Soccer Boos Ad Campaign.

In most countries across the globe the national team is simply known as the name of the country that they are representing. That is first and foremost what they are referred to and known as. There are a few that have another name, that true fans know them by, such as the Argentina football team is often known as La Albiceleste (The White and Sky Blue), and Italy are known as the Azzuri, (The Blues).

Head into Africa and the national teams there are still known predominantly by the name of the country, but they have some wonderful nickames for their teams, such as Cameroon, – the indomitable Lions, Djibouti – the shoremen of the red sea, Equatorial Guinea – the National thunder, and Guinea Bissau – the African wild dogs.

Australian national sporting teams have a love of nicknames which frequently confuses overseas fans who struggle to understand why the nation’s national teams are not simply ‘Australia.’ (Is It Time To Grow Up?)

Taking these nicknames into account, which of these national teams would have the strongest brand recognition in Australian sport?

A straw poll would tend to indicate that the following are the ones that people call to mind instantly: The Matildas, the Socceroos, The Wallabies, and the Diamonds. For those outside of Australia these are the women’s national football team, the men’s national football team, the men’s national rugby team and the women’s national netball team.

These clearly resonate with people in Australia, and are well established. The general public instantly knows what sports these teams play.

This will tell you that this is good brand awareness, irrespective of performance.

When establishing a brand in business it is important to determine your business goals based on what you have decided you want your brand to represent. Another key factor is recognising your audience or customers, and ensuring that you stay engaged with them. One thing that many forget is that it is vital that you project a consistent perception, rather than trying to combine every conceivable positive trait. A regular mistake made by sporting organisations.

Cricket Australia, some would say have completely tarnished their brand since the scandal in South Africa. While there was a period when Justin Langer came in and replaced Darren Lehmann and steadied the ship, the way the national body handled Langer’s leaving of his post, and recently the focus given to David Warner’s retirement shows that they have essentially misread public opinion. Winning is sadly not everything. A national team is perceived by many to represent them. Fans expect the national team to reflect the values that are important to them and those of the nation.

One big discussion point amongst the fans is the naming rights attached to the national team. We have witnessed the Commonwealth Bank Matildas, The Qantas Wallabies and now the Subway Socceroos. Rugby saw first hand the problems that this can create during the Israel Folau affair. The sponsor said to have had a great deal of sway in how they wanted the issue handled.

There are many in the Australian public, who while understanding the need for financial support and sponsorship for the national team, are far from happy that a corporate entity that they may not approve of is linked to their national team. Many Socceroos fans have voiced their disapproval that an American company has attached itself to the national football team. They struggle to see any synergy between the two, apart from simply a grab for cash by the governing body.

This may seem petty, but there has to be a tie-in in terms of the values between the sporting team or the national team that it is supporting/sponsoring. For example at the present time most sports would be wise to avoid a tie-in with Qantas whose reputation and service levels are at an all time low. Telstra, who was a big supporter of Australian sport for many years saw their reputation tarnished thanks in the main to the franchise system they set up, as a result they had a bad reputation with consumers, so would it be wise to team up with them at that time?

Whether sport likes it or not the consumer’s complete experience with both the sponsor’s product and the sport has a bit influence. If the mix of these associations is not perfect one or both can end up being damaged as a result of that association.

Brand image is important in generating customer loyalty, and persuading clients to continue buying your products or supporting the team well into the future. That is why it is vital to establish what the values of your brand are, and ensure that whoever you partner with, their corporate values align with the sports.

This is so important in sport, especially with national teams, but also club teams. Long standing sports such as the AFL where clubs like Melbourne and Geelong are over 170 years old, they have had a long time to build up an identity as clubs, what they stand for, and who they represent. The same reasons that many chose to support them 50 years ago will be why someone made that decision ten years ago.

Club teams tend to reflect a community or and area. In English football, and also to a certain extent in Australian football (soccer) outside ownership is eroding that sense of community. These new owners fail to take the time to understand the history of the club, in terms of both the highs and the lows. How it originated in the first place, and what it means to the people in that community. Does the brand that they are trying to create align with that of the fans? Does the club still represent the community, their values, and their place in the nation?

As mentioned the Socceroos is one of the strongest brands in sport in Australia. To many the Socceroos represent a nation punching above its weight. The Aussie battler at its best, going out on the world stage and taking on the big established nations and holding its own. That is why the team resonates with so many within Australia.

