Club marketing - shambolic

[Withdean Wanderer]

Gillingham game a tenner in the South Stand - BARGAIN. Well done club.


But, it would seem that unless you go to games already, visit the seagull shop or go on the Albion website, you won't actually know about the offer.


Last year there were posters all over Sussex, as well as advertising in the local media. That worked, especially for the forest game, with people paying FULL PRICE for a ticket.

This season, there's perfect opportunity to fill the ground, score a few goals against a beatable Gillingham side, and get people coming back for more. Instead, people think they are going to have to pay £25 - money that could be spent on Christmas or a much more enjoyable Friday night.

Mental:thud:

(fair play if the club actually IS advertising the offer...but i've barely seen any mention of it, so can't see that the casual football fan will have!)

 

[The Wookiee]

What offer ?

 

[Horsham Gull]

http://www.seagulls.premiumtv.co.uk/page/ComingUp/0,,10433~1170865,00.html

 

[Albion Dan]

Posters cost money and therefore may not get a return on investment, but you'd expect heavy radio advertising promoting the discounts as its a pretty cheap channel.

 

[The Large One]

Gillingham game a tenner in the South Stand - BARGAIN. Well done club.


But, it would seem that unless you go to games already, visit the seagull shop or go on the Albion website, you won't actually know about the offer.


Last year there were posters all over Sussex, as well as advertising in the local media. That worked, especially for the forest game, with people paying FULL PRICE for a ticket.

This season, there's perfect opportunity to fill the ground, score a few goals against a beatable Gillingham side, and get people coming back for more. Instead, people think they are going to have to pay £25 - money that could be spent on Christmas or a much more enjoyable Friday night.

Mental:thud:

(fair play if the club actually IS advertising the offer...but i've barely seen any mention of it, so can't see that the casual football fan will have!)

Those posters never advertised the price of the match ticket, so that wouldn't have made any different if they had continued printing them.

Plus, the Argus has run the story of the match being £10 in the paper and online. I think Harty and/or Hawesy mentioned it in commentary on BBC SCR. I have no doubt it has been mentioned on Radio Reverb ad Juice FM. So, aside from all club sources and the local media, where else should it be advertised that is cost-effective?

Nice to see you're back on your usual happy, forgiving form, anyway.

 

[dougdeep]

Moan, moan, moan.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Do the club have a little Christmas stall to put in Churchill Square? Huge amount of passing trade there to either sell or get the message across.

 

[The Large One]

Do the club have a little Christmas stall to put in Churchill Square? Huge amount of passing trade there to either sell or get the message across.

Not this year - nor last year I don't think. Churchill Square used to let them have it for a nice price.

Then a new CS manager came in and stopped all that.

 

[Brovion]

He's got a point. Most of my mates are more part-time than me. They all went to Cardiff and Spurs (and most to West Ham last year) but most of them also follow Premiership teams as well and only go to Withdean occasionally - usually when they get some sort of deal. Last Saturday eight of us went out for a drink. The Gillingham game got discussed and five of them didn't know about the reduction!

I'm not for one moment pretending that this is a scientific survey or an accurate reflection of the fan base - but not everybody reads the Argus, the club website or listens to Ian Hart. What about The Leader?

All I can think is that the club have kept it deliberately low-key as they know the ticket office goes into meltdown if 7 or more people call up.

 

[The Large One]

He's got a point. Most of my mates are more part-time than me. They all went to Cardiff and Spurs (and most to West Ham last year) but most of them also follow Premiership teams as well and only go to Withdean occasionally - usually when they get some sort of deal. Last Saturday eight of us went out for a drink. The Gillingham game got discussed and five of them didn't know about the reduction!

I'm not for one moment pretending that this is a scientific survey or an accurate reflection of the fan base - but not everybody reads the Argus, the club website or listens to Ian Hart. What about The Leader?

All I can think is that the club have kept it deliberately low-key as they know the ticket office goes into meltdown if 7 or more people call up.

I'm not saying your mates live in the clouds, but how else can it be advertised - on the side of buses? Bus stops? Taxis? In the night sky above the Pier?

If you're interested in the Albion, or you want to find something out about the Albion, you've got to do a smidge of legwork - even if it means turning on the computer yourself.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Not this year - nor last year I don't think. Churchill Square used to let them have it for a nice price.

Then a new CS manager came in and stopped all that.

That is jolly nice of them. Another place to boycott!

I really think they should be pushing this further. What about Gully's Girls handing out fliers by Churchill Square or get Gully walking about on Saturday morning..?

