The Best way to promote the Bulldog Brand in the future

[Eastdog]

Had a question about promoting our brand into the future that you may be able to address as I've read some posts about it a bit in the membership thread. Im a passionate Doggies fan from the east and while its all well and good for us to be promoting our club in the west do you think the club should while not at all letting go of the roots promote it in a way that will attract new support from other areas as well as the west of course like the north, east and south, country and interstate. How can we do this the most effectively as I think this can get us much more exposure. Love to get your thoughts?

[anfo27]

Play some Friday night footy, we desperately need prime time coverage. A lot of kids wouldn't even know who the bulldogs are cause we are never seen on prime time.

[bulldogtragic]

Real equalisation.

Winning.

[LostDoggy]

Agree. Stick to the west and discount half of Melbourne.

[Eastdog]

I think it's easier said than done to draw on a particular region and I believe most other clubs besides maybe Geelong (even they by winning a few flags have gained support from outside the bounds of there area) dont rely on drawing support from a particular catchment area and get the brand out there in different ways. Certainly agree with anfo27 that we need to get a Friday night match and more prime time slots which would be a start.

[Bumper Bulldogs]

Why not offer deals on a weekend package. This is directed at country people.

The offer would be along the lines of a package deal that would include a tour of the Witten oval, accommodation for a night, and game day access to the footy.

Package could also include sitting with the cheer squad, accommodation at a partner hotel (sponsorship opportunity), maybe meals and could also incorporate a VFL or Injured player to accompany the tour. After the tour of Whiten oval, stop at the Pound cafe, Bulldog shop and get a few more opportunities to get some dollars of them.

[bulldogtragic]

Why not offer deals on a weekend package. This is directed at country people.

The offer would be along the lines of a package deal that would include a tour of the Witten oval, accommodation for a night, and game day access to the footy.

Package could also include sitting with the cheer squad, accommodation at a partner hotel (sponsorship opportunity), maybe meals and could also incorporate a VFL or Injured player to accompany the tour. After the tour of Whiten oval, stop at the Pound cafe, Bulldog shop and get a few more opportunities to get some dollars of them.

Great idea. Why not overseas travelers packages? We have some big name actors in the USA right now, surely they could help pitch their name to a tour package. Bonts goal and excitement as an example of our brand in the sport should surely hook a few looking for a sporting aspect to a trip.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

The thought occurred to me that as we now have many WB supporters that may have grown up in the West or had family connections that did, but are now in the Eastern suburbs as I am, that we maybe able to target lapsed members for example by utilizing our current crop of players who live North or East such as Roberts, Bontempelli, Honeychurch Jong and Greenwood as ambassadors for the Club. A couple of suggestions could include visitations to schools, junior clubs and telemarketing with our membership staff on current and previous members. These initiatives would need to occur outside their normal training commitments etc but I am sure that where there is a will, there is a way. It could prove to be a great PR exercise for the club. The 5 individuals mentioned above are all quality people and would give them something worthwhile to occupy their time and at the same time help grow the WB.

[Ghost Dog]

I've been wondering for some time about promoting a special coterie of members, blue chip supporters, who have access to the upper echelons of the club. Maybe something exists like this already, but think of them as membership 'leaders'. One advantage of having people like Peter on board is the innovation and vision they bring to the club. How can we attract more blue chip members? You know for sure many of these types are not going to come from the West, but from the East. Perhaps this is one way to promote the club.

[Bumper Bulldogs]

Just another one why don't the club organise a day/function and invite all the old members that haven't signed up this year.

You could do it in January 2015 and invite all lapsed members for the last 3 years. Roll out the new guns and a BBQ in the hood to sign them up on the day. A bite like the West meets East day. They cooked call it the old meets new.

I think that I heard Simon Garlic say they had around 7,000 members that didn't resign this year from last.

We know that the GFC is all but behind us so the chance of getting a few more signed up should be good.

[LostDoggy]

Just another one why don't the club organise a day/function and invite all the old members that haven't signed up this year.

You could do it in January 2015 and invite all lapsed members for the last 3 years. Roll out the new guns and a BBQ in the hood to sign them up on the day. A bite like the West meets East day. They cooked call it the old meets new.

