MFC Marketing and Membership sales

[Mousey 47]

I am tipping all you sooks are the toffs that sit in M53 and bag all our players when they do one thing wrong

If you are from bayside, you should be banned from following footy. Worry about your managed funds, 200K sports cars and your trophy wives

And leave the real footy stuff to legends like the great YM

Does everyone just ignore this weed?

[BVI Demon 26]

Well we will certainly know by seaons end how well the marketing dept has gone. If ever an opportunity was handed on a plate..its this year for the mighty Dees.

Some things for mine dont bode well though.. We dont seem to have taken ownership of this event and seem to be playing second fiddle to the AFL.. i wont mince words.. a pissy littel emblem on our jumper fails to excite of or ignite much inside me.. That 150 ought to hit us ( and everyone ) in the face.. not be hidden away in semi obscurity..

you can bet teasm like Collingwood, Essendon and Richmond would not be so shy !!

Whilst getting a team in a newspaper article may help awareness it hardly qualifies as 'marketing'... granted it can be an arrow..but its not the whole quiver. Publicity does not necessarily equal marketing.

I would have thought this year they might come out with all cylinders firing.. as such I think they could have held family day a lot earlier.

We are supposedly making a big thing of the Chinese connection.. we could have piggy backed something there with New years...maybe even had family day around same time .. All lost opportunites

Id be interested to hear how you mught do things Freak seriously

The international membership is a good idea.. we just need about another 100 of them !!

We dont have deep pockets so the MFC sobs.. well then yo uneed to box clever and leverage maximum effect off of others.. we never seem to do this.

Excuse my ignorance..but is any 'one' at MFC charged with marketing.. or is it whomever is closest to the door ?

Speaking of international memberships, the MFC now has 3 fully paid up members in the British Virgin Islands. Practically half the island!

[mikeod 21]

Speaking of international memberships, the MFC now has 3 fully paid up members in the British Virgin Islands. Practically half the island!

Ha! That's brilliant...

Welcome BVI

[Freak 100]

alrighty..ill post my thoughts on what should be done to fix this problem tomorrow.

[drdrake 3,045]

I dont care about not receiving my membership pack as long as I have it for round one I'm happy. This post was to highlight what two clubs that have the same financial constraits as the MFC ae doing to increase membership sales. Our membership numbers have increase by about 300 members in 3-4 weeks between the last updates on the MFC website. This should be the peak time for membership sales.

If we don't start promoting the club we will be lucky to reach 25,000 members, which on current figures will be the lowest by a few thousand. No disrespect to the $40 MCC/MFC memberships because every cent counts and good on the ones that pay this but of our membership increase last year how many was this package? Now the only membership drive I've seen is to the Vic Uni chinese students another fluff membership to bolster our membership numbers.

China is a good idea, but I would of thought that being a "milestone year" your marketing focus would have been to maximise your local support.

[Grand Old Fox 0]

I posted this earlier today on Demonology if the Moderators have a problem with it then all they need do is delete t.

It would be interesting to have the board come out with a statement as to the future direction of the club; I believe that there has been another resignation and that the general morale of the staff is pretty poor. It would be interesting to see just who among the Board has any ideas about new initiatives and if in fact any of the board has put forward any initiatives up to date. It appears that the majority of the present initiatives have been generated by the CEO/staff and that there is an element of complacency among board members.

We do not appear to have been able to tap in to the wealthier of our supporters and this is also a concern, other clubs have done much better than us in this regard. We have blamed Harris for all the resignations at the club but maybe he wasn’t solely to blame.

Anyway I think the club should come out with some sort of directions statement and let the supporters know what it is they have planned for the future, just reducing debt and trying to increase membership by a few thousand is not nearly enough.

In my view, fish rots at the head and Gardner should be made accountable.

Although he talks the talk, and makes the right indications that we are in an improved position, there is a general feeling of discontentment from staff and supporters.

It's all very well to blame Steve Harris, and easier to do so now he's departed, however must Gardner fail to provide internal leadership and stability which in turn has affected staff turnover.

