Image and brandname of the regions!

First topic message reminder :

Everyone seams to have a go at other regions for not embracing regionalisation, or not sticking with the old club values, so my question is who has done the best in reaching out to new supporters within the region creating a sense of regionalisation and a common team, while still keeping the old club supporters happy and sticking with the old club traditions and values.

It's a difficult question, as one approch may have worked for some teams that would never work for others, a very difficult tightrope to walk, you have to change enough so as you can attrach new supporters within your region, but also remain close enough to the orginal club so as not to alienate the existing club fans. This was particaulary important durning the regions formative years.


I'll start with Ospreys,

Created as a partnership between the area's two most successful clubs – Neath RFC and Swansea RFC. They created a mixed new name and image. At the start they kept the names of th etwo main clubs Neath and Swansea possibly alienating fans of other clubs in the area, at the start of the 2005–06 season, they dropped the Neath-Swansea prefix from their name and are simply known as the Ospreys. They chose Ospreys name as was a feature of Swansea's badge but played in black kits as Neath are the Welsh all black.

At the beginging they had a tough job as a partnership they could risk losing fans of either club and not gaining fans throughout the region, dropped the Neath Swansea to appeal to all, possible firm Swansea and Neath fans wouldn't accept this.

Since Ospreys were a partnership they may have had the toughest and easiest job of all the regions. Toughest in keeping the old club faithful happy and easiest as the sweeping changes made it easy for the new fans within the region to support them as they didn't associate them with an old club. Also given there star studded squad it makes it easier for a supporter to follow the most successful team in Wales. Have had problems with the Neath Swansea partnership in recent years.

Newport Gwent Dragons
They are jointly owned by Newport RFC and the Welsh Rugby Union. Had a difficult start as many believed that including the name Newport would alienate some fans in the surrounding valley. While much of the support in the larger Newport area, support greater identification with the City of Newport and a continuation of the historic traditions of Newport RFC.

They created a new badge and have slowly changed the kit so it is only vaguely similary to Newports, Still keep the Newport Element in there name, but have a loyal home following.

The Newport Gwent Dragons seam to have adopted the policy of slow evolution, keeping the Newport supporters happy while growing the regional concept. Probally seams to be the best way for them as th emajority of supports still wish to keep a Newport link.

Cardiff Blues

Cardiff RFC were allowed to create a stand alone club, they kept the history of Cardiff RFC and on their inception, the Cardiff Blues kit corresponded with the traditional Cardiff RFC colours of Cambridge blue and black they did however adopt a new badge.
Chief Executive, Robert Norster said, "A huge amount of effort has been made to ensure that the past 127 years of club traditions are not lost. We are delighted by the way these aspects have been respected and retained within the new modern brand." This close association with Cardiff RFC has led to feelings of resentment from members and supporters of other rugby clubs in the Cardiff Blues catchment area especially when the Celtic Warriors regional team was dissolved in 2004, bringing old rivals Pontypridd within the catchment area of the Cardiff Blues region and then calls for Cardiff to be dropped from the name.

Cardiff Blues have made slight changes to the kit but mostly stay true to their Cardiff RFC roots, as dropping Cardiff or major changes could lead to a drop in supporters from the orginal RFC club and may not gain any supporters from the valleys, even a move to a nearby stadium had fans annoyed.

Cardiff Blues have a very difficult job they have to appeal to the local Cardiff supporters who followed the old club and are not open to changes, while at the same time trying to appeal to fans in the Valleys which fall into their region that want nothing to be associated with the old RFC club. They cannot keep both sets of fans happy as they are at polar ends of what they want the image of the team to do. They have stuck with their image to appeal to the more numerous and local supporter base, and change does not look likley.

Scarlets

Llanelli were allowed to stand alone, and started under the name Llanelli Scarlets. In 2008, the Scarlets dropped the prefix "Llanelli" from their name in order to reflect their regional identity, they have kept the kit and badge (slightly modified) of Llanelli RFC.

Scarlets may have have th easist job as they were already seen as the team that represented west Wales before regionalisation, therefore they were able to keep the old club traditions and still appeal to the region. They have however made a few moves to better appeal as a regional team by dropping a placename from their team name. The hard part of the job for the Scarlets is that they are in an area with a low population density so cannot afford to alienate any groups of fans, as any loss would be keenly felt. They started very much as Llanelli, and have managed to keep the old club supports happy while slowly becoming more regional and moving stadium, a difficult job, but they continue to grow.

So looking back who did it best and what lies in the future?

Nah Rodders Scarlets are just based in Llanelli they represent the three countiess of Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion. THey used to represent a bit of North Wales too.

Not sure on the boundaries of the Blues region, but it is more then just Cardiff anyway. Same applies to Ospreys and the Dragons too.

A tad confusig but not half as confusing as when people reffer to them by their stadium location names as those clubs such as Llanelli and Cardiff are still in existence!

Yeah Dreamer I understand that but people outside Wales don't really concern themselves very much with these things.

The point is I doubt very much that anyone would refer to the Blues as Cardiff to wind anyone up. Certainly not Irish fans. There's usually a good respect between the Welsh and Irish fans but our culture and rugby set up is just different to yours.

Iv'e never understood the problem with calling a spade a spade and oddly you can talk to 10 different fans about the Welsh regions and probably get 10 different answers on the name of the region and what they think they represent.

I have had my head chewed off on this forum for referring to the Dragons as Newport, yet when I go to Rodney Parade, some fans refer to them the same way. There is no universal way to name the regions, people just use whatever their happy with.
People who generally try to force the naming issue of regions are the ones trying to convince themselves about what modern day Welsh rugby is.

To me it's simple, we have 3 cities in South Wales and have our "regions" at those locations, it's common sense. the 4th region has always represented Welsh West Wales anyway, even before the mergers.

If people want to turn their backs on a sport they enjoy simply because Wales isn't a rich country and can only afford 4 professional entities then it is their loss. I'm quite happy to sit at any of the 4 Regions with a pint in my hand, and watch a game of rugby. I really don't care about the branding.

The Idiots in Pontypridd who chanted "I will never be a Blue" when the Blues made an effort to play a pre-season game there.
To the small minded fools at Newport RFC, who won't buy the Dragons jersey because it has the name Gwent on it, not enough amber etc...
Then you have the idiots who won't buy a Dragon jersey because it has the word Newport on it... etc, etc...
You could dispair at how petty some of the sections of Welsh regional / club supporters are.

Griff wrote:

We need to wait until the young people coming through, who will increasingly know little of the semi-pro clubs (as they will perhaps have none of the stars of regional rugby), come to regional rugby as the only thing they know. In Ireland it's easier because your province is your province, has been since before the rugby teams. We do not have that and cannot expect people form mid wales to feel an association to a far flung region over their local side. It won't work.

you see i am 16 and i find it difficuly as i have only known the regions however none of the regions represent me as a gog so i am confused about my allegience, i mean i watch all the regions and want them to do well and i have ospreys shirts at home, however i prefer watching teams like the scarlets play who are much more exiciting, so it is really irritating as a gog to know who to support

support the Scarlets Welshy, you know it makes sense We have the most gog's in our team too

lol thats the thing dreamer i enjoyed watching the ospreys as when i was younger they had all the players like shane, hook, henson etc who i loved watching when they played for wales, but i also feel slightly inclined to support the scarlets as they had matches up at the race course (my local stadium) and actually played a mini game of touch rugby at half time in one encounter i believe it was against connaught. and also the fact that north wales was part of scarlets region until the load of cr*p that is rgc was set up