I think that I heard Simon Garlic say they had around 7,000 members that didn't resign this year from last.

We know that the GFC is all but behind us so the chance of getting a few more signed up should be good.

More ideas the better BB, so nice work, however.

There's a reason these 'people' don't re-sign. They'd fall into the categories of:
- Bandwagoners
- Recalcitrant defaulters on payment
- They've had enough of our lack of premierships

Rolling out the red carpet for those who don't believe in what we're doing isn't the answer. Running a business you must continue to give more to your existing members/customers. Treating newbies and/or pandering to the aforementioned non-members isn't the way to grow your business and reeks of barrel-scraping. It's the existing members that should largely be targeted to 'build the brand' and this is through loyalty discounts and giving more to get more (membership referrals)

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

More ideas the better BB, so nice work, however.

There's a reason these 'people' don't re-sign. They'd fall into the categories of:
- Bandwagoners
- Recalcitrant defaulters on payment
- They've had enough of our lack of premierships

Rolling out the red carpet for those who don't believe in what we're doing isn't the answer. Running a business you must continue to give more to your existing members/customers. Treating newbies and/or pandering to the aforementioned non-members isn't the way to grow your business and reeks of barrel-scraping. It's the existing members that should largely be targeted to 'build the brand' and this is through loyalty discounts and giving more to get more (membership referrals)

We should never give up on those that fall into the three categories that you have mentioned. It isn't a question of pandering to those who haven't signed IMO but rather by building better relationships see how many we can recover to come back into the fold. We operate in a tough environment and need to get as many as possible on board.

[Eastdog]

The thought occurred to me that as we now have many WB supporters that may have grown up in the West or had family connections that did, but are now in the Eastern suburbs as I am, that we maybe able to target lapsed members for example by utilizing our current crop of players who live North or East such as Roberts, Bontempelli, Honeychurch Jong and Greenwood as ambassadors for the Club. A couple of suggestions could include visitations to schools, junior clubs and telemarketing with our membership staff on current and previous members. These initiatives would need to occur outside their normal training commitments etc but I am sure that where there is a will, there is a way. It could prove to be a great PR exercise for the club. The 5 individuals mentioned above are all quality people and would give them something worthwhile to occupy their time and at the same time help grow the WB.

Like your thinking there NBP. The East West Day is good but if this was done as well that would be great I reckon.

[LostDoggy]

We should never give up on those that fall into the three categories that you have mentioned. It isn't a question of pandering to those who haven't signed IMO but rather by building better relationships see how many we can recover to come back into the fold. We operate in a tough environment and need to get as many as possible on board.

There's a difference between pandering and giving a phone call/email. Spending money constantly on these sorts is a dead end.

[Bumper Bulldogs]

More ideas the better BB, so nice work, however.

There's a reason these 'people' don't re-sign. They'd fall into the categories of:
- Bandwagoners
- Recalcitrant defaulters on payment
- They've had enough of our lack of premierships

Rolling out the red carpet for those who don't believe in what we're doing isn't the answer. Running a business you must continue to give more to your existing members/customers. Treating newbies and/or pandering to the aforementioned non-members isn't the way to grow your business and reeks of barrel-scraping. It's the existing members that should largely be targeted to 'build the brand' and this is through loyalty discounts and giving more to get more (membership referrals)
Understand what you have said however you can clearly discard the ones who have defaulted, but IMO you know they had an interest and things were tough for a lot of people so it could be mimamil effort to get the low hanging fruit.

Attaching new members is always hard so in reference to what you stated I would agree to look after the ones that have already signed up,

I know the club do a lot of work behind the scenes and most of these guys would do it as volunteers but it's just a starting point that would be easier IMO than trying to get someone away from another club.

[Eastdog]

Why not offer deals on a weekend package. This is directed at country people.

The offer would be along the lines of a package deal that would include a tour of the Witten oval, accommodation for a night, and game day access to the footy.

Package could also include sitting with the cheer squad, accommodation at a partner hotel (sponsorship opportunity), maybe meals and could also incorporate a VFL or Injured player to accompany the tour. After the tour of Whiten oval, stop at the Pound cafe, Bulldog shop and get a few more opportunities to get some dollars of them.

