Several years ago, I had the privilege of working on a strategy document for Irish Premier Division club Bray Wanderers. The objective of the document was to assess the challenges that clubs like Bray face when competing for exposure in Ireland with more glamorous teams from England, or from other sports such as rugby or Gaelic games, and to assess the opportunities for positioning the club better in its market in order to forge closer connections with potential supporters.
Given my perspective as a resident of Canada and citizen of both countries, I had a unique perspective. Over the years I have observed how soccer clubs in North America have fought to gain attention in the face of stiff competition from more popular sports such as hockey, basketball and American or Canadian football, as well as trying to gain credibility when comparisons are drawn with superior leagues in Europe. It’s been a tough sell, but they have been quite successful in recent years. Clearly there are lessons to be learned that could be transferred to the Irish context
In the course of my analysis, I came to realize that clubs in Ireland like Bray do in fact have unique selling points. And while the bulk of football followers in Ireland are likely to continue following teams in the English Premier League, there is nothing to prevent them also having an affinity for their local team. In fact Irish clubs have fantastic opportunities if only they can engage in a meaningful way with people in their locality.
For the first time, I present this document publicly, and I welcome any feedback that readers may have. Enjoy!
Executive Summary
Bray Wanderers has unique potential given its location and history. This document examines the challenges and opportunities that the Club is currently presented with, and sets out a number of potential strategic actions that the club and supporters could carry out to help expand the fan base in the town and surrounding area.
Introduction
Bray Wanderers is a club with a 30 year history of playing senior football in the League of Ireland. In that time it has won the First Division on a number of occasions, claimed the prestigious FAI Cup twice and represented Ireland in European competition.
Given its location in Bray, the club is strategically located at the centre of a large urban area. The catchment area covers North Wicklow and South County Dublin, with a population of an estimated 250,000 people. The club has arguably one of the largest potential fan bases in the country. The proximity to a DART station makes the Carlisle Grounds highly accessible to a potentially huge audience.
Teams that are doing well in the league will more often than not draw bigger crowds to their home games. But no football club can control results on the pitch. So realistically efforts to make the club more attractive to supporters have to start off the pitch. Brand equity is widely acknowledged as a key factor in the sustained success of professional sports teams.
This presentation aims to investigate and assess a number of ways that the club can tap into this massive potential, through generating interest in the community at large, resulting in an increase in the fan base and a heightened awareness of the Bray Wanderers brand. An enlarged fan base will hopefully become the bedrock on which a financial sound and sustainable future can be built.
Generate interest throughout the community at large
Healthy attendances at games are vital to the club. A strong following in the community is an important prerequisite to this. But before the club can attract new committed supporters, it can raise its profile locally and spark interest among people who do not currently follow a League of Ireland team. It can look to achieve this through brand enhancement and fan engagement.
Increase the fan base
Once the club has been successful in getting more people open to the idea of attending a match, it needs ensure that they come back again and again. It is important to keep supporters engaged with the club regardless of whether the team is 3rd from top of the table, or 3rd from bottom.
Football fans are generally thought to want to feel a sense of ownership, or more accurately, belonging, to the club. This can be achieved by continued two-way communication between the club and its supporter base.
Promote the Bray Wanderers brand
In football, the brand of the club is what sets it apart from the competition. It is vital to clearly identify what this brand is, so that the club can differentiate itself among the footballing public. Differentiation is the axis on which all marketing decisions revolve, so to embark on a marketing plan we need to articulate the brand.
So what is the brand of a football club? The values of the club are what define that brand, and what the supporters identify with when they form an allegiance of the club. The values of the club can be articulated in the mission of the club, which is what drives and informs the behaviours and actions of the board, directors, officers and indeed players of the club. Values can include a commitment to providing high quality live football in a comfortable environment, giving local youth the chance to avail of excellent coaching, with a clear path to eventually playing at the senior level for the club, etc. This presentation considers ways of communicating with the supporters, which will help the club share its values and mission with the public, thus enhancing the brand of the club.
Objectives
This presentation aims to examine areas where the club can increase its visibility in the community and engage with local football fans, thus boosting the brand and encouraging repeated patronage. In particular it focuses on those football fans that may not currently have a strong affinity to the club, as this represents a potentially huge pool of untapped support. It then provides a strategy encompassing a variety of initiatives that the club can look to engage with this group of potential fans.
