Opinion The Club and the way they communicate with us

[Art Vandelay_]

I'm more in line with the first statement than the second. In fact, of the two viewpoints, I believe we do actually have some evidence that supports the former opinion.

Of all the GFC members that post here, is anyone suggesting that they will pack in being a member as a result of the club's pretty ordinary communication and fan engagement practices?

Or even someone on here who would become a member if it wasn't for the less than 'mighty' efforts the club makes to keep its whole supporter base up to speed with everything going on at the club.

More than that, does anyone here even know a current member of the club outside this forum who is thinking of quitting the club on the 'strength' of how the club presents itself to supporters?

Can't say I know anyone who fits any of these categories.

The club could do a fair bit better than it currently does with really seeking to include and involve members/supporters/fans in the 'life' of the GFC.

But I don't see any evidence amongst the members/supporters I know that the maddening lack of real progress in this area is really costing the club in a financial sense.

If people of the calibre of Carter and Cook et al were getting evidence-based feedback that the club's lackadaisical approach to communication and social media were really hurting our prospects of growing as a football club, they would dedicate some specific resources and effort to changing the reality.

As it is, I think they know the club is incredibly average in this area. And until they truly believe that it's a real detriment to the bottom line (which I don't sense they do at this point) they're not going to do a great deal to turn it around.

And their lack of attention to this area is probably only going to seem more marked in the era where we (as a middling club) have to rejig our finances to prop up the basket cases of the competition so that Eddie and Newbold can continue building their massive empires.

So, I imagine we can look forward to plenty more frustrated posts in this thread (and others like it) for a long time to come.

Because the 'evidence' of well over 30 years following the hoops tells me that an expectation of any real change in this area anytime soon is incredibly optimistic.

Family allegiances and success are the two main avenues to generate new fans, mostly children.

There's a reason amongst the people I know, that guys a bit older than me born mid 80's or so are Hawks/Carlton/Essendon fans. There's reason a lot of guys my age (early 90's) are cats fans. And just younger than me NM fans. There's a reason a lot of kids in the 90's had the 5 on their back and nowadays the GAJ 29 or Selwood 14.

These were the successful teams/players during the formative years in a childs football journey, this is when they pick a club to follow.

 

[Boxhead_31]

Would think that securing the final funding for stage 4 of KP upgrade might be worth a tweet?

edit: Today’s announcement was about a state gov backed trust set up for stadium.

 

[Saint]

My partner is new to AFL and chose the Cats as her team. She doesn't like football enough to get a membership with games included (she'll probably go maybe once a year and most likely in Melbourne) but wants to be involved with the club in some way.

I wonder if the club would benefit from having a member ship package which basically gets you the sticker, card, lanyard, all the basics but with no game access at all. Simply a membership which gives you perhaps voting rights but not much other than the status of GFC member (almost a donation).

The cheapest existing packages are $100 for interstate or digital membership. (I personally don't like the monthly thing as AFL is a 6 month sport and it feels wrong to be paying for it in November, must be really bad for Tigers fans in September).

Given the changes in Geelong at the moment, I thought it would be a good idea for those who can't justify the price of a full membership but still want to give something to the club.

Could the club possibly lose if it were to sign up members on such a scheme with a $40-50ish fee for a single mailout (or two)??

Being a lower socioeconomic club, I thought it would make sense for Geelong? The city would have a lot more bumper stickers, but you don't have the problem with seating added to.

 

[darren forssman]

Must admit that sh*ts me too. Wanted to order the membership online but the only option seemed to be automatic renewal...which I do not want to do. So ended up ringing the club and renewing my membership that way.

Be interested to know where they got their authorisation for auto renewal.

There should have been a comm to opt into auto renewal as I can only imagine the amount of people that didnt read/didnt receive the email/letter that have been slugged with auto renewal

 

[WeAreGeelong]

Family allegiances and success are the two main avenues to generate new fans, mostly children.