Sounds good too BB along with NBP ideas.

[Ghost Dog]

More ideas the better BB, so nice work, however.

There's a reason these 'people' don't re-sign. They'd fall into the categories of:
- Bandwagoners
- Recalcitrant defaulters on payment
- They've had enough of our lack of premierships

Rolling out the red carpet for those who don't believe in what we're doing isn't the answer. Running a business you must continue to give more to your existing members/customers. Treating newbies and/or pandering to the aforementioned non-members isn't the way to grow your business and reeks of barrel-scraping. It's the existing members that should largely be targeted to 'build the brand' and this is through loyalty discounts and giving more to get more (membership referrals)


When you are on 25 or 30 grand a year in Melbourne, there isn't much change.
Some supporters blame a lot of things, but I think in the western suburbs, there are people who may have been members once, who now can't really afford it.

[SonofScray]

Generate blockbusters without buying into the AFL sponsored idea that only certain clubs and certain time slots can justify the concept. How? Pick a fight. Be unapologetic. Do it again next time we play the same team. Win. Rub it in.

[LostDoggy]

Kids is the answer. Visit schools, run clinics, hand out free merchandise (hats, scarves). Kids are the best target as they are easier to influence to change teams from one that their parents support. My kids go for Bulldogs becuase I do, I wouldn't let them go for anyone else, but I'm sure if for example, Richmond players went to visit his school and they gave him a hat. He would have the mind set to want to change teams (but like I said, i would never let that happen)

[Bumper Bulldogs]

Kids is the answer. Visit schools, run clinics, hand out free merchandise (hats, scarves). Kids are the best target as they are easier to influence to change teams from one that their parents support. My kids go for Bulldogs becuase I do, I wouldn't let them go for anyone else, but I'm sure if for example, Richmond players went to visit his school and they gave him a hat. He would have the mind set to want to change teams (but like I said, i would never let that happen)
I agree with you and having players like Dal, Smith, Stringer, Bonts we need these guys into the schools, they have the XFactor and the kids love them. They are the ones on our list that kids want to play like, they may not be the best on the list but they are very marketable and we need to get the out pumping up the club.

[Eastdog]

Kids is the answer. Visit schools, run clinics, hand out free merchandise (hats, scarves). Kids are the best target as they are easier to influence to change teams from one that their parents support. My kids go for Bulldogs becuase I do, I wouldn't let them go for anyone else, but I'm sure if for example, Richmond players went to visit his school and they gave him a hat. He would have the mind set to want to change teams (but like I said, i would never let that happen)

Agree Danstar. This kind of ties in with NBP post that while we should be getting to the school kids out west we also should spread it around outside the west as well if we can to get to even more kids.

[Eastdog]

One idea I've thought of for a membership ad is that we could get a big group of our fans who could volunteer from different parts of the city and including parts of Victoria and interstate that could be the basis of the ad to show our support in a wide variety of different areas. Obviously there would be more things involved in the ad but as I said it could be used as a start to develop the ad campaign.

[LostDoggy]

My girlfriend moved down from Sydney 12 months ago. To meet friends here she joined a meet up group called Melbourne newbies. It is basically a group that set up events, book clubs, bar crawls, etc, that people who have recently move to Melbourne can go to to meet people. I think it would be great if the Doggies could partner with this group and do a doggies game event, even give them free tickets to a game and a scarf the first time (once you have a scarf, you have a team!) Then a recurring self funded event each and every home game. Most of these people don't currently have a team and want to embrace the Melbourne culture, this is a great chance to get in first. I know the owner of the group and this would be incredibly easy to arrange with some support from the club. The group is not insignificant either there is 3500 members and it is growing rapidly.

I also think we should do a reciprocal deal with the Canterbury Bulldogs, whereby both supporter bases are urged to support the Doggies in the other code. Think there is some great things we could do with cross promotion on this.

I own a printing company and we do quite a bit of work in direct mail, I can tell you that at a cost of about 15c per/household we could get a membership form printed and distributed in every letterbox in the western suburbs, for better or worse receiving something in your letterbox is still an amazingly successful and cost effective call to action!

