Is it just me or is the club rather quiet? Granted you gets lots of stuff if you've liked the club on FB or got the Ap but apart from that I see nothing. No billboards, posters or anyone saying anything about our opening game. I know its the second game of the season so a bit off yet but im a bit baffled as to what the club is trying to do to entice stayaways, make the opening game a spectacle or even just create a bit of a buzz. As a direct comparison Rovers are really pushing the Leeds game and trying to get their biggest home attendance, I even got a text from my kids school the other day pushing cheaper tickets for kids. Just had something come up on FB from one of my KR mates saying the deadline is approaching for the 6 month payment deadline when ours finished ages ago too.

It really doesn't seem like the club are making much effort at all which is a surprise as in years gone by we used to be great at this.

The club had big advertising banners/posters as you came off the a63 at hessle near the traffic lights. Large volume of traffic passed down that road

Anyone genuinely debating whether to go that may be swayed by advertising will almost certainly be waiting to see what happens at Huddersfield. Thta'll be the acid test for many. Marketing on the back of the pre season we've had won't be easy either. Good result at Hudds will be what the PR department will be hoping for I guess to give them a platform for a major push the next week.

For me its all about creating the buzz. FC used to be great at it, now with our opening game coming up I see or feel no buzz at all. Yes theres a poster as there always is near Hessle but is that the sum total of it? Diss it all you want but Rovers have got Jake Quickenden on at their opening game and even I, as an FC fan, can see theyre making an effort. Ill be there at Warrington for the opening game but feel the club has lost a certain amount of direction possibly due to constant let down and failure but from what ive read this isn't anything new as the last couple of years have also been like this too

It's fair to say that the club seriously needs to up its game as far as marketing games is concerned.

Marketing at the moment does seem poor.
We are entering the 150th anniversary, so where is the push? First home game soon . Nothing in the local media, no promotion at all .
HKR will get more at their first game than we will !!
Come on Hull sort it out !!

The thrashing at Wakefield hasnt done the club any favours whether we fielded a second string Squad or not.
Seems to me that the optimism of fans for this new season has just drained away.
The club has also been very quiet,no aftermatch interviews no match replay on FC Live says it all.
I don't think Adam Pearson would have been pleased either friendly or not.

Er, I don't think we've had much of that anyway.

Post us some examples of giddiness if you don't mind.

As far as the Warrington goes, it's a tricky one. With the SMC arrangements I thought it limited the amount of discounts we could afford to give, may be wrong. Do you pick first game vs a top club to push and risk a bigger crowd witnessing a ting then tuning out for the season, or pick another couple of games for promotion? Tough one. We're still 2 and a half weeks off. But I agree there's not much chat about the opening games or pushing them yet.

He certainly didn't appear to be, no. Bent over double in anguish when Miller went over. Left about 2 minutes from the end with a cursory word in Radford's direction on his left and a more gregarious exchange with Johnny Whiteley on his right before sweeping decisively through the doors into the clubroom.

Spent the last 15 minutes watching him and Radford on the balcony of the block of flats. Far more entertaining than events on the pitch.

I agree it's far too quiet, marketing in general is one thing we did better at under Hetherington & Rule.

I understand we can't giveaway cheap tickets due to the SMC deal but we've had that issue for years and they've still drawn some big crowds over the years. They can't just rely on Twitter and Facebook which generally only reaches the fans who already go anyway.

For all his faults James Rule to be fair to him got the marketing of the club right. I'm all for the club pursuing the new avenues of market such as social media etc but that should be as an extra to the regular forms of marketing not instead of as seems to be the case.

This is one area the club has gone backwards and as had been said by another poster really needs to up its game to entice the casual support and attract new

Think the hudds game will have a far greater effect than any advertising. We win or at least put up a good show we will get a good gate imo

Don't think the club know what the message will be yet. Is it "your club need you in the dog fight that this season will be" or "cheer us on to silverware". They can push the 150th anniversary but that won't count for much if we're losing and performances are poor. Massive positivity now would be hollow after a Huddersfield hammering and they'd be sure to be criticised for being over optimistic , unrealistic etc etc. A good win at Hudds with good performances from our halves ,dominant and aggressive forwards , signs of entertaining football and the likelihood of improvement are the things that will get the walk up crowd in.

Spot on Chris. What happens on the field affects what happens off it, not the other way round.

Start pushing sales early and then people will already have bought tickets whatever the performance is against Hudds, who btw, I think we'll beat

Doubt it BUT if they do it will be because Leeds will bring a lot more than Warrington.

Nothing to do with advertising.

And the South end will be full of school kids!

That's right, but that is only the case for the fans who have stopped going recently and probably still follow FC from a far.

The other element is those that would be new to RL, which I think the OP is getting at. kids are one of the obvious areas to target. Not all kids are brought up in RL households, so having our players/staff go into schools and also running ticket offers is a good way of getting the message to them (I think the club do both tbf, but could do more).

Then there's general marketing to the non-RL population through the use of things like billboards, papers, radio etc. If we're primarily using twitter and facebook, how are these people going to get the message to come and watch Hull as they're unlikely to e following/liking either.

Could the club do more enticing the Uni students to come and watch us?

Also, the people in the surrounding towns. Are we doing enough to get the message out to places outside of Hull that are within a short drive? Could we do more advertising in Goole/Howden, Scarborough, Brid, Shorpe, Driffield, Beverley etc? It seems like a lot of things stop at just the city.

On that last point, I emailed Clarkey about supporters branches (I've mentioned it on here in the past), citing Leeds as an example and whether the club have plans to do this in the future. I've had no reply after a few weeks now.

Leeds have been allocated 1000 tickets only (800 seats, 200 standing). Advertising, marketing and freebies to Archie (South Stand) will be the reason we have a good gate, not a large away following.

FWIW, I don't think we will eclipse your opening attendance anyway, not that it's important, apart from those interested in dick measuring.

Is it wrong to attempt to introduce new supporters to the sport?

If you track both clubs attendances over the last 10 years or so, it would be a significant achievement if Rovers first home match has a larger attendance than Hull's.

It would say alot about the state of both clubs.

Balls. You always get a good first gate, same as last year, then you went rapidly downhill.

Crossland last night said you STILL need a 10,000 break-even gate. Concentrate on that before mentioning our gates.

Diablo, i don't think anybody has negatively dismissed your gates to be fair so that was a little hotheaded.

This has been the best year I have seen our marketing by a country mile, it looks half professional n all. The billboards, city of culture stuff, plenty of advertising in the local area and local rags and a big direct marketing campaign. Can not knock it.

With regards Hull's, i am not privvy to it however the general consensus is it is not good enough from your fans. Fair enough results dictate crowds to an extent, but marketing plays a big part. You have a lot of disengaged fans, considering you averaged 14,000 + one year didn't you? This should be the target market for a big campaign, with something that engages the local community. You have a good propaganda machine with smailes in the the HDM, but this is always on the field activities really.

I like somebodies point about reaching out to different area's. KR have targeted hornsea and up that way this year - worth a try i guess. There are plenty more populated area's around West Hull which could be targeted, and all more affluent with potential income to spend on games. The challenge you have is that these said people are probably the pro - allam supporting hull tigers fans, and they would be hard to attract.

Surely that's child cruelty lol