West Tigers Membership needs to be re-focused
A membership of Wests Tigers is a different product to a seating package. This seems like a minor issue, though please bare with me as I get this off my chest.
The two products are very different. Lets start by defining each.
A membership of the club is where a person decides that they want to be part of the West Tigers. This is beyond merely consuming and enjoying the end product (the game). It is a person who decides to be part of the team. Sure, they are not deciding to be the captain of the team, nor even the trainer or office staff. They are deciding to invest in becoming a part time marketer, part-time forum browser, part-time channel 9 watcher, part time Telegraph curser and part time football debater.
A seating package is the upfront bulk purchase of a spot in a stadium to watch in person your beloved WT's play NRL.
The two are different. They should be sold separately. There is far more potential growth members than attendees
The purchase decision on these two products is vastly different. The drivers are different. Marketing to both is confusing and lacks the skill of a targeted marketing message. The 'line that divides was closer to the right message', though it was garbled due to the implication that unless you wanted a seating package you were on the wrong side of the line.
Changing perspective for a second, lets consider our consumer. The major drivers that are changing consumer behaviour are commonly called 'mega trends'. One of the mega trends in Australia is "People have less time". TV audience growth shows that consumers of the product are growing faster in absolute numbers than crowds (over a 5 year period). Is it possible that people don't have enough time to commit to 4 -8 half days 6 months in advance? Could these consumers still be potential members?
I suggest that these members are in fact the largest segment of the market. There are hundreds of thousands of them.
About 5 years ago a Victorian mate at work asked me if I supported anyone in sport. I proudly said yes, I am a supporter of West Tigers. He then asked 'how do you support?' At the time I wasn't going to games and wasn't a member so I didn't have an answer. He pointed out that in AFL supporters were members. He was genuinely confused with our sport and was offended that people claimed they were supporters when all they were was in fact pretend supporters or at best "fair weather' supporters. In Melbourne if you weren't a member you weren't really a supporter, you were a pretender. After firing him, I slowly accept that he was right. I am now a member. It truly is the line that divides
At the moment we mobilise our TV viewers into being supporters with jersey sales. We change the jersey each year to try to maximise revenue from this stream. People wear the jersey to show they belong. They are showing they are serious fans. They spend $150 plus to show this. We sell 1000's of jersey's. People are willing to pay to belong, Jersey's are proof of it. I would love one of the jersey's to be reserved for members and be consistent for 5 years. It should say where the player name is "WESTS TIGERS MEMBER". It should not say the year. The person would always know if there were a pretender.
Ok, my chest feels lighter and you are all probably bored or have stopped reading by now. In summary
There are 1000's of time poor fans out there
We need to focus the membership campaign around belonging/ being part of the team - not seats
$50 - $100 per year to be a member of West Tigers (no seats) is reasonable
We need to give members something that clearly distinguishes they belong
A membership of Wests Tigers is a different product to a seating package. This seems like a minor issue, though please bare with me as I get this off my chest.
The two products are very different. Lets start by defining each.
A membership of the club is where a person decides that they want to be part of the West Tigers. This is beyond merely consuming and enjoying the end product (the game). It is a person who decides to be part of the team. Sure, they are not deciding to be the captain of the team, nor even the trainer or office staff. They are deciding to invest in becoming a part time marketer, part-time forum browser, part-time channel 9 watcher, part time Telegraph curser and part time football debater.
A seating package is the upfront bulk purchase of a spot in a stadium to watch in person your beloved WT's play NRL.
The two are different. They should be sold separately. There is far more potential growth members than attendees
The purchase decision on these two products is vastly different. The drivers are different. Marketing to both is confusing and lacks the skill of a targeted marketing message. The 'line that divides was closer to the right message', though it was garbled due to the implication that unless you wanted a seating package you were on the wrong side of the line.
Changing perspective for a second, lets consider our consumer. The major drivers that are changing consumer behaviour are commonly called 'mega trends'. One of the mega trends in Australia is "People have less time". TV audience growth shows that consumers of the product are growing faster in absolute numbers than crowds (over a 5 year period). Is it possible that people don't have enough time to commit to 4 -8 half days 6 months in advance? Could these consumers still be potential members?
I suggest that these members are in fact the largest segment of the market. There are hundreds of thousands of them.
About 5 years ago a Victorian mate at work asked me if I supported anyone in sport. I proudly said yes, I am a supporter of West Tigers. He then asked 'how do you support?' At the time I wasn't going to games and wasn't a member so I didn't have an answer. He pointed out that in AFL supporters were members. He was genuinely confused with our sport and was offended that people claimed they were supporters when all they were was in fact pretend supporters or at best "fair weather' supporters. In Melbourne if you weren't a member you weren't really a supporter, you were a pretender. After firing him, I slowly accept that he was right. I am now a member. It truly is the line that divides
At the moment we mobilise our TV viewers into being supporters with jersey sales. We change the jersey each year to try to maximise revenue from this stream. People wear the jersey to show they belong. They are showing they are serious fans. They spend $150 plus to show this. We sell 1000's of jersey's. People are willing to pay to belong, Jersey's are proof of it. I would love one of the jersey's to be reserved for members and be consistent for 5 years. It should say where the player name is "WESTS TIGERS MEMBER". It should not say the year. The person would always know if there were a pretender.
Ok, my chest feels lighter and you are all probably bored or have stopped reading by now. In summary
There are 1000's of time poor fans out there
We need to focus the membership campaign around belonging/ being part of the team - not seats
$50 - $100 per year to be a member of West Tigers (no seats) is reasonable
We need to give members something that clearly distinguishes they belong
