During the Rugby season I watched a few ACT Brumbies games and noticed in amazement that Navy actually sponsored the team with both field sponsorship and shorts sponsorship.

Now correct me if I am wrong but per head Canberra would have to be the most saturated environment for defence force personnel.   Do you think that the money would have been better spent in an area where perhaps there was actually a very small presence of Navy, say Brisbane, in lieu of Canberra?

Before you say that it is all about the TV sponsorship, think again. Putting the RAN logo on the backside of the players was disgraceful. Unless you know what the logo looks like, there is no conceivable way you can read it.

Perhaps there were a few clever senior officers that got to sit in a box for the games or maybe they entertained their mates from a few different companies and swooned them with their cleverness of advertising at the rugby all in the name of recruiting.

A bigger waste of money and resources I have not seen.

— Scott Stevens



Response from CMDR Anne Andrews, Director Navy Reputation Management

Navy’s sponsorship of the Brumbies (and the Canberra Vikings) is primarily about Navy branding and increasing our profile to a demographic which includes our prime recruitment target and also their key influencer groups (parent and teachers etc).

The sponsorship is also focused on promoting a positive image in the community through the association with sport and teamwork. Navy’s sponsorship of these teams has had widespread coverage in both the regional and national newspapers. It has enabled Navy to provide branding and recruitment opportunities at all home games and some away games, including Brisbane where we provided tickets to the game for prospective Navy recruits chaperoned by a Defence Force Reserve member.

One point in particular I would like to clarify is your comment with respect to “senior officers that got to sit in a box for the games.” This is untrue. Part of the sponsorship does include a hospitality element which includes tickets to games and tickets to the VIP lounge. However, the VIP tickets have been provided to high-performing sailors and officers as a reward for their performance or extra effort they make in the workplace. Tickets have been dispersed to Fleet Units in the Sydney area, HMAS Albatross, HMAS Cerberus and local Canberra personnel. Although not available to all personnel across Australia, every effort is made to involve other areas wherever possible.

An additional hospitality component is the provision of signed Brumbies jerseys which are being provided to a range of areas within Navy including for use as fund raising prizes for charities.

At a time when recruitment is difficult it is very important that Navy makes an effort to improve its public profile and initiatives such as the Brumbies sponsorship represent a good opportunity to raise this profile. This sponsorship has led on to many regional opportunities including liaison with the national schoolboys’ rugby, with whom we are hoping to have a far greater involvement in 2008. If you are interested in making a difference you could contact the local Navy community engagement representative (there’s one at every establishment) and see how you could promote Navy in your area.