I agree that past members should have a more targeted approach. If there has been 10,000 lost dogs in the last 3 years, how effective would a call from a member of the playing group (current and ex) or coaching staff be in encouraging to re-sign? Across 50 players / coaches that's 200 phone calls, an hour each a week over the pre-season, that's cracking in for the club boys.

[Eastdog]

Is it just me or when I go to the AFL and Rebel sports stores I feel that there is not much Bulldogs stuff out. I certainly think if more of our merch was out on display that could sway some kids to support us.

[LostDoggy]

More ideas the better BB, so nice work, however.

There's a reason these 'people' don't re-sign. They'd fall into the categories of:
- Bandwagoners
- Recalcitrant defaulters on payment
- They've had enough of our lack of premierships

Rolling out the red carpet for those who don't believe in what we're doing isn't the answer. Running a business you must continue to give more to your existing members/customers. Treating newbies and/or pandering to the aforementioned non-members isn't the way to grow your business and reeks of barrel-scraping. It's the existing members that should largely be targeted to 'build the brand' and this is through loyalty discounts and giving more to get more (membership referrals)

Can't completely agree M.R.M, the lost dog lead list is a gold mine and needs to be exploited unto within an inch of its life! Any business worth their salt is constantly in touch with past customers or in this case slow ordering customers to try and get that next order. a) You know they have a need/desire for your product b) They have previously seen enough value in your product to pay for it!

[soupman]

My girlfriend moved down from Sydney 12 months ago. To meet friends here she joined a meet up group called Melbourne newbies. It is basically a group that set up events, book clubs, bar crawls, etc, that people who have recently move to Melbourne can go to to meet people. I think it would be great if the Doggies could partner with this group and do a doggies game event, even give them free tickets to a game and a scarf the first time (once you have a scarf, you have a team!) Then a recurring self funded event each and every home game. Most of these people don't currently have a team and want to embrace the Melbourne culture, this is a great chance to get in first. I know the owner of the group and this would be incredibly easy to arrange with some support from the club. The group is not insignificant either there is 3500 members and it is growing rapidly.


I like this idea. Email the club.



I also think we should do a reciprocal deal with the Canterbury Bulldogs, whereby both supporter bases are urged to support the Doggies in the other code. Think there is some great things we could do with cross promotion on this.



Not so much this one though. Aside from the name, we are two very different clubs in many respects, especially culture. Also I don't see the real gain in targeting a specific area of a completely different and "gayfl" hating state. Of all the people to convert in NSW to AFL, rugby league members are probably the hardest group to go after.

[Webby]

Is it just me or when I go to the AFL and Rebel sports stores I feel that there is not much Bulldogs stuff out. I certainly think if more of our merch was out on display that could sway some kids to support us.

Couple of things to note here... Firstly, I went to Target at Highpoint a couple of months ago and was disappointed to see zero Dogs gear sitting next to a glut of Richmond, Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon gear... "Christ, we're 3 mins from Whitten Oval!!"

However, there are a few things to be pointed out:

Firstly, the club are "re-branding" this summer. They are ditching the 'Robodog' logo and going back to an updated version of the more traditional bulldog standing over the footy. This has meant that merchandisers are firstly running down existing WB stock, but also holding back on producing any more until the club launches the new logo.

So on the bright side, you might find that Dogs gear is scarce because slightly more sales have been made than anticipated this year.

Secondly, the club did have an issue with excess inventory last year. You'd notice that all other "KooGa" decked-out clubs (ie Richmond, Melbourne Rebels etc) all switched across to "BLK" branded gear this year. It's the same company. Due to the Aus KooGa being a licensee of the UK based KooGa, the Australian KooGa had to change its name in order to access o/s markets. Thus the change. We are the only sports team in Aus who still wear KooGa. If you look at Richmond's gear, it's exactly the same as ours - just branded BLK instead.

The reason we've lagged (and will switch to BLK a year later than everyone else) is that there was sooo much KooGa gear lying around.

So anyway, there's a bit of a hiatus in Dogs gear at present due to the above. However expect a glut of gear with the new BLK branding and/or the new club logo prior to the start of next season.

