Interesting post, but just for the sake of accuracy Wigan released their season ticket plans in September. I renewed weeks ago.

for the sake of accuracy - Wigan are still rolling out season ticket deals, the latest version released yesterday ...[url=http://www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.aspx?id=9891&type=newsNew Family & Friends Season Ticket[/url

Oh I'm wrong then. The plans weren't released in September and I didn't renew in October.

Oh ffs, stop being a runt and bore off..

I really hate moaning about this stuff but I'm going to do it anyway. There's some customer satisfaction basics not being adhered to by the club

1. blaming the customers for not wanting to buy the product. Why should they? It would be like the MD of a a local shop tweeting about how ungrateful people are going to morrisons when he's spent loads of money on buying stock for them to buy. People will spend/not spend money wherever they want, blaming them for making the 'wrong' decision to not give you there money does not make most people feel guilty and rush to give you their hard earned, it does the opposite. Customers don't like to be lectured

2. Saying that people are not buying tickets is likely to make fewer people buy them. Standard marketing psychology shows that people like to be doing what most people do. So if they think that most people aren't buying tickets they think, 'then why should I buy one?'. If they hear everyone's buying one they are more likely to think, I need to get a bit of this action, it feels like I'm missing out. Clearly lying won't help so no point pretending you're selling loads cos when you're found to be lying it will backfire (ask tesco after they're recent creative accounting scandal). So best not to say much at all apart from welcoming those that have bought, ,asking the feel special for having done so and implying to others that they are missing out

3. Emphasising how disappointed you are with more people not buying does not make those who have bought feel special, it potentially makes them think 'is my custom not good enough for you, cos you seem very keen to want others to join' and, as above, think 'why am I buying a season ticket when no-one else is?'

4. The survey is awful. There os pretty much nothing of any use they can do with the results. The premise is wrong - every single fan probably has a different definition of what match day experience means so there is no way to know they are comparing like with like, the questions are badly formed (eg what if I think food and drink is too expensive and what I expect to pay elsewhere?), what can the club do about the answers to many of the questions apart from use it to moan at the SMC. The club can do nothing about car parking, access and exciting, food and drink prices. Do they know what the most important things are for fans? Ultimately they need to make each fan feel special and rewarded for being a fan and a customer.

When MK first came in he did that really well, telling salford fans how they deserve success, how much they care, how special the club is and therefore how special the fans must be, ie how special I must be, my brother/mate/sister/mum/child must be for being a fan), the story about the fans in the bulls head (that could gave been he in there persuading him to buy the club we all thought, he listens to 'us').

He's in serious danger of undoing this by blaming us for not buying enough tickets and bring a bunch of ingrates for not doing what he wants us to

As I say I don't want to be posting negative stuff but this is really amateurish stuff that the club are doing and is likely to be counter productive. I know there are differences with sports fans and shop customers but many of the principles are the same.

Sorry for length of post but I think this is important (I've sent similar thoughts to the club and included some of the comments on the survey)

And breathe.........

with you there on most ,negativity breeds negativity , so the simple answer is to brood & keep quiet about stuff that isn't progressing and be even more upbeat about the perceived small gains .
as to the survey I would defend the club as it's obviously an attempt to engage the fan base, and if most of the negative stuff relates to SMC activity , access, parking , catering , kiosk prices , they can use it to prove the landlord is damaging the tenants business losing them income. it may even allow a intervention on the contract based on frustration .

It does question the validity of the fans board as surely the most obvious issues must have been debated at the initial meeting ? alas we all , including the members themselves are still waiting for the minutes and the next scheduled meeting to be made known.

The worst part of Marwan's tweet was that its only the beginning of November, the season doesn't start until February. That's 3 months with Christmas in-between, I'm sure numbers will be around the same level of last season although you couldn't complain after the season we've had if they were a little lower.

If any past or potentially new supporters out there ,do tweets, facebook or go online or read/have newspapers but don't follow any news from S.R.D.
How do Salford get to these people to advertise themselves ?
It' alright the doc tweeting, but the very people he wants, new supporters, wont see his tweets

Next Wednesday is the next meeting.