Of all the national sporting teams in Australia it is possibly the most multicultural. Many of those wearing the green and gold are the sons of migrants, or now even the grandsons or migrants. Some are refugees. Australia is a nation built on migrants, so this side is truly representative of the Australian population. What is more for many of those migrants football is the one game that resonates with them, that is familiar to them. Cricket and Australian Rules are both completely new to them. Football was the sport that helped many ‘new Australians’ settle in their new homeland, that is why so many clubs have links to countries overseas.

The fact that we are witnessing African refugees donning the colours of Australia is a huge feather in the cap for the African communities as in the last census conducted in 2021 only 1.3 percent of the population of Australia come from Sub- Saharan Africa.

So with such a strong brand that is representative of the people of Australia one questions why Football Australia felt the need to dedicate resources, time and money to create what they descibe as a “brand campaign underpinning the Subway Socceroos AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ journey and beyond.”

In conjunction with advertising agency Ogilvy Australia they have come up with a brand campaign labelled “A Different Breed.” See the advert below.

While the content of the advertisement alludes to those who have gone before, past Socceroos who Not The Footy Show spoke to, felt that the campaign was misguided. ‘What is different about this group of players? I find it insulting to all those who have gone before,’ was the response of one. Another felt that this was not a good move to try and seperate one group of players from the rest. They stated ‘that everyone who has worn the Socceroos shirt has stood for the values that being a Socceroo represents. This appears to make out that this group are different from all those who have gone before.’

It is good to see the fighting spirit and the never say die attitude of players of the past being alluded to, but if this group are hanging their hat on that, they are certainly not ‘a different breed.’ This has been the essence of the Socceroos for decades.

“We are unlike anything you have seen before,” we are told by Sam Silvera, how so? Hopefully we will now as fans witness a style of play that lives up to those words. Yet in truth one wonders what such a statement means, and whether Silvera himself even knows what he was trying explain to us.

“Playing for our fans with passion unmatched,” Jackson Irvine tells us is what makes them ‘a different breed’. So this group of players has more passion than those who have gone before? How can you compare that? Who is the judge of such a statement? Maybe this is why former Socceroos have felt insulted?

Football Australia CEO, James Johnson was quoted in the FA’s press release as saying “‘A Different Breed’ would resonate strongly with Subway Socceroos fans old and new. I think it’s a fantastic way to capture the essence of this Subway Socceroos team. The Australian men’s national team is littered with stories of pioneers and champions across the course of history, and their influence on the identity of this team is still evident today.”

If that is so how are this group of players ‘a different breed?’ If the influence of past players is there, and as they say at the beginning of the advert ‘different is in our DNA, which means that it is part of the team’s core values, it is something that has been passed down from generation to generation, how can this group of players ever be ‘a different breed?’

The question everyone should be asking is where was the need to create this in the first place? As stated the Socceroos brand is strong already, so build on what is already there.

While the Socceroos are the pinnacle of the game, and to generate money the FA needs them to do well, they also need fans to come and watch the Asian qualifiers. So one can understand the importance of promoting the Socceroos and the Asian Cup qualifiers. However, when families are still paying exorbitant fees for their children to play the game, despite the revenue earned from hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2022, one can understand how spending time, money, and resources on creating something that appears to have upset past players, and rather than uniting the game appears to be trying to make this group of players seperate, has ruffled a few people’s feathers.

Was this more about individual egos within the FA than the actual promotion of the Socceroos brand? Or were they simply snowballed by the advertising agency with a concept that they sold exceptionally well?

Mat Ryan the Socceroos Captain and goalkeeper was quoted as saying, “The identity of this team, our values and how we want to play are so important to our success and we felt ‘A Different Breed’ summed those things up perfectly.” Really?

Many are still trying to work out what exactly makes this group of players “a different breed.” What is this advert actually trying to say? Having consulted a Marketing expert with over 20 years experience their opinion of the commercial was ‘there is no clear message. What is this trying to say?’

Reading the comments at the bottom of the article published by Campaign Brief, – here– an online site specifically for the advertising and creative industry one will see that the response to the advert is predominantly negative.

It seems to be trying to say a great deal, but ends up saying nothing, apart from implying that this group of players stands apart from those who have gone before.

Why would this group want to be different, as the reputation that the Socceroos has is a good one? Surely tapping into that history and those values which have stood the national team in good stead for so many years would be more beneficial than trying to reinvent the wheel? Can one imagine a great sporting side such as teh All Blacks even contemplating such a move?