northernbloke wrote:
Good job we are all talking about the last game as per the thread header
We were. The broncos slept for the first half then hammered the part timers in the second. Then someone mentioned the crowd and as they were part of the weekends event, that rabbit hole opened and we gladly followed Alice.
I know apologists like you would rather discuss how a professional side a season out of the top flight only managed 40 minutes against a bottom half 2nd tier side, citing their expert analysis from years of being involved in the sport, but the alarming decent into Sunday league size crowds is somewhat more key to the survival of the game as a viable option in the capital.
When Hughes puts his wallet away, the kids coming through have the skolars or Union as a potential paymaster, or they head north. That's the reality of what happens once doddery Dave buggers off.
The best way to replace that lost revenue is through self sustainability. Whilst another sugar daddy would be nice, they come with massive negatives as shown by Swintons finest and the race horse owner at Salford. So we must look to the fans.....the fans pay on the door and the fans are an audience that can be sold to sponsors.
If you forget the past and look solely to the future, then Hughes must clear the decks of both the CEO and Monkey Boy. Until he does that, then the lapsed fans will not return. Yes....they'll pop in to have a gander at Wimbledon, MAYBE, but not more than once at th insane pricing on offer. It's like Hughes has given them a revenue target and they've simply hiked prices to meet it. Now that hasn't worked they're stacking it high and flogging it cheap. Too little too late.
Wimbledon game one should be free. Hughes should cover the cost himself. Contact everyone, regardless of data protection. An invitation to come along Free if Charge and see a side you once bought from, registered to be contacted by or entered a comp with is hardly likely to get the privacy bloke too bothered. It's not like well try and flog them a time share when they get there. But this is the key.
Monitor who opens your email. Who clicks on the link and who redeems their voucher and then keep the conversation going. The bald sparrow or whatever marketing company monkey boy uses can easily template such a campaign (you'd hope). Treat the fans like customers because as whiny and moany as we can be, that's what we are.
Back to the game.
We won. We might make the play offs. We won't go up and personally I'd rather the club spent the next 6 months plotting a marketing strategy for 2022 with qualified staff or volunteers than look to flog cheap tickets out of the back of a reliant robin.