There's a reason amongst the people I know, that guys a bit older than me born mid 80's or so are Hawks/Carlton/Essendon fans. There's reason a lot of guys my age (early 90's) are cats fans. And just younger than me NM fans. There's a reason a lot of kids in the 90's had the 5 on their back and nowadays the GAJ 29 or Selwood 14.

These were the successful teams/players during the formative years in a childs football journey, this is when they pick a club to follow.

Congrats on being able to work a computer at your ripe old age. Well done

 

[you pick one]

What about this? a good number of the boys like a surf,so the club organizes with the players a couple of Sunday in the off season a Bells Beach style surf competition open to all past and present players,free admission to all spectators a sausage sizzle,get on board a couple of HI profile surfers as judges,make the players available to the kids and generally have some fun and maybe sell a membership or to at the same time,we may even pick up a new sponsor if it become an annual event with invited non Geelong players to compete just to spice it up.Well it's better than the vuvuzela idea isn't it?

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Congrats on being able to work a computer at your ripe old age. Well done

Given my addiction to vanilla coke. 90 is a distant dream atm

 

[catempire]

I'm more in line with the first statement than the second. In fact, of the two viewpoints, I believe we do actually have some evidence that supports the former opinion.

Of all the GFC members that post here, is anyone suggesting that they will pack in being a member as a result of the club's pretty ordinary communication and fan engagement practices?

Or even someone on here who would become a member if it wasn't for the less than 'mighty' efforts the club makes to keep its whole supporter base up to speed with everything going on at the club.

More than that, does anyone here even know a current member of the club outside this forum who is thinking of quitting the club on the 'strength' of how the club presents itself to supporters?

Can't say I know anyone who fits any of these categories.

The club could do a fair bit better than it currently does with really seeking to include and involve members/supporters/fans in the 'life' of the GFC.

But I don't see any evidence amongst the members/supporters I know that the maddening lack of real progress in this area is really costing the club in a financial sense.

If people of the calibre of Carter and Cook et al were getting evidence-based feedback that the club's lackadaisical approach to communication and social media were really hurting our prospects of growing as a football club, they would dedicate some specific resources and effort to changing the reality.

As it is, I think they know the club is incredibly average in this area. And until they truly believe that it's a real detriment to the bottom line (which I don't sense they do at this point) they're not going to do a great deal to turn it around.

And their lack of attention to this area is probably only going to seem more marked in the era where we (as a middling club) have to rejig our finances to prop up the basket cases of the competition so that Eddie and Newbold can continue building their massive empires.

So, I imagine we can look forward to plenty more frustrated posts in this thread (and others like it) for a long time to come.

Because the 'evidence' of well over 30 years following the hoops tells me that an expectation of any real change in this area anytime soon is incredibly optimistic.

Kudos to you for making the first decent attempt at a case for the "no" in this thread. I disagree with you, but at least you had a proper go rather than just "I don't reckon/I see no evidence..."

The hole in your logic is that the types of people we need to become members aren't the types that post here on bigfooty or are already going to the footy often. They are loosely affiliated with the club but are not choosing to become members for whatever reason. They are a calibre of supporter that is going to need something more than what is on offer now to join up. I'm positing that better engagement by the club with these people will help to some extent. It certainly can't hurt.

The problem with waiting for evidence based feedback that their approach to social media is hurting, is that such evidence will come from our competitors who have and will continue to push new frontiers in these areas to attract members and fans. By the time we have the evidence, we will already well behind.

But I completely agree with the end of your post - I'm not holding my breath for improvement in these areas. Fundamentally, I think it's not in the culture of the club to do it.

 

[dazbroncos]

They've tried things along these lines for 15 years on and off, and never really got behind anything. For a while in the late 90s you could go to the rooms after a game and a player would come out and answer questions. Buddha Hocking did it the one time I went and looked pretty uncomfortable with the whole thing. Around the same time Barry Stoneham would appear on K-Rock (I think) from time to time for callback segments. I vividly recall one fan asking how he could justify getting a game anymore. Needless to say that wasn't popular either.

