MelbourneFC.com.au Media Thread

[Dannyz 2,739]

I think it's time to place on record how poor our media output has been since the departure of Ben Gibson.

Training photos, the odd awkward interview and generic reprocessed information. I understand the strategy of the club this off & pre-season has been to close up shop and let their footy work do the talking but I truly believe the lack of insightful and creative media content will impact membership numbers, engagement and anticipation ahead of the season.

Our website still shows the exciting launch of the 2023 merchandise range. We never hear from Gary Pert or Simon Goodwin unless it's a members forum or AGM. Andy Moniz Wakefield's re-signing was never announced, we are none the wiser on his contract length.

I've just gone on to a few other random AFL club pages for context. The Bulldogs have a unique video feature where Cody Weightman (and others) have been filmed from their morning coffee, routine once they get to the club with even a snippet of Luke Beveridge's whiteboard strategy session. It's a unique insight without giving too much away. 

Sydney have released a 15 minute video from their training camp at Coffs Harbour which shows the player bonding up close and how these camps play out.

We know the powers at be read the forum so please place more resources in this area. Love from all of your fans! 

[Ethan Tremblay 30,856]

I cringe at those types of clips. But I do understand people’s frustrations with our media department. 

[Demonland 72,155]

I only wish I had the access that the Club has to players and officials and the platform they have to bring informative and creative content to the supporter base and beyond. And I’d do it for free. 

[layzie 33,793]

At least we still have you @Dannyz 😁

[Pipefitter 2,159]

The video posing with the flames the other day was so cringe.

Ir can’t be that hard, spend some time with a particular player, show some match sim footage and it would tick most fans boxes.

[DistrACTION Jackson 8,721]

14 minutes ago, Pipefitter said:

The video posing with the flames the other day was so cringe.

Ir can’t be that hard, spend some time with a particular player, show some match sim footage and it would tick most fans boxes.

I think that was an AFL or channel 7 thing

[george_on_the_outer 7,590]

Sadly what has been produced since Ben left is outright slack, lazy and simply not directed at us...the fans. 

Demonland was producing "happy snaps" of players at training 20 years ago, and what we are seeing now is nothing more.  In fact our own @Six6Six produces far superior quality shots when compared to the amateur efforts shown by people who are being paid to do the job.

At training sessions we see them behind their camera, and scrolling through their phone, while spectacular marks go un-noticed, and what's worse....not a single written report about what is actually going on right in front of them....or behind them as injuries occur during the session. Or who is training, who is not, who is rehabbing.  ....off we go to Demonland to get that information.

Podcasts from the club?   No, you have to come to Demonland for that!.  Interviews....once again unsighted since Ben left, except for the banal questioning line of "what was it like out there today".  How about something as simple as asking Christian Salem how his recovery is going?  Essendon have a run down on their community camp over a couple of days. 

And how about writing something?  There is more food for the supporter needs right here on Demonland, than can be found on the club website. 

Like @Dannyz has pointed out, go to other clubs websites ( yes that hurts), but it shows what their fans are being given and entertained with, and can get excited about.  That is how you build a fan base, that is how you maintain a fan base. 

Edited February 8 by george_on_the_outer

[Rab D Nesbitt 8,367]

You mean you don’t like the videos of players trying to roll a coin into a fork or stick a clothes peg on a singlet without getting caught? 🙄

[Dannyz 2,739]

18 minutes ago, Rab D Nesbitt said:

You mean you don’t like the videos of players trying to roll a coin into a fork or stick a clothes peg on a singlet without getting caught? 🙄

Trash when compared to this: https://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/video/1486959/unleashed-cody-weightman?videoId=1486959&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1707289070886

[whatwhat say what 22,742]

look higher than gibson's level as to who is to blame for the strategic direction of content delivery

[poita 3,902]

How hard would it be for each of the line coaches to write a piece for the website once a fortnight telling us how the players in their group are progressing? And if they don't want to do it, surely they can get some year 10 work experience kids to do it. Ditto for the Casey coach after each game.

Do a pocket profile for each of the players like they used to have in the footy record, and release 1 or 2 each week during the pre season. I'd be interested in learning more about some of the off field staff we have as well, and what their jobs entail.

Give us some regular, accurate injury and fitness updates. Not everything is a state secret that has to be kept away from opposition clubs.

Put some posters and other downloadable materials on the website. Run some competitions on there as well. Update the team pages on the website so that the AFLW players drafted two months ago appear and those we traded out are removed.

 

[hardtack 10,537]

1 hour ago, george_on_the_outer said:

Demonland was producing "happy snaps" of players at training 20 years ago, and what we are seeing now is nothing more.  In fact our own @Six6Six produces far superior quality shots when compared to the amateur efforts shown by people who are being paid to do the job.

I was looking at the Gallery from training yesterday and was appalled that they could post such uninspiring, lifeless, dull, shots!! It was quite apparent that there’d been no real attempt to edit them and there were shots of players’ backs with little to no action occurring.

