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Naming the proposed new Brisbane NRL side the Bombers is just plain dumb. There is no two ways about it. The bid team have missed a fantastic opportunity to build their own brand. It would be like me creating a new line of televisions and calling it ‘Apple’.
Although technically my product would be different from Apple computers, as the NRL is to the AFL, it would be similar enough to always be compared to the original brand.
Not surprisingly, the AFL’s Essendon Bombers are none too impressed.
The (original) Bombers CEO Ian Robson said he was “surprised and disappointed” upon hearing that the proposed new franchise would carry the same nickname.
Though he did joke “I suppose we should take it as a little bit of flattery. Imitation is the best form of (flattery)”.
This was possibly a round about way of hinting that the administration at Essendon realise that there is not much they can do in a legal sense to change what has been announced.
There are crossovers with the nicknames of some NRL and AFL teams. However, many of those have been around for 100 years and existed before those sports became national.
A new team should be looking to build its own brand and image. Anything too close to home, like “Bombers”, should have been ignored. There are plenty of other strong and individual monikers that they could have chosen.
The bid organisers did detail the extensive research and community involvement that they did for finding the name. However, they didn’t come across as particularly composed at the press conference. I am sure they are well meaning, but the bid just has that feeling that it was more hastily organised than the buck’s do for a shotgun wedding.
Even some of the reasoning for the name doesn’t seem particularly well thought through.
Nicholas Livermore, the potential franchises Bid Director, stated at the press conference that he felt that the name was “family friendly”.
Now, I may be being slightly sensitive here, but surely a moniker of the ‘Bombers’ evokes images and sentiments of war and destruction. Doesn’t sound particularly family friendly to me.
I do wish this possible Brisbane franchise all of the success in the world. But it appears to have been bombed before it’s even begun.
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