Sponsorships

[DemonTux 97]

should look to get someone like nintendo on board to go hand in hand with a game like Wii Kick... hell even to promote Wii fit a bit more... ok so i'm dreaming... but hell, they are swimming in the $$, of all the big gaming players they are the ones least targeting core gamers and are mainly interested in casual gamers.

[The Emblem 1]

Not the worst time to have Russel Howcroft on the board.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

A charismatic, well-recognised and actively-involved figure such as Jim as president renders all but the most well-connected CEO redundant in finding sponsorship. Of course, we will need a CEO of some description, but if we still haven't found one by year's end then we're in far deeper muck.

About as naive as it can get. Lets all close our eyes and things will be peachy keen. Firstly the charismatic well recognised President makes a well connected CEO redundant. Right. Now if we dont have a CEO by year end where in "deeper muck". Right.

As for our sponsorship efforts, while we're not Collingwood and can't get our half-time oranges individually sponsored just yet, we've hardly been poor in this regard over the past 5 years.

It was one of Harris KPI faiures to attract significant sponsorship. We have relatively small sponsorship arrangements in the past five years and have not had a high paying big name sponsor. As for profitability after four out of five years in the Top 8 we could barely cut a profit even given we were underspending on player development. My word the availabiity of a couple of Volvo's has certainly fooled some.

I don't think we can underestimate the very open and public initiatives that the new board have undertaken, and the colossal show of support at the Debt-Demo dinner (incidentally contributed to by a major media group in Foxtel) certainly gives reason to believe we are still at least a moderately attractive proposition going forward.

At the moment we have got pledges/donations for $2million of a $5 million debt. There is still $3 million to go. At the moment, we have no CEO, no summer training facility, no VFL alliance for 2009 and no clear vision from the Board as to how MFC will become a profitable sustainable operation. You can dream all you like but there are some big holes there

Shrewd businessmen and women wouldn't dump their collective millions down us if we were totally shot.

Donations/pledges have come from keen and dedicated supporters who realise the funding is for a Club that is not and cannot at the moment demonstrate financially viable. Its got nothing to do with shrewd business decision but a desire to not have your Club of choice go under.

I'm not for a second suggesting we are about to hit easy street. But I don't think its all doom and gloom either. I will stick my neck out and say that Primus punching out will be insignificant, even within the next 12 months.

You really dont understand the situation. More fool you!

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Million dollar sponsorships don't grow on trees at the best of times, let along the period of economic uncertainty we appear to be entering. And with all due respect to Jimmy's team, it won't be easy thanks to the fact that for some reason the AFL doesn't like fixturing us at times that would be attractive for national brand sponsors.

If the Board can swing a top notch new sponsorship for 2009 and onwards it will be one of its biggest achievements.

Absolutely WJ. I dont think people realise how difficult it will be for all AFL Clubs particularly Victorian based clubs to attract and retain major sponsors in the next two years.

[Keepin up with the Joneses 48]

Not the worst time to have Russel Howcroft on the board.

What does he bring?

[H_T 3,043]

Absolutely WJ. I dont think people realise how difficult it will be for all AFL Clubs particularly Victorian based clubs to attract and retain major sponsors in the next two years.

Yep. Even harder to attract when the AFL fixtures Melbourne mostly on Sundays.

[Diablo 1]

Classic Rhino. Take half of what I said right out of context, take the sarcasm seriously, and then pretend you are all knowing. No wonder most people can't be arsed arguing with you round here.

About as naive as it can get. Lets all close our eyes and things will be peachy keen. Firstly the charismatic well recognised President makes a well connected CEO redundant. Right. Now if we dont have a CEO by year end where in "deeper muck". Right. :

Thats right. 'Deeper muck' than having to 'merely' worry about a major sponsor. As in, bigger problems. Got that, chump?

Also, who do you think Emirates would be more drawn to, Eddie Maguire or Garry Pert, if they were hypothetically renewing their association at the end of the year? If Collingwood is the brand, the attraction, you still need somebody to get your foot in the door. Somebody to share a vision.

It was one of Harris KPI faiures to attract significant sponsorship. We have relatively small sponsorship arrangements in the past five years and have not had a high paying big name sponsor. As for profitability after four out of five years in the Top 8 we could barely cut a profit even given we were underspending on player development. My word the availabiity of a couple of Volvo's has certainly fooled some.

This may be true to a degree, but we've certainly been on a par with a number of other clubs who have higher memberships, and given that over the past five years we have evolved to stand for 'nothing', according to the AFL, I hardly think this is an inexplicable or poorer-than-expected outcome. Gardner, his low general public profile, and the on-going 'sterilisation' of the club were nearly as much to blame for this failure as Harris. But theres always a scapegoat.

