Opinion Star Athletic a disaster?

[76woodenspooners]

... I ordered a vest from them, and it's just cheap s**t. Straight from china.

Vietnam actually

 

[76woodenspooners]

I heard Lada will be our major sponsor next year

*googled Nada Niva*

True story: One night years ago I was in St Petersburg sitting in the back seat of a Lada taxi with two of my mates (it was a tight squeeze). We were tearing through the back streets at highway speeds. I had to hold my door closed with one hand to stop it flying open. I was using the other hand to hold the cute Russian girl who was sitting on my lap at the time. Lada ... Good times!

 

[jmac70]

Are you sure you're 43?
I would've put money on 46, (or at least 45).

45 now and still incredibly good looking.

 

[76woodenspooners]

Been saying it for years.

Adidas to Star
Lexus to Holden
Westpac to LaTrobe Financial

We are just a cheap s**t club.

You forgot the bit about Kogan TV's

 

[76woodenspooners]

Star Athletic is not a normal sports apparel company. They are actually a division of the The Promotions Factory. TPF have been around a fair while I think, they do uniforms and corporate gear amongst a whole range of things. Most of what they do is buying cheap garments from suppliers in China to set designs and adding corporate logos. A couple of places I've worked they have done gear for and special promotions stuff like polos and fleecy tops and mugs. I think they have some of their own factories now in Shenzen.

I kind of doubt the rumour about Pert to be honest, apart from anything he is a board member of Collingwood, and I'm pretty sure they wouldnt be able to get away with that s**t without public disclosure. But if you care enough, I think this is the company that trades as Star Athletic, cost you $9 to get a company extract but I assume it will just show it is owned by a TPF holding company.

https://connectonline.asic.gov.au/R...Type=OrgAndBusNm&_adf.ctrl-state=35vp2okml_27

Here's a review I did of the board of management of TPF a while ago ...

The parent company of Star Athletic is TPF ("The Promotions Factory" ... Doesn't sound so sexy, huh?)

A looky on the TPF website reveals the key positions in this company ...

A CEO. Fair enough, every company needs one of them. Here's the blurb on this bloke: "An innovative, classic entrepreneur, ideas man and a passionate creative force. Since starting The Promotions Factory in 1988, Rob has always focused on building and maintaining strong client relationships."

An Executive Director. Seems like this guy is the company bean counter. I'm not gunna waste your time with the company blurb on this guy because nobody ain't gunna read beyond the word "accountant".

A General Manager of Melbourne and New Zealand. What does she do? Touch your heart apparently: "Marietjie connects brands with people by creating experiences that touch the hearts of consumers, and change buyer behaviour. With almost 10 years at TPF, she is an expert in Below The Line strategy and marketing." If you're wondering what "Below the line" (BTL) strategy is ... "Above the line" (ATL) is mass deployment stuff like TV, radio, Internet. BTL is more one-to-one, personal engagement stuff. If TPF put an Ad at the top of this page, that'd be ATL, whereas if they registered users to jump on here and engage with folks and talk up their product then that'd be BTL.

A General Manager of a bunch of other states. Here's his writeup: "Scott started with us 12 years ago and from day one he has been an incredible source of energy for our sales teams. Scott's industry experience, leadership and management skills make him a valuable asset."

A General Manager of TPF sports. This guy is interesting - "With 18 years experience at TPF, Craig has a contact list that is the envy of the industry. He is running Star and our Licensed Sports and Membership Fulfilment business units."

A General Manager of TPF Toys. "With more than 18 years working in the toy industry, now based in Hong Kong, Giles has been responsible for working with clients in over 60 countries in the ten years he's been working with us, and he is now responsible for all retail product strategy and worldwide sales and marketing."

A Chief Operating Officer. Yeah, need one of those. Let's find out about this guy ... "An expert problem solver with 20 years of experience in Promotions, Operations and Product Development provide a real focus for our manufacturing arm. Based in Hong Kong, Lincoln manages the entire product development, manufacturing and distribution side of the business."

A General Manager of the Vietnam office. "Sean has been running the Finance and IT side of the business for 23 years. His background and fluency in Vietnamese made Sean the obvious choice to oversee the transfer of our entire back office to Ho Chi Minh City 3 years ago."

A General Manager of Vietnam Support Services. FFS, how many General Managers does this company need? Alright let's have a look "Craig oversees our support division which includes Customer Support, Sales Support, Online Store Operations and Procurement. With 11 years at TPF, Craig’s wealth of experience, client relationship management and comprehensive approach strives to deliver the highest level of service."

An Art Director. Ah, finally! Somebody who has a role that actually generates value ... "Sharon heads up our creative team in our Vietnam office. With over 22 years of experience in the design industry, Sharon not only manages our Studio but keeps our Creative Heart beating." There's our heart being touched again.

And lastly ... A Head of digital and eCommerce. For completeness: "Henri heads up our Digital team in Vietnam. A hybrid analyst, strategist, creative and technical specialist, his Digital Team create Digital magic. Websites, e-commerce, Digital Marketing, apps and more."

And that's all folks.

Here's a test for you: how many times was the word "quality" mentioned? Zip, zilch, zero, nada.

Lots of "sales" and "innovation", an über long contact list, hearts beating and being touched.

But no Quality management representation on the executive team. They do have a "support services" guy who is the closest thing to it, but in reality he's a long way from it. His job profile looks to be of somebody who ensures that that the purchase orders are properly received by by the factory, rather than somebody who is running an effective V&V program (Verification and Validation ... Verification is the process of checking that the factory has made what the customer has specified; Validation is the process of checking that what is specified / supplied is fit-for-purpose)

They have no ISO9001 either. (That's the global quality management system standard).

