A clear strategic direction and well documented operational priorities has ensured the new and vibrant Netball Australia team has maintained focus and delivered on some major achievements over the last two years including:
• Reclaiming the World Number One title
• Launching the exciting trans Tasman ANZ Championship competition in partnership with
traditional rivals Netball NZ
• Rebranding the Australian team as the Australian Netball Diamonds
• Integrating all registered netball participants across Australia onto one central database
• Rolling out our national junior development program – San Remo NetSetGO!;
• Negotiating a four year broadcast deal with Channel 10
• Establishing some major commercial partnerships with companies such as Holden, San Remo
and ANZ.
6. OUR STRUCTURE Netball Australia 8 Member Organisations 570 Associations 5000 Clubs nationally 330,000 registered members
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17. THE FUTURE 2 One brand for Netball A trusted leader within the sport and community. Corporate partners aligned with, and confident in, Netball Australia’s values. A strong global game. Netball is Another Australian Sports Success Story Ranked world number one. Sell-out crowds. Athletes and coaches are household names. High profile people engaged with the sport. Commercial broadcast partner. Licensed product sold through national retail. Members share and enjoy netball’s achievements and successes Passionate members and fans. Increased Member’s equity. A top-down funded sport. Experience netball Using technology to understand and engage with members. Netball is relevant to all Australians. Every child experiences San Remo NetSetGO!
21. DIAMONDS - Brand Summary The Brand Story The Australian Netball Team represents Australia in international netball competition and is the most successful team, winning 9 of the 12 World Championships and is one of Australia’s most consistently successful sporting teams. The Brand Mission The team aims to continue its winning way by always striving for innovation and excellence in play with unity, pride and a relentless pursuit of achieving its goals. To always remain as a beacon for young aspiring players to be their best and to take seriously the role of ‘role model’ for the millions of active netball participants. The Brand Personality The Australian Netball Team is dedicated, fit and skilled with highly developed technical knowledge and a relentless attitude. An Australian netballer plays a style that is identifiable as ‘low and hard’. She is a team player not an individualist. She is uncompromising in competition but always fair and believes sportsmanship comes first. She is the girl next door and through hard work and talent has joined the elite levels of the sport but never forgets her friends and how she got there. She is strong, professional, graceful, brilliant, multi-faceted, passionate, feminine and fun.
26. DIAMONDS – Experience to Date Success On The Court Still World Number One Success Off The Court Broadcast Partnership New Major Partnerships 100% Recall of Team Name through Test Research Integration Across Key National Programs Australian Netball Awards / Liz Ellis Diamonds San Remo NetSetGO! through the launch of Diamond Girl and cartoon like player imagery
28. DIAMONDS – The Future Opportunities Bring Diamonds to life for 12 months of the year Build celebrity status for Diamonds Make Diamond Girl a super hero Ensure Diamonds understand the importance of their brand Maximise the potential of our partnership with Network Ten Use of the national database to connect with the 330,000 registered netballers Capitalise on commercial opportunities Naming Rights Sponsor for the Diamonds
Introduction: Kate’s provided an overview of the Strategic Priorities – as you’ll note a lot of Commercial priorities to sort out. Brand was identified as the critical and so started the process of transformation…… We were not be any means pioneers and for those that had been around the traps of netball for some time – I could read their thought…… Not this old chestnut again……… Countless competitions, no agreement Why did we think we could change things? Broadcast & Media Profile ABC Coverage Media Coverage around Success on Court World Number One Commonwealth Games Gold Medalists Success off Court Arguably decent sponsorship for a female sport Small fan base Limited awareness of players within the team Create strong sports advocates for Australian Netball by connecting Australians to the Australian Netball Diamonds. To ensure we develop the Diamonds brand to support Netball Australia’s key strategic commercial objectives.
