee, Tottenham ,Sunshine, Albion, Deer Park, St Albans geez suburbs with such a bounty of high profile


Now get a map and look at the two biggest growth suburbs in Melbourne and have a higher percentage of people on a higher wage bracket

Point Cook Hoppers Crossing etc

Who are we finding to get fans of in those areas

Geelong, just a half hour drive down the road and lets say if you where a kid and you where choosing who to barrack for I think you would know the answer

Caroline Springs, Keilor ,Sydenham etc

First of all a lot of kids play soccer in the above suburbs and guess who else has much input in those suburbs and building there new Facility only 10 minutes away from the above area

The Bombers

Mate its not Rocket science companies and CEO,s don't just to things for the sake of it

They research and get Data and with the introduction of the Footcray end at the dome and the thought of changing back to our old jumper they must have information telling them that some how this could be beneficial to the club


Why do you think people still go to strip shopping centres or independent movie houses or local markets etc because they want to stray from the normal

If we change our name back we might get a lot of our disgruntled fans back who use to follow Footcray and increase the supporter base from a cliche market

Also I live in Brunswick so I dont think I need to raise the profile of Footscray
Finally once again how come it cost 1/2 Millon dollars to buy a house in Footscray thats quite expensive for losers to live in

 

[immortalmike]

...Bullshit. You aren't a fan of a team, or a group of players, or an individual player. You are a fan of a Club. Clubs have identities, history and myths and legends. If you can't identify with any of that or are ashamed of it, you are a shit fan and should just do us a favour and buy your membership and start to beat the drum, or, **** off and follow whoever is winning at the time.

Can some one involved in the Fightback provide some thoughts on that type of fan? The self loathing type. Were they prominent in '89? I was a bit too young to remember it accurately but I'd have thought not, and had there been as many as there seems to be these days perhaps we'd not be around.

I agree with what you wrote here. I often wonder at what point do these fans stop accepting changes. At what point is it no longer our club? What if it was felt that we had to move interstate to become successful. Is that okay? What if a corporate at the club felt we had to change our nickname and colours in order to get a new sponsor? Is that okay? What I'm asking these people like our friend Uncani is when is it no longer the same club? When do you no longer have an emotional investment? And if you don't have one, why the hell do you support the Bulldogs?

Because to me a bunch of guys wearing different colours, from a different place, called a different name, winning the premiership means nothing to me. To be honest "Western" winning the flag means a little less to me than "Footscray".

But hey maybe I'm a romantic, a footy tragic who believes in stuff like a community based club and playing for your mates and long 100 year histories and bullshit stuff like that. Football is a buisiness right. Except when clubs need money then it is all dig deep and buy memberships or donate money or time. Yeah because those are decisions buisiness minded people make.

 

[Eastdog]

Another good point from fred cook.

Im in the Eastern Suburbs and out this way their are lots of Pies, Bombers, Tigers, Hawks and Blues fans. So the Eastern Suburbs are diverse in people supporting different clubs. Yesterday I saw a car at my local shopping centre that had Bulldogs stickers on it. So im sure out this way their are quite a number of Bulldog supporters. The East-West Club is the main supporter group for Western Bulldogs Supporters living out this way. Brunswick must have a lot of Carlton supporters but the Northern suburbs im sure have people who support different clubs. Not everyone In the Western Suburbs supports The Bulldogs im sure a lot of people in the West support different clubs. Certain areas of Melbourne will have more support for a club than others (eg: Collingwood - Inner North North East, Essendon - North West, Geelong - Whole Geelong region, Western Bulldogs - Most of the West, Carlton - Brunswick area and surrounds, St Kilda - Bayside suburbs of Melbourne)

 

[NBates]

But - Redwhite&blue, uncanny & eastdog - as I said in a previous post, the fact that Footscray is becomin a "trendy" "arty" area for "young urban professionals" probably results in the opposite of gaining new members. The people who have come into the area to make it what it's becoming are coming from other areas in Melbourne & bringing in their historical allegiances for other clubs & this flows onto their kids. I have friends in this position and as I mentioned last time, passing the Footscray Primary School proved that even in the heart of Footscray we are outnumbered by supporters from other clubs. Another point I think is that many "arty" types detest football anyway. Just my thoughts.