For a man who built his professional career on a marketing empire, the football club he leads is drawing significant criticism in this regard. The club is entering it's 150 year, and there appears to be no emphasis from a marketing perspective, apart from the token logo on the jumper. The fact we are lying dead last in the membership tally to date is testament to this.

Gardner does not seem effective in attracting high profile members to club, which may elude to his reputation as a business man.

It may be too premature to call for Gardner's head, but unless we start moving in the right direction on all levels, the club should look elsewhere in terms of leadership.

I'm not attempting to pin all the club's problems on one man. However, I'm not satisfied that Gardner is the best man for the job.

[The Emblem 1]

Does everyone just ignore this weed?

YM does seem to have it in for the Bayside Mousey...not from there myself, have sporadically visited bayside Melbourne and can report back that visa / passports etc not required for the trip. Although in order to be granted residency a BMW M5 and blonde wife do appear to be mandatory.

YM, it seems your hearts in the right place, however we all need to recognise that MFC needs a lot of marketing savvy now! So far the lack of promotion of the MFC and our 150th suggests that "things are crook in Tallarook" as far as head office cohesion is concerned.

Footy is a business and the strongest clubs usually have the best administration. Geelong sorted this out a couple of years ago and look what happened!

[Mousey 47]

seeing i have no idea about the areas he is talking about as i live in brisbane his ill-informed judgements on people on here and name calling really [censored] me off, and probably more pisses me off knowing he is a 14 year old using a forum to act like he is some big hit honcho.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

In my view, fish rots at the head and Gardner should be made accountable.

That is precisely the point, just what are we doing?

Although he talks the talk, and makes the right indications that we are in an improved position, there is a general feeling of discontentment from staff and supporters.

It's all very well to blame Steve Harris, and easier to do so now he's departed, however must Gardner fail to provide internal leadership and stability which in turn has affected staff turnover.

That is the information that I have been given

For a man who built his professional career on a marketing empire, the football club he leads is drawing significant criticism in this regard. The club is entering its 150 year, and there appears to be no emphasis from a marketing perspective, apart from the token logo on the jumper. The fact we are lying dead last in the membership tally to date is testament to this.

The whole 150 issue has been hi-jacked by the AFL and we haven’t even become a bit player in this, if you asked any other supporter about it being our 150th they wouldn’t have a clue. Why have the board allowed this too happen it’s as if they started the 150 Club then ran out of steam.

Gardner does not seem effective in attracting high profile members to club, which may elude to his reputation as a business man.

That is a problem for the staff at the club, there is no one bringing in the high profile supporters for them to exploit. Last year I gave them the name of one of my clients who is worth a lot of money and a Melbourne supporter, I gave the person concerned phone and email details and they did nothing. I had to speak to him myself recently and convince him to join the 150 Club

What is the China experiment all about can anyone tell me how we will make any money out of it? The Chinese are not interested in Football here why would they be interested in it over there? Why don’t they look at the support base we have and try to convince sponsors that it would be beneficial to them to advertise to our supporter base; there has to be some mutual benefit?

It may be too premature to call for Gardner's head, but unless we start moving in the right direction on all levels, the club should look elsewhere in terms of leadership.

I'm not attempting to pin all the club's problems on one man. However, I'm not satisfied that Gardner is the best man for the job.

I was at first but now neither am I.

[beelzebub 22,264]

Geelong sorted this out a couple of years ago and look what happened!

Funny you say that given one of the 'selected' who were approached !! lol

Gardner role ISNT to run the club..its to facilitate those that DO.

Yes it seems a few have glossed over what was the topic..lol

Its just not good enough for club to 'go through the motions" of doing its stuff...it needs to get out there and create something. we just dont seem to

Clubs like Essendon and Collingwood for example would be going hammer and tongs if it were there 150th.. you wouldnt be able to hear anything else !! The AFL want s them to do things.. they all but tell it ( the AFL ) to jump.. It asks us...no it tells us.. and we roll over.

Nothing seems to have been done.. I say that coz Im not aware of anything. .thats the whole point. There is NO awareness. even a bloody tram decaled out for MFC would be a start.. If we cant afford it.. get one of the "connected" coterie type to get a company to ante up ( they can write if off )

People need to be talking about this 150th..to the point of didinterest !! lol There needs to be some excitement. Why should anyon eelse get excited and onboard if WE cant even raise limp wrist waving ??