Well, this is what makes things difficult these days. The web and social media has opened up publishing but at the same time has fractured the audience. Which platforms are best to concentrate marketing efforts? Also, how many more passengers in cars and buses are looking down at their mobile devices and free newspapers rather than catching billboards or bus-side advertising as they go past? How many more people are not going in pubs? How many more people do not read the MEN and Salford Advertiser?

While it is much easier to get messages out, it is arguably much harder to catch a passive audience. That Salford lacks a city centre, with less and less people shopping in the composite towns, doesn't help matters.

I've often thought that an easy solution too this obvious problem is a presence in the new larger super/hyper markets. The huge ASDA in Trafford Park, the Tescos in Irlam, Salford, Walkden and Whitefield, Morrisons Eccles and possibly an outlet in the Broughton area would I'm sure offer the club the chance too market the clubs too a captive audience when they are doing the weekly shop. Players at each venue on a weekly basis, promotions for the up coming games that target children as I'm pretty sure you make it attractive too a kid the endless can we go, can we go, can we go would work.

That along with looking at getting the (hopefully) new improved merchandise into these outlets would for me offer a much improved presence for the club.

I also find it very odd that when we have close ties with Peel and are sponsored by one of their outlets that there is not a permanent presence in the Lowry and/or Trafford Centre, with the new link road from the ground too the glittering delights of the TC surely there must be a massive cross marketing chance, invite families down too the game, offer a fee park and ride too the game and possibly a % off a meal in the food court with the purchase of a ticket for the game. For me the opening of the new road while not bringing the instant end too the transport issue will if the club play it right put them more in the shop window. I know for a fact that Sale will be doing this, if we don't follow suit we will miss out.

Permanent presence is the key. With 24-hour shopping, home delivery and ‘click and collect’, it's harder now to silo specific groups. I'm not saying the club shouldn't have players doing this kind of thing in supermarkets, it's just getting harder to promote things to people. That's why schools remain a solid option, because the way they operate hasn't changed.

If anything, publicity stunts are the way to go. You get free advertising, there's a decent chance of local TV coverage and it going viral online. Idiocy, fake or otherwise, is a winner; and the best person to carry this is out is Marwan. He is the figurehead and knows how to play the media game. But then you have the issue of professional integrity at boardroom level.

The club does need to do something to make it more visible in the community, but I don't think supermarkets are the way to go because people, on the whole, don't want to be there. For most of us, it's get in and get out as quickly as you can. A better option would be to have a presence at the various festivals that spring up around the city during the summer. The one at Ordsall Park had a huge turn out and, had the club had a stall there, with maybe a few players doing a few training drills, they'd have made themselves visible to all those people. They wouldn't have to pay to be there either, which I very much doubt would be the case with a supermarket. Plenty of space too, which, again, you wouldn't get at a supermarket.

As regards general marketing, the club has a bit of an untapped resource with its existing fans. They could allow every season ticket holder to bring a newby along for free to a couple of games. Or maybe have a stepped introduction, so the season ticket holder can bring one named person along to one game for free, then one for a fiver, one for a tenner and so on.

As for siloing, there are still some specific groups out there. Students spring to mind. There are three universities in the area. Presumably, they have rugby clubs. Are the club in contact with them? Offer each registered member a free (or discounted) match ticket, and maybe a traffic cone to wear.

Overall, what the club really needs is a marketing/media manager. To some extent, that's what Bradford had with Peter Deakin and it seemed to work for them.

Some good suggestions, but I think we can kiss goodbye to whatever student element we attracted at the Willows due to the isolated location of the stadium. I wouldn't even like to hazard a guess at the number of buses it would take, or how long to get from Castle Irwell (for example) to Barton.

Anyone remember the nurses promotion we did at the Willows? I think they were given either free or subsidised entry into the top of the North Stand. It resulted in some reasonable attendances against some poorly supported teams. Whilst freebies aren't the way to go, discounted tickets may be - each week could be a different public service, police, paramedics, fire service, nurses etc.