 

[Scotty Mac]

Plus, the Argus has run the story of the match being £10 in the paper and online. I think Harty and/or Hawesy mentioned it in commentary on BBC SCR. I have no doubt it has been mentioned on Radio Reverb ad Juice FM. So, aside from all club sources and the local media, where else should it be advertised that is cost-effective?

where was the story in the argus? if it was in the sports pages, then it is going to get passed over by a lot of casual readers - who may be casual fans who have never been before, the EXACT sort of people we are trying to attract. same with the fans phone in - only those who listen to the match will listen to it

an advert earlier in the main news bulk of the story may help with regards to the argus, and something that a large amount of sussex listen to, such as southern fm as opposed to jucie and reverb which are quite niche in comparison

its very well having these deals, but people arent going to go out of their way to find them. they need to be presentable to the public. the student one v walsall is a prime example - great deals for students, but the club but hardly any legwork into advertising them where students would access them - at the universities, in their bars and in their newsletters. it was therefore pretty much a waste of time

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

Half or qtr page advert in the Argus a week in the run up to the game should suffice.

 

[The Large One]

Half or qtr page advert in the Argus a week in the run up to the game should suffice.

Half page ad - you're looking at an outlay of about £1,000 - £1,500.

That's an extra 650-1,000 EXTRA on the gate to pay for it. And that's just to break even on the cost of the ad. Fine if you can guarantee that it will pay for itself. One-off radio ads are pretty steep too.

Scotty - agree about the student thing. Did they not advertise it at all through the colleges, techs and univiersities?

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

If you're interested in the Albion, or you want to find something out about the Albion, you've got to do a smidge of legwork - even if it means turning on the computer yourself.

Maybe the exposure the club gets in the immediate vicinity of Brighton and Hove is fine but out here in the sticks of West Sussex where SCR reception is problematic and the Argus doesn't really get to there is no Albion publicity at all and I think that a large number of people just don't know anything about the club, what's going on etc. The West Sussex County Times may run a half page spread on the local MP getting his hair cut or Warnham Ladies Bowls 3rd team having to put up with having Earl Grey instead Assam during their away match with Broadbridge Heath but rarely is there anything on the Albion. Posters may sound a bit 'old tech' but other sports clubs etc still use them in pubs, village shops, notice boards, post offices (they're not all closing) etc. FFS I'd even pay to have some put up in Rudgwick if it came to that.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

Half page ad - you're looking at an outlay of about £1,000 - £1,500.

That's an extra 650-1,000 EXTRA on the gate to pay for it. And that's just to break even on the cost of the ad. Fine if you can guarantee that it will pay for itself. One-off radio ads are pretty steep too.

Scotty - agree about the student thing. Did they not advertise it at all through the colleges, techs and univiersities?

Small price to pay for what could be guaranteed fans for the forseeable future and a striong possibility they will come again.

Plus Im sure the club could negotiate a deal. That IS one of the tasks of a marketing dept!!!

 

[Uncle Buck]

Text broadcast to all mobiles on the clubs database.

A series of email shots in the run up.

 

[Brovion]

I'm not saying your mates live in the clouds, but how else can it be advertised - on the side of buses? Bus stops? Taxis? In the night sky above the Pier?

If you're interested in the Albion, or you want to find something out about the Albion, you've got to do a smidge of legwork - even if it means turning on the computer yourself.

The buses, taxis and bus stops are all good ideas. Plus posters in pubs/shops etc?

 

[Brovion]

Bart: "I forgot it was PE sign-up day!"
Lisa: "How could you possibly forget? There were posters all over the Library!"

 

[Braders]

Gillingham game a tenner in the South Stand - BARGAIN. Well done club.


But, it would seem that unless you go to games already, visit the seagull shop or go on the Albion website, you won't actually know about the offer.


Last year there were posters all over Sussex, as well as advertising in the local media. That worked, especially for the forest game, with people paying FULL PRICE for a ticket.

This season, there's perfect opportunity to fill the ground, score a few goals against a beatable Gillingham side, and get people coming back for more. Instead, people think they are going to have to pay £25 - money that could be spent on Christmas or a much more enjoyable Friday night.

Mental:thud:

(fair play if the club actually IS advertising the offer...but i've barely seen any mention of it, so can't see that the casual football fan will have!)

i 100% agree , and was actually talking about the subject with a few people the other day - we complain that the Withdean never sells out but apart from the regulars and those that actually READ the Argus/ this place/ Albion Website people don't know how easy it is to get tickets

if the club pushed the campaign that we have seats avaliable at a decent rate and hit Sussex running with it ( like example the colleges , universities etc.. banners where ever possible) although this will cost the club heavily to start off with it will pay itself back once we are getting full houses (well near as dammit) with revenue from food, merchendise etc..

the other thing that needs to be hammered home is that you can buy tickets upto an hour (isn't it? or half hour, see even I don't know anymore) before kick off online - may get the fairweather/out of town fans into deciding to buy them (and advertise the fact more on the official site - rather then just a simple button that can be easily missed)

a few simple ideas that can get a possible couple more thousand on the gate... the club take it for granted that fans should know this but this simply isn't the case it seems.