[Albion] Kit reveal at some yet-to-be-determined time in the future

[The Grockle]

I bloody love Paul Barber.

Quite.

Comes across exceptionally well somethimg that wouldn't have eluded bigger clubs, I imagine this will be his last season with us sadly.

 

[Bozza]

I also understand that those who have registered may be getting a glimpse of the new kit sooner rather than later...

 

[Hillian1]

I also understand that those who have registered may be getting a glimpse of the new kit sooner rather than later...

So it should be up on here sooner rather than later then.

 

[Hyperion]

If he reads this thread, Paul........Where is that seat you promised me

 

[Horses Arse]

Sod the fans it's those that can't really be arsed with the club unless it's presented to them in the right way that matter.

Modern day life I guess rather than limited to football but irritating none the less.

Hope it generates some fans that stick with the club, you never know.

 

[Commander]

I just cannot fathom how a living, breathing, adult human being can get worked up about the release date of a football team's kit, 6 weeks before the new season starts. Seriously, do people not have other things going on to worry about? It is completely bizarre.

 

[East Preston Gull]

I just cannot fathom how a living, breathing, adult human being can get worked up about the release date of a football team's kit, 6 weeks before the new season starts. Seriously, do people not have other things going on to worry about? It is completely bizarre.

This!

 

[Beach Hut]

I just cannot fathom how a living, breathing, adult human being can get worked up about the release date of a football team's kit, 6 weeks before the new season starts. Seriously, do people not have other things going on to worry about? It is completely bizarre.

Agreed and they are over-priced tat as well.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I also understand that those who have registered may be getting a glimpse of the new kit sooner rather than later...

7pm tonight? As per the thread title?

 

[Rugrat]

I've had an exchange with Paul Barber this afternoon about this which has put in place some of the cynicism I was showing, and he is happy for me to share what he said for others to read...


Selecting Nike as our kit partner wasn’t just about the money….although it is the highest value deal in the club’s history, and has some great and innovative elements to it, it was as much about working with a brand that could help us to target and engage with a new and much younger audience for the Albion. Nike undoubtedly remains the coolest sportswear brand amongst the younger target audiences.

We also need to do this stuff without the kind of budgets that bigger clubs work with and with far less resource (and we rarely use agencies). That means we challenge our guys to be different, to try things, not to be afraid of them not working, not to be put off if some fans don’t like the campaign. The results will determine the success - not the sentiment. In my experience, everyone is a “marketing expert”!

The marketing to support the launch is designed to be part of a longer term process of engaging with that younger audience, many of whom won’t or don’t currently attend Albion matches or, if they do, probably don’t engage with the club directly. Older fans may not like the “teasing” but the kids do – and it’s flying around a lot of different places already. That marketing reach has cost us nothing!

As you will know, marketing is not just about engaging existing customers (in our case, fans), and neither is every launch campaign directed at existing customers. Sometimes, as in this case, certain elements of a campaign can be deliberately slanted away from existing customers (without alienating them) because we’re trying to build the overall merchandise side of our business - and grow the fan base.

Of course we know that existing supporters will get to see the kit without a teaser campaign – but many members of the audience we are trying to attract won’t or wouldn’t have without it. And, of course we also know that getting the shirt on sale means that we will generate cash sooner! And, yes, we also know we’re not Barcelona or England! Doesn’t mean to say, we shouldn’t do things differently from the past.

But, at the end of the day, selling football shirts is best done by using our players. They Our returned to work yesterday. Our immediate priority for them is their medical testing – not modelling shirts! Next week, there will be a little more time for them to be our athletic clothes horses!

In football, we work to fairly rigid timetables at this time of year. This kind of dictates when you can launch a kit, and particularly with a new manufacturer as contracts limit what you can do prior to the umber break. Regardless, and as we said all along, fans will be able to buy their new shirts before most people take their summer holidays.

With regard to timing overall, we’ve already taken time to explain (some weeks ago now):

- clubs tend not to launch kits during World Cups as the focus of supporters is elsewhere
- if they do, it’s either prior to the tournament (which we couldn’t do as we were under contract elsewhere) or towards the back end of a tournament in a convenient window (England going out helps)
- this timing isn’t just about supply of kit either (we have it!), it’s about the focus of the manufacturer (World Cups will always take precedence for the bigger brands like Nike and Adidas)
- building up some “chatter” about the new kit is exactly what the teaser campaign was designed to do – judging by the thread, it’s worked!
- also, judging by the new email addresses amongst the “interested” sign ups - well in to the thousands over night - we’re also getting the new data we were after
- fans will of course get to see the kit ahead of the first friendly match…that’s obviously designed to act as a further promotional tool!
- And then there’s the new store which will display and sell the kit in a very different way to what fans have been used to in our first 3 Amex years; this is a fun element to our deal with Nike

I think I’ve launched about 30 different kits over the years, in the UK and north America, for club and country, and using just about every different technique going – and each one engaged different fans in different ways. Some launches have been more successful than others, but each one ultimately helped sell more shirts than the last. Let’s hope, for the club’s sake, we can do the same here!

PR BS

Still I guess he's sold 30 kits and I've sold 0, but even Barnet sell kits

 

[Albumen]

I just cannot fathom how a living, breathing, adult human being can get worked up about the release date of a football team's kit, 6 weeks before the new season starts. Seriously, do people not have other things going on to worry about? It is completely bizarre.

This is NSC, everything is drama. Like eastenders, only not quite as tedious.

 

[RupertsFlan]

to avoid getting worked about this Ive devised a really helpful method. Feel free to plagiarise if necessary.

I've made an assumption that it may be blue. Or white. Or something with both.

With American Express written across the middle.

It may have blue in the shorts. Or White. And on the socks.

And then I stopped giving a floppy monkeys cock about something that children at playschool would worry about.

There's bedwetting. There's Football bedwetting and then there's NSC full bowel excavation bedwetting.

Holy Christ some people on here soiling themselves about this are over 30. That's frankly both laughable and weirdly terrifying.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

It makes some posters feel superior to others because they think they are more mature. Live & let live.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

19:12 an email saying the wait is almost over.

 

[Gazwag]

Nope. I've heard there will be dancing dwarves and girls.

Superb, I'm there

 

[Superphil]

Solid back, novel? I seem to remember a time when most people were anti solid backs, and were calling for striped backs on the shirts.

 

[Napper]

All blue wtf

 

[Norman Potting]

Readable number is all that I am interested in.

 

[Colossal Squid]

So has an email with glimpses been sent now?

Can someone post?

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Anybody else now ACTIVELY looking forward to the award-winning comedy scenario of the Albion turning out for the first pre-season friendly with no kit and no players?

'Premier League Ready' my arse. Currently we're not even 'Championship Ready'