As for the Volvos, it was a wry/sarcastic statement. I gather from your posts you communicate in monotone, and that tone is snide, condescending arrogance, so spare a thought for those of us who try to mix it up with a tiny bit of wit.

At the moment we have got pledges/donations for $2million of a $5 million debt. There is still $3 million to go. At the moment, we have no CEO, no summer training facility, no VFL alliance for 2009 and no clear vision from the Board as to how MFC will become a profitable sustainable operation. You can dream all you like but there are some big holes there.

No argument there, for the most part. But then we knew that already and this is the sort of 'sky is falling' attitude I'd expect to see in a Caroline Wilson article reminding us of how, by rights, we should have ceased to exist in 1996. At least 3 of those issues (CEO, VFL alliance and training facility) would have to be resolved in the next month or two, you'd imagine, if you had a shred of positivity in your body.

As for the board having no plan, I fancy they are in deeper than they expected. But how do you know they have no plan. Just because they haven't phoned you up to check if it works for you? They clearly have an overarching strategy in place. Hence the termination of McNamee, who apparently did not 'fit' the approach this board intends to take.

Donations/pledges have come from keen and dedicated supporters who realise the funding is for a Club that is not and cannot at the moment demonstrate financially viable. Its got nothing to do with shrewd business decision but a desire to not have your Club of choice go under.

I think it says something that these supporters have emerged now. For yonks we have been moaning that our wealthy crowd has not been tapped. For them to come out now, no more than 2 months after Jimmy comes to the helm, is a big 'up yours' to Gardner and to me says alot about Jim's ability to get people involved in the club. I anticipate this will translate, in some sense at least, to acquiring support from a major corporate.

You really dont understand the situation. More fool you!

I don't dispute that I don't understand why you are so damn miserable. But chin up, we now have mentally and emotionally invested people running the club, trying to unravel the knots. Let me reiterate that I appreciate how tough getting debt free and profitable is going to be from where we are. Its a struggle for many clubs. But honestly, everything with you old blokes is a cataclysmic disaster. You'd make a fine bunch of Age journalists.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Diablo,

MFC are in critical need of a CEO now for all aspects of the business including sponsoship. The presense of Jimmy does not make a competent CEO redundant in the chase for a shrinking sponsorship pool.

I am not scapegoating Harris but he is one of the many issues why MFC are in a difficult situation. Our sponsorship performance relative to the other Clubs is meek at best.

The issues outstanding for the current adminstration that need to be and hopefully will be resolved by them may become feathers in the cap for them. However some of the initiatives were well progressed by the previous administration. My comment about the plan for the sustainabililty and profitability is that while the current administration may indeed have one (and may be a good one) it has not been communicated to date to members particularly at a time they are asking members and supporters to dig deep.

At some stage MFC would have to engineer a big can rattling arrangement from its dedicated supporters to address the debt. Its not just the wealthy but a wide spectrum of supporters tipping in. Its not "an up yours" vote at all but an expression about the desire to keep MFC alive. And the sooner supporters of the new administration stop the slagging off at past administrations who were also by the way "mentally and emotionally involved" people the better we would all be.

No one has said its cataclysmic but to accept the potential upsides on the basis of assumptions and wing and pray logic is setting things up for a fall later. I am sure the current administration understand that better than most and are working solidly to addressing these matters

[The Emblem 1]

What does he bring?

As head of one of the best advertising agencies he is connected with most of the corporations looking to throw money around on advertising and sponsorships.

[Keepin up with the Joneses 48]

As head of one of the best advertising agencies he is connected with most of the corporations looking to throw money around on advertising and sponsorships.

Very handy

You would think there has to be someone looking to associate themselves with our rennaisance.

[pantaloons 2,019]

After years of free advertising at our expense, it's time for the likes of Range Rover and Mount Buller to cough up the dough next year. Range Rover as the major sponsor and Buller on the shorts.

[The Emblem 1]

After years of free advertising at our expense, it's time for the likes of Range Rover and Mount Buller to cough up the dough next year. Range Rover as the major sponsor and Buller on the shorts.

For a long time i've thought [joked] that Mt. Buller should sponsor us and that part of the deal should be discounted mid-week ski lift passes MFC members.

Go to the snow and go to the game!

[Diablo 1]

Diablo,

MFC are in critical need of a CEO now for all aspects of the business including sponsoship. The presense of Jimmy does not make a competent CEO redundant in the chase for a shrinking sponsorship pool.

I am not scapegoating Harris but he is one of the many issues why MFC are in a difficult situation. Our sponsorship performance relative to the other Clubs is meek at best.

The issues outstanding for the current adminstration that need to be and hopefully will be resolved by them may become feathers in the cap for them. However some of the initiatives were well progressed by the previous administration. My comment about the plan for the sustainabililty and profitability is that while the current administration may indeed have one (and may be a good one) it has not been communicated to date to members particularly at a time they are asking members and supporters to dig deep.