And herein lies the issue. Press conferences are controlled more with the questioning in that its not drunk yobbos and dumb questions.

The BF sphere is, and this board, is clearly at the better end of communicators and thinkers ( most of the time anyway).

Our 7% of the world clearly demands better info and high standards of its presentation. We could easily put 3 posters on a panel with a player, current or otherwise, and hold our own not just respectively but respectfully as well.

And its the catering to the masses that is the issue. Its why access is restricted.

Again, im not saying the club can't do better with what has been discussed and it should look for ways ( see this board) but it seems that we, as a part of the sum total of the GFC community, can't warrant the access we are seeking….. yet...

Go Catters

 

[catempire]

My partner is new to AFL and chose the Cats as her team. She doesn't like football enough to get a membership with games included (she'll probably go maybe once a year and most likely in Melbourne) but wants to be involved with the club in some way.

I wonder if the club would benefit from having a member ship package which basically gets you the sticker, card, lanyard, all the basics but with no game access at all. Simply a membership which gives you perhaps voting rights but not much other than the status of GFC member (almost a donation).

The cheapest existing packages are $100 for interstate or digital membership. (I personally don't like the monthly thing as AFL is a 6 month sport and it feels wrong to be paying for it in November, must be really bad for Tigers fans in September).

Given the changes in Geelong at the moment, I thought it would be a good idea for those who can't justify the price of a full membership but still want to give something to the club.

Could the club possibly lose if it were to sign up members on such a scheme with a $40-50ish fee for a single mailout (or two)??

Being a lower socioeconomic club, I thought it would make sense for Geelong? The city would have a lot more bumper stickers, but you don't have the problem with seating added to.

Like this? http://membership.geelongcats.com.au/casual-membership.html

 

[catempire]

Be interested to know where they got their authorisation for auto renewal.

There should have been a comm to opt into auto renewal as I can only imagine the amount of people that didnt read/didnt receive the email/letter that have been slugged with auto renewal

I'm pretty sure I remember when you elect to pay month by month it is coupled with the auto-renew option.

 

[you pick one]

My partner is new to AFL and chose the Cats as her team. She doesn't like football enough to get a membership with games included (she'll probably go maybe once a year and most likely in Melbourne) but wants to be involved with the club in some way.

I wonder if the club would benefit from having a member ship package which basically gets you the sticker, card, lanyard, all the basics but with no game access at all. Simply a membership which gives you perhaps voting rights but not much other than the status of GFC member (almost a donation).

The cheapest existing packages are $100 for interstate or digital membership. (I personally don't like the monthly thing as AFL is a 6 month sport and it feels wrong to be paying for it in November, must be really bad for Tigers fans in September).

Given the changes in Geelong at the moment, I thought it would be a good idea for those who can't justify the price of a full membership but still want to give something to the club.

Could the club possibly lose if it were to sign up members on such a scheme with a $40-50ish fee for a single mailout (or two)??

Being a lower socioeconomic club, I thought it would make sense for Geelong? The city would have a lot more bumper stickers, but you don't have the problem with seating added to.

The Cats shop is her friend.
https://www.thecatsshoponline.com.au/

 

[darren forssman]

I'm pretty sure I remember when you elect to pay month by month it is coupled with the auto-renew option.

I pay once a year, usually just before the season starts.

 

[dazbroncos]

My partner is new to AFL and chose the Cats as her team. She doesn't like football enough to get a membership with games included (she'll probably go maybe once a year and most likely in Melbourne) but wants to be involved with the club in some way.

I wonder if the club would benefit from having a member ship package which basically gets you the sticker, card, lanyard, all the basics but with no game access at all. Simply a membership which gives you perhaps voting rights but not much other than the status of GFC member (almost a donation).

The cheapest existing packages are $100 for interstate or digital membership. (I personally don't like the monthly thing as AFL is a 6 month sport and it feels wrong to be paying for it in November, must be really bad for Tigers fans in September).