[Eastdog]

Thanks for clearing that up Webby. That explains it.

[LostDoggy]

Can't completely agree M.R.M, the lost dog lead list is a gold mine and needs to be exploited unto within an inch of its life! Any business worth their salt is constantly in touch with past customers or in this case slow ordering customers to try and get that next order. a) You know they have a need/desire for your product b) They have previously seen enough value in your product to pay for it!

It's hardly a gold mine. If it was then all you'd have to do is pick up the phone/write a letter, then sit back and watch the dollars roll in. This is the first port of call. After that, if it continues to happen, liek it always has with the Bulldogs, that's when you research more non-traditional methods. Spending continuous amounst of money and time wining and dining the aforementioned will see any business/club fall over.

[Eastdog]

This will probably cost a bit but we could put a Bulldogs billboard near the West Gate around the Port Melbourne area just about when you get on the bridge. We can use the West Gate as a form of promotion. Heaps of motorists use it daily and for people say who live on my side of town who don't have a team as yet and need the West Gate to go to work in the west it might get them on board with us. Another one on the Ring Road would be good too but the question is cost.

[bornadog]

This will probably cost a bit but we could put a Bulldogs billboard near the West Gate around the Port Melbourne area just about when you get on the bridge. We can use the West Gate as a form of promotion. Heaps of motorists use it daily and for people say who live on my side of town who don't have a team as yet and need the West Gate to go to work in the west it might get them on board with us. Another one on the Ring Road would be good too but the question is cost.

Love your enthusiasm about this but really its a waste of money.

The club has lots of programmes to build the brand, but at the end of the day, the only way we are going to increase membership and make people sit up and look is on field success. I don't mean a few finals games, I mean Grand Final appearances and some premierships.

[Eastdog]

Hopefully our VFL premiership on Sunday can attract new support. Just an idea. I reckon if we do another marketing campaign use the VFL premiership and also get a group of our supporters in all area of the city (west, north, east, south) and country Victoria and interstate saying something like Go The Bulldogs! Or we are right behind you regardless of how we go.

[LostDoggy]

Hopefully our VFL premiership on Sunday can attract new support. Just an idea. I reckon if we do another marketing campaign use the VFL premiership and also get a group of our supporters in all area of the city (west, north, east, south) and country Victoria and interstate saying something like Go The Bulldogs! Or we are right behind you regardless of how we go.

Sounds a bit defeatist, bit like smiling if we win or lose!

[Eastdog]

Sounds a bit defeatist, bit like smiling if we win or lose!

Yeah maybe not the best idea in that case. I wonder who wrote the old Footscray song.

[Eastdog]

Ultimately while I've been doing my best being passionate about how to recruit more supporters the major way really is sustained on field success. We can tap into the western region as much as we like but really the people in the west who don't have a team will go to the ones that are doing good. Once this can happen then my hope is that people will join us from not only in the west but from all over the city as well. We need to target our campaign to as many people as possible from everywhere and not restrict ourselves.

[ledge]

Just got pointed this out by this kids mum .. Absolutely gorgeous, maybe the club should do something like this with a different kid each week
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YrdKmK4v5HM&feature=youtu.be
Or maybe sign him up to do something on each game, a draft one a pre season one etc. I think a lot of people would watch him every week.. But I must admit how funny is his name " chowder head " :-)

[Eastdog]

Just got pointed this out by this kids mum .. Absolutely gorgeous, maybe the club should do something like this with a different kid each week
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YrdKmK4v5HM&feature=youtu.be
Or maybe sign him up to do something on each game, a draft one a pre season one etc. I think a lot of people would watch him every week.. But I must admit how funny is his name " chowder head " :-)

Love it. Great thinking ledge.

[Eastdog]

The thought occurred to me that as we now have many WB supporters that may have grown up in the West or had family connections that did, but are now in the Eastern suburbs as I am, that we maybe able to target lapsed members for example by utilizing our current crop of players who live North or East such as Roberts, Bontempelli, Honeychurch Jong and Greenwood as ambassadors for the Club. A couple of suggestions could include visitations to schools, junior clubs and telemarketing with our membership staff on current and previous members. These initiatives would need to occur outside their normal training commitments etc but I am sure that where there is a will, there is a way. It could prove to be a great PR exercise for the club. The 5 individuals mentioned above are all quality people and would give them something worthwhile to occupy their time and at the same time help grow the WB.

