For some while a few of us here have identified the potential that is associated with the Brand "MELBOURNE" going into larger overseas markets. Others have ..and they are obvously in a position to make hay of it. Hence the formation of Team Melbourne to capitalise on the synergies of admin and marketing whilst also strengthening the brand.

Something in my ignorance I hadnt realised til now was the reluctance of many Asian societies to embrace something we hold to be warm and fuzzy...yes folks the good ol' DEMON !! lol...apparently they're bad or something whilst these Dragon thingies are really cool and good.

then we have:

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/com...5E20322,00.html

Sort of put things in a different perspective, well it did for me. I cant see for one moment Melbourne fc ever relegating ol' bub to bin but I can see in certain markets and efforts that more emphasis is going to placed on our "Melbourne-Ness "

Kind of ironic that we ( Dees followers..as much as many following footy ) can all but raise a blink whilst ready to pack the Roos off to Cooloangatta or such but might baulk at even the hint of our demon going to lesser roles.

I am prepared at the moment to see this move as a positve. Its part of a larger and longer forward thinking strategy to place our club in a situation better orientated ( npi ) to capitalise on growing markets and interest. Imagine the exposure an exhibition game would generate in China in Olympic year !!!

I see much of this as our club thinking outside the box. Thats fine with me

Gong Hee Fat Chow

I like the move, I think the idea to promote ourselves in China is a great move and I don't really care we're losing the 'Demon' tag.

Demons, Dees, Redlegs, Dragons...

People use different ones, if the chinese want to say 'Go Dragons' I'm fine by that. We could also push on them to only refer to the first letter - D. Then they would applaud the D's...

Now everyone's happy.

Demons, Dees, Redlegs, Dragons...

People use different ones, if the chinese want to say 'Go Dragons' I'm fine by that. We could also push on them to only refer to the first letter - D. Then they would applaud the D's...

Now everyone's happy.

Amen !

Something in my ignorance I hadnt realised til now was the reluctance of many Asian societies to embrace something we hold to be warm and fuzzy...yes folks the good ol' DEMON !! lol...apparently they're bad or something whilst these Dragon thingies are really cool and good.

Well, there you go. I once tried to convince a Sri Lankan friend to come and watch the Dee's. He refused point blank becasue they were "the demons, very bad, very bad" and instead took up with the Hawks. I thought he was just being weird.

HAve we been missing a huge slice of the home market as well?

It's all about branding, we have a chairman that has made a career from company branding and advertising. We need to change this sight from Demonland to Melbournefc land. It is a smart move, as soon as the Roo's go to the Gold Coast the AFL will be looking for a club to get into west Sydney and the next 2 poorest clubs are the Western Bulldogs and now the Melbourne FC, from the names which one stands out.

It all fits into this team Melbourne concept, pushing them as the team of Melbourne.

It's all about branding, we have a chairman that has made a career from company branding and advertising. We need to change this sight from Demonland to Melbournefc land. It is a smart move, as soon as the Roo's go to the Gold Coast the AFL will be looking for a club to get into west Sydney and the next 2 poorest clubs are the Western Bulldogs and now the Melbourne FC, from the names which one stands out.

It all fits into this team Melbourne concept, pushing them as the team of Melbourne.

were a couple of calls on SEN this morning about this.

One member said the MFC Admin had confirmed there will not be any demon heads on any mechandise for 2008. Changing logo to the blue square with red v at top wont look much at all on jumpers etc.

another caller pointed out that Manchester United FC (which is the club Harris & co is trying to brand MFC like) is also called the red devlis and that has not prevented lots of people in China from becoming ManU followers.

I was not convinced in 2004 when told of this strategy and remain totally unconvinced as there has been absolutely no evidence that the rebranding as Melbournefc has had any positive impact on membership numbers or financial status of MFC over the 3 years since started!

How is relationship with China going to translate into members and attendancese????

Don't worry about China, the decision isn't about China it is trying to push the Melbourne Brand out there. We will always be known as the Demons, it is just a marketing strategy that our Board and club are taking. Our chairman does this successfully as a living for many other companies I hope it is the right one for the MFC

Was never worried about the Demon identity going per se just interested to note it had been taken into consideration. Thats fine by me. Good point re red Devils.

Any Chinese effect will be slow and steady.. but like a glacier.. it only need move lowly...just dont stand in front of it !! lol. Keep in mind this ol' town has a long History with China... Melbourne was built on the back of the gold rush.. and guess who helped with that !! lol

Melbourne is so uniquely placed in the world.. we just dont often appreciate it only now the sleeping dragon ( sic..lol ) of branding starts to awake !!

were a couple of calls on SEN this morning about this.

