03/09/2026
I was staying at the Pullman hotel on that infamous Monday morning. I saw the women described as “agitated” in the foyer — I noticed them approach a few junior Swans players, who stood there looking unsure what was being asked of them.
An odd start to the morning — but I thought nothing of it… and headed off to an event across the road for a construction company, where I was speaking about customer experience.
I was talking about the “effect of our brand” and the role every employee plays as an “ambassador” — every moment you walk on site, send an email, even the culture you create internally.
I described the mismatch that happens when there’s a gap between what we promise and what people actually experience.
And ironically, I used the Swans as my example. I held up the red and white scarf 🧣… it’s like any football team — those colours mean something 🔴 ⚪️. They make us feel a part of something bigger.
It was later that morning I saw the headlines coming through: an incident, Swans players involved. Not knowing what was unfolding, we kind of laughed in the room — saying “see, when we go out in our colours, we represent the good and the bad.”
What a strange irony… as the headlines plastered the news that week, that scarf, that single metaphor, proved my point better than I could have intended, sadly.
Swans is a family brand — approachable, inclusive, respectful. My 10-year-old son Bailey is a huge fan; we’ve got pictures of him and Heeney. And that’s what made the incident hit so hard: the gap between what’s promised and what actually happened wasn’t just a mismatch, it felt like a betrayal of the values the fans, like us, all held to be true.
But look — apart from upholding that all people deserve respect and safety, I’m not here to judge what happened.
Just to observe the case study: when you put on the colours, you represent the brand.
And a powerful reminder: customer experience — and connection in general — isn’t just what you do, it’s the effect of what you create. And every one of us has the opportunity to influence that. In the things we do... and in the way we repair.
