What do you think of the W-League marketing?

[Jules Winnfield]

Does anyone else think it's a bit stupid? 'Football with style' and having 'model' type photography done would not do the game any good. It's like its promoting Women's Football as a 'girly' type of sport, or only encouraging male's to see it as 'something to have a perve', which I hope isn't what the FFA had planned.

I hope I'm not the only one that feels this way and hope that next seasons campaign will be marketed differently. I believe the current marketing campaign will just further lengthen the gap between your everyday Joe Blogs taking Women's Football more serious.

[BillShankly]

yeh i find it pretty average

they also send out the same image every week as an apparent promo, the only thing that changes is adelaide vs opposition, surely by now you could have a different adelaide player per week per promo.

[Jeda]

shyt.. you guys either have no idea or yer old school & are part of the problem that's holding the game back
last year there was no W-league, the ladies could only play in their state Now we're playing national & people are interested, they love the photos & the good looking girls

don't you get it if people wanted to wach butch, they'd watch the guys. The marketing is perfet

[prefly]

Oh come on Jeda your kidding yourself, I agree wholeheartedly with Jules, Ive seen the reaction of football playing girls and women to this marketing and they are not happy at all. They are all saying they couldn't even recognize the players and find it hard to take it too seriously. No ones saying wow!! did you see those awesome posters of the w-league, it's more like christ!! did you see ........they don't look like that!

No ones talking about butch just normal photos of the girls. Are you saying the girls are butch? , if you are It's you who is old school and part of the problem that's holding the game back . and I don't think the players would thank-you either But with the whole Westfield fashion thing as well perhaps they don't want those grubby soccer players with their muddy boots anywhere near the adverts....oh god!!.....MAKEUP!!!!

see! Ive already poked fun at it.

[beaches]

Gotta have rain for mud on the boots. lol. They are Women/Girls. Why should they look bedraggled football players, they are like all females wanting to look their best, real pettiness in some of these comments. Obviously you have only seen the players on the field not off when they become like other females in this world.
GET A LIFE.

[johnydep]

Gotta have rain for mud on the boots. lol. They are Women/Girls. Why should they look bedraggled football players, they are like all females wanting to look their best, real pettiness in some of these comments. Obviously you have only seen the players on the field not off when they become like other females in this world.
GET A LIFE.

Can't argue with that

I don't see anything wrong with it, yes a couple of the posters looked a bit glitzy but they did their job; got people looking and talking.
Marketing is a business term referring to the promotion of products, especially advertising and branding. The term developed from the original meaning which referred literally to going to market, as in shopping, or going to a market to sell goods or services.

My wife and young daughter liked them, they both understand that the photos are not real life, just like 99% of advertising, it's all about selling.

Seeing as this is the first year, the W-League and Adelaide United need to be congratulated for being pro-active and getting out into the market place. They could easily just sit back and hope for the best.

In my opinion, the only way the W-League is going to survive is if we all talk about it, tell everyone, go to games, watch it on the ABC and let them know that we are watching.

If you don't like the marketing let them know with constructive emails, ie suggestions. No point bagging it if there's nothing else to offer.

Remember that this is the first year, everyone is testing the waters.

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[prefly]

oh come on! you people are so precious about this, isn't anyone allowed to have an opinion. Anyone who says anything about it needs to "get a life" and is bagging them. People made a innocent and cheeky remark about the glamor shoot posters and then are accused of bagging the w-league. Its a wonder if they come back on here. We are not the ones calling them butch your mates are.

[Jeda]

oh come on! you people are so precious about this, isn't anyone allowed to have an opinion. Anyone who says anything about it needs to "get a life" and is bagging them. People made a innocent and cheeky remark about the glamor shoot posters and then are accused of bagging the w-league. Its a wonder if they come back on here. We are not the ones calling them butch your mates are.

who's getting precious you're the one getting sooky about people expressing their views

read the first post - "Does anyone else think it's a bit stupid? 'Football with style' and having 'model' type photography...." Jules Winnfield asked a question

[Tottenham Hotspur]

At the end of the day if the advertising gurus do their job right then the league will be well known. Then it is up to the players and coaching staff to do the right thing by the game, and then we will see peoples bums on seats.

[johnydep]

oh come on! you people are so precious about this, isn't anyone allowed to have an opinion. Anyone who says anything about it needs to "get a life" and is bagging them. People made a innocent and cheeky remark about the glamor shoot posters and then are accused of bagging the w-league. Its a wonder if they come back on here. We are not the ones calling them butch your mates are.

Hang on prefly, I'm just giving my opinion. It may be wrong or right, it's up to you to debate it with us all.

After all, this is a forum.

On a side note; my wife and daughter are involved with the Mothers and Daughters Program http://www.footballnews.com.au/forum/vi ... =6&t=30637 at yesterdays session they were given a poster and sticker. My daughter was telling her friends that the player was Vicki Balomenos, and one of the parents said "no, they're all models". :?

