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Post by alessandro on Feb 11, 2011 11:31:37 GMT
How far have we come. I tune into the website today and there are two articles about how good the fans are. This is very canny in terms of maintaining a connection between fans and club, and also helping to keep the feel good factor going.
It also tunes people into the facts about how good our crowds are if they hadn't already. It's a good matchday experience (bar the lack of noise) when we get bigger crowds. It was very depressing to watch when we were getting sub 4000 crowds a couple of seasons ago.
More importantly, the new marketing man Mick Everett seems to be on the ball.
- Texting and phoning our database with automatic messages just before a game
This is something no other club I know in the bottom couple of leagues does. So another giant leap forward. I can envisage us breaking the 8000 average barrier next season if we keep these club, and the fan initiatives going.
Also it looks like we'll be targetting buses and local papers. I do hope we extend a mailing list to pubs aswell with one page flyers for their noticeboards.
Finally, I'd love to see the club set up regional supporters buses. In their prime Charlton did this and shipped fans in from far afield from places like Gillingham. It created communal groups and meant people enjkoyed their matchday more and were more likely to attend games, especially with the increased ease of access.
But once again, well done to Mick Everett, Dave Jackson and co.
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Post by scoob on Feb 11, 2011 11:55:32 GMT
I think the marketing has come on in leaps and bounds since the two staff you mentioned started at the club.
I wonder if transport and parking will be adressed. I think Charlton did the buses from much further afield than Gillingham. Some of their routes were up to 90 miles from the ground and included places like Dover, Hastings and even Guildford I think. I saw the coach from Hastings in Tunbridge Wells a couple of times and it seemed fairly full even though that was about half way. There may not be sufficient demand for those sort of distance for our club but maybe starting from Banbury, Burford, Newbury, Aylesbury with towns/villages en-route could be considered.
I have been surprised by the lack of ticket sales for the Rotherham game compared to the Cheltenham game. It looks like the home crowd could be 500 down on that game. I wonder why that is? OK it is not a "local derby" but Rotherham have been near the top most of the season so should be fairly attractive even though our form has dipped a little.
I think there were lots of kids and parents at the Cheltenham game so that could be part of the reason. I noticed that people were queueing along Grenoble Road to get to the car parks for at least 10 minutes into the Cheltenham game and was similar for a couple of other games with large crowds this season. I wonder if that may be putting some people off? If we do start to exceed 8000 on a regular basis then transport will become an issue and will affect crowds. When this issse has been brought up with KT at Oxvox meetings he did not feel that it was enough of an issue to warrant the time spent on it but if we do go up then it must become a high priority.
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Post by ox4eva on Feb 11, 2011 12:44:59 GMT
I think we are really doing well on the marketing front, the local transports could be tied in with the supporters clubs idea.
I remember saying a few months back that the club should run a pub OUFC supporters pack where all pubs that register their interest are listed as OUFC pubs and they recieve a OUFC plaque with their name on it to have on display and they recieve regular promotional items to display and maybe a couple of match tickets on a regular basis to use as a raffle prize
I am sure Reading do something like this with pubs there..
The club should also look at running a mobile shop and this could be taken around the county and being in certain places on a certain day every week and also attend outside events like fairs etc
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Post by The Fence End on Feb 11, 2011 12:57:48 GMT
Hopefully this marketing will prove profitable.
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Post by ryaniobirdio on Feb 11, 2011 16:03:30 GMT
Mick Everett is a great man.
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Post by alessandro on Feb 11, 2011 16:38:36 GMT
Mick Everett is a great man. Why?
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Post by ryaniobirdio on Feb 11, 2011 17:18:34 GMT
Mick Everett is a great man. Why? He's just a top bloke who is very good at his job.
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Post by Mark on Feb 11, 2011 17:24:39 GMT
Mick Everett is a great man. Is this the lovechild of Matt Everett and Mick Brown?
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Post by ryaniobirdio on Feb 11, 2011 17:29:34 GMT
Mick Everett is a great man. Is this the lovechild of Matt Everett and Mick Brown? Well that's going to ensure that I don't sleep for a few days.
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Post by alessandro on Feb 11, 2011 23:05:52 GMT
He's just a top bloke who is very good at his job. Probably a bummer.
