: Wed Mar 11, 2009 11:26 am
Lots of good ideas, my own favourite being the seat cushion with a distinct crest/logo etc, maybe that can also be waved or held up to celebrate a try or clap the team off etc. Or possibly with an extra removable cushion cover that could be used to wipe seats down if the weather's not great or else waved as a flag - something that would produce lots of colour or movement in a bigger crowd (should we attract one of course before any of the trolls get any ideas about jumping in there).
I do think anything produced for LISA should deliberately try not to step on O'Neills' toes (if that comes across to WBK etc as elitist then so be it
). Maybe we should check if there's something among the ideas mentioned that they're not planning to offer as "official" merchandise that we could do for LISA. At a time when all parties & fans need to build some working relationships and some sort of "feelgood factor" it would be good for LISA to be seen to be working alongside the club & official suppliers rather than competing with them.
Obviously on-field matters are what we're all most interested in. But from a marketing perspective what we could do with, whether it's from LISA, O'Neills or the club's marketing department, is a gimmick. A good example was on show in this year's Superbowl (still relevant from a marketing point of view, despite being a different sport). In the '70's Pittsburgh Steelers wanted a gimmick to attract sponsors and approached their local radio announcer to help come up with one. They decided it had to be cheap, light, easy to carry, and something pretty much everybody owns, and his suggestion was the "Terrible Towel" (which may sound a bit lame on the face of it but has since become legendary). Anyway, this guy talked it up everywhere on the radio, made stories up about it & constantly came up with stuff about its effect in helping the team to win games etc, and encouraged the fans to bring a towel, any sort - either yellow or black (club colours) to the next game. Before the game hardly any towels were to be seen and they thought it had died a death, but when the team came out so did quite a few towels. In the next game one of the players decided to run out waving one (almost as a joke), and the place erupted with them. They kept building on it in radio reports etc & the club/team/players joining in, and eventually it grew into a unique item of merchandise, with new versions brought out for finals, successes, special editions, all sorts of things, and even spawning its own "brand" & a range of other "terrible" merchandise. Fans take them on holiday or to other events - wherever there's a big crowd in that part of the States, even for non-sporting events you'll see a few "terrible towel"s being waved. And they keep selling. And being talked about. And selling. And being talked about. It almost publicises itself now. The radio guy also had a mentally ill son being looked after in a special school. When he retired he handed all the rights to the terrible towel over to the school, and they've raised millions for charity off the back of it as well. Just goes to show what can be done if you get the marketing right and get the club, players etc, even local media, to play along - even the unusual ideas can become successes because of their originality and individuality.
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