Specifically, we will address the following:
- Building on the existing brand of the club by gaining increased publicity locally and nationally
- Reinforce the brand/identity of the club as a family/community oriented organization
- Engendering an even greater sense of “belonging” among existing supporters of the club through the use of social media to strengthen the bonds between the club and fans
- Encouraging people who have never attended a game to come at least once during a season
- Convincing those who used to attend regularly to come back
- Activities that will expand the volunteer base of the club
The presentation will not address:
- Match day experience
- Financial projections for the club
Many of the areas of action identified here should have relatively little or no financial cost attached to them. But to carry out all – or any – of the suggested initiatives, a strong base of volunteers will be vital. In the course of this presentation we also consider how to attract new volunteers, and keep them motivated through challenging work.
A great deal of focus will be on the use of social media, which provides a highly cost effective way of reaching the target audience.
Much of the content that follows draws upon examples of similar exercises conducted by organizations such as the Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC. Both these sports clubs face similar challenges as Bray Wanderers: The popularity of other sporting codes such as ice hockey and Canadian football in particular. Even the natural constituency of soccer fans in these cities have to be prized away from their English Premier League broadcasts. The parallels with the challenges facing Irish clubs such as Bray are obvious. But rather than take these experiences from Canada and import them wholesale to the Irish context, it is important to be mindful of the unique environment that Bray Wanderers operates in.
The high level targets by which success of the plan will be measured are as follows:
- To increase attendances in the first year by an average of 20%
- To increase attendances over 5 years by 150%
- To increase sales of programmes, merchandise (both at games and at retail outlets in the town)
by 10% per annum
Many of the areas of action identified here should have relatively little or no financial cost attached to them. But to carry out all – or a select combination – of the suggested initiatives, a strong base of volunteers will be vital. In the course of this presentation we also consider how to attract new volunteers, and keep them motivated through challenging work.
Since young people are generally users of new technologies, efforts to recruit fans from this cohort should make use of technology. Therefore a great deal of focus will be on the use of social media, which provides a highly cost effective way of reaching the target audience.
Much of the content that follows draws upon examples of similar exercises conducted by organizations such as the Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC. Both these sports clubs face similar challenges as Bray Wanderers: The popularity of other sporting codes such as ice hockey and Canadian football in particular. Even the natural constituency of soccer fans in these cities have to be prized away from their English Premier League broadcasts. The parallels with the challenges facing Irish clubs such as Bray are obvious. But rather than take these experiences from Canada and import them wholesale to the Irish context, it is important to be mindful of the unique environment that Bray Wanderers operates in.
Background
Like all football clubs in Ireland, Bray Wanderers faces challenges in achieving its full potential. There are a number of reasons for this, the popularity of other sporting codes, the proximity of the English Premier League and other historical factors. On top of this, the recent severe economic downturn has had a considerable adverse impact on all sporting organizations in the country, and Bray Wanderers was no exception. Due to the decrease in available disposable income, attendances at matches dropped noticeably.
Average attendances at League of Ireland games over the previous 2 few seasons (2012-14) have been around 1,700, and on a downward trend. Attendances at Bray Wanderers matches are below the average, at about 850 per match.
Bray Wanderers are the only senior soccer club in the county. Any competition comes from soccer clubs in County Dublin. There is also competition from the Leinster rugby club, and to a lesser extent the Dublin and Wicklow Gaelic football teams. It is not considered meaningful to compare attendances for Leinster rugby games, as it is the only club in the province playing at that level, and games are generally against high profile opposition from the U.K. and France. Likewise, it is unhelpful to look at attendances for GAA games as the structure of the sport is different, specifically the club and county
hierarchy that exists.
A statistic that does seem worth mention at this point is the estimated 35,000 people who travel to the U.K. every week to attend soccer matches there. This, and the fact that the average weekly attendance for League of Ireland games is in the region of 10-15,000, suggests that while there is a market for watching live games, clubs at home are not succeeding in engaging with soccer fans in the country.
As recent history has shown, giving excessive weight to success on the pitch can lead to poor and unsustainable economic decisions. At the same time, prioritizing business considerations excessively can hold the club back from achieving its sporting goals. It is all about finding the right balance.
This presentation takes the view that in spite of this reality, there is still much scope for the club to grow its fan base. The experience of Irish clubs is actually not unique in the global context. The sport faces similar challenges in other countries where other codes are dominant such as the United States, Canada and Australia. Faced with what seems at times to be a hostile environment, organizations in these other countries have come up with novel ways of promoting the game. This presentation aims to mine some of these more novel ideas to provide the club with ideas to boost its profile.