At some stage MFC would have to engineer a big can rattling arrangement from its dedicated supporters to address the debt. Its not just the wealthy but a wide spectrum of supporters tipping in. Its not "an up yours" vote at all but an expression about the desire to keep MFC alive. And the sooner supporters of the new administration stop the slagging off at past administrations who were also by the way "mentally and emotionally involved" people the better we would all be.

No one has said its cataclysmic but to accept the potential upsides on the basis of assumptions and wing and pray logic is setting things up for a fall later. I am sure the current administration understand that better than most and are working solidly to addressing these matters

Thank you for being a little more magnanimous.

We still need a CEO, naturally. McNamee would have been a CEO who brought corporates to the table. He was one of the 'well-connected' CEOs I mentioned first up. Unless we hire the binman, or the high-flying, top-line, so-well-networked-his-Blackberry-has-exploded corporate wiz (ie. one of two extremes), I fancy that the CEO will have a minimal impact on who we are able to land as a sponsor, however. Surely connectedness of your president and your CEO are interchangeable, and Jim seems a fairly big hitter in this regard. Certainly in comparrisson with some of the names that have been thrown up as contenders for the CEO job he is.

Also, I wasn't inferring that the 'up-yours' was a concious thing. It was just a bit of an indictment on our last leadership posse that Jim has been able to organise, in 2 months, what they wholly failed to accomplish in 5 or 6 years at the helm - tapping that wealthy supporter bracket. I wasn't deliberately potting Gardner; I thought he did a serviceable job other than trying to sweep our escalating money troubles out of focus. It is simple fact that he wasnt able to get the wealthy supporters involved, and fact that he was not a high-profile figure outside his own circles.

Its a slog. But we're taking out first baby-steps back at the moment, and I'm tired of every hiccup being painted as the trap-door to damnation (mostly by the media). That is my major 'beef' with this whole story. Just when your trying to get back on your feet, to drum up some positive spin, there are the media to sink the boot in. I knew it would be portrayed as dire, and, low and behold, it has been. We even have an article in the Hun which insinuates that injuries to Davey and Johnson compound the matter!

Cheers.

[rusty_kingswood 0]

Million dollar sponsorships don't grow on trees at the best of times, let along the period of economic uncertainty we appear to be entering. And with all due respect to Jimmy's team, it won't be easy thanks to the fact that for some reason the AFL doesn't like fixturing us at times that would be attractive for national brand sponsors.

If the Board can swing a top notch new sponsorship for 2009 and onwards it will be one of its biggest achievements.

It’s pretty simple really. A good on field performance, securers the MFC key games in the AFL draw (Friday and Saturday nights), and also draws larger crowd numbers and effectively more members.

Until we can get our on field performances right, we aren’t going to get any serious sponsorship.

I mean, if you had a brand and wanted to gain mass exposure...would you align it with the MFC at the moment?? I certainly wouldn’t.

[Rflowerwing 0]

I'm tired of every hiccup being painted as the trap-door to damnation (mostly by the media). That is my major 'beef' with this whole story. Just when your trying to get back on your feet, to drum up some positive spin, there are the media to sink the boot in. I knew it would be portrayed as dire, and, low and behold, it has been. We even have an article in the Hun which insinuates that injuries to Davey and Johnson compound the matter!

Cheers.

Is the irony of this lost on you?

Barely a day went by in Gardner's last 6 months in the Chair when he did not wake up to the strident tones of a massed choir of naysayers, wrist wringers and undertakers portraying us as a club in crisis.

Leading the choir were Jim Stynes, Garry Lyon and Chris Connolly backed up by their mates in the media, prominent amongst whom were Caroline Wilson, Dwayne Russell, Gerard Healy etc. Vlad and his Kremlin Quartet were more than happy to lend their voices - Gardner had committed the cardinal sin of not toeing the line on Kremlin doctrine with drug policy etc.

We all know about honeymoons and Jim is entitled to one. But let's not be precious - if journos are saying we are in crisis, if leaks are destabilising Jim, if problems are seeing the light of day that Jim would rather not be disclosed to the public and if the reality of our situation is overwhelming Jim's spin and "charisma" let's not forget what happened on Gardner's watch. And let's not forget Jim's role in all that.

And a final thing - what would you have done if the Primus announcement had occurred in May rather than yesterday? There would have been a lynch mob lining up the entire length of St Kilda Rd leading to Gardner's door. Why the nonchalance when this disaster occurred on Jim's watch? And let there be no mistake, this is a disaster.

[Diablo 1]

And a final thing - what would you have done if the Primus announcement had occurred in May rather than yesterday? There would have been a lynch mob lining up the entire length of St Kilda Rd leading to Gardner's door. Why the nonchalance when this disaster occurred on Jim's watch? And let there be no mistake, this is a disaster.

