# Rebranding: I don't know whether to laugh or cry! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 29, 2025, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563 "2025-01-29T05:48:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563/1 "2025-01-29T05:48:36Z")
The governing body of the athletics industry in Australia has decided to ‘boldly’ rebrand their organisation. From Athletics Australia to Australian Athletics. Seriously? [What a fucking stupid thing is this??](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-29/athletics-australia-becomes-australian-athletics/104871758) ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563/2 "2025-01-29T06:03:57Z")
They probably wanted a new acronym for the organization—i.e. something other than “AA.” Oh wait… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563/3 "2025-01-29T06:14:57Z")
> [@robby](#): > > They probably wanted a new acronym for the organization—i.e. something other than “AA.” Oh wait… 😉 - If it doesn’t work out, it’ll be easy to switch back. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563/4 "2025-01-29T06:16:14Z")
> [@robby](#): > > something other than “AA.” Oh wait… 😉 American Airlines, or Alcoholics Anonymous? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563/5 "2025-01-29T06:23:28Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > > [@robby](#): > > > > something other than “AA.” Oh wait… 😉 > > American Airlines, or Alcoholics Anonymous? - Alcoholics Airlines. “We’re flying before we leave the ground.” ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563/6 "2025-01-29T06:35:57Z")
The Australian Sports Syndicate has a better ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563/7 "2025-01-29T06:58:09Z")
I can’t help wondering just how much was spent on marketing consultants for this. Hope it wasn’t taxpayer funds. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563/8 "2025-01-29T07:18:39Z")
I’m sure it was. I can imagine the focus group being asked to choose between the options, and pissing themselves laughing as they ticked the box and claimed their $100 for their time. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563/9 "2025-01-29T08:27:28Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Alcoholics Anonymous That would pretty much restrict things to the long jump and high jump. You couldn’t get much further in 12 steps. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563/10 "2025-01-29T10:01:42Z")
Brand Consultant / Designer checking in here. This sort of reaction is pretty standard when there’s been a slight tweak to one element of an identity, and everyone piles in to wail about $2 million being spent on a stupid name change. I don’t have any opinion about this rebrand as I haven’t seen it, and wasn’t familiar with the previous iteration, but what I CAN tell you is that a rename is one teeny tiny part of a rebrand. It likely wasn’t even in the brief. Instead, the brief would have said something like ‘athletics is seen as elitist, and young audiences don’t connect with it. How do we attract a wider/younger/different audience at a grass roots level to get involved and maintain our position as a powerful athletic nation long into the future’. I’m making this up BTW. For one thing, briefs are a lot longer than that. The appointed agency would have conducted in depth research, focus groups, stakeholder interviews etc etc, and formulated a strategy to give AA a stronger message to take to market, adapted for all their different audiences. The creative element would have analysed everything about the existing identity - name, logo, colours, imagery, illustration, graphic language, typography, tone of voice (ie the ‘personality’ of the brand). At some point some part of the research and strategy process would have made a recommendation that a small tweak to the name would maintain brand recognition, they could still be AA, but (and I don’t know this, I wasn’t there) but talking about ‘Australian’ rather than ‘Australia’ it would feel like it was talking directly to the people. A more inclusive name - I appreciate talking about inclusivity isn’t in fashion right now, but it has impact at an unconscious level. They might also have felt that ‘Athletics Australia’ sounded a bit stuffy. Old fashioned. Who knows. Point is, rebranding is never just a name change. It probably wasn’t even a twinkle in the marketing director’s eye when the project started. And the change won’t be recalled by anyone beyond the twitterati and SDMB precisely because it’s subtle. And if it helps, even a tiny bit, to recruit the next Olympic stars for the team, then good on them. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563/11 "2025-01-29T12:21:06Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > That would pretty much restrict things to the long jump and high jump. You couldn’t get much further in 12 steps. Don’t forget the triple jump. But you only have 4 attempts. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563/12 "2025-01-29T12:36:13Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > They might also have felt that ‘Athletics Australia’ sounded a bit stuffy. This. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563/13 "2025-01-29T13:16:40Z")
Don’t forget the hammered throw. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563/14 "2025-01-29T13:21:14Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > The Australian Sports Syndicate has a better ring to it. “And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire…” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563/15 "2025-01-29T14:30:55Z")
Now _that there_ is a bold new identity. Though I’m far more impressed that Australia has a champion sprinter named [Gout Gout](https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/c4gpx27p4l6o). Will [Novartis](https://www.healio.com/news/rheumatology/20230831/fda-approves-ilaris-for-the-treatment-of-gout-flares-in-adults) become an official team sponsor? ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563/16 "2025-01-29T17:51:15Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Point is, rebranding is never just a name change. Just wanted to say: great post, SanVito. Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563/17 "2025-01-29T17:54:56Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > If it doesn’t work out, it’ll be easy to switch back You’re forgetting the brief, but awkward period when they’ll be called “Austrian Athletics”. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563/18 "2025-01-29T18:00:57Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > > [@running\_coach](#): > > > > If it doesn’t work out, it’ll be easy to switch back > > You’re forgetting the brief, but awkward period when they’ll be called “Austrian Athletics”. - Or “Athtrian Ausletics” ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563/19 "2025-01-29T19:03:28Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > I’m sure it was. I can imagine the focus group being asked to choose between the options, and pissing themselves laughing as they ticked the box and claimed their $100 for their time. 😛 I wonder if anyone suggested _Athletey McAthleteface._ > [@SanVito](#): > > And if it helps, even a tiny bit, to recruit the next Olympic stars for the team, then good on them. Especially if it gets them a somewhat higher caliber of competitor in the sport of breakdancing. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563/20 "2025-01-29T19:10:24Z")
I’m picturing Mugsy from Looney Tunes being in charge. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebranding-i-dont-know-whether-to-laugh-or-cry/1013563.md?page=2)