Recently, I had the pleasure of soaking up some top-tier marketing wisdom at the Australian Marketing Institute event at Alberton Oval.
Jessica Green and Rachel McLean’s team from the Port Adelaide Football Club (PAFC) walked us through their approach and there was one golden nugget that had me nodding like a dashboard bobblehead.
Although their award-winning AFLW marketing strategy started by trying to sell season tickets, they soon shifted gears and focused on selling game day tickets instead.
This might sound like a small tweak, but it’s marketing magic.
They treated these single-game tickets like samples at a grocery store—easy to try, no commitment required. Once people got a taste of the AFLW action, they were hooked.
From A Football To A Monkey Paw
This approach is a classic example of the “monkey paw” technique that David Olney and I have discussed in the past.
It’s all about starting small to build trust and relationships before going in for the big sale.
In this case, those single-game tickets were the monkey paw that led fans to eventually embrace the whole season.
Port Adelaide didn’t just rely on clever ticketing strategies, though.
Their “Herstory in the Making” campaign was a branding masterstroke, bringing everyone on board from players to fans, and it resonated on every platform—from social media to PR stunts.
The consistency across all channels and the collaborative effort behind the scenes were key to their success.
The lesson here is clear: hook people with the small sales first, and you’ve laid the foundation for a relationship so strong that eventually, you’ll never tear us apart.
Hats off to Jess, Rachel, and the whole PAFC crew for showing us the power of starting small to create something unbreakable.