Let me be the first to congratulate the Bulls Marketing Department on their 'mates rates' and shirt discount promotion.
Any relationship between and organisation and their 'client' (us in this case) is a very complex game. Recently our beloved club has been experiencing a down turn in form and the fair weather boys have taken flight dropping the attendances badly.
In these times, when the team is not pulling in the revenue, the marketing department is the engine driving the revenue streams through building engagement with the fans and thus building brand loyalty. This is why I applaud the efforts of the marketing team in giving the fans another reason to attend the game this weekend.
Few people realise that the only department in an organisation that actually thinks with the customer interest at heart is marketing. All other areas are concerned with protecting the company and anything done is with the organisations well being front and centre. Marketing is the polar opposite.
Already I am concerned to hear that people are upset as they already have the shirt and feel they have been ripped off. The harsh reality is you haven't. Your choice was to buy the shirt and so you really can have no complaints. The main thing here is to be objective and look at the club and realise it is actually taking an interest in us as fans. What do we want, when and how?
By building this engagement our loyalty to the club grows and our future becomes more certain. Look at the Mancs over the hill. They built a brand which has taken it to the top of the soccer world. They even have Manc U mortgages for goodness sake. And you know what? People trust the brand so implicitly people have taken it regardless of whether it was the best deal. The brand is trusted and they would not get involved in anything shonky!
And so back to Odsal. As a fan base we are down, we are frustrated we want the good times back and so we are cynical about anything the club does to bring people back. But that is our goal too. We want the big crowds in, the carnival atmosphere and everything that goes with it. So let's get off the back of the marketing guys who are showing signs that they are going into gear to do this!
Instead of trying to get our money back, let's put a different spin on it. Well done guys, will you be doing the same for the home shirt? Will there be another mates rates? Even suggest ideas!
And to the club. We've have had many, what I consider, gaffs in the recent past. Without raking too many areas of pain over, Friday night footy and charging your customers to use their credit card to buy an early bird season ticket just THREE weeks before Christmas when cash is a scarce commodity were really designed to pee your base off. Hopefully these are a thing of the past!
My suggestion as a starter is that the Bulls encourage people to sign up to SMS news. Register here and we'll send you the team news before anyone else gets it. Ever register for SMS alerts on-line and get £5 off your next purchase. For us reading that are already saying that's not great, maybe, but it's a step. By registering for services provided by the club they can see what work, what ticks the boxes for the fan base and so can tailor the future to our needs.
We are always wanting more from the club so why not give a little in return? It's all about bringing the fans closer to the club and if the club communicate with the fan base and give them the inside track and offers they actually want then we have a greater chance of keeping people at Odsal and turning them into advocates who'll sell the experience rather risk them walking away...here's my starter for 10 to get people visiting the official site. Use mobile numbers collated from the Man of the Match vote and send a teaser.
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Now, we have a very knowledgeable and reasoned membership base on here and it's a great place to get our voices heard. So, onto the forums, over to you. What can the Marketing department do to build the relationship with the Bradford public? And remember it needs to be viable and not bankrupt the club! Let's work together to ride out the storm!