By identifying its own strengths and communicating them confidently to the general public, Bray Wanderers can thrive. This is not something that can be achieved quickly. It is a project that requires a clearly defined vision and a long term strategy with clearly defined objectives. The club already has the vision. The next step is to start planning to implement this vision.
What are Bray Wanderers’ Strengths and Weaknesses?
A SWOT (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats) analysis allows for an overall perspective of an organization’s position in its market place. It essentially shows the current operating environment in a neat little grid. It is a very useful starting point for developing a strategy, as it focuses on what objectives should be set at the outset.The club can take advantage of its opportunities and take preventive measures to minimize its weaknesses.
This analysis tells us that Bray’s unique selling point or “Point of Difference” is the opportunity that the club provides a large number of people in the locality the chance to attend senior level football matches in a live environment, with the atmosphere that only being in the company of hundreds (or possibly several thousand) other fans can possibly generate.
A strategy aimed at communicating this to the public at large will help the club achieve its goals.
The Action Plan
So how to achieve these lofty aims? To start off with, it is useful to have an overall theme to any campaign that may be implemented, so that a consistent message is being communicated.
The theme of this presentation is one of constant, continuous, two-way communication between the club and its fans. A meaningful, ongoing dialogue between fan and club will make the fan feel included, and give them a sense of belonging as well as one of influence with the club. That will strengthen the club itself. And to build on that, the club can reach out and speak to a wider group of potential fans, people who would benefit from having closer ties to the club but who are not yet aware of that exciting possibility.
Luckily, we live in an age where doing this has never been easier. Thanks to the emergence of social media over the last 20 years, the tools to achieve these aims abound.
At the start of this presentation we identified a couple of goals: Raising the profile of the club in the community and increasing the fan base. We should now consider specific actions to base come up with more focused action plans to achieve our goals. We acknowledge the possible advantages and disadvantages of each suggested action, to facilitate the selection and prioritization of actions.
Whatever approach the club ultimately takes, there is no doubt that it will take time and resources to implement any part of the plan. To this end, the club should look to engage volunteers to help carry out the plan. As well as saving the club a considerable amount of money, this has the added advantage of getting members of the public actively involved in the club. Further still, it gives people in the community the chance to acquire useful skills in areas such as customer relations, media, finance etc.
Now, let’s look at some general approaches to raising the profile of the club.
Raising the Profile of the Club
Increasing the Fan Base
Now, let us consider some ideas for connecting with supporters and the public generally, with the long term aim of growing the fan base. Social Media will play a key role in this.
Social Media/Networking
“Traditional” Networking and other ideas
Rather than entirely relying on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. to engage our fan base, we want to see them as part of a wider solution. By combining them with more traditional face to face networking and marketing techniques we can forge a very real and meaningful bond with the people who are the lifeblood of the club.
Evaluation and Control
To be effective, results have to be monitored to ensure that they are achieving set targets. If not, remedial action should be taken.
A Dashboard will be created:
- To track attendances. Consideration will be given to the relative attractiveness of the opposition, which will have a bearing and numbers at the games
- To monitor sales of merchandise at the club shop, sales of snacks, programmes etc.
Surveys of fans can be conducted to gauge their level of satisfaction. Results of these could also be included in the dashboard.
Based on reading of these results, the tactical marketing campaign can be modified. The overall marketing plan should be reviewed at least yearly to ensure it stays fresh and relevant.
Conclusion
The suggestions that we have discussed above are designed to bring the club to the attention of football fans in the community in fun, imaginative ways. Not all of these proposals may work, and we wouldn’t suggest that the club try to take them all on. But by trying some of the ideas out should raise the profile of the club and present it as a vibrant, innovative organization that is worthy of their time and support.
It is important when implementing any of the actions here, that it be done consistently. Engaging in one-off attempts has little value. One of the 22 “Immutable Laws of Marketing” is that to engage anyone with a product, you have to tell them about it at least three times. The first time you tell them about it, it creates awareness. But this is generally only fleeting. The second time that your message reaches its audience; you reinforce the awareness and establish your product as potentially a viable option for the person receiving the message. Only on the third occasion that the message is delivered
will the audience receive it as a call to action.
Although it has not been dealt with here, match day experience is a key factor in encouraging repeated patronage, and deserves a separate plan.
It will not happen immediately, but eventually, the hope is that significant numbers of people in Bray and the vicinity will heed the call, and will “Join the Club.”
Tom Cremins 