I will admit that there were a handful of acceptable shots of individual players (a good shot of Salem for example), but even most of them (not that there were many - the entire gallery was just 30 or so shots) were pretty ordinary!

I suggested to my son who late last year completed a photography course at the Torrens University campus in Sydney (I think it was a Billy Blue Design College course), that he send the club a folio of his work, but he wants to wait a while first as his priorities are to get a driver’s license (most important) and to maybe just shoot around at local clubs.  His work is of  a very very good standard, and his love of footy shines through it all!

Despite being a massive Demons supporter (and member), his best shots are unfortunately of the Swans seconds playing at Tramway Oval across the road from the SCG; sure I’m probably biased, but as someone who knows a bit about photography, in my opinion he’s got talent to burn!

Sorry, I got a bit carried away 😂🤣🤣😂

[EMDE 44]

It's not just their media department. I rang the MFC on Monday to ask about why my Community series access code hadn't been sent to me, as the MFC e-mail had said. The website at that time was providing the name of an incorrect ticketing provider for ticket access. When I pointed that out, it was conflicted with the information that the MFC members access call centre had on record. Eventually the website was altered to the correct info, but I'd had to point out the error to them and I'd had no access code. I politely pointed out their deficiencies and my dismay at their ineptitude.

[picket fence 17,142]

I'd be happy to lend a hand and do some reports and interviews, but would seriously doubt if I would get a gig!

[picket fence 17,142]

1 hour ago, Dannyz said:

Trash when compared to this: https://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/video/1486959/unleashed-cody-weightman?videoId=1486959&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1707289070886

Mindblowing, why cant we do the same. Very poor P.R from club!

[binman 42,896]

4 hours ago, Dannyz said:

I think it's time to place on record how poor our media output has been since the departure of Ben Gibson.

Training photos, the odd awkward interview and generic reprocessed information. I understand the strategy of the club this off & pre-season has been to close up shop and let their footy work do the talking but I truly believe the lack of insightful and creative media content will impact membership numbers, engagement and anticipation ahead of the season.

Our website still shows the exciting launch of the 2023 merchandise range. We never hear from Gary Pert or Simon Goodwin unless it's a members forum or AGM. Andy Moniz Wakefield's re-signing was never announced, we are none the wiser on his contract length.

I've just gone on to a few other random AFL club pages for context. The Bulldogs have a unique video feature where Cody Weightman (and others) have been filmed from their morning coffee, routine once they get to the club with even a snippet of Luke Beveridge's whiteboard strategy session. It's a unique insight without giving too much away. 

Sydney have released a 15 minute video from their training camp at Coffs Harbour which shows the player bonding up close and how these camps play out.

We know the powers at be read the forum so please place more resources in this area. Love from all of your fans! 

Could not agree more.

But to be clear i don't blame the current comms team (though i take Georges point about the content 'creators'. I'm not on social media and the only place i see their content is what is linked out here. But how many photos with captions like 'the colt horsing around' can you look at before wanting something with a bit more depth   - i mean how hard is to write something up say describing the purpose of the drills - or do a quick interview with a line coach, trainer or player at training talking about an element of their training - as opposed to who chose the music. With tech now that sort of content is basically free to create)

The club has got a lot of things right in the last few years. Coms isn't one of them. And i mean comms in the broad sense, not just fan engagement stuff. 

On the latter, i get the argument that with the soft cap restrictions the focus has to be on investments in the players and on field results. 

But the two are super inter related. 

For one thing, as i understand it growing the membership (to 80k) is part of the current strategic plan. Good comms is absolutely critical to achieving that strategic goal.

Which makes sense, becuase that is how you bring in the income to drive on field performance. 

With the cost of living so high, if you are asking fans to fork out hundreds of dollars for a membership good fan engagement is part of the value proposition. Sure memberships gets you into games, but for many a membership is more akin to a donation. 

When making decisions about how to spend money all but the most hard core fans (and even many of them depending on their circumstances) to a greater or lesser degree will consider the value proposition of a membership before forking out for one. 

For me the website is an important part of the value proposition. And ours is woeful.

As someone interested in stats and players histories our website is terrible. I just checked then, and credit where its due, the players info is now current - but it was all 12 months out of late last season. That is amateursville. 

What i'm most interested in is analysis. And again, there is nothing on our website that give me any insight into the game, how we are travelling, what our tactical thinking is etc etc. I just had a look at and the 'news' is training galleries and AFL articles.

Carlton last year had video blogs previewing upcoming games. I watched it prior to our games and it was really interesting. Useful. Engaging. And no cost to create (apart from the employee time - but i assume we have employees doing comms?). 

I barely ever visit the MFC our website. I'd say no more than once a month in season - and not at all out of season. That's crazy. 

I get i'm not representative of what most fans want, but that's the point - a comms strategy has to include strategies of how to engage with all demographic's, including footy nerds like me. If for no other reason that if you ask people why they barrack for their team, 75% would say because my mum or dad did.