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Post by salaghaf on Feb 12, 2011 10:05:23 GMT
They do seem to be doing a good job. Although one small worry: Both my brother's and my membership cards ran out last month and we have heard nothing from the club. I also e-mailed David Jackson (to make him aware) but as yet have heard nothing.
This is a little worrying. Not very proactive or reactive. Especially considering the effort they put into setting the scheme up.
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Post by browny on Feb 13, 2011 13:45:12 GMT
Welcome initiatives to increase crowds but really not sure that answering my home phone to a recorded message from the manager is actually a right and proper thing to do
If 20 companies who had your name on a database done this every week you would all very soon get fed up I think this is one fornm of marketing that is intrusive and should be dropped immediately
Anyway, why phone me when I have a season ticket ??
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Post by scoob on Feb 13, 2011 18:29:36 GMT
Do you consider OUFC to be just any old company then?
Personally I welcome these calls even if they phone me because they should drag in more fans and subsequently more revenue. Hopefully the club won't use this method too often but target it to games where the crowds are looking a bit thin. As a ST holder I feel that we get a real bargain at OUFC so I am happy if I have the ever so slight inconvenience of having to get off my arse to answer the phone once in a while.
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Post by browny on Feb 13, 2011 21:18:09 GMT
I think you are missing the point, I think this sort of direct marketing is wrong. Forget about whether its OUFC, would you be happy for your phone to ring lets say 2/3 time a night with this sort of marketing ?
If the answer is No, and it is for me then it makes no difference who is doing it, its about the principal of calling you at home
As you say lets see if its a one off or more widespread but not sure answering the phone to a recorded voice would convince me any more than the emails from players
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Post by Lone Gunman on Feb 13, 2011 21:20:36 GMT
I think you are missing the point, I think this sort of direct marketing is wrong. Forget about whether its OUFC, would you be happy for your phone to ring lets say 2/3 time a night with this sort of marketing ? If the answer is No, and it is for me then it makes no difference who is doing it, its about the principal of calling you at home As you say lets see if its a one off or more widespread but not sure answering the phone to a recorded voice would convince me any more than the emails from players I'd have thought you'd be more accepting of a marketing call from the club you love rather than the double glazing firm though?
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Post by browny on Feb 13, 2011 22:32:42 GMT
I agree but not all those on the database of 30000 are likely to be and it could be counterproductive
For me its all about how often its used. I would certainly not want a call before every game to remind me to buy tickets for a game I have a season ticket to cover
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Post by Lone Gunman on Feb 13, 2011 23:05:24 GMT
I agree but not all those on the database of 30000 are likely to be and it could be counterproductive For me its all about how often its used. I would certainly not want a call before every game to remind me to buy tickets for a game I have a season ticket to cover Slightly ill-advised contacting season ticket holders I guess, and I agree if its overused it could be counterproductive. But I think the idea is sound enough and should be commended as another way of reaching out to the support. At least we can now complain about proactive marketing steps taken by the club rather than the total lack of marketing.
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Post by scoob on Feb 14, 2011 2:14:26 GMT
I agree but not all those on the database of 30000 are likely to be and it could be counterproductive For me its all about how often its used. I would certainly not want a call before every game to remind me to buy tickets for a game I have a season ticket to cover Its the way of the world. I had two calls on Friday from other companies and rather than getting annoyed I just said thanks but no thanks to the caller. With recorded messages then its even easier, if I don't like what I am hearing then a flick of the left thumb and its over. I think you are making too much of a single call. Some people will be influenced positively by a call and they do not all have email or read them regularly so this is just another method. The club has to use every tool available to increase the bums on seats so that we do not end up in the financial mess that we were in about two years ago. Every penny counts and after the Rotherham game we have just one money earning game in a month so the cashflow is important too. Hopefully they will work out a way of taking STs off the list but that could be time consuming and costly so maybe they will not be able to do it. Why not just chill and not get so wound up about these little irritants?
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Post by Si Bradbury on Feb 14, 2011 9:26:07 GMT
These types of marketing need to be explored and from the success rate they can determine if they should do it again.
It's funny how people perceive these types of initiatives. I took two people with me to the game on Saturday, who only attend Xmas and New Year games due to work constraints, who received the 'call' and it prompted them to buy tickets on the Thursday/Friday.
On the other hand, some supporters, those who are Season Ticket Holders for example, may be feeling excluded and taken for granted. I don't feel like that, but some may.
It was a good commercial decision and if people really were against it then register with the TPS and then make a complaint.
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