Given the changes in Geelong at the moment, I thought it would be a good idea for those who can't justify the price of a full membership but still want to give something to the club.

Could the club possibly lose if it were to sign up members on such a scheme with a $40-50ish fee for a single mailout (or two)??

Being a lower socioeconomic club, I thought it would make sense for Geelong? The city would have a lot more bumper stickers, but you don't have the problem with seating added to.

A 3 game member ship is 80. Gets you into 3 home games. Seats are additional thru the ticket retailer.

Go Catters

 

[JUBJUB]

I gave up work to spend more time with you.

get a room

 

[catempire]

I pay once a year, usually just before the season starts.

Ah, there you go. I thought it might have just been for the monthly option. Website says:

Committed Cats Upfront (Annual Lump Sum payment) – By providing your credit card details, the Geelong Cats will charge your membership package fee in full upon receipt of your application and at the commencement of each renewal period thereafter.

 

[JUBJUB]

Given my addiction to vanilla coke. 90 is a distant dream atm

Would think that securing the final funding for stage 4 of KP upgrade might be worth a tweet?

edit: Today’s announcement was about a state gov backed trust set up for stadium.

Not hard to spot the Pollie and spot the footy player in this pic

Pollie [John Eren] has the cheesy grin like a Pollie does when they're with their leader
Footy player [Cockie ?] looks bored shitless and can't wait for Pollie to stop waffling so he can go

 

[goyoucatters]

Kudos to you for making the first decent attempt at a case for the "no" in this thread. I disagree with you, but at least you had a proper go rather than just "I don't reckon/I see no evidence..."

The hole in your logic is that the types of people we need to become members aren't the types that post here on bigfooty or are already going to the footy often. They are loosely affiliated with the club but are not choosing to become members for whatever reason. They are a calibre of supporter that is going to need something more than what is on offer now to join up. I'm positing that better engagement by the club with these people will help to some extent. It certainly can't hurt.

I'm actually including those people in the evidentiary basis I have around my hypothesis. I know people who fit precisely into the category you have described and they have never once suggested they have a problem with the way the club conducts itself in terms of communication/social media etc.

Basically they are not engaged enough to remotely care about these sorts of matters. For me, it's not holding them back from being members. And doing the number 1 whiz-bang job of being all over social media/communication wouldn't get them over the line either. They don't care enough aboout the footy (or the club) to put their money in without a meaningful return for them.

And the return they're looking for is certainly not just better social media interaction or enhanced communication from the club.

Better engagement with these people by the club won't hurt their connection. But I am yet to see any evidence (from the people I know in this category) that lifting our game in this area would get them across the line to become members.

Like everyone who is not already 'close' to their footy club they probably need unbridled success or consistent encouragement from their elders/peers to build the links that lead to the commitment that is membership.

But I completely agree with the end of your post - I'm not holding my breath for improvement in these areas. Fundamentally, I think it's not in the culture of the club to do it.

Well said. There are some things that it is quite clear the GFC stands for. Being rich in their engagement with members/supporters is manifestly not one of them.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Not hard to spot the Pollie and spot the footy player in this pic

Pollie [John Eren] has the cheesy grin like a Pollie does when they're with their leader
Footy player [Cockie ?] looks bored shitless and can't wait for Pollie to stop waffling so he can go

That's today yeh?

It is cockie and he got the short straw there. The rest of the boys would be sitting inside watching the cricket...

Then again given the docile Sydney pitch that's probably more boring than a speech from a pollie so maybe the boys are looking after the new recruit

 

[FredLeDeux]

That's today yeh?

It is cockie and he got the short straw there. The rest of the boys would be sitting inside watching the cricket...

Then again given the docile Sydney pitch that's probably more boring than a speech from a pollie so maybe the boys are looking after the new recruit

It would be a win/win situation if the club said to the Gov't "look, we actually only need more members because of the cash we get from them, we can't seat all the members we've got or need now, and still won't be able to no matter what we do with the ground, just give us the $70m and we'll call it ALP Park".

