Bear-Faced Cheek From Bristol - Andy Goode
Barely promoted and already changing the identity of the club, the Bristol Bears backlash has begun and I can see why many are finding it hard to bear.
Ok, that’s enough of the puns but I genuinely thought it was an April Fool’s joke when I heard the news and that it was some sort of marketing stunt to promote the club after they’d sealed promotion. I just think it’s bizarre and I’m really not sure about the motivation behind it.
I played against Bristol when they were known as the Shoguns but that was all to do with Mitsubishi so you can understand it when there’s a sponsorship element and there’s money coming in. To rebrand as Bristol Bears is just a gimmick, though. They have no association with bears whatsoever. When was the last time you saw a bear in the West Country?
I appreciate their desire to capitalise commercially but I’m not sure it’ll have the effect they want and they really should be focusing on getting their product right on the field first. Bristol haven’t done that over the last decade or so and they’ve been up and down so many times that the Bristol Yo-Yos might have been a more appropriate nickname!
Someone has been paid a shed load of money to come up with this branding and I think it’s daylight robbery. They’re just opening themselves up to being labelled the Bristol Teddy Bears and attracting all the wrong headlines. Even the logo looks quite cuddly.
They obviously wanted something that younger fans can relate to and I’m sure they’ll have a big bear as a mascot but I’m not sure that and the other reasons are enough to warrant changing the name of the club.
The counterpoint is that nobody is criticising the likes of Sale, Leicester, Northampton, Wasps and others but they are all institutions. I know you have to start somewhere but it’s not comparable to Wasps, who have been called that for over 150 years, and I can’t help but feel they’re trying to run before they can walk in the Premiership.
The timing of it just a few days after they’ve won promotion is ill-advised as well for me. Some marketing guru has come up with this and I think it’s a gimmick that makes them look a bit foolish before they’ve even played a game in the top flight.
They’re going to be in a real battle next season and the media are going to have a field day with headlines and puns and references to big cuddly bears. They will be a lot more competitive this time than a couple of years ago but I really think it’s going to be a sideshow that they just didn’t need.
If you’re going to do it, at least cement yourselves in the Premiership and achieve some level of sustainability and then maybe think about this in a few years’ time.
You only need to look at the reaction on social media to see that a lot of people think it’s a bit of a joke but I suppose some will say I’m looking at it from a purely rugby angle and the marketing teams will obviously be looking at it from a different perspective.
I guarantee the boys will be laughing in that changing room though. There will be jokes going around about cuddly teddy bears and grizzly bears and players asking what sort of bear they’re going to be today.
Of course, they’ll be showing a united front to the outside world because the club are the ones paying their wages and I don’t think they’ll be bothered by it but it’s just a gimmick that’s come from the marketing departments and they’ll see through that.
I remember when I was at Bromsgrove school we rebranded our first team Bromsgrove buffaloes and had jumpers made and all sorts. It was a bit of fun for us as school kids and this feels the same really for Bristol.
And, it goes without saying that the fans are an integral part in all this. They should be consulted as they pay their very hard-earned cash to watch the games week in week out and that’s one of the biggest drivers in terms of revenue.
It all feels like it’s been done a bit cloak and dagger – we’ve been promoted, now here we are… the Bristol Bears. I think it’s ill-advised and poorly-timed but any press is good press in terms of branding and getting the name out there.
Gallagher are coming in as a US company to sponsor the premiership and some people have put two and two together and made five but there’s no way they’re insisting they want certain clubs rebranded to be more Americanised just because they’re an American company.
It is true that Gloucester have three different new logos that they’re considering but they changed the badge not too long ago and I can’t see them following a similar path to Bristol. The Shed would go absolutely wild if they tried to become the Gloucester Gladiators!
Ultimately, rugby is a sport in its infancy in terms of professionalism, we’re only 22 years in. As a result, there are a lot of people coming in with different ideas trying to generate as much interest and revenue as possible. They’ll go down various avenues and some will work but some won’t.
Bristol have gone all out to change their name and try to increase their revenue but this one might just be a miss rather than a hit.
Comments on RugbyPass
Amazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
1 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
1 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
1 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
1 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
8 Go to commentsGood riddance
1 Go to comments