Given the profile that this company portrays on its website, it's not so surprising that folks are complaining about products they're making.

 

[Bad Horse]

Here's a review I did of the board of management of TPF a while ago ...

Maybe I'm being uncharitable but that lot makes them sound like a perfect match for Collingwood at the moment. Warm fuzzy non-specific stuff, a mass of important sounding people with indistinct roles, and no focus on quality of the actual product.

But personally, I feel eminently Fulfilled in a strictly Below the Line way with a side order of relocating my back orifice to Vietnam. Maybe the last is what they mean by "touched"?

 

[Bad Horse]

45 now and still incredibly good looking.

The beer diet works? s**t, I had better keep it up then

 

[Anzacday]

Been saying it for years.

Adidas to Star
Lexus to Holden
Westpac to LaTrobe Financial

We are just a cheap s**t club.

A bit harsh, trying to appeal to a more common market.
They must've heard you though as they let The Big Group take over running the Holden Centre.

 

[jmac70]

Pert is the man responsible for this. I heard that even the player's partners have to pay to attend functions.

 

[MyManLynch]

not saying you are wrong but I would be staggered if the club allowed that to happen.

Yes I agree.
That would surely be covered within the Clubs (& employee) code of ethics & anti corruption guidelines & corporate governance.
Pert would be crazy to do consider such...he's smarter than that.
I don't believe it.

 

[MyManLynch]

Vietnam actually

"I love the smell of Star Athletic apparel in the morning"

 

[Kappa]

Interesting that Nick Maxwell got a job with TPF after retiring...

TPF is the parent company of Star Athletic...

Collingwood choose to partner with Star Athletic..

Yeah, this ******* stinks of something.

 

[BEEG]

Makes me laugh our president gets around in Hugo boss suits, drives a Lexus and expects his members and supporters to sit back and cop s**t quality?

Eddie don't your supporters and members deserve nice things?

 

[Kappa]

Makes me laugh our president gets around in Hugo boss suits, drives a Lexus and expects his members and supporters to sit back and cop s**t quality?

Eddie don't your supporters and members deserve nice things?

All the moneys gone to our netball team

Exactly what the supporters wanted

 

[sirlothie]

Forgive me for intruding, but Melbourne Storm also crossed over to Star this season and the merchandise is absolute garbage. Not just poor quality, but poor design. Merchandise all through the pro sports here are overpriced crap. BLK, which does the Richmond stuff, can't even get our colours right (charcoal instead of black).

There is a bit of a link between Collingwood and Storm sharing the same facilities. These brainiacs figured they could squeeze more money out of us offering up inferior products under cheap labels for the same price we were paying for quality gear years ago. Hopefully sales have plummeted and order is restored.

 

[TimothyJ23]

I've been reliably informed that the Storm's deal with Star will terminate FOUR years early and they'll be migrating to ISC in 2016. Apparently the whole thing has been completely underwhelming for the club.

What that means for our deal with them who knows.

 

[76woodenspooners]

I've been reliably informed that the Storm's deal with Star will terminate FOUR years early and they'll be migrating to ISC in 2016. Apparently the whole thing has been completely underwhelming for the club.

Yeah, I posted an analysis of TPF's management structure on here a while ago (TPF are the management company of Star) and it is little wonder that there are problems. They are basically a marketing company with (as far as I can tell) nothing in the way of quality management systems.

Nothing wrong with marketing - it's an essential part of business - but it's not the whole part.

What that means for our deal with them who knows.

There was word somewhere (probably earlier in this thread?) that we were also moving on from Star. Nobody seemed in the least bit disappointed by that possibility.

The club seem to be bombarding members every other day with special deals - that might be consistent with them moving soon-to-be obsolete stock?

 

[TimothyJ23]

Yeah - this year's kit being on sale at cost price with still five weeks remaining in the season is a bit of a giveaway on that front.

Personally if we're not going back to adidas I'd like to see us go with someone like ISC or even Canterbury.

 

[neilk]

Yeah - this year's kit being on sale at cost price with still five weeks remaining in the season is a bit of a giveaway on that front.

Personally if we're not going back to adidas I'd like to see us go with someone like ISC or even Canterbury.

Why not go with an Australian company? Maybe 2XU or someone similar.

 

[Sub_Zero]

Why not go with an Australian company? Maybe 2XU or someone similar.

Lol because we should be partnering with the best in the business ie Adidas/Nike/Puma

 

[TimothyJ23]

neilk: as TheGermanator said - I'd much rather us go with a reputable brand

 

[neilk]

neilk: as TheGermanator said - I'd much rather us go with a reputable brand

Maybe, but their products are top class and they are getting a reputation around the world for the quality of their gear. But, anything' better than Star.

 

[Gungadin]

I received a parcel on Monday from the WA magpies, for which I am also a member.
Bugger me, it's another 2016 members scarf. The original members pack we were suppose to get at the start of the season, ya know, the key ring, lanyard, stickers etc, etc, never arrived. So the scarf is a replacement.

Obviously part of the stock the club are trying to get rid of. Anyone need a scarf?

 

[Kappa]

Yeah - this year's kit being on sale at cost price with still five weeks remaining in the season is a bit of a giveaway on that front.

Personally if we're not going back to adidas I'd like to see us go with someone like ISC or even Canterbury.

Who was responsible for us joining up with Star?

No one asked for it

 

[Anzacday]

Who was responsible for us joining up with Star?

No one asked for it

I think the decision was made by an exPERT in the field.