If it aint broke, let's fix it...
Rule changes to the game they play in heaven will not make it any more of a spectacle, in fact it will do little at all except weaken the brand. Rugby union is a global business and the most important ingredient for success in this global information age is branding.
The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, written by one of the world's best known marketing strategists, Al Ries writes “ Branding in the marketplace is very similar to branding on the ranch. A branding program should be designed to differentiate your product from all other cattle on the range. Even if all the other cattle on the range look pretty much alike.”
“All the other cattle” in this case refers to rugby league, football (soccer) and AFL. They look pretty much alike to the untrained eye, as they all display a number of athletic young men, running from one end of a grass paddock, to the other, obsessively fighting over possession of a small spheroid object. Other recognisable similarities are the use of goal posts to score points, shape of the playing area and duration of time on the field.
Rugby union's biggest difference to these other 'footballs' is in the complicated aspects where the players make contact and the almost contradictory nature of the laws that govern these exchanges. Aficionados revel in this technical aspect of the game and this defines a large part of the strength of the rugby brand. It's other strength is the embracing of ideals such as courage, loyalty, sportsmanship, discipline and teamwork.
One professional observer states: "Maybe rugby's become a bit stagnated in the last few years and it's become a bit stop-start... realistically if you want crowds watching your games they need to see a pretty good entertaining game of rugby.”
Why does rugby union need to be more interesting, more popular and more entertaining? The recent world cup had record attendance and consistent spectator turnouts for every match. As far as I know rugby hasn't changed that much, even in the last 20 years. Alan Jones recently proffered his credentials for coach of the Wallabies exclaiming “It's still a game with fifteen players and a ball.”
Promoting rugby as pure entertainment is going against its brand positioning and besides, who determines what aspects of the game are entertaining? Eddie Jones argues: “In Europe, they don't care about the way rugby's played. If it's fast and it's free, that's good. If it's tight and grinding, that's good."
Overuse of the boot is an annoying, but acute symptom of the current game. If kicking significance is reduced and tries are made increasingly profitable this will only serve to weaken the brand. Take kicking out of the game and you have rugby league, emphasise it too much and you've got AFL . Make tries worth 6 or 7 points and you've got American Football–you know it's all down hill from there. The brand that is rugby union works well, so if it ain't broke...
Heavensgame Rugby Union excellence - If it ain't broke, let's fix it
Written by The Breakdown
Friday, 02 November 2007