[Leppskiii]

I guess that parent is wrong then.

[SAD GAL]

Pretty ordinary and is nothjing more than a cursory mention in the paper. The Lady Reds lose against Canberra...Bottom right hand page that is shared with the Baby reds (Ad Utd youth team). Once in a while they have a feature article like Tomich and co. and not much else is spoken about the game. There is no pre-match write up and doesn't even get a mention on the 5aa sports wrap on Saturday/Sunday.

So the marketing is somewhat poor.

[billy the kid]

We who are involved in the game are well aware of how great it is. The challenge with marketing is not to preach to the converted but to communicate the game to those who know very little about it.

The local Super League gets far more coverage and exposure than a national womens comp.

This is a fact and will need some attention quickly. Its irrespective at whether this is the first or 5th year of the competition.

[deyy]

Pretty ordinary and is nothjing more than a cursory mention in the paper. The Lady Reds lose against Canberra...Bottom right hand page that is shared with the Baby reds (Ad Utd youth team). Once in a while they have a feature article like Tomich and co. and not much else is spoken about the game. There is no pre-match write up and doesn't even get a mention on the 5aa sports wrap on Saturday/Sunday.

So the marketing is somewhat poor.

Must just be the advertiser. The Herald put an article bout the jets in the paper on most days of the week. Even the local papers come out to trainin for interviews ad photos with the players.

[Judge Judy]

Pretty ordinary and is nothjing more than a cursory mention in the paper. The Lady Reds lose against Canberra...Bottom right hand page that is shared with the Baby reds (Ad Utd youth team). Once in a while they have a feature article like Tomich and co. and not much else is spoken about the game. There is no pre-match write up and doesn't even get a mention on the 5aa sports wrap on Saturday/Sunday.

So the marketing is somewhat poor.

media coverage and marketing are not the same thing

[ze_camel]

makes me want to go to westfield shopping centres more to have a look at the posters they have up

btw are they players or just model's?
if so, cant wait until QLD play here

[SAD GAL]

Splitting hairs? One is the methodology or ethos and the other is the conduit ie carries the message. How a mesasge is conveyed to those outside the "know" demonstrates how good your marketing strategy is. In this case...not so good.

For the purpose of this discussion, I think those who have commented believe the two work hand in hand.

[johnydep]

"splitting hairs"? (was the pun intended:-)

Good luck to the girls and the league, at the end of the day it is you that will make or break it.

There's an old saying; Any publicity is good publicity. Lets hope that the W-League get it's fair share of publicity, even this thread is a form of publicity So keep posting and commenting, people!

Any Publicity is Good Publicity

In the age of information explosion, it becomes that much harder to set yourself apart from the rest. Creativity seems to be the key, and you need all the publicity you can get. Recently, Chevy tried just that with a Write-Your-Own-Ad-Approach.

At first glance, it seems that the approach backfired with critics posting negative ads. Even the negative attacks, however, seem to have served its end because it succeeded in attracting people in the first place. So Chevy was either really smart or really stupid in coming up with this creative idea. I vote for the former.

Even the critical ads give them publicity, some would call it viral marketing, by getting people to talk about it. I think this was all considered in their calculations. Why else would they leave them up on their site? Leaving the negative ads is a statement on its own. They can always defend their positions later, which will in turn give them even more exposure to the public. Ironically, leaving the "attacks" online shows their confidence in their product......

[greavsie's_daughter]

Does anyone else think it's a bit stupid? 'Football with style' and having 'model' type photography done would not do the game any good. It's like its promoting Women's Football as a 'girly' type of sport, or only encouraging male's to see it as 'something to have a perve', which I hope isn't what the FFA had planned.

I hope I'm not the only one that feels this way and hope that next seasons campaign will be marketed differently. I believe the current marketing campaign will just further lengthen the gap between your everyday Joe Blogs taking Women's Football more serious.

Why should women have to look more like men to be taken seriously?

[gubs]

coz of the number of "back to the kitchen ladies" comments

[deyy]

coz of the number of "back to the kitchen ladies" comments

Dont u have dinner that needs cooking?

[greavsie's_daughter]

Does anyone else think it's a bit stupid? 'Football with style' and having 'model' type photography done would not do the game any good. It's like its promoting Women's Football as a 'girly' type of sport, or only encouraging male's to see it as 'something to have a perve', which I hope isn't what the FFA had planned.

I hope I'm not the only one that feels this way and hope that next seasons campaign will be marketed differently. I believe the current marketing campaign will just further lengthen the gap between your everyday Joe Blogs taking Women's Football more serious.

Why should women have to look more like men to be taken seriously?

