It's been a massive week in Melbourne, Australia, with not one but two Australian Football League grand final matches being played over consecutive weekends.
For overseas readers (or locals who have been living in a cave), click here for more background.
Upshot is, the AFL grand final is one of the biggest events on the Australian sporting calendar. The first 2010 grand final was played yesterday week ago between the AFL's biggest and most popular (and equally, most loathed) club Collingwood and St Kilda, an unsuccessful club in terms of only ever having won one premiership title in its long history (and that was back in 1966).
In last week's grand final match, the teams played to a draw. A replay was scheduled for yesterday, and Collingwood won easily.
What is the PR Warrior doing banging on about the AFL grand final?
It's an observation about how both clubs went about their business over the past two weeks in the build-up to yesterday's conclusion.
As alluded to above, Collingwood is a successful and powerful club, led by a dominant media personality Eddie McGuire and a coach (Mick Malthouse) considered to be rather dour and tactiturn.
The Magpies have a fanatical following and are the footy club everyone loves to hate.
St Kilda, on the other hand, has public sympathy on its side given its lack of success in 'the big one' - the AFL grand final.
Interestingly though, you never hear from the club's CEO or its president (I have no idea who it is, he has no media profile whatsoever). The Saints pretty much have one spokesperson: their coach Ross Lyon (himself a pretty dour character although he appears to have a sense of humour).
Collingwood has publicly embraced the run-up to both grand final matches.
McGuire has been generous in his praise of the opposition and the AFL, and Malthouse too has been pretty relaxed, especially with the media (unusual for him). The club as a whole (including players) has been accessible to the public and open and embracing of the football public, not just Magpie supporters.
A tearful Eddie McGuire (IMAGE: AFL.com)
The Saints, on the other hand, have been inward-looking (in fact, it has been pretty much all year). They call it the 'St Kilda Bubble' and it was designed to keep the players focused on "controlling on what we can control".
As a casual observer (but ardent footy fan), it seems to me that over the past two weeks Collingwood has gained more fans and grudging respect from the football public (no mean feat given everyone 'hates' them), while St Kilda hasn't done themselves any favours with their 'closed' attitude.
From a PR perspective, Collingwood bolstered its brand beyond just its immediate community of fans (which has enormous 'corporate' spin-offs for the club).
St Kilda, on the other hand (and in my opinion only), had the opportunity to attract new supporters and sponsors to its cause but probably blew the chance because they insisted on being enveloped by their so-called 'bubble' (aka 'veil of secrecy'). In other words, it was all about them (or so it seemed).
Without putting too fine a point on it, the Magpies won both on and off the ground, the Saints came second on both occasions.
What do you think? Opinions welcomed on this piece :)
Interestingly, Mick Malthouse has recently embraced social media - he recently set up a blog and is exploring the joys of Twitter (he has at time of writing over 5600 followers, although he's not following too many people - just the 15).
Also of interest: check out Collingwood's list of sponsors compared to St Kilda's - the Saints have nowhere near the number of big brand names that Collingwood has.
Telling? I think so.
(Oh, I also get the fact there are still THOUSANDS of people who hate the Pies, so much so I'm not sure Eddie & Co will ever change their minds!).
DISCLOSURE: I barrack for Geelong - the Cats have their own fair share of troubles this week at a club level! BRING ON SEASON 2011!
