Where's the Bumper Sticker?

[HOSE B ROMERO]

Okay, i could get over Cal Ward leaving us for the Giants;
and Lakey leaving us for a tilt at a Premiership;
I can even now accept that we let Demps go to Norf for Crazy horse, John Moylan and someone else (who was it?) but ................

WHERE'S MY BUMPER STICKER????!!!!!!!!!!??????

I don't want another lanyard!@#$%^%$#@! In five hundred years archaeologists will be digging up the western suburbs and all they will find is b****y lanyards.

Every year the club asks for feedback and i tell them to give out half a dozen bumper stickers with every membership. I would hand them out to the kids of my customers in less than a day. To me they are one of the best promoters of our club.

I even phoned the club today but they just put it down to a change in policy.

Has the marketing department been infiltrated by K Rudd?

I move that at our first home game, the marketing gurus form a guard of honour through which every dogs member will walk and be handed their bumper sticker.

[chef]

Its in the middle pages of the membership booklet, it's a lot smaller than it used to be.

[Eastdog]

I haven't opened my membership pack yet as I'm leaving it as a Christmas gift but yeah people have said there is a bumper sticker but its smaller than previously before.

[ReLoad]

Yup the sticker is uber lame.

The wife's car with the hawks stickers looks a million bucks compared to our cost cutting crap.

I'd happily pay extra for a better sticker

[Remi Moses]

The problem with the bumper sticker is the red takes on a rather deshavuled look after a short time.

[Twodogs]

Okay, i could get over Cal Ward leaving us for the Giants;
and Lakey leaving us for a tilt at a Premiership;
I can even now accept that we let Demps go to Norf for Crazy horse, John Moylan and someone else (who was it?) .


Mark Williams I think his name was. He looked like a bikie

[AndrewP6]

I've given out bigger stickers to kids at school. It's pathetic.

[bornadog]

Yep a decent sticker is better than the crap they send out. A card board box, lanyards all a waste of money

[LostDoggy]

Fill the void with WOOF stickers.

[chef]

And why no key ring?

[Maddog37]

You can buy Bulldog stickers independently if it means that much. I bought a massive oval shaped thing and stuck that on my back window. It turned pink too eventually though.

[LostDoggy]

I was a little surprised when I opened up my membership pack last night and noticed how small the sticker is but then I decided to just accept it and move on with the knowledge that my sticker only lasts a couple of months in Darwin anyway!

[mighty_west]

It's a bit of s shame but after the condition of last year's which ended up being a complete mess after 8-9 months on the car and size of this year's I'm not going to bother displaying mine with pride, which will be the first time in years.

[HOSE B ROMERO]

Mark Williams I think his name was. He looked like a bikie

Really? A different Mark Williams to the one we got from Carlton in the 80's?

[Twodogs]

Really? A different Mark Williams to the one we got from Carlton in the 80's?


Yep.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Williams_(Australian_footballer_born_1957)

[KT31]

Okay, i could get over Cal Ward leaving us for the Giants;
and Lakey leaving us for a tilt at a Premiership;
I can even now accept that we let Demps go to Norf for Crazy horse, John Moylan and someone else (who was it?) but ................

http://news.google.com.au/newspapers?id=OfZUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mZIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1951,3437709

[Twodogs]

http://news.google.com.au/newspapers?id=OfZUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mZIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1951,3437709


I can remember buyng that copy of The Age on the way to school that day and reading it in the schoolyard before school. I must have been in year 10. From memory we got those players and $100, 000. Then later in the year I took a copy of the annual report into show my economics teacher because we'd made a financial loss and I wanted to know why we'd lost money for the year when we'd sold our best player. The teacher said that just because North said that they were going to give us the hundred grand there was no proof they'd given us the cash in the financial records.

[AndrewP6]

You can buy Bulldog stickers independently if it means that much. I bought a massive oval shaped thing and stuck that on my back window. It turned pink too eventually though.

