Expansion or Consolidation?

[paulwalker71]

43 minutes ago, whatmichaelsays said:

Super League Europe recently recruited for a marketing director with a salary offer of £75k. That's not going to get you a decent calibure marketing director by any stretch of the imagination. My understanding is that the person who got that role was previously the Head of Marketing at the RFL.

And there you have the problem in a nutshell. People who have quite evidently failed in one part of the sport, getting a top job in another part of the same sport - rather than paying the going rate and getting expertise and fresh thinking. The cheap option as usual!

It just smacks of 'jobs for the boys'... AGAIN! 

[tiffers]

1 hour ago, whatmichaelsays said:

Different clubs will have different priorities. They have their own audiences, their own propositions and their own local challenges. I'm happy to let the clubs determine their own destinies to an extent but (and I'll own up to being an advocate of licencing here), I would make growth metrics a key part of licencing criteria.

Totally agree with you here. This is where every SL club should be holding their marketing managers to target. Clearly defined to their own proposition. Again, comes back to understanding your audiences, intimately.

1 hour ago, whatmichaelsays said:

Personally, I think it comes down to clubs being unwilling to invest and innovate, instead retreating to the "tried and tested". We have club chairmen on record as saying that they "don't believe in marketing" and that's the issue. As long as these clubs can keep relying on generations of dads and grandads to drag their reluctant kids along to yet another loop fixture, they're happy as they haven't had to put their hand in their pocket. Too much of what we do in RL is based on zero-growth budgeting.

This is very disturbing... if they don't understand the value in managing their revenue lines through investing in quality content then there really is very little hope for that club(s). It's an ever diminishing return rate in today's more geographical mobile society. When you look at the propensity to move away from your home town, for Gen Z, then you quickly realise how in 10 years you will be out of business based on the above mantra... Dad & Grandad will be dead, Son will be living in another town/city.

Physical location and a one-off event is fine for locals. But you also have a very geographically sparse audience that is not 3 miles away from the ground. This is where your content point is bang on. Large parts of society have changed so much. With more youngsters going away to University and never coming back, you cannot rely on inter-generational ties like before. I suspect the lifetime-value of younger customers has drastically reduced over time.

1 hour ago, paulwalker71 said:

It just smacks of 'jobs for the boys'... AGAIN! 

I think this is down to a genuine lack of strategic understanding of the digital marketplace and use of technology to consume content.. anyone worth their salt would be heavily investing in a marketing director with a proven record in digital content... moving chess pieces around the table wont change anything. But if the RFL don't recognise the importance of this then I don't know whether to laugh or cry...

We see historical decisions that have hugely impacted on our ability to own the digital landscape. When you look at google search volumes:

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=GB&q=rugby league,rugby union,rugby

This is why Union changed their world cup to "Rugby world cup". This is why they are so adamant they own the term "rugby". Yet I'm not convinced we have the wherewithal to even understand the consequences... let alone own it.

[fighting irish]

Why don't you contact them and offer your services?

[Mister Ting]

4 minutes ago, fighting irish said:

Why don't you contact them and offer your services?

Who was that aimed at and why?

[fighting irish]

 

4 minutes ago, Mister Ting said:

Who was that aimed at and why?

Well I'd prefer to say it was addressed to tiffers, rather than aimed at him (like I was taking a shot at him). He speaks (about modern marketing) with such authority that I'm impressed. I'm just urging him (as I urge everyone who seems passionate about our sport) to get involved. So many have great ideas but do nothing about it. Our game grows by participation, not just playing but in every facet of the game. Perhaps the RFL, or one of the clubs would welcome the approach, (snap him up even).

I'm not being argumentative or confrontational. 

[tiffers]

10 hours ago, fighting irish said:

 

Well I'd prefer to say it was addressed to tiffers, rather than aimed at him (like I was taking a shot at him). He speaks (about modern marketing) with such authority that I'm impressed. I'm just urging him (as I urge everyone who seems passionate about our sport) to get involved. So many have great ideas but do nothing about it. Our game grows by participation, not just playing but in every facet of the game. Perhaps the RFL, or one of the clubs would welcome the approach, (snap him up even).

I'm not being argumentative or confrontational. 