These so called brothers in industry should have been hit up to fund a particualr project etc...but we see nothing. One can only imagine what Carlton might have done... berate them all you wish..but they do get things done !!

Again the Chinese idea is good.. but under exploited.. its one idea.. we need a hundred more ideas..and we need them yesterday!!

[beelzebub 22,264]

heres an example of how we get it so wrong:

http://150years.com.au/form.html

Now we ( Australia ) are celebtrating 150 years of footy because ?????????? because of us..!!

play spot the Melb logo on this site.. or any reference to us !!

granted ..not much of a site.. but something reciprocal could be done...surely.

MFC .,..... its not just "going to happen"......you have to MAKE it happen !! where ever you can !!

[beelzebub 22,264]

The AGED is supposed a sponsor.. well..they can bloody well stick a live logo link on their Footy banner head or similar.. and show it !!..You hardly know we existed going to Reebok's !!

Channel 7 apprently supports Essendon.. sorry ..who again heads 7 ? another lost opportunity

Tiger Airways ( Sing's little progidy ) .. have made Melbourne their home.. they'd make a decent contender to emirates surely !! They do fly/connect to China after all !!

whats happened to our second tier sponsors ?? none shown on website.

I love Melbourne... but I really wonder sometimes

[The Emblem 1]

.

Even a bloody tram decaled out for MFC would be a start.. If we cant afford it.. get one of the "connected" coterie type to get a company to ante up ( they can write if off )

Thats a very good idea BB...MFC 150th - Get On Board....with the space for official sponsors & "Tram Sponsors"

Have put in an email to APN to see whats involved in sponsoring a tram before emailing the club.

One of those trundling up and down Collins Street would be just the ticket...YM apparently your only 14 but can you pitch in $5 to help deck out a Brighton Bus as well?

[beelzebub 22,264]

Get a tram decked out.. get the team decked out.. get them on a tram trundling round the city for a few hours.. get all the media there.. magic !!!!

yep

2008..get on board !!

gold !!

[beelzebub 22,264]

youd think Volvo , Rbk iPrimus and The Aged could find a few scheckles for that one !!!!

everyone wins..

edit;

Metlink IS a sponsor of Team Melbourne !! stretching mateship a bit.. but thats what its all about B)

[JACKATTACK 17]

I am tipping all you sooks are the toffs that sit in M53 and bag all our players when they do one thing wrong

If you are from bayside, you should be banned from following footy. Worry about your managed funds, 200K sports cars and your trophy wives

And leave the real footy stuff to legends like the great YM

You clearly know nothing about Bayside, it is not full of M53s (whatever they are). It is full of range rovers, X5s and more recently Ford Territories. Having grown up in Bayside I can say with good confidence that there is a large "follower" base down there, and it stretches further down the coast past frankston to Dromana, and they have buckets of money. The problem is that these people don't go to the footy, they spend most of their time at their high powered, high paying jobs and the rest playing golf or sipping $4 skinnychinos (whatever they are).

Now YM, you can sit back there in your "real" suburb and lob insults at them or you can throw an arm around them and invite them to enjoy the highs and lows of the MFC, all the while keeping an eye on their fat wallets.

So what can MFC do to unlock this large, cashed up supporter base? Well in my opinion there is an opportunity available that I think is an absolute goldmine of rich young bayside families.

Make Melbourne home games kid friendly. In bayside the men are whipped, the women run the show, and they don't want their kids going to the footy, far too many drunks and yobbos in the afl. I know of two such young families that cite swaring as enough of a reason to not attend the football. Make kids want to come, and make their parents want to take them, we could cordon off an area of the MCG for families only, have prizes, make it entertaining for the younger kids who perhaps can't see out a full game. AFL is not kid friendly, and MFC can take advantage of this, by making it the first "child friendly" club. I have been to NHL and CFL (canadian football league) games and kids are everywhere, let's take a leaf out of their book.

Or YM you can sit back and abuse these potential members and make sure they stay away.

[Finks 19]

Does anyone here know the Marketing Timeline for MFC 150?