When people pay their hard earned, and a sticker is part of the pack they should be able to reasonably expect something that looks half decent, and actually stays on. They shouldn't have to fork out extra for something that is supposedly part of the entitlement. It's even more stupid that a cardboard box and membership book were in it - waste of money.

[Remi Moses]

Mark Williams I think his name was. He looked like a bikie

He was bulky with long curly locks .
Reserves player

[Remi Moses]

I buy a membership with 17 games.
Should I get a reimbursement for not attending 17 games?
I haven't been to 17 games since Adam was a boy.

Just imagine the outrage on here if our club charged non members to attend training!!
Honestly some people could whinge for Australia

[always right]

I'm outraged and will be returning my membership until I receive a sticker that is worthy of my allegiance.

[always right]

He was bulky with long curly locks .
Reserves player

He was actually a very promising player but didn't have the desire to pay VFL. Shame.

[Remi Moses]

I just wanna bloody premiership.

[Eastdog]

I just wanna bloody premiership.

Me too RM. I really believe Macca is building something special down at the Whitten Oval. Membership figures are up. Hopefully in the next few years will be all celebrating our 2nd premiership.

[GVGjr]

A different view. The conversation is also worth a read

http://twitter.com/KirrileeTorney/status/414211565143855104/photo/1

I can understand that some expect more for their membership dollars but given the increased spend in the football department, the extra coaches plus our own VFL side, I'd rather the money be directed there that having a few extra novelty items in the membership kit. If I want them so bad I'll just buy them.

I do get the marketing component of the opening post though but I'm genuinely excited about the 2014 season and my membership card is really all I expect. Perhaps when the club is making million dollar profits and winning premierships I'll demand a lot more from them.

[The Underdog]

A different view. The conversation is also worth a read

http://twitter.com/KirrileeTorney/status/414211565143855104/photo/1

I can understand that some expect more for their membership dollars but given the increased spend in the football department, the extra coaches plus our own VFL side, I'd rather the money be directed there that having a few extra novelty items in the membership kit. If I want them so bad I'll just buy them.

I do get the marketing component of the opening post though but I'm genuinely excited about the 2014 season and my membership card is really all I expect. Perhaps when the club is making million dollar profits and winning premierships I'll demand a lot more from them.

I'm pretty fine with the card and maybe a little something to acknowledge extras like Social Club memberships etc. The really important one is extras for kids memberships I feel, mores than stuff for adults. I certainly don't need a new freakin hat every year (plus they never fit my head properly).

[mighty_west]

Another aspect to the bumper sticker which no one has really brought up is the cheap advertising and marketing of the club, the colours, whack a Bulldog on there and who knows how many kids see it, whilst it seems not too many seem to care about a sticker, I believe it's quite important for as many supporters to display it.

[mighty_west]

A different view. The conversation is also worth a read

http://twitter.com/KirrileeTorney/status/414211565143855104/photo/1

I can understand that some expect more for their membership dollars but given the increased spend in the football department, the extra coaches plus our own VFL side, I'd rather the money be directed there that having a few extra novelty items in the membership kit. If I want them so bad I'll just buy them.

I do get the marketing component of the opening post though but I'm genuinely excited about the 2014 season and my membership card is really all I expect. Perhaps when the club is making million dollar profits and winning premierships I'll demand a lot more from them.

You don't believe the money to produce the bumper stickers for as many members as possible to display the and advertise the brand on the back of their cars is worth it?

[GVGjr]

You don't believe the money to produce the bumper stickers for as many members as possible to display the and advertise the brand on the back of their cars is worth it?

I certainly do in fact I acknowledged it in my reply. I'm just wondering if with all our increased spend on the football department if we have looked to cut some costs but even with that in mind a choice between bumper stickers and extra coaches is a simple one for mine.

[mighty_west]

I certainly do in fact I acknowledged it in my reply. I'm just wondering if with all our increased spend on the football department if we have looked to cut some costs but even with that in mind a choice between bumper stickers and extra coaches is a simple one for mine.

Why would there have to be a choice between coaches and advertising/marketing though?

