Yard Dog Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 No, I don't think I'm the norm. But I have worked in sales and marketing for long enough to know that different types of campaign attract different people, in different ways at different times. Have these campaigns delivered in a timely and co-ordinated way alongside suitable longer term propositions and you can grow your customer base and retain that growth longer term. The problem with Latics is that they have a campaign, it doesn't retain 3,000 extra fans and they think it's failed. The half-season ticket I bought wasn't sold to me as part of the two cheap matches. I stumbled across it when it was a news story on the web site for half a day. To be honest, they really should have been ramming them in the faces of the fickle freeloaders when they had extra people in the ground. Lot of bull:censored: corporate speak in that, mate. Football fans are totally different from any other type of customer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opinions4u Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 So by my reckoning we are the most expensive lower league club.Although the £50 for a season for under 16s is, pretty sensational value. Bury and Stockport are 4th division. Rochdale are new to this division. At the end of the day it's divisoin 3 football whether we like it or not. Do we still have memberships? I'm guessing we don't. We should look at schemes like that to encourage fans who can't make every game. For a £20 fee you get a membership that will let you in for £15 a game and gets you 10% off in the club shop. No new fan will pay a fee to get a future discount. What happened to Junior Latics? I was a member of that back in the day and it was excellent. Maybe set up some sort of Club Latics. Maybe say £15 to join and then it's only £5 a game, you get a goody bag when you join up and the chance to be a mascot during the season (keep the kit, photos, meet the players etc). I think Boundary Blues could do with a makeover. It's great for what it is - £50 for season ticket, mascot opportunity etc - but I'm sure with the right resource it could do more. (that's not a knock for those who run Boundary Blues - I think you're brilliant). Give season ticket holders vouchers that can be reedemed against opposition such as Yeovil where a low crowd may be expected. That way they can bring somebody who might no usually be there. There is a £5 admission voucher in my season ticket book. I thought I'd be able to select the game that I use this for, so I'm disappointed that the Club will decide the moment. Doing offers like 3 in a row just isn't fessable for a lot of people. The deal that was advertised for Yeovil, Shrewsbury and Bristol Rovers is okay if you can gurantee you can get to all 3 games. How many people actually can though, I'd wager it wouldn't be many who are not already season ticket holders. I have long been an advocate of 10 match (or 5 perhaps) tickets where the buyer has flexibility to choose when the turn up at the ground. Suck 'em in when we're playing well! Keep the ideas flowing. The new marketing manager, when appointed, will need them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opinions4u Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 (edited) Lot of bull:censored: corporate speak in that, mate. Football fans are totally different from any other type of customer. Suit yourself. The main way that football fans are different to other customers is blind loyalty. That has been eroded over the last 15 years and little done to correct the situation. Latics are crap at sustained marketing efforts and the point stands. But it will please you to know that I haven't applied for Guy Walker's job . Edited August 30, 2010 by opinions4u Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millsy82 Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 Why won't people buy a membership? For me and many others I know it would be ideal. To pay £20 for a membership for the year and get in for £15 a game I would only need to go to 5 games before I've got my money back. Season Tickets are brilliant, but only if you can go every week. I can't. Many others I know also can't. A mate of mine plays football on a Saturday. If he's playing away he doens't go to Latics, if he's playing at home he's walking down Sheep Foot Lane at 14:45 to pay his £20. Or the people who work the occasional weekend. When I lived in the UK I worked 2 days, 2 nights 4 days off. So if a Latics game fell on my 4 days off I could go, if the game was on during my 4 days in work I couldn't go. That meant for weeks at a time I was unable to get to games, no point in me having a season ticket. Some sort of membership would have suited me perfectly. It rewards loyalty. Just because circumstances dictate you can't get to games doesn't make you an unloyal fan. Besides, we used to have a membership scheme. I had a book that I used to take with me to the RRE gates and the turnstyle operator would rip out the voucher then give me my £2 discount or whatever it was. I was only a kid but I seem to remember it was about a £5 for the season. My old man was in the Navy so we couldn't go every week so this was the best we could do. Another idea. Free Latics World Membership for anybody buying a Season Ticket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opinions4u Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 Why won't people buy a membership? I didn't say people wouldn't buy a membership. I said new supporters wouldn't buy one. If existing supporters buy them it almost certainly reduces the revenue of the football club, which defeats the object. For me and many others I know it would be ideal. Another idea. Free Latics World Membership for anybody buying a Season Ticket. A fine idea - if it would increase the number of season tickets by more than about 15% it would break even. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millsy82 Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 One thing that does bug me about Latics is that it's cheaper to buy your ticket before the day of the game. Who in there right mind is going to take time out of their busy lives to go to the ground just to get a £2 discount? It would probably cost £2 in petorl money unless you live very close to the ground. If the club can afford to sell tickets for £18 a game then why not just do that in the first place? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wardlelatic Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 One thing that does bug me about Latics is that it's cheaper to buy your ticket before the day of the game. Who in there right mind is going to take time out of their busy lives to go to the ground just to get a £2 discount? It would probably cost £2 in petorl money unless you live very close to the ground. If the club can afford to sell tickets for £18 a game then why not just do that in the first place? Easy. Ring 0161 624 4972 Order your tickets over the phone and pay with your card and collect from the ticket office on the day of the match. Simplesss... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millsy82 Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 I didn't say people wouldn't buy a membership. I said new supporters wouldn't buy one. If existing supporters buy them it almost certainly reduces the revenue of the football club, which defeats the object. For me and many others I know it would be ideal. A fine idea - if it would increase the number of season tickets by more than about 15% it would break even. I think you might be wrong. I'm no expert, hell I'd be better of running the offical website ;-) , but I think there are those that have other commitments and when the oppotunity arises they won't go because it's £20, or they'll save the money for away games (I know quite a few mates of mine who go mostly to away games because it's better atmosphere). As for the Latics World offer, how would it be possible to know without knowing how many people subscribe to the offical website and how many of them are actually season ticket holders. The ONLY reason I subscribe to Latics World is because I live in Cyprus and it's the only way of listening to commentary and watching the goals. If I was a Season Ticket holder, I wouldn't need the commentary (I'd most likely be a the game) and I can see the goals on BBC website before Latics website anyway. The only real benefit is the interviews, but the common man wouldn't see it like that. He'd see if for getting everything that Latics World actually has to offer, hence the reason to offer it to Season Ticket Holders only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millsy82 Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 Easy. Ring 0161 624 4972 Order your tickets over the phone and pay with your card and collect from the ticket office on the day of the match. Simplesss... So add the price of a phone call, not much I know, but still eating into my £2 discount. Then the inconvinence of queing and having to get there at least 10 mins earler. It's only a little thing and it's sounds petty, but thats how people will look at it. That number is not exactly well advertised either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oafc0000 Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 (edited) So add the price of a phone call, not much I know, but still eating into my £2 discount. Then the inconvinence of queing and having to get there at least 10 mins earler. It's only a little thing and it's sounds petty, but thats how people will look at it. That number is not exactly well advertised either. They have always been happy to post to me for free...but maybe that is due to me not living in Oldham... The number is the main latics number... Ever heard of the phone book or google http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Oldham+Athletic+Phone+Number Edited August 30, 2010 by oafc0000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oafc0000 Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 Why won't people buy a membership? For me and many others I know it would be ideal. To pay £20 for a membership for the year and get in for £15 a game Not allowed under football league rules I am afraid as far as I know.... why the old membership was scrapped I understan... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wardlelatic Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 So add the price of a phone call, not much I know, but still eating into my £2 discount. Then the inconvinence of queing and having to get there at least 10 mins earler. It's only a little thing and it's sounds petty, but thats how people will look at it. That number is not exactly well advertised either. call from work and let them pay the 4pm phone call Wish we had big queues at the ticket office. At the moment you can get to the ground for 2:45 get your ticket, place a bet and still be in your seat for KO... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millsy82 Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 They have always been happy to post to me for free...but maybe that is due to me not living in Oldham... The number is the main latics number... Ever heard of the phone book I think your missing the point. You can take the pi$$ all you want, but at the end of the day I can't remember the last time I even seen a phone book if I'm honest. Everything is on the internet, but they need to make it clear and easy to find. Why can't you order your tickets on the internet? For other clubs you can. E-Tickets that you can print off. You don't live in Oldham yet you have a phone book that has Oldham Athleics main number in? What about kids? At 11 or 12 year old you might be a positon where your parents will trust you to go to a Latics game on your own. You might do it without telling your parents! How is a kid going to get a ticket without a bank card. The whole point of this is that if the club can afford to sell it's ticets for £18 instead of £20 then why not just do that. If they are relying on (and lets be honest here) the vast majority of pay on the day punters being lazy and not getting the tickets then why not just reduce the price by £1 for everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oafc0000 Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 (edited) I think your missing the point. You can take the pi$$ all you want, but at the end of the day I can't remember the last time I even seen a phone book if I'm honest. Everything is on the internet, but they need to make it clear and easy to find. Why can't you order your tickets on the internet? For other clubs you can. E-Tickets that you can print off. You don't live in Oldham yet you have a phone book that has Oldham Athleics main number in? So I repeat.... CLICK ME What about kids? At 11 or 12 year old you might be a positon where your parents will trust you to go to a Latics game on your own. You might do it without telling your parents! How is a kid going to get a ticket without a bank card. Pay on the day ? The whole point of this is that if the club can afford to sell it's ticets for £18 instead of £20 then why not just do that. If they are relying on (and lets be honest here) the vast majority of pay on the day punters being lazy and not getting the tickets then why not just reduce the price by £1 for everyone. Once someone has bought a ticket they are coming... Pay on the day people are able to change there minds at the last min... You might not be clever enough to understand all this but it dosen't mean it is wrong Edited August 30, 2010 by oafc0000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millsy82 Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 call from work and let them pay the 4pm phone call Wish we had big queues at the ticket office. At the moment you can get to the ground for 2:45 get your ticket, place a bet and still be in your seat for KO... It's still time consuming though, no? It's peoples time that the club is wasting and it is wasted. 5 mins on the phone at my expense and then another few minutes at the ground picking up the ticket. Get a big game and you do have to que for a good while. Like I said, it's not much but it's the small things that will count to some people. In all honesty I wouldn't bother and pay the extra £2. I know it's going to the club and it's saves me 10 mins of my life getting a £2 discount. If it was a £5 discount then maybe I would bother. Actually as I've only just recently discovered, I'll be getting in for £12 in the future (£10 if I could be bothered to ring, book & collect). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millsy82 Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 So I repeat.... CLICK ME Pay on the day ? Once someone has bought a ticket they are coming... Pay on the day people are able to change there minds at the last min... You might not be clever enough to understand all this but it dosen't mean it is wrong Then again maybe it's people such as yourself who put people off coming to Latics with your needless sarcasam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millsy82 Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 Once someone has bought a ticket they are coming... Pay on the day people are able to change there minds at the last min... You might not be clever enough to understand all this but it dosen't mean it is wrong Actually I'm almost sure I'm right that that is not actually the case. If I don't want to go, I just phone up and cancel my tickets and recieve a refund. Look.........no insults needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oafc0000 Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 (edited) Then again maybe it's people such as yourself who put people off coming to Latics with your needless sarcasam. When someone is complaining that the club don't advertise their main phone number on the internet I think there is every reason for sarcasm when they so clearly do... For all your latic information needs you can try: www.oldhamathletic.co.uk but you probably couldn't bothered to look If £2 saving isn't worth the bother of a (10p ?) phone call and then either turning up early or queuing then really you have nothing to moan about I don't believe for a second that if Latics dropped the price from £20 to £18 it would make ANY difference at all. The whole ticket price issue is a bit of a red herring. If we was in the Prem and charging £30 the same people who said they couldn't afford it would suddenly find the money. What is a real matter for debate is value for money... and when view from that angle you wouldn't see much of a difference unless you charged about £10 IMO... Edited August 30, 2010 by oafc0000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opinions4u Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 I still think people should keep throwing the marketing ideas on to the forum. Good, bad or indifferent they are all worthy of debate. Hopefully one day we'll stumble on to the magic ingredient! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millsy82 Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 (edited) When someone is complaining that the club don't advertise their main phone number on the internet I think there is every reason for sarcasm when they so clearly do... For all your latic information needs you can try: www.oldhamathletic.co.uk but you probably couldn't bothered to look If £2 saving isn't worth the bother of a (10p ?) phone call and then either turning up early or queuing then really you have nothing to moan about I don't believe for a second that if Latics dropped the price from £20 to £18 it would make ANY difference at all. The whole ticket price issue is a bit of a red herring. If we was in the Prem and charging £30 the same people who said they couldn't afford it would suddenly find the money. What is a real matter for debate is value for money... and when view from that angle you wouldn't see much of a difference unless you charged about £10 IMO... I never said it would make a difference to the gate. Read back. It's for the people who go often. I said it's something I don't understand why they offer but then make it......difficult isn't the word......lets plumb for inconvenient. If your you can save £20 a year on your gas bill but it's going to take 30 days to sort it