Research partner – Stollznow Combination of focus groups and quantative research used Focus groups involved most of key stakeholder groups identified Through research we confirmed: Generally poor feedback about the logo Nautical, ships wheel, life preserver Wagon wheel, flower Dated, old, 80s Not overly Australian We should name the Team, but only if it was the right name Consistent themes about the Team TIME FOR A CHANGE
Brand Story That the team was highly successful having won 9 of the 12 World Championships Brand Mission Was centered around innovation, excellence, unity, pride and a relentless pursuit of achieving their goals. Brand Personality She is the girl next door and through hard work and talent has joined the elite levels of the sport but never forgets her friends and how she got there. She is strong, professional, graceful, brilliant, multi-faceted, passionate, feminine and fun. The naming options gathered through the research and in looking back through the numerous competitions that we’d run over the years were entertaining to say the least. Emus Wattles Banksia Southern Stars Golden Geckos Our favourite – Wombats Brolgas But the one option that stood out as fitting with the Brand Personality of the Team was undoubtedly Diamonds . So with the support of the Team the proposal and evidence was sent to the Board.
This was the last hurdle, we’d done the research, we’d consulted with the stakeholders, we’d found a name that fitted perfectly but we knew this was a highly emotive topic and one that divided the Board. We also knew that some of the members of the Netball Australia Board had been around in times when previously suggestions had been knocked back. It was a nervous wait following the presentation to the Board – given the investment in the process to date and strength of the evidence presented, the naming of the Australian Netball Team would be dead and buried for a considerable period if the Board didn’t approve this time. Kate and I was by this time so convinced that it was the right thing to do, that the thought of not being able to develop and bring this to life was Christmas with no toys. The teleconference….. Make a decision with heads not hearts It was not a unanimous vote, but we got there and moved onto the next phase – logo development.
The logo execution itself, needed to represent the Diamonds in a fresh, modern, simple, stylised way that convey the brand values of strong, professional, graceful, brilliant, multi-faceted, passionate, feminine and fun. Of course the colour palette needed to be green and gold and there were four key design considerations: Netball The logo needs to resonate with the netball audience, even if was not overtly ‘netball’. Diamonds The feeling of diamonds should be expressed through the designs and work back with netball imagery. Movement, Young and Fresh Movement and motion in the logo was critical. Static, dated, retro and overly masculine and corporate style graphics were not the right fit for the brand. Southern Cross The integration of the Southern Cross was critical from the Team’s point of view - it is their badge of national pride, diamond in shape and relates to stars – diamonds in the sky. There were over 70 different design concepts explored throughout the process and consultation with the team at various stages – this is just a few that highlights the evolution. By the time we got to the last couple of options there was ultimately a ‘gut’ feel that we were getting close and ticketing all the boxes. We toyed with the idea of investing in more research – but our Research Partner basically advised that we just needed to make a decision and bring it to life.
The end product…. Netball Australia mark was refreshed and we’ve recently refreshed the San Remo NetSetGO! logo to bring it in line.
Holden San Remo Australian Sports Commission Walt Disney Studios Australia Network Ten In 2008, the cumulative audience across 6 International Tests was 1,604,800. The audience numbers peaked at 824,000 for the final Test between the Australian Netball Diamonds and NZ Silver Ferns. Being more prominent has enabled Netball to be better viewed on most image statements. Key imagery of “Cool”, “Exciting” and “On Way Up” have all increased, while “Boring” has dropped. *
Holden San Remo Australian Sports Commission Walt Disney Studios Australia Network Ten
Bring Diamonds to life 12 months of the year The Diamonds are on court together 2-3 months a year World Championships and Commonwealth Games every four years Need to ensure we use the opportunity presented through the ANZ Championship each year Need to build the number of Diamonds fantatics which in netballs case are 7 times more likely to watch, read or listen 27 times more likely to participate 14 times more likely to attend games 4 times more likely to recall sponsors Diamonds as celebrities With around 85% of our fan base being female – we need to appeal to women in a way that resonates. We know that ‘celebrity’ appeals to women. We know that once the blokes get to experience at game at the elite level, like other sports the admire and enjoy the contest. The Diamonds need to be seen at the “it” events Diamond Girl is a super hero Bringing Diamonds girls to life through San Remo NetSetGO! Exploring licensing opportunities – there are many Using Diamond Girls to communicate important health messages – being active and inclusive, having a go, eating healthy food Diamonds Understand the Brand Adequate induction Eg Pussycat dolls shoot Maximise the potential of our partnership with Network Ten and New Idea Have the players seen in programs other than traditional sport programs NZ experience Using the national database to connect the 330,000 registered netballers with the Diamonds