The Arena Football League (AFL) season hasn't even started and they are already making a mistake. Or at least missed an opportunity to market and brand something special.
The AFL is known for doing things different. With shorter fields, no sidelines and no punting the game is action packed and puts a special emphasis on fan interaction. This is why the Portland franchise decided it was best to let the fans choose the team name through a Facebook poll. The names to decide from were Thunder, Enforcers, Sasquatch, Growlers or Stomp. When the voting period ended, it settled on the Thunder.
And that is exactly what the Portland AFL franchise did, it settled.
As mentioned, the AFL is known for doing things different. But what is different about the nickname Thunder? There are numerous colleges, semi-professional and professional teams with the nickname Thunder and plenty more with a variation of bad weather (storm, lightning, etc.). Why not "Keep Portland Weird" and name the team Portland Sasquatch or Portland Growlers?
If Portland is known for two things it's being "Weird" and loving beer. Imagine the marketing, promotions and branding opportunities with names like Portland Sasquatch or Portland Growlers. The marketing & promotions team could have a field day with Jack Links promotions! And can you imagine a Sasquatch running around the Moda Center hiding around corners? Maybe its just me, but the possibilities are endless. Plus, as a fan, I wouldn't have to listen to the Portland Thunder coming out of the gates to AC/DC's "Thunderstruck", which may be the most overplayed "pump up" song in the history of sports.
This could have made a great promotional piece for the Portland Sasquatch fan section!
And as for the Growlers nickname, a growler is simply a bottle that is made to contain beer. Did you know that there is 52 breweries alone in the city of Portland? Im not sure if I have every seen a logo with a beer bottle in it, but it wouldn't be the worst thing ever thought of.
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| Worst thing ever? |
I believe that the Portland Thunder missed a chance to uniquely brand and take advantage of a diverse Portland culture. By choosing the Thunder, the fans are denying themselves an opportunity to see and do something different and are sticking to the status quo. Maybe the Portland Forest Dragons killed my hopes of keeping things different and weird, but this was a "no-brainer" decision in my eyes that didn't seem to catch on with the Portland fans.
Please comment and voice your opinions. I would love to hear your thoughts. Happy Holidays!
-Brad
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