all out and numerous phone calls, would you bother? Some would, the majority wouldn't. If you believe you are one of the people would change to save some money, the next time somebody calls at your door telling you that the Gas, Phone, Electric company they represent can save you money, invite them in, hear them out and then change providers. Now imagine your Gas/Phone/Electric company you was with phoned you up and offered you £10 off your bill. How many people would take that? Answer: Everybody. Edited August 30, 2010 by millsy82 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oafcprozac Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 No, I don't think I'm the norm. But I have worked in sales and marketing for long enough to know that different types of campaign attract different people, in different ways at different times. Have these campaigns delivered in a timely and co-ordinated way alongside suitable longer term propositions and you can grow your customer base and retain that growth longer term. The problem with Latics is that they have a campaign, it doesn't retain 3,000 extra fans and they think it's failed. The half-season ticket I bought wasn't sold to me as part of the two cheap matches. I stumbled across it when it was a news story on the web site for half a day. To be honest, they really should have been ramming them in the faces of the fickle freeloaders when they had extra people in the ground. EXACTLY!!! 15 years of failed and half-arsed marketing has reaped its rewards. If the club had stuck at it, instead of merely dismissing initiatives as failures or frankly not given the plethora of superb ideas that have been handed on a plate a chance to succeed. When the TTA took over there was a chance to completely turn the club around and aggressively and constantly market the club, instead they preferred to spit their dummies out. The problem with TTA is all along they've wanted the fans to wipe their arses for them. "You scratch our backs, we'll scratch yours..." No guys, you show a real determination to market the club, get out into the town find out why people aren't coming and act accordingly. Instead they preferred to give up at an early stage and prefer the title of martyrs. Whilst criticising the same fans that had become disaffected but the same that they had done so little to attract back to the club long-term. Other clubs of a similar size and much smaller manage themselves much better in their marketing. Simply offering cheap tickets now and again does sod all long-term - you have stick at it in the long-term. That's why it'll be no different at Failsworth unless the club sorts itself out. My heart sank when I heard the attendance on Saturday, but I know why it was so low...the Oldham people ARE apathetic but no less apathetic than our glorious owners have been since 2006... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opinions4u Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 Actually, if they employed dolly birds promoting season tickets in the areas between turnstile and seats they could probably sell loads of season tickets for the rest of the season. How about it on Saturday Latics? £300 for the next 20 game tickets being sold to supporters by some top tottie who get you to fill in a form and provide your debit card details on the spot? Pay a commission of £30 a ticket to each young lady and see how well it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wardlelatic Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 Actually, if they employed dolly birds promoting season tickets in the areas between turnstile and seats they could probably sell loads of season tickets for the rest of the season. How about it on Saturday Latics? £300 for the next 20 game tickets being sold to supporters by some top tottie who get you to fill in a form and provide your debit card details on the spot? Pay a commission of £30 a ticket to each young lady and see how well it goes. Perv !!!!!!!!! I like your thinking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
real Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 (edited) I never said it would make a difference to the gate. Read back. It's for the people who go often. I said it's something I don't understand why they offer but then make it......difficult isn't the word......lets plumb for inconvenient. If your you can save £20 a year on your gas bill but it's going to take 30 days to sort it all out and numerous phone calls, would you bother? Some would, the majority wouldn't. If you believe you are one of the people would change to save some money, the next time somebody calls at your door telling you that the Gas, Phone, Electric company they represent can save you money, invite them in, hear them out and then change providers. Now imagine your Gas/Phone/Electric company you was with phoned you up and offered you £10 off your bill. How many people would take that? Answer: Everybody. £20 will take 30 days? Er, does it realy take 1.5 days to sort out a ticket for latics? The queues must be huge!!! Or, in reality, a 5 min phone call to save £2 a game, for 10 games a year, would amount to £20 saved for 50 mins work. That's a bit better than minimum wage, and equates to a £50k a year wage rate. And anyway, suggesting it's too small a discount to be worth the hassle and then moaning about a 5 min phone call is a bit contradictory isn't it? Your £10 off from a phone call doesnt work. We all need gas from someone, we don't all use the same provider. If anew provider offered £10 off for switching, I'd put the phone down. There's too many variables with gas contracts. Edited August 30, 2010 by real Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opinions4u Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 Perv !!!!!!!!! I like your thinking May be I've sterotyped the market a little bit. I've made assumptions that the typical punter is a bloke, just had a couple of drinks and has his debit card on him! The third bit is where the idea might fall flat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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