Wouldn't the club work out budgeting for various aspects in regards to costs? Heck, they could even go one step further and produce a stack of cheaper quality stickers to hand out to kids at various events, maybe those who wouldn't use their caps as a donation back to the club (program) and hand out those too, just different ways and ideas to promote the club and target as many kids as possible.

[bulldogtragic]

From my experience, cheap marketing can appear to some people that the product marketed is cheap too.

[mighty_west]

From my experience, cheap marketing can appear to some people that the product marketed is cheap too.

It can which is why you have to be smart with the way you target your market, and exhaust every possible way to help grow your organization.

[Happy Days]

The tiny sticker is most definitely bullshit.

Add it to the stripping back of the rest of the perks over the years (I.e scarf) and we better see some DAMN exciting football this season.

[Remi Moses]

Would hope people would purchase a membership to help the clubs viability.
Really side issues like bumper stickers, and scarves( I have about a dozen) are just petty moaning .
By all means give the kids an attractive bunch of goodies, but grown adults moaning over their " membership package"! Spare me

[mighty_west]

From my experience, cheap marketing can appear to some people that the product marketed is cheap too.

Just one more point, without sounding like I'm moaning too much (sorry Remi) :D, I've seen a few stickers on cars in Vic and up here in QLD from teams such as Geelong, Richmond and Hawks which were all 3, 4, 5 years old going by the membership year, all in perfect shape and colour, then you have ours that holds up as well as an English cricketer under pressure, constantly get jabbed at by family members and few mates about how cheap and nasty it looks just like your cheap nasty club etc etc, having worked in the advertising industry for over a decade working closely with printing firms etc, it really shouldn't be something that hard to get right.

For me personally I'll continue being a lifetime member (since mid 70's) purchasing my full membership to utilize it with my one game up here in Brissy each year regardless of what extras we get with the membership package, my soon to be MW Jnr expected around March will also be signed up ad a born a Bulldog from day 1 (he/she has no choice)....but as a club that is always behind the 8-ball in regards to staying relevant in the competition, I believe it's the finer details, the attention to detail we really have to nail.

[bulldogtragic]

Since the scarf if being mentioned, I'll pay extra $, minus the ill fitting cap, for scarf any day. Surely we can offer the base membership, and a $10 pack for s scarf and sticker. I think most accept our financial position to pay a little extra to get a little extra.

I get annoyed with my wife's exhuberance over getting her New Years membership scarf from Hawthorn, with years members printed on it. While I contemplate sending my stuff back to the club to give to kids.

[chef]

Would hope people would purchase a membership to help the clubs viability.
Really side issues like bumper stickers, and scarves( I have about a dozen) are just petty moaning .
By all means give the kids an attractive bunch of goodies, but grown adults moaning over their " membership package"! Spare me

Maybe some of us like getting stuff that says we are members, you know a pride thing.

No ones moaning about prices and we would all happily pay a bit extra to get the things we want.

[mighty_west]

Since the scarf if being mentioned, I'll pay extra $, minus the ill fitting cap, for scarf any day. Surely we can offer the base membership, and a $10 pack for s scarf and sticker. I think most accept our financial position to pay a little extra to get a little extra.

I get annoyed with my wife's exhuberance over getting her New Years membership scarf from Hawthorn, with years members printed on it. While I contemplate sending my stuff back to the club to give to kids.

Perhaps that's another idea the club could look at, fitted caps similar to the baseball caps in varied sizes, tick the box with noggin size, pay your extra $20-$30 for the excellent quality version and wallah, like the scarves it's not for all, but the choices are there, I bought one of the KooGa doggies caps last year in the KooGa store on the Gold Coast and the quality is excellent so I don't need this or last year's members cap, it's a better quality cap so it should fit most heads, if that had member since 1977 or 1985 or 2000 on the side, even better.

[Eastdog]

Yup the sticker is uber lame.

The wife's car with the hawks stickers looks a million bucks compared to our cost cutting crap.

I'd happily pay extra for a better sticker

Yeah agree ReLoad. I see lots of Hawks stickers on cars. I want to see more Bulldog stickers on cars.