 

[darren forssman]

Ah, there you go. I thought it might have just been for the monthly option. Website says:

Committed Cats Upfront (Annual Lump Sum payment) – By providing your credit card details, the Geelong Cats will charge your membership package fee in full upon receipt of your application and at the commencement of each renewal period thereafter.

I cannot honestly remember reading that when I renewed in March, and I usually look out for things like that.

Still think there should have been a box to tick or something.

 

[Boxhead_31]

Ah, there you go. I thought it might have just been for the monthly option. Website says:

Committed Cats Upfront (Annual Lump Sum payment) – By providing your credit card details, the Geelong Cats will charge your membership package fee in full upon receipt of your application and at the commencement of each renewal period thereafter.

Committed Cat payments usually are made in the first or second week of November if memory serves correctly.

There are two options with the Committed Cat scheme
*Committed Cat UPFRONT – Once off payment in full with automatic rollover each year
*Committed Cat Monthly Instalments – 10 monthly instalments (Dec14–Sep15) with automatic rollover each year

 

[catempire]

I'm actually including those people in the evidentiary basis I have around my hypothesis. I know people who fit precisely into the category you have described and they have never once suggested they have a problem with the way the club conducts itself in terms of communication/social media etc.

Basically they are not engaged enough to remotely care about these sorts of matters. For me, it's not holding them back from being members. And doing the number 1 whiz-bang job of being all over social media/communication wouldn't get them over the line either. They don't care enough aboout the footy (or the club) to put their money in without a meaningful return for them.

And the return they're looking for is certainly not just better social media interaction or enhanced communication from the club.

Better engagement with these people by the club won't hurt their connection. But I am yet to see any evidence (from the people I know in this category) that lifting our game in this area would get them across the line to become members.

Like everyone who is not already 'close' to their footy club they probably need unbridled success or consistent encouragement from their elders/peers to build the links that lead to the commitment that is membership.



Well said. There are some things that it is quite clear the GFC stands for. Being rich in their engagement with members/supporters is manifestly not one of them.

My point of view is that the people who you describe - just not engaged enough - are not really going to be able to say "oh if only the club did this or was more that, I'd be a member". Part of being disengaged is that you don't really think about these issues. But at its core, I am talking about improving a product. And i know I'm not being too controversial here when my line of thinking is that improving a product generally drives sales.

 

[Boxhead_31]

My partner is new to AFL and chose the Cats as her team. She doesn't like football enough to get a membership with games included (she'll probably go maybe once a year and most likely in Melbourne) but wants to be involved with the club in some way.

I wonder if the club would benefit from having a member ship package which basically gets you the sticker, card, lanyard, all the basics but with no game access at all. Simply a membership which gives you perhaps voting rights but not much other than the status of GFC member (almost a donation).

The cheapest existing packages are $100 for interstate or digital membership. (I personally don't like the monthly thing as AFL is a 6 month sport and it feels wrong to be paying for it in November, must be really bad for Tigers fans in September).

Given the changes in Geelong at the moment, I thought it would be a good idea for those who can't justify the price of a full membership but still want to give something to the club.

Could the club possibly lose if it were to sign up members on such a scheme with a $40-50ish fee for a single mailout (or two)??

Being a lower socioeconomic club, I thought it would make sense for Geelong? The city would have a lot more bumper stickers, but you don't have the problem with seating added to.

This might be the package you're looking for:

Casual Membership
Membership benefits include:

• Inner Sanctum access
• Geelong Cats membership merchandise pack
• Heaps of discounts and offers
• Exclusive news direct to your inbox

Casual Membership
$5.20
per month
Total Cost $52

 

[you pick one]

It would be a win/win situation if the club said to the Gov't "look, we actually only need more members because of the cash we get from them, we can't seat all the members we've got or need now, and still won't be able to no matter what we do with the ground, just give us the $70m and we'll call it ALP Park".

Credit Card Park has a ring to it.