The selling of our club to the next generation

[Mantis]

I had some discussions with a friend of mine last night about the state of our club and where it is heading.

He lives in Werribee and has a young family, his oldest boy is 6 and is a very passionate Bulldogs supporter ( He may even rival young Seb as our keenest young fan). Anyway we were talking about the fact that in his his time at school he is yet to have a visit from any Bulldogs players which is upsetting to him. (He has had visits from players quite a few other clubs)

So the question I ask is, Is the club doing enough to promote our team & it's players in the fastest growing region in the west? We hear all the talk that we are the lowest supported team in Melbourne, etc, etc, but one would hope that the club would be trying to do something about it.

[LostDoggy]

Re: The selling of our club to the next generation

When I was a young Lad we would have players come to our school at least onse a year I remember a young Scotty West, Brad Johnson and Adam Contessa running PE having a kick with us during Lunch Time. My Primary School was in Altona Meadows.

And my High School had Gia there for 6 years straight talk about commitment, though at the time he was promoting the Hawks.

[KT31]

Re: The selling of our club to the next generation

I had some discussions with a friend of mine last night about the state of our club and where it is heading.

He lives in Werribee and has a young family, his oldest boy is 6 and is a very passionate Bulldogs supporter ( He may even rival young Seb as our keenest young fan). Anyway we were talking about the fact that in his his time at school he is yet to have a visit from any Bulldogs players which is upsetting to him. (He has had visits from players quite a few other clubs)

So the question I ask is, Is the club doing enough to promote our team & it's players in the fastest growing region in the west? We hear all the talk that we are the lowest supported team in Melbourne, etc, etc, but one would hope that the club would be trying to do something about it.

I know when my kids went to Primary school in the west, they had visits almost every month from the Doggies.
(Wether it had anything to do with Cooneys daughter being at the same school or not I'm unsure)
I also have had mates mention that they have had players attend school clinics and Auskick.
Unfortunatly at footy training they had Collingwood players, as Collingwood were then aligned with Willy.
I believe they now have Bulldogs players turn up.
It would only take a phone call and I'm sure the club would send a couple of players down to the school.

In answer to your question I think the club does a lot in this area, but I don't think you can ever do to much.

[LostDoggy]

Re: The selling of our club to the next generation

I have to say that when I first saw the thread title, Mantis, you were talking about floating our club as a publicly listed company, which, at first glance, does have its attractions.

I know that I would CERTAINLY buy Western Bulldog FC shares, and it would certainly give 'the next generation' (I'm talking about Gen Ys and Xers here) an incentive to continue to support the club and see it do well, if we actually are all part owners!

[Mofra]

Re: The selling of our club to the next generation

So the question I ask is, Is the club doing enough to promote our team & it's players in the fastest growing region in the west? We hear all the talk that we are the lowest supported team in Melbourne, etc, etc, but one would hope that the club would be trying to do something about it.

It's a good question, because I've been told it's the only region in Australia growing faster than the Gold Coast. I know we work with migrant communities but we can't forget our core market which is the kids who will follow footy reghardless, living in the Western Suburbs.

[LostDoggy]

Re: The selling of our club to the next generation

It's a good question, because I've been told it's the only region in Australia growing faster than the Gold Coast. I know we work with migrant communities but we can't forget our core market which is the kids who will follow footy reghardless, living in the Western Suburbs.

I've raised this many times with the club, and I don't believe we're doing anywhere near as much as we should be. Our marketing department is pretty anachronistic in its approach, professionalism and creativity, very old school (pardon the pun).

As a smaller club, it is all the more incumbent upon us to be proactive and highly creative in our promotional activities as we really have to get the bang for the buck that bigger clubs can forego.

The use of technology and social networking tools to promote the club are near non-existent, although we can see how powerful it is -- one only needs to look at BHBAS to see how a very tiny grassroots activity can have great community leverage because of technology: it has inspired at least three newspaper articles in mainstream dailies, which is essentially free publicity, and BHBAS (apart from some FDOTM activity) isn't even particularly strategic!

An organised and concerted strategy to hook the kids (the McDonalds strategy) will reap huge dividends in the future -- small clubs don't become giants overnight, but it has and happened (small companies become giants all the time), and a great opportunity is right on our doorstep. One hopes that the club realises this and will not miss it.

[Mantis]

Re: The selling of our club to the next generation

I should also mention that since North Melbourne has started it's affiliation with Werribee the number of school visits by North players to this young fellows school has gone from zero to a visit every second month. He says the number of kids who now support North in his class has gone from 1 or 2 to 6-8.

The west should be our heartland, especially the developing west so you would hope that our club starts putting in a bit more work with the kids to develop & promote our brand.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Re: The selling of our club to the next generation

When I was a young Lad we would have players come to our school at least onse a year I remember a young Scotty West, Brad Johnson and Adam Contessa running PE having a kick with us during Lunch Time. My Primary School was in Altona Meadows.