How do we know they haven't got things on the go for the end of March, or mid year???

Perhaps the budget has to be spent evently over the year during the months that have the best impact for the MFC.

I agree with most that our Marketing department could make the MFC more visible to footy lovers and general public, and I have no doubt that if we had 800k to spend we'd do every suggestion under the sun.

....on the other topic though.......for some very frustrating reason, the MFC is not an attractive business for sponsorship dollars. Our next CEO has to address that.

[beelzebub 22,264]

I dont know if they have or havent.. a timeline for 150th !!

But thats the point surely.. doesnt matter that the season doent start properly for weeks.. the time to start the campaign was months ago.. times a slipping !!

It should all be up and running and in peoples faces !!

part of the reason Melb is unnattractive is IT DOESNT BLOODY DO ANYTHING !! who wants to be associated with sleepy heads in the back row ??

get a little bit jiggy and peopel might want to play with you !! Its not an Einsteinian concept really.

Like attracts like !!

[The Emblem 1]

BB

I have emailed the MFC corporate department outlining the MFC 150th - Get On Board tram concept,

PR opportunities, Financing solutions etc.

Will let you know if and when I get a response

[Guest MFC4Life]

BB

I have emailed the MFC corporate department outlining the MFC 150th - Get On Board tram concept,

PR opportunities, Financing solutions etc.

Will let you know if and when I get a response

Good work DR! Hope the resopnse is positive and constructive.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

I dont know if they have or havent.. a timeline for 150th !!

But thats the point surely.. doesnt matter that the season doent start properly for weeks.. the time to start the campaign was months ago.. times a slipping !!

It should all be up and running and in peoples faces !!

part of the reason Melb is unnattractive is IT DOESNT BLOODY DO ANYTHING !! who wants to be associated with sleepy heads in the back row ??

get a little bit jiggy and peopel might want to play with you !! Its not an Einsteinian concept really.

Like attracts like !!

You're right we should have been hammering this from the start of the year and even if we don't spend a lot of money on it we could at least mention it whenever we could, even put up a Billboard at the ground, anything.

There is no point in talking about it after the season starts; what if we get away to a bad start who is going to care then?

[beelzebub 22,264]

BB

I have emailed the MFC corporate department outlining the MFC 150th - Get On Board tram concept,

PR opportunities, Financing solutions etc.

Will let you know if and when I get a response

way to go )

[beelzebub 22,264]

You know..the more you think about it.. the more it actually seems like a workable thing. Imagine the milage ( pun intended ) youd get out of it !! Good bang for buck !! ( Im presuming) A 20t tram IS going to be in your face !!

GET ON BOARD !!

great Idea.. Make it SO !!

[The Emblem 1]

You know..the more you think about it.. the more it actually seems like a workable thing. Imagine the milage ( pun intended ) youd get out of it !! Good bang for buck !! ( Im presuming) A 20t tram IS going to be in your face !!

GET ON BOARD !!

great Idea.. Make it SO !!

I have got the costings back from APN, all up it would cost $112,000 for a 3 carriage MaxiTram for 12 week period including decking the tram out etc.

Basis the following assumptions:

1/ New members signing up 1/3 are Red & Blue, 1/3 are MFC/MCC Premium, and 1/3 are MFC/MCC Standard.

2/ No support from corporate sponsors.

Breakeven on the exercise would be about 950 members...not too hard a hurdle that considering were currently 10 to 11,000 short of our target of 30,000

Of course its a great opportunity for corporate sponsorship so the B/E membership numbers shoudl drop dramatically so it looks feasible enough to me.

[beelzebub 22,264]

in true sales fashion

you would use the "Get on Baord " slogan to pitch to sponsors too !!

its really is one of those things I reckon.. it has the ring about it that it could fly.

Its get on board with GET ON BOARD

any cheaper for a Z3 or similar ?? big is nice..but ..have to look at all things !!

But its as much about creating awareness and the impresion we ( liek the tram ) are actually going somehwere...like attracts like.. people/companies ( which are people after all) want to be associated with action/purpose/results etc.

treat it also like a honey trap... it has more than one role to play is the point.

top effort DeeReaming !!