Trust me, Fighting Irish, I'd love nothing more than the RFL or a RL club to snap me up! Cant think of a better way to make a living than trying to grow RL!! RL is in the blood. I dont exactly live around the corner to most RL clubs now, but I'd be more than happy to offer my help/insights if they had an appetite.

My intention is to write to the RFL re. some of these blindingly obvious issues Ive spotted and outline a few things that need addressing. We shall see what happens...

A big part of this is organisational culture. If the org doesn't give a clear mandate for this then it would be an uphill battle even having the conversation around it. I could help with a lack of understanding, I cant help if the culture is the problem. That notion is true for RL as much as it is with any business.

[fighting irish]

10 minutes ago, tiffers said:

Trust me, Fighting Irish, I'd love nothing more than the RFL or a RL club to snap me up! Cant think of a better way to make a living than trying to grow RL!! RL is in the blood. I dont exactly live around the corner to most RL clubs now, but I'd be more than happy to offer my help/insights if they had an appetite.

My intention is to write to the RFL re. some of these blindingly obvious issues Ive spotted and outline a few things that need addressing. We shall see what happens...

A big part of this is organisational culture. If the org doesn't give a clear mandate for this then it would be an uphill battle even having the conversation around it. I could help with a lack of understanding, I cant help if the culture is the problem. That notion is true for RL as much as it is with any business.

Go for it!

It sounds like a dream job to me too.

Good luck.

[iffleyox]

On 26/07/2019 at 22:49, Denton Rovers RLFC said:

 

Propping up traditional clubs is absolutely not the way to go, I'm sorry but even in the games pomp over 60 years ago this failed to get the sport further than the M62 and the odd bit of national coverage, what makes you think chucking more money and effort is going to change that?

 

It's also questionable how solid even the pomp was though. Watching the Game that Got Away for the millionth time the other night (ok that was 50 years ago but still)  I was struck by how much even the big clubs were living hand to mouth. 

although you've got to love the irony of Salford betting their future on a casino...

[iffleyox]

On 28/07/2019 at 13:50, DC77 said:

Probably should have said upper-middle class (the term ‘middle class public school boy’ has been used).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_class_in_the_United_Kingdom#Upper_middle_class

It's even more complicated than that - you were right the first time. One of the by-products of the stratospheric rise in school fees in the past 20 years has been the fact that many of the leading boarding schools have become havens for the super rich - whereas for most of their existence it was perfectly possibly to send your son there (for the were mostly all-boys schools) if you were a doctor, dentist, vicar, solicitor etc.

It is right to call RU solidly middle class - the upper middles and upper historically have disdained team sports after school (apart from cricket) and focused on hunting, shooting and fishing.

[Denton Rovers RLFC]

On 29/07/2019 at 15:59, tiffers said:

Totally agree with you here. This is where every SL club should be holding their marketing managers to target. Clearly defined to their own proposition. Again, comes back to understanding your audiences, intimately.

This is very disturbing... if they don't understand the value in managing their revenue lines through investing in quality content then there really is very little hope for that club(s). It's an ever diminishing return rate in today's more geographical mobile society. When you look at the propensity to move away from your home town, for Gen Z, then you quickly realise how in 10 years you will be out of business based on the above mantra... Dad & Grandad will be dead, Son will be living in another town/city.

Physical location and a one-off event is fine for locals. But you also have a very geographically sparse audience that is not 3 miles away from the ground. This is where your content point is bang on. Large parts of society have changed so much. With more youngsters going away to University and never coming back, you cannot rely on inter-generational ties like before. I suspect the lifetime-value of younger customers has drastically reduced over time.

I think this is down to a genuine lack of strategic understanding of the digital marketplace and use of technology to consume content.. anyone worth their salt would be heavily investing in a marketing director with a proven record in digital content... moving chess pieces around the table wont change anything. But if the RFL don't recognise the importance of this then I don't know whether to laugh or cry...

We see historical decisions that have hugely impacted on our ability to own the digital landscape. When you look at google search volumes:

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=GB&q=rugby league,rugby union,rugby

This is why Union changed their world cup to "Rugby world cup". This is why they are so adamant they own the term "rugby". Yet I'm not convinced we have the wherewithal to even understand the consequences... let alone own it.

The last two aspects re digital and the change by union to using RWC are something the RFL are utterly clueless about (still) and as you've said the consequences of both are absolutely massive. You can do all the local marketing you like but without the other bits you're attached to another object wrapped helically around an axis!