And my High School had Gia there for 6 years straight talk about commitment, though at the time he was promoting the Hawks.

Your High School had Gia come and promote the Hawks?

[Mantis]

Re: The selling of our club to the next generation

Your High School had Gia come and promote the Hawks?

I am pretty sure he meant that Gia was a student at his school and was a Hawks supporter growing up.

[LostDoggy]

Re: The selling of our club to the next generation

Your High School had Gia come and promote the Hawks?

I think he may have meant that Gia was a Hawks fan throughout highschool. My bro went to school with him, but I don't remember him ever telling me that!

I went to primary school in Kingsville in the early 90s and we had heaps of players visit us, one of my only fond memories of school! There was a program where about 3 or 4 players would visit each term and host a bulldogs breakfast, where we'd all bring a bowl and spoon and they'd feed us! Not to do with the school being pov but more to do with promoting healthy eating. They also teamed up with the local police officers for visits which was a great idea. I remember seeing Grant, McPherson, Grgic and Westy (amoung others) at my school at least once a year.

The program also encouraged the kids to sign up as Squadron members, and a bus would take us to all the games. It was great for the multicultural kids because if their family wasn't into footy, they still had a chance to go with the school.

Fantastic program, my old buds who don't follow footy still remember the players names and how much fun we had when they'd visit.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Re: The selling of our club to the next generation

We really can't tell how well (or otherwise) our club does this.

Each of us has only a snapshot that relates to our own experience.

The only way to judge this is on raw numbers - how many school visits do we do a year and how does that stack up against the other 15 clubs.


Are we better off concentrating our efforts on fewer schools giving them multiple visits or doing one visit to every school in the West?

[Missing Dog]

Re: The selling of our club to the next generation

I have a friend who has children at Iramoo which is a bulldog friendly school and every couple of months he has had bulldog players there including Gilbee so we are still busy with our bulldog friendly school campaign but maybe we need to grow the number of schools under the umberella

[comrade]

Re: The selling of our club to the next generation

I've raised this many times with the club, and I don't believe we're doing anywhere near as much as we should be. Our marketing department is pretty anachronistic in its approach, professionalism and creativity, very old school (pardon the pun).

As a smaller club, it is all the more incumbent upon us to be proactive and highly creative in our promotional activities as we really have to get the bang for the buck that bigger clubs can forego.

The use of technology and social networking tools to promote the club are near non-existent, although we can see how powerful it is -- one only needs to look at BHBAS to see how a very tiny grassroots activity can have great community leverage because of technology: it has inspired at least three newspaper articles in mainstream dailies, which is essentially free publicity, and BHBAS (apart from some FDOTM activity) isn't even particularly strategic!

An organised and concerted strategy to hook the kids (the McDonalds strategy) will reap huge dividends in the future -- small clubs don't become giants overnight, but it has and happened (small companies become giants all the time), and a great opportunity is right on our doorstep. One hopes that the club realises this and will not miss it.

A thought provoking post Lantern.

If you had to present a marketing plan to our administration, with a particular focus on finding new long-term members (kids, basically), what would your five key points be?

Please note that unleashing the fury that is Guy O’Keefe can not be deemed as a sustainable option

[neodog]

Re: The selling of our club to the next generation

The main goal of the marketing exercise is to not sign up new members in the short term but to maximise exposure and raise awareness of the brand/club/colour in the community. The club need to be open and multicultural and accessible in the eye of the community.

My 5 key points are;

1. Target them why they are young (ages kindergarten to high school)

2. Give away club coloured supporting merchandise - ie flags, footy, scarf, hats, key rings - This will obviously have a bearing on the costs but the return will be massive in the long run if we have a new life supporter/member. Also help the young impressionable mind to easily recognise and reinforce our color/brand everytime they see the club on TV.

3. Marketing budget should be agressive and take advantage in times of great on field success and be relaxed when we are not travelling to great.

4. Schedule Open public training sessions/at footy grounds all over the western suburb area. This will bring the club to the people and there should be lots of fanfare. (ie. flags, highly decorated cars/buses etc... to show that the doggies are in the area)

5. Get on other minority ethnic group tv, radio, newspapers and performed short interview or explain a simple rule in the AFL . Again the idea is not about the interview but the exposure to the bulldog brand/club.

[Dazza]

Re: The selling of our club to the next generation

It'd be very hard to convert kids with footy mad parents. Maybe they should focus at the migrant communitys and get in first. I've noticed us doing this a fair bit though. Really the greatest marketing tool would be winning a flag. I can remember Essendon converting a HELL of alot of kids when they won the flag in 93.

I went to a school where the only dogs supporters were me and my brother.