One member said the MFC Admin had confirmed there will not be any demon heads on any mechandise for 2008. Changing logo to the blue square with red v at top wont look much at all on jumpers etc.

another caller pointed out that Manchester United FC (which is the club Harris & co is trying to brand MFC like) is also called the red devlis and that has not prevented lots of people in China from becoming ManU followers.

I was not convinced in 2004 when told of this strategy and remain totally unconvinced as there has been absolutely no evidence that the rebranding as Melbournefc has had any positive impact on membership numbers or financial status of MFC over the 3 years since started!

How is relationship with China going to translate into members and attendancese????

It's about capturing the large population of Chinese in Victoria and those coming to Melbourne in the future. Also, the comotion that would occur if we had a Chinese bloke play 1 game would be massive. I know it's a sport they don't play (although some of their junior schools have it) but the chinese are proud to a fault and would buy merchandise and their TV stations would buy the games.

I know basketball is an international sport but the Houston - Milwaukee game recently played in China got 200 million people watching on 40 stations because each team had a Chinese player.

It's a good market to go after, whether its the Chinese in Melbourne or China itself.

Demons, Dees, Redlegs, Dragons...

People use different ones, if the chinese want to say 'Go Dragons' I'm fine by that. We could also push on them to only refer to the first letter - D. Then they would applaud the D's...

Now everyone's happy.

I'm happy with that

It's about capturing the large population of Chinese in Victoria and those coming to Melbourne in the future. Also, the comotion that would occur if we had a Chinese bloke play 1 game would be massive. I know it's a sport they don't play (although some of their junior schools have it) but the chinese are proud to a fault and would buy merchandise and their TV stations would buy the games.

I know basketball is an international sport but the Houston - Milwaukee game recently played in China got 200 million people watching on 40 stations because each team had a Chinese player.

It's a good market to go after, whether its the Chinese in Melbourne or China itself.

Im sure something like this wouldnt be lost on someone like Sheeds !! Im hoping that if the opportunity should arise that a deserving Chinese could be given the opportunity to don (sic ) the red and blue !! NAB cup 2008 ought to be just about right !!! hehehehe

Up there Ya Lee ..in there and fight !!! ))

you laugh NOW !!!

It's all about branding, we have a chairman that has made a career from company branding and advertising. We need to change this sight from Demonland to Melbournefc land. It is a smart move, as soon as the Roo's go to the Gold Coast the AFL will be looking for a club to get into west Sydney and the next 2 poorest clubs are the Western Bulldogs and now the Melbourne FC, from the names which one stands out.

It all fits into this team Melbourne concept, pushing them as the team of Melbourne.

Our Chairman who does this for a living came up with "The Team for Melbourne" and "Melbourne's football team."..... which not only had no effect but was laughable because there are actually nine team's for Melbourne, and all but two are bigger than us.

It'll be just dandy if people in Shanghai have us as their favourite team... but how the hell can we turn a buck out of tthat?

It'll be just dandy if people in Shanghai have us as their favourite team... but how the hell can we turn a buck out of tthat?

Sponsorship.

Anyone seen the new website banner?

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/

Great to see Jonesy and Brocky representing the club. That blood looking thing on the right hand side is a bit disturbing, someone obviously got a bit happy with Photoshop

Well, there you go. I once tried to convince a Sri Lankan friend to come and watch the Dee's. He refused point blank becasue they were "the demons, very bad, very bad" and instead took up with the Hawks. I thought he was just being weird.

/HAve we been missing a huge slice of the home market as well?

probably a large section of our christian fraternity, although they probably cant come to our sunday games anyway

were a couple of calls on SEN this morning about this.

One member said the MFC Admin had confirmed there will not be any demon heads on any mechandise for 2008. Changing logo to the blue square with red v at top wont look much at all on jumpers etc.

another caller pointed out that Manchester United FC (which is the club Harris & co is trying to brand MFC like) is also called the red devlis and that has not prevented lots of people in China from becoming ManU followers.

I was not convinced in 2004 when told of this strategy and remain totally unconvinced as there has been absolutely no evidence that the rebranding as Melbournefc has had any positive impact on membership numbers or financial status of MFC over the 3 years since started!

How is relationship with China going to translate into members and attendancese????

there will be chinese global companies trying to get a foothold into the melb/vic/aust. market

look at emirates and the filth. who had heard of emirates 10 yrs ago? they have built their brand on the back of football and racing