A bit of background information

First of all, I find that the term "brand" gets thrown around a lot as it seems to be the new buzz word. For those who don't know, it refers to the perception that a person has about a firm based on personal experience with, or information about that particular firm. My idea looks at addressing the Melbourne Football Club brand and using it to attract new and old supporters as well as potential sponsors.

Idea

The ideas that I have are by no means earth-shattering and a lot of them probably aren't necessarily new. What I want to do is take a whole lot of bits and pieces and put them into a grand vision for the Melbourne Football Club.

After seeing the thread about a potential new MFC logo, I was drawn to the idea of having different logos (and brands) for the team (Demons logo, fearsome and more aggressive) and the club (MFC monogram, more traditional).

That is, the club (administration and corporate affairs) and the team (players and coaching staff) are seen as separate, whilst still being connected. This would already be done to a point, but it always isn't so obvious. Here on Demonland there has been much debate about the logo and whether or not to bring the Demon back or to continue with a more conservative logo. I say do both and there two main reasons why.

1) A possible connection with Casey

2) A possible connection back with the MCC

Each of these possibilities throw up a lot of opportunities for the MFC, the interesting part is that the opportunities couldn't be more different.

- A move to Casey (in whatever capacity) is an opportunity to tap into high growth outer area that is likely to be made up of low-to middle income families, many of which may have children (at a guess).

- A reunion (of sorts) with the MCC is a chance to be reconnected with the club's old, traditional and conservative roots right in the heart of the city.

It is clear that for each of these situations, what appeals to one market isn't likely to appeal to the other and hence the split personality approach.

The Demon

The key with a move to Casey is to attract the kids. Excluding the football side of things for a moment, I can't imagine too many kids getting excited about an MFC monogram (or any other traditional branding), even with "Rotten Ronald Deeman" as the mascot. In my opinion, the strength for Casey is in the "Demons" as "Melbourne" would have little significance for many kids, let alone those who don't live anywhere near the city.

It might sound a little tacky, but the Demons need to be feared, they need to be strong and they need to be ruthless. Kids these days don't want to follow the "Fuschias" (thank you Checker Hughes).

Therefore, an appropriate Demon logo would be made up that would be used as a team logo, on merchandise, used in newspapers, official website etc.

As far as sponsorship goes, I believe that the ideal sponsor would be Snickers. Their whole advertising campaign at the moment is based on the "Get Some Nuts" promotion and would fit in nicely with the revamped Demon image and persona. According this article the Snickers target market is males aged 15 - 25 years of age, which would also fit in with a Demon Casey target market (Demon target market may be slightly younger).

Currently, Snickers focus a lot of their marketing communication on the sponsorship of sports in the US (notably NFL and NASCAR) and they have whole section on their website dedicated to sports sponsorship.

The other advantage is that Melbourne have already done some promotional work with Snickers and Mr T (the face of Snickers).

Snickers isn't the only option, but just one that I thought may be appropriate.

MFC

On the other end of the scale, there is the MCC. This relationship would be more about reconnecting with people from the past as opposed to connecting with new people. As a result, the return of the MFC monogram as a second logo and on an alternate jumper would be fitting more fitting. The target market here would most likely be made up of older, wealthier and more conservative people who may have a connection with the corporate side of the club.

Conclusion

A point that I want to make clear is that I'm not saying that people are either Casey or MCC. It's all still the same thing, the same club and the same team that wears red and blue. My idea is that within the club, there can be two parts , each that appeal to different supporters and each that have their own benefits. The AFL have said that Melbourne don't stand for anything, well here's an idea to have two brands with one club and one team united.

yep completely agree

that is true

the closest thing to that i can think of is at geelong (they have two logos but the way they use them is a bit different)

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Absolutely LOVE your ideas here CBiz.

I've been thinking along these lines for a few weeks now since the logo was mentioned & I'm working on a design in my free time.

I'm hoping to have it ready in time for the summit, but I want to get this right. I'm a perfectionist with this sort of thing.

I've gotten to the point where I think you're 100% right about the demon appealing to kids and also the need for it to be fierce, strong & bold, not a weird cutesy caricature or something of that ilk.

Something not quite fearsome yet still fierce. Something kids can sort of identify with and aspire to be. It has to have an element of wickedness, yet still be child-friendly.

A lot to want from a logo/mascot, but not unattainable in my opinion.

And i have a problem with the 'demon' as I think its always been portrayed as a version of 'the devil' which is a different thing entirely.

In my mind a demon is a winged monster straight from hell, not unlike a gargoyle come to life.

Definitions vary depending on religion or source, but commonly they are described as malevolent superhuman winged beings.

This is what I want to try to capture.

But I'm thinking more along the lines of... most 'mascots' of AFL clubs are singular entities. You know, you see ONE hawk or ONE eagle, etc.

What if we had MORE THAN ONE DEMON. As in a large group of them, like a flock of demons. You know, like a large number of flying demons united as one.

Then I got thinking about doing that in a play on the melbourne 'V' logo. The demons being a block red and being arranged on a blue background to look like the red V on the blue.

Its a work in progress but i really like input like this cos it gets the creative juices flowing and i think that we can come up with something awesome.

What if we even created and heavily promoted each member having their own demon? You know, like a little high quality solid figurine with not moveable parts, something cheap to make but that you can give to each member along with the scarf/tie/beanie/whatever. Its the sort of thing I'd put on my desk at work and be proud to show off. By aggressively promoting the 'flock of demons' or 'army of demons' or something, you could sell them and get people to buy extras & it could be an extra moneyspinner as well as just enhancing the connection with the demons and making them more a part of supporters everyday lives.

If these were made well then youngkids would love them and want to collect them. Its like an interactive toy cos it relates to a team you can support. What other toy or collectable is like that?

Obviously it would also have to be sophisticated enough for an adult to have it on show & not look foolish.

I'm not describing it very well here, but given time I could come up with a decent presentation that i think would impress a lot of people.

I'm putting some sketches together and if time permits work on a powerpoint or similar in time for the summit.

If its done WELL it could really work.

Please guys, suggestions & constructive criticism is not only encouraged, but needed.

cheers

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I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

One thing that I need to add is that no matter how strong, creative or innovative a marketing campaign is, on-field performances are still going to be the number one influential factor.

Then I got thinking about doing that in a play on the melbourne 'V' logo. The demons being a block red and being arranged on a blue background to look like the red V on the blue.

great idea shaft. keep working on that.

the only thing i'd ad, is that the image needs to be able to be made small enough to fit on a letterhead or jumper...maybe 3 or 4 demon heads in the triangle might be enough on the small version?

As far as sponsorship goes, I believe that the ideal sponsor would be Snickers. Their whole advertising campaign at the moment is based on the "Get Some Nuts" promotion and would fit in nicely with the revamped Demon image and persona. According this article the Snickers target market is males aged 15 - 25 years of age, which would also fit in with a Demon Casey target market (Demon target market may be slightly younger).

Currently, Snickers focus a lot of their marketing communication on the sponsorship of sports in the US (notably NFL and NASCAR) and they have whole section on their website dedicated to sports sponsorship.

The other advantage is that Melbourne have already done some promotional work with Snickers and Mr T (the face of Snickers).

Get on Snickers MFC.

I really hope the MFC at least considered this idea after I emailed them.

Call them up Biz.

Whatever happened to that ad with Neita as Mr T? I never saw it!