Are you a journalist?

For the love of God, I am not canning Paul Gardner. I don't have an anti-Gardner agenda and I've never put one forward. What little I've said about him is indisputable fact, not my subjective opinion.

The press were kicking us when Gardner was here, and they are still kicking now Jim is here. Why? Because we are still in a bad state, and its still a fair trek back. There is no irony there, it is simply the nature of the beast. But rather than focus on the positives we are starting to see, we continue to get fed the same old negative rubbish. Every bump is portrayed as a mountain to climb. This sponsorship drama is an issue, and a test for the board, but its hardly going to be a 'disaster', as you so sensationally put it. Primus are likely to remain on in some capacity, potentially even up to half what they were contributing previously.

The media are trumpeting the same crap they have been all year. Their tune never changes. Obviously you are able to relate to the hypernegative perspective they put it into, but some would rather see what Jim has done thus far as indicative of a more prosperous, or at least, recouperative period for the club.

Christ. I give up. A disaster?

[jacey 333]

As head of one of the best advertising agencies he is connected with most of the corporations looking to throw money around on advertising and sponsorships.

GYPR aren't going that flash. Actually most advertising agencies aren't going that flash. I see a lot of tightening belts from clients rather then splashing.

[iv'a worn smith 1,979]

It would appear Primus are not going to renew there major sponsorship for 2009.

News we did not need to hear right now.

Lets hope Jimmy and the boys have something big planned in that area.

God knows we need it.

[iv'a worn smith 1,979]

It would appear Primus are not going to renew there major sponsorship for 2009.

News we did not need to hear right now.

Lets hope Jimmy and the boys have something big planned in that area.

God knows we need it.

Apologies, I didn't pick up this was being addressed on another related topic.

[The Emblem 1]

GYPR aren't going that flash. Actually most advertising agencies aren't going that flash. I see a lot of tightening belts from clients rather then splashing.

Aye, around last October many venture capitalists holstered their cheque books as well.

Wont be long till there are tumbleweeds in them thar restaurants.

[True Believer 1]

Aye, around last October many venture capitalists holstered their cheque books as well.

Wont be long till there are tumbleweeds in them thar restaurants.

Back when IPrimus became a sponsor, I switched over to them, allowing the club to collect a small amount each month from my bill. I suppose this will finish... well I might change from IPrimus then !!!

[Sir Why You Little 36,990]

GYPR aren't going that flash. Actually most advertising agencies aren't going that flash. I see a lot of tightening belts from clients rather then splashing.

Correct. Australia makes very few adverts now compared to what it did in the 70's & 80's on TV. Radio is a little better, But the Boom Days are long gone.

[Sir Why You Little 36,990]

I agree we are entering Tough economic times and business will be tight with$$$. But i Believe as Stynesy is such a good "People" person, His network of people is big make no mistake on that. What he has done with REACH is Brilliant. If he can bring the same Principles to the MFC then I still think Sponsors will come on board. It's all about being innovative. Jim's good at that.

[The Time is Now 4]

Go for Mars, tassie has no chance of getting a team up and Mars were willing to put the dollars up to start that footy clue, why not put the dollars up to save ours.

[Rogue 585]

We all know about honeymoons and Jim is entitled to one. But let's not be precious - if journos are saying we are in crisis, if leaks are destabilising Jim, if problems are seeing the light of day that Jim would rather not be disclosed to the public and if the reality of our situation is overwhelming Jim's spin and "charisma" let's not forget what happened on Gardner's watch. And let's not forget Jim's role in all that.

What are the leaks destabilising the current Board?

And a final thing - what would you have done if the Primus announcement had occurred in May rather than yesterday? There would have been a lynch mob lining up the entire length of St Kilda Rd leading to Gardner's door. Why the nonchalance when this disaster occurred on Jim's watch? And let there be no mistake, this is a disaster.

Is this a disaster? Although it may be wrong, I've heard that Primus isn't going particularly well. It's been reported that several AFL Clubs (four?) will be looking for a new sponsor coming into this year, so if this is a disaster, we're not alone in experiencing it.

About as naive as it can get. Lets all close our eyes and things will be peachy keen. Firstly the charismatic well recognised President makes a well connected CEO redundant. Right. Now if we dont have a CEO by year end where in "deeper muck". Right.

I think this is what he's saying -

First, a well-connected President can work on selling the story to potential sponsors as well as / in place of a CEO. Second, if we don't have a CEO by the end of the year, we'll be in "deeper muck" than the Primus' departure. You might not agree, but I don't think there's a contradiction there.

Go for Mars, tassie has no chance of getting a team up and Mars were willing to put the dollars up to start that footy clue, why not put the dollars up to save ours.

I'd say that was a major factor in pledging their sponsorship - they get a great plug without having to fork out the money.