And not investing in fan engagement is also incredibly short term thinking as it limits attracting new fans and keeping current ones. Fans become members. 

I've noted before Freo have really good content on their website. I just had a look and this video from a few days ago is a good example of what i mean about content that adds to the value proposition of supporting freo.

As a freo fan i would find this really interesting because it gives a bit insight into a key role at modern footy clubs - the data analyst (i found it is interesting as a dees fan!) and introduces me to a a club employee who is part of the huge group of people behind the scene it takes to make a club successful (i watched it on their website, but the link is to their you tube channel as it links out better).

 

Edited February 8 by binman

[demon3165 2,718]

1 hour ago, poita said:

How hard would it be for each of the line coaches to write a piece for the website once a fortnight telling us how the players in their group are progressing? And if they don't want to do it, surely they can get some year 10 work experience kids to do it. Ditto for the Casey coach after each game.

Do a pocket profile for each of the players like they used to have in the footy record, and release 1 or 2 each week during the pre season. I'd be interested in learning more about some of the off field staff we have as well, and what their jobs entail.

Give us some regular, accurate injury and fitness updates. Not everything is a state secret that has to be kept away from opposition clubs.

Put some posters and other downloadable materials on the website. Run some competitions on there as well. Update the team pages on the website so that the AFLW players drafted two months ago appear and those we traded out are removed.

 

Do you think other clubs tell the truth on injuries newsflash they don't so why should we and what's the point of it anyway.

[DEE fence 5,007]

Great post, and for sure the club is missing a trick here, there is so much: a, goodwill, b, skills amongst supporter base, and c, easy to find content. This stuff sells itself and is not being harvested. 

But the one thing people have not mentioned here is that nature abhors a vacuum. We get told about our great culture, but if we were shown it with better content, it would really be a way to dispel the hostile media and snipers out there who want to damage the club. With the substandard content and cliches tropes the club leaves space for the snipers. It's not even BS because we are a good club, with great women and men.

I think the club runs meaningful engagement with the community, and I appreciate it, but player insta channels are not enough.

Or, actually, maybe I'm just an obsessed fan who can't get enough...

[rjay 24,917]

Someone said the club monitors this site.

Pity they don't take action in a positive manner.

[Roger Mellie 4,012]

100% agree. I just watched a clip on Harry deMattia's experience since joining the pies. Yes, I feel dirty - filthy in fact, but it gave good insight into the drafting and preseason experience from the recruit's perspective.

On the MFC website is some lame candle conundrum thing.

What I'd like to see:

A brief preseason training update from the line coaches for every player, a profile or two on our recruits, accurate training time info, a weekly post-training interview with a player or coach and a decent content build-up to the start of the season. Have we heard a word from our new midfield coach? Nothing against Mini, but can the comms people have a chat with him FCS?

Conversely, I'm happy to be sold a pup on any injury issue that the club doesn't want the opposition to get wind of before a game.

[Storm Boy 376]

It is important to note we had over 70,000 members in 2023. I remember the club did the To Hell and Back episodes in early 2020 preseason documentary series. The media department did a great job putting together these episodes and the content was great to watch. Initially the club received criticism, but looking back it was the best thing the club did, and a year later we won the Premiership.  I want to be more honest with my feelings about the media department, but I won't. Our Loyal Fan base wants more media content and the Club must deliver and service its member base better. 

[Dee Zephyr 19,267]

This thread is like going to confession.

I miss Gibby too.

[Rednblueriseing 824]

Did we already had our family day? Haven't herd a thing about it

[dazzledavey36 54,861]

Jumped on twitter to have a pointless scroll through and the first thing that pops up is this [censored]. It's almost like they film this and go "this is exactly the content the fans want..."

We are dead set bottom 4 in the competition when it comes to media and communications.

Say what you want about Collingwood but after watching the Harry De Mattia stuff, I absolutely loved it! It was a fascinating insight into a first year players experience starting in the AFL system. Collingwood just do it so well and I could name half a dozen clubs that are in the same boat. 

The GWS giants for instance posted this early this year.

Why not do similar of all three of our new boys? Kynan Brown is a son of a former demon, do a short doco on him on what it means to be in the AFL level that not only his old man represented, but the club he grew up barracking. 

Instead we've got trash content such as the above and Daniel Turner pinning washing pegs on his teammates at a team photo shoot.

[whatwhat say what 22,742]

1 hour ago, Storm Boy said:

It is important to note we had over 70,000 members in 2023. I remember the club did the To Hell and Back episodes in early 2020 preseason documentary series. The media department did a great job putting together these episodes and the content was great to watch. Initially the club received criticism, but looking back it was the best thing the club did, and a year later we won the Premiership.  I want to be more honest with my feelings about the media department, but I won't. Our Loyal Fan base wants more media content and the Club must deliver and service its member base better. 

that was made by a third party organisation, not the mfc media dept