[Remi Moses]

Didn't see many hawthorn stickers about a decade back.
I know I'm sounding like a grumpy old fart on this.
The sticker fades after a period of time, and peels off.
The hat's okay, but for mine the best add on is the kids back pack.

[mighty_west]

The sticker fades after a period of time, and peels off.

ExactaMundo!

Although I wished this year's one just pealed off, had to soak it up and scrape the damn thing off with s blade with specks of old crumbled sticker flying all over the car.

I think what alot of people are missing here is the point of every finer detail to tick off, no one is suggesting that this smaller issue of a bumper is taking away or standing alongside greater issues the club has in regards to membership numbers or paying off the debt, it's also not taking away the excitement of the new VFL side or the Edgewater development, or the continued development of some damn exciting kids coming through or the thought of Crameri helping out and standing alongside Jones and Grant and Stringer.

Every small decision made right will help make the bigger issues right, I'm sure the Edgewater project is made up of hundreds of small and minor issues, tick off all of those finer details will help the broader issue in the long run.

[Maddog37]

If a job is worth doing it is worth doing right.

If they send out stickers then they should be decent. If they cannot do that then do not send them.

I do like the idea of a full suite of quality merchandise that is offered to members at a cost on membership anniversary. If you want the merch( maybe a scarf, maybe a hat, maybe a shirt) you tick the box and the cost of your membership reflects your choices.

[Eastdog]

I reckon that whatever type of member you are with the club you should get a Bulldogs member scarf on top of a decent sticker with the membership package.

[Danny the snakeman]

I would much rather 1 big members sticker than all the other little ones they put in. Being in WA we don't have a big following here so I want I sticker I can drive around proud with,this years is embarrassing and won't be going on the car.

[jeemak]

I wonder if the club has run a focus group asking them what people want in their membership packages.

If they have, and the outcome was more stickers over one big sticker you have your answer (I'm not sure we're this sophisticated, yet).

Personally, I don't mind either way. I don't put stickers on my car. I have a scarf from about 1983/84 which has the old Bulldogs and VFL emblems on it and I wouldn't wear anything else to the footy, so I don't need a scarf. Perhaps others are the same.

[bulldogtragic]

I wonder if the club has run a focus group asking them what people want in their membership packages.

If they have, and the outcome was more stickers over one big sticker you have your answer (I'm not sure we're this sophisticated, yet).

Personally, I don't mind either way. I don't put stickers on my car. I have a scarf from about 1983/84 which has the old Bulldogs and VFL emblems on it and I wouldn't wear anything else to the footy, so I don't need a scarf. Perhaps others are the same.
The thing with Hawthorn and others doing it, is they stitch the years of membership prominently on it. It's like a badge of honour and the unwritten rule is 'if you don't renew, your years tally is lost forever'. That would retain a certain percentage of people and reward long serving members too. It's a little thing, but I quite like it for the reasons above.

[LostDoggy]

I too am disappointed with the 2014 car stickers. We need to be advertising the club and that is a great way of doing it. I would rather a larger sticker, made with colourfast ink than the scarf I get each year & don't wear (I have an old one I prefer).

[Bulldog4life]

If a job is worth doing it is worth doing right.

If they send out stickers then they should be decent. If they cannot do that then do not send them.

I do like the idea of a full suite of quality merchandise that is offered to members at a cost on membership anniversary. If you want the merch( maybe a scarf, maybe a hat, maybe a shirt) you tick the box and the cost of your membership reflects your choices.

Yes I like this idea Maddog.

[mighty_west]

Does the supersized fixture calendar make up for the tiny sticker? Didn't expect that in the mail today.

[comrade]

As long as I get my fixture magnet and my membership card, I'm happy.

I think the 'years as member' on a scarf is also a top idea. They'd have to do some market research but if it helps reduce member churn by x% (I'd imagine it would only by a tiny number) which is worth $y to the bottom line and the cost to do it is less than that, its a no brainer.