I work for one of said universities, and it's a good shout given the student population in Manchester and Salford, but there are caveats. For a start, it's not a cheap night out by any means. Also, the rugby league season does not align well with student terms; some students are only around between late September and Easter. So the earlier the better. Once, I bought something from the Apple Store in the Arndale and the guy serving me mentioned that when he was a student at Huddersfield, him and his housemates used to go Giants’ home games now and again. So it can work.

The club did target students hard for a specific match at The Willows. I can't remember the offer details now. It might have been reduced admission and a free pie and pint – something like that. I think they were also given another offer voucher for use at the next home game, which the club used to gauge the success of the promotion i.e. retention. Only one or two took it up. So you can look at this one of two ways, or perhaps a combination of them both: the club should have kept with it instead of binning the initiative straight away (which they had a history of doing under Tarry) or targeting students was not a worthwhile use of [meagre resources.



It has, and has had for some time.



That's not so bad. The 10 bus goes from outside St Mike’s and stops outside Castle Irwell. Say the walk to and from the ground is 15 minutes, then the bus journey coming back is probably 30 minutes or so; buses are pretty rapid at that time of night. Times are roughly 22:10, 22:40, 23:10 (last).



You'd need some kind of verification or ID, as a fair amount of those NHS tickets found their way into the hands of regulars.

Not as bad as I thought, however with most of our games on Sunday afternoons next season do services tend to tail off?



I don't think that would be an issue, as I understand all public services are required to carry/have photo ID.

Same as really. Every half and hour until 11ish.

Interestingly, one thing they used to do in the late 1800s was to get members (or fans) to recruit new supporters, acting as agent if you will. The top recruiters were given free season tickets. Open to abuse, certainly, but an interesting ploy.

For every new season ticket holder you introduce a 10% reduction would be an interesting option.

Incentives in local schools too, when the club do a promo in a club they target the families of the children, for every family that pays too watch a game linked too a specific school the club make a donation of training equipment, that way you get new bums on seats but also invest in the next generation of youngsters in the area. Sure that Under Armour would be interested in getting in on that idea, create interest in the brand and promote it as a rival for Adidas, Nike and Puma.

Re marketing: the hype over the Union World Cup is beginning to become noticeable. As many people cannot differentiate between the codes, can we jump aboard with the slogan: better.

Anyone who remembers getting up early to watch that snooze match that Wilkinson kicked will have no difficulty in "better".

I think it's probably best to ride on their coattails rather than going head-on with union. After England’s victory in 2003, one of things the RFU were completely unprepared for was the upsurge in parents taking little Jonny and Joanna to their local clubs to play. Loads were turned away because there were not enough clubs to take them on. The RFU won't miss out this time around, but the RFL should set aside a pot of monies which amateur clubs can dig into just in case England do win the World Cup (unlikely) and need to recruit people to deal with a potential runoff.

One thing that the club should look at regarding season tickets for next season is a free ticket or half prices tickets for a challenge cup home game. Ive noticed sice we moved to the new stadium we havent had them offers and the attendances have been awful.

Man City went BOGOF for the last Champions League game but I'm not sure whether our Challenge Cup rules allow it.
I'm dead against free tickets.
I don't think it achieves anything and most people,me included,wouldn't pay if we could scrounge a freebie from someone

im against free ticket but if it means uping the season ticket an extra £20 for the deal then im not fussed. im just abit worried as the last 2 challenge cup games the attendances at home were shocking. is it because people dont want to wait in line for a ticket. Our attendances for the leeds game in 2012 and widnes last season must of just been 2 thousand

I wouldn't bother. The Challenge Cup rounds are fading across the board. Plus it might still be the case that the away side gets a bigger cut of the gate receipts.

The RFL should make it compulsory that clubs include Challenge Cup games (prior to semi final) as part of an automatic cup scheme to all season ticket holders, albeit at a discounted price say £5 for kids and £10 adults. It would put an end to the dwindling crowds year on year and encourage more people to attend, particularly if they have already paid.