ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

The Mail Bag

Marketing or not

For those amongst you who have visited Liverpool One, you can't fail to have noticed that our presence in the city centre is as near to zero as it is possible to get. Many articles have been written here about the lack of club shop in the city centre and why this is due to the supposed losses of the previous venture adjacent to Central Station. Surely though having a presence is as much a part of marketing of actually making money from the marketing campaign itself?

Working for a major supermarket chain I am aware that the reason we and our competitors advertise is simply that others do, and if you slip off the radar then competitors will gain market share. Now I know that "selling" a football club is about more than the price of bread BUT when I walk through the city centre it is difficult for me to explain to my kids that we are a major club given the fact that the darkside are everywhere.

Yesterday I was in Kew near Southport and happened to go into the JJB superstore there. Now I thought that we were supposed to have some "tie-up" or something with JJB but on entering the store it was wall to wall darkside. Search as I did there was not visible item of EFC merchandising. Before anybody says this is because a new shirt is imminent how does this explain the lack of ANYTHING? There was actually significantly more bloody basketball stuff than EFC related!

No surprise then that I read somewhere last week that EFCs average age of fan is 40 something. As ever a short sighted policy that will come back to hurt us in years to come.
John Waugh, Lancashire Posted 23/06/2008 at 09:00:02

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Comments

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Patty Beesley
1 Posted 23/06/2008 at 14:18:14

I think we have thoroughly discussed the short comings of JJB Stores before. It's not going to change - we need to change JJB

Seamus Murphy
2 Posted 23/06/2008 at 15:22:34

This subject seems to be getting discussed on every forum of late and everyone is in full agreement - its a joke. Question is though - has anyone contacted the club about this?
We can talk about it all we like but the club will have to make the change.

Mark Stone
3 Posted 23/06/2008 at 15:24:21

When I was a kid there were Everton tops flying about everywhere. It?s all gobshites now though - few blues left in Liverpool.

Tom Harvey
4 Posted 23/06/2008 at 15:34:58

We are not a merchandise buying fan base, it?s simple as that. Even if you take away the many toursits that buy the LIverpool shirts, they would still sell more than us as the tossers wear their shirt when watching their team on ITV. The majority of our fans don't even wear the kit when at the match!

Brian Waring
5 Posted 23/06/2008 at 18:44:27

Tom, maybe the reason we don’t buy merchandise, is that you can never find any.

Rich Jones
6 Posted 24/06/2008 at 07:13:08

Tom (riddiculous comment) ? can you imagine Wyness using that as an excuse at the AGM? Mind you I don't think he?s ever been questioned.