 

[Eastdog]

Thats true NBates the new people moving into the area may not be interested in football or have come from other parts of Melbourne and support another team. Even though the area is growing fast has it necessarily been to our advantage?

 

[UnCani]

What a load of crap if you asked any one generally from the East Suburbs or inner suburbs what they would think of the Western Suburbs they most likely would say Bogans and losers,generally speaking


Regarding sponshorhip companies like Mission aren't going to sponsor us because we are called Footscray yeah right.They will because we are the Western Bulldogs and this includes suburbs like Laverton, Werribee, Tottenham ,Sunshine, Albion, Deer Park, St Albans geez suburbs with such a bounty of high profile


Now get a map and look at the two biggest growth suburbs in Melbourne and have a higher percentage of people on a higher wage bracket

Point Cook Hoppers Crossing etc

Who are we finding to get fans of in those areas

Geelong, just a half hour drive down the road and lets say if you where a kid and you where choosing who to barrack for I think you would know the answer

Caroline Springs, Keilor ,Sydenham etc

First of all a lot of kids play soccer in the above suburbs and guess who else has much input in those suburbs and building there new Facility only 10 minutes away from the above area

The Bombers

Mate its not Rocket science companies and CEO,s don't just to things for the sake of it

They research and get Data and with the introduction of the Footcray end at the dome and the thought of changing back to our old jumper they must have information telling them that some how this could be beneficial to the club


Why do you think people still go to strip shopping centres or independent movie houses or local markets etc because they want to stray from the normal

If we change our name back we might get a lot of our disgruntled fans back who use to follow Footcray and increase the supporter base from a cliche market

Also I live in Brunswick so I dont think I need to raise the profile of Footscray
Finally once again how come it cost 1/2 Millon dollars to buy a house in Footscray thats quite expensive for losers to live in

Good on you Fred. You have a 600k house. Your a friggen winner. What has that got to do with anything? $600 is still entry level for a house within 15k's of the city. It is still at the bottom of the property ladder.

The fact remains. Why dont we have another 4 x $500,000 sponsor? We have Minson. We got Minson while we had a strong leader at the club. Prior to that we had to go crying on the Footy show to get a major sponsor. Yes we got Leaseplan. WE looked pathetic and had to get the President of Collingwood to throw us a bone. Then we had to put up with crap from Newman.

Now you may be content with this sort of begging, charity and humiliation but it is nothing I want to be associated with.

While we are associated with losers we will get treated as a loser. I cannot understand how you cannot see the connection. You may be content and proud of where you live and support but the reality is that its a laughing stock. Suck it up and accept it.

Stop talking about friggen house prices that have nothing to do with this.

Make sure you answer the question regarding lack of second tier sponsors.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

OK... We're talkng brands here and in my opinion Footscray as a 'brand' is more distinctive, has more grunt, more character, more history that can be built on than the bland franchise name that we now have.
Footscray sounds better, it rolls off the tongue well.

Well, I and many others think the absolute opposite of this so obviously it's a matter of opinion.

Forget about the suburb itself, that is irrelevant.

No, it was the suburb itself that caused the change.. the connotations, the image at the time, the history. Maybe all that's changed, and there is an upsurge of well-heeled, sophisticated people moving to the area... but I don't think so. It will take many generations to build a positive image of poor old Footscray.

I don't think of Fitzroy Street when people talk about the Saints. I think about the whole Bayside Region.
I don't think of Victoria Street when people say Collingwood. I think of this universal Australia wide team with this great unique name, no, not a name but a brand.
Now how unique is the name Western? Not unique at all, pretty bland boring, sit on the fence type of name that is about as weak a brand name that you could ever come up with.
Footscray is as strong and distinctive a brand that exists in the AFL market.
You don't have to be so literal and treat people as if they are ****ing stupid by saying we are now named after a direction on a weather vane. Think about what is distinctive and strong, don't be afraid of where you've come from, build on it. Footscray is not unlike Brooklyn in America, the meatpackers district that was dirty, grungy, working class but is now full of trendy young professionals.
Is Brooklyn a great name? You bet it is, it would make a great brand. I could it on clothing, as the name of a car, a great sporting team name.
Footscray is our version of Brooklyn in America, just as distinctive, just as strong. Embrace it

I wouldn't mind if we became the Brooklyn Bulldogs - is that possible? But the Ford Footscray? Footscray jeans? The Scraggerburger? Maybe the Beckhams will call their next kid Scragger or Footascray (they already have a Brooklyn). This can't be serious. I don't see the name Footscray being at all marketable of anything. It's just not attractive, in the way that other suburb names are.