Having said that, I think that the extremely airbrushed stylization of the advertising is as much a function of the sponsor as anything, and is a bit demeaning to the women who are putting themselves out there and representing the women's game, which is every bit as intense and athletic as the men's game. At least there IS a W league and they are being promoted. However, there should be some kind of middle ground between the type of advertising we have at the moment and the other extreme, by which I mean trying to completely desexualize the players. Women should be presented as women playing an amazingly competitive and physical game, not portrayed to fulfill some man's fantasy, or looking like they should be in anyone's kitchen.

[on the side]

has anyone heard any feedback from the actual women in the posters?

[greavsie's_daughter]

has anyone heard any feedback from the actual women in the posters?

Great question. Good point.

[balomenos10]

what feedback would you like?
Was an amazing experience, and everyone i've spoken to loves it and thinks it's great!

[johnydep]

what feedback would you like?
Was an amazing experience, and everyone i've spoken to loves it and thinks it's great!

That's great to hear.

By the way, do the girls give autographs after the game? I want to get one on your poster for my daughter

[Jules Winnfield]

Does anyone else think it's a bit stupid? 'Football with style' and having 'model' type photography done would not do the game any good. It's like its promoting Women's Football as a 'girly' type of sport, or only encouraging male's to see it as 'something to have a perve', which I hope isn't what the FFA had planned.

I hope I'm not the only one that feels this way and hope that next seasons campaign will be marketed differently. I believe the current marketing campaign will just further lengthen the gap between your everyday Joe Blogs taking Women's Football more serious.

Why should women have to look more like men to be taken seriously?

If that's how my message came across, then there has been a lost in translation as that was not I was hoping to get across.

From the looks of the posters, it looks like the players have been dolled up too much, and with the slogan 'Football with style', it seems that the whole marketing campaign is about vanity, rather than the football.

Splitting hairs? One is the methodology or ethos and the other is the conduit ie carries the message. How a mesasge is conveyed to those outside the "know" demonstrates how good your marketing strategy is. In this case...not so good.

For the purpose of this discussion, I think those who have commented believe the two work hand in hand.

So you would agree that the marketing has been poor then?

I've not been involved with the women's game for long at all, so I'd consider myself one of the people that the FFA would be trying to reach out to and get me to the games. Based on what they've produced so far, it does not sway me towards going to games, I get a fairly neutral reaction from it.

Of course, I'll go to games regardless of what is happening as it's the product I want to see anyway, football. I just don't think it'll helping to get many of the neutrals or supporters of the men's teams out to games.

[paul merson]

We who are involved in the game are well aware of how great it is. The challenge with marketing is not to preach to the converted but to communicate the game to those who know very little about it.

The local Super League gets far more coverage and exposure than a national womens comp.

This is a fact and will need some attention quickly. Its irrespective at whether this is the first or 5th year of the competition.

Metro stars pay a fair amount of money for the coverage, from the aid of sponsors.

And secondly who are the W-League aiming to get to the games?

Girls that play? probably not as they are most likely to already be going.

Young girls? Yes in which are impressed by the 'model status' of the pics

Guys? Yes, impressed by attractive girls and probably wouldnt go if they thought it was a bunch of rough chicks scrapping.

Marketers are payed good money for a reason.

In saying that its not the sort of thing that would attract me to the game but how do you put good football into a pic??

[Jeda]

We who are involved in the game are well aware of how great it is. The challenge with marketing is not to preach to the converted but to communicate the game to those who know very little about it.

The local Super League gets far more coverage and exposure than a national womens comp.

This is a fact and will need some attention quickly. Its irrespective at whether this is the first or 5th year of the competition.

Metro stars pay a fair amount of money for the coverage, from the aid of sponsors.

And secondly who are the W-League aiming to get to the games?

Girls that play? probably not as they are most likely to already be going.

Young girls? Yes in which are impressed by the 'model status' of the pics

Guys? Yes, impressed by attractive girls and probably wouldnt go if they thought it was a bunch of rough chicks scrapping.

Marketers are payed good money for a reason.

In saying that its not the sort of thing that would attract me to the game but how do you put good football into a pic??

finally, some sense if the w league adverts showed me girls trying to emulate the men i wouldn't waste a second look women & men play differently, if i wanted to watch women play like guys i'd go watch the guys instead i see posters with exciting pictures (& good looking ladies playing for the team i support, so i go & support them

[prefly]

Your kidding yourself Jeda, its got nothing to do with football with Westfield. The girls got a makeover because it suited Westfields marketing angle not the sports, they want to be associated with women's football to get their name out there. If Mattel sponsored the league they would have them looking like Barbie dolls. Womens football in Australia should have its own identity not a different one given to them each time they get a new naming rights sponsor,and they say first impressions count well those posters are the first impressions. Your right they don't look like men playing but they don't look look the women playing either! You like it, I don't, I wont go to watch the games but it's got nothing to do with the posters I would rather watch the mens team and under 14s, 15s lads play. My daughter hasn't been swayed and she would be the "target" group. We can go around in circles here, some people like it some don't, ah! that's life.

cya