Women-only sports bar closes due to poor market research.

David Ogilvy once said, "A poor marketer uses research as a drunk uses a lamppost: Not for illumination, but for support."

And so it was for The Ladies' League of Oxford Street. Hearing only the news it wanted to hear was its downfall.

Rose Valente was surrounded by those with unbridled support and optimism for her venture, with free publicity from major news outlets including the ABC, and of course her own online magazine with thousands of enthusiastic supporters.

They cheered, they lifted, they encouraged, they supported, hundreds of people gave thousands of dollars in donations to let it open, for which their name appeared on bricks and balustrades throughout the establishment.

Rose heard only positives, as she listened only to her supporters, and was so assured of its success that she sold up her investment property and invested all of her own money.

She didn't listen to the banks telling her it was not a viable venture, and the sound of anyone offering critical advice was shunned for their lack of support.

Rose's supporters so wanted the idea of a women-only anything that they didn't realise how much they were throwing Rose under a bus. This is only human, as we return to David Ogilvy:

Rose honestly believed that her supporters would do as they said they would, but of course they didn't.

To work out her market, Rose needed to divide her numbers to see how small was the intersection between: Women, Sports Fans, Who didn't like men around, Nor men's sports, Who liked to be in a colourful girly-style bar while they watched said sports, Came regularly, and Without children in tow. Whoever was left in the sliver of overlap between all this had to spend enough on drinks to pay the rent ...in Darlinghurst.

The Ladies' League ended up only making a profit on the days when there was a big women's sports event on. Otherwise it was empty and, of course, went out of business within six months.

Proper market research with warts and all, which didn't just take supporters' words for their future actions, would have allowed Rose to see the dead end road her bar was on and to adjust her position. She may have found success in diversifying her offering, perhaps with regular non-sport events, or just being a regular bar most nights of the week, more accessible for those with other commitments, and in an area where rent was affordable.

So there's a lesson in market research: Don't believe the hype, don't believe what people say, observe their behaviour and crunch some actual numbers.

THEN promote the hell out of it.