 

[fred cook]

Good on you Fred. You have a 600k house. Your a friggen winner. What has that got to do with anything? $600 is still entry level for a house within 15k's of the city. It is still at the bottom of the property ladder.

The fact remains. Why dont we have another 4 x $500,000 sponsor? We have Minson. We got Minson while we had a strong leader at the club. Prior to that we had to go crying on the Footy show to get a major sponsor. Yes we got Leaseplan. WE looked pathetic and had to get the President of Collingwood to throw us a bone. Then we had to put up with crap from Newman.

Now you may be content with this sort of begging, charity and humiliation but it is nothing I want to be associated with.

While we are associated with losers we will get treated as a loser. I cannot understand how you cannot see the connection. You may be content and proud of where you live and support but the reality is that its a laughing stock. Suck it up and accept it.

Stop talking about friggen house prices that have nothing to do with this.

Make sure you answer the question regarding lack of second tier sponsors.

Why do people want to live in Footscray

1 Its close to the city
2 Its a vibrant suburb
3 Its diverse
4 It consist of all different cultures
5 Its still relatively affordable so first time home owners can buy and what do they bring in 5 years "CHILDREN"

So it is a city in demand thats something to be proud of

Make sure you answer the question regarding lack of second tier sponsors

Guess what if we drop down the ladder watch our sponorship drop and membership ,oh no I take it back they will still be there because we are called
THE WESTERN BULLDOGS

Please



While we are associated with losers we will get treated as a loser.

As I stated the majority of people who live outside the Western Suburbs think we are alreadly losers it has nothing to do with being called Footscray

 

[fred cook]

B Another point I think is that many "arty" types detest football anyway. Just my thoughts.

Mate next year take a drive to the Old Brunswick footy oval in Fitzroy on a Sunday morning full of young familys playing football

"Arty types can still love football

 

[fred cook]

This can't be serious. I don't see the name Footscray being at all marketable of anything. It's just not attractive, in the way that other suburb names are.

Ok thats true but what is so marketable about the Western Suburbs

 

[Eastdog]

This thread keeps rolling on with some interesting responses if we were successful and were winning premierships like Hawthorn in the 80s then people from that era would support us. We havent had a dynasty like some other clubs such as Richmond in the 1970s, Melbourne 1950s and Early 1960s. I think the lack of success is a factor in us not having the big supporter base like some other clubs have. If we started winning premierships all of sudden then the kids would start to support us no matter where you come from. I started supporting the Bulldogs after a match on Friday night in 2001 against Melbourne. We won the match by 30 points and I decided to stick with the winning team and since then ive been a Bulldogs supporter.

 

[JorgePosada]

Fred Cook. Telling it like it is.

 

[staphy]

This thread keeps rolling on with some interesting responses if we were successful and were winning premierships like Hawthorn in the 80s then people from that era would support us. We havent had a dynasty like some other clubs such as Richmond in the 1970s, Melbourne 1950s and Early 1960s. I think the lack of success is a factor in us not having the big supporter base like some other clubs have. If we started winning premierships all of sudden then the kids would start to support us no matter where you come from. I started supporting the Bulldogs after a match on Friday night in 2001 against Melbourne. We won the match by 30 points and I decided to stick with the winning team and since then ive been a Bulldogs supporter.

Sucked in

 

[memberforever]

You can all argue about the name Footscray, but the reality is Western Bulldogs has been the trading name now for 15 years. A lot of supporters have grown up with this name and thats all they know. Most of these supporters are now in their teens and 20's and I doubt they want to change the name back to Footscray, I know I don't as I know its still the club that has been around for 120 plus years.

 

[NBates]

This thread keeps rolling on with some interesting responses if we were successful and were winning premierships like Hawthorn in the 80s then people from that era would support us. We havent had a dynasty like some other clubs such as Richmond in the 1970s, Melbourne 1950s and Early 1960s. I think the lack of success is a factor in us not having the big supporter base like some other clubs have. If we started winning premierships all of sudden then the kids would start to support us no matter where you come from.

Totally agree.