Tom Boyd you could add to the list now. He would be great for the kids out in the Ringwood area and at the end of it he could give them some Doggies stuff.

[ledge]

I think we should use the VFL as well to promote the club, it amazes me how AFL clubs don't promote their reserves, the crowds we pulled were enormous, now with a little imagination if we can incorporate seeing both teams and bringing them together and add the women's team as well , we have a very broad audience.
Change the name of the VUT to something more enticing to encompass women's And mens football elite in the west.
Better signage around the ground.. Maybe 5 kilometres away on freeways have "you are 5 kilometres from the famous whitten oval home to football in the west" etc

[ledge]

Concerts, events, markets and out door movies could be done in the off season on a weekend.

[josie]

My girlfriend moved down from Sydney 12 months ago. To meet friends here she joined a meet up group called Melbourne newbies. It is basically a group that set up events, book clubs, bar crawls, etc, that people who have recently move to Melbourne can go to to meet people. I think it would be great if the Doggies could partner with this group and do a doggies game event, even give them free tickets to a game and a scarf the first time (once you have a scarf, you have a team!) Then a recurring self funded event each and every home game. Most of these people don't currently have a team and want to embrace the Melbourne culture, this is a great chance to get in first. I know the owner of the group and this would be incredibly easy to arrange with some support from the club. The group is not insignificant either there is 3500 members and it is growing rapidly.

I also think we should do a reciprocal deal with the Canterbury Bulldogs, whereby both supporter bases are urged to support the Doggies in the other code. Think there is some great things we could do with cross promotion on this.

I own a printing company and we do quite a bit of work in direct mail, I can tell you that at a cost of about 15c per/household we could get a membership form printed and distributed in every letterbox in the western suburbs, for better or worse receiving something in your letterbox is still an amazingly successful and cost effective call to action!

I agree that past members should have a more targeted approach. If there has been 10,000 lost dogs in the last 3 years, how effective would a call from a member of the playing group (current and ex) or coaching staff be in encouraging to re-sign? Across 50 players / coaches that's 200 phone calls, an hour each a week over the pre-season, that's cracking in for the club boys.

Some great ideas here I reckon. Suggest you contact the Club if you have not done so already.

[BulldogBelle]

My girlfriend moved down from Sydney 12 months ago. To meet friends here she joined a meet up group called Melbourne newbies. It is basically a group that set up events, book clubs, bar crawls, etc, that people who have recently move to Melbourne can go to to meet people. I think it would be great if the Doggies could partner with this group and do a doggies game event, even give them free tickets to a game and a scarf the first time (once you have a scarf, you have a team!) Then a recurring self funded event each and every home game. Most of these people don't currently have a team and want to embrace the Melbourne culture, this is a great chance to get in first. I know the owner of the group and this would be incredibly easy to arrange with some support from the club. The group is not insignificant either there is 3500 members and it is growing rapidly.

I also think we should do a reciprocal deal with the Canterbury Bulldogs, whereby both supporter bases are urged to support the Doggies in the other code. Think there is some great things we could do with cross promotion on this.

I own a printing company and we do quite a bit of work in direct mail, I can tell you that at a cost of about 15c per/household we could get a membership form printed and distributed in every letterbox in the western suburbs, for better or worse receiving something in your letterbox is still an amazingly successful and cost effective call to action!

I agree that past members should have a more targeted approach. If there has been 10,000 lost dogs in the last 3 years, how effective would a call from a member of the playing group (current and ex) or coaching staff be in encouraging to re-sign? Across 50 players / coaches that's 200 phone calls, an hour each a week over the pre-season, that's cracking in for the club boys.

Love the idea of giving people new to melbourne something bulldogs.
How about a 3 game membership, scarf, hat, and a renewal notice for membership the following year!

[Eastdog]

Real equalisation.

Winning.

Winning. Yep the way we are going right now can only help us in this area of promoting our great club and hopefully the kids won't don't have a team will jump on board.