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Post by shrek on Apr 5, 2011 9:48:16 GMT
A friend posted this video on facebook after seeing it on A Question of Sport. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRmXEvviRMMI think this is a great idea and something that maybe we could do next year, but with everyone throwing a cuddly tiger. We could get the media involved and donate all of the thrown tigers to a childrens hospital, charity or such like and have Roary and the players present them. We could put a sticker, or even better a ribbon, on each one with the Tigers logo and "Donated by Telford Tigers Ice Hockey Club". This way we get free advertising, and maybe the kid that gets a Tiger and their parents will want to attend a game to see what it's all about. Anyway, that's one idea. If anyone else has any other ideas to help promote the team, let's hear them. |
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Post by tom on Apr 5, 2011 9:57:46 GMT
Good idea Shrek, not only does it help us but it helps disadvantaged children as well. Everyone wins  I've always thought that a dual Tigers-AFC Telford ticket might work, but obviously you'd need to do proper research first to see if it's viable. Something along the lines of Telford United match on the Saturday, Tigers on the Sunday for a total saving of £4. The ticket money could then be split 50/50 between the two teams. I think this would help both clubs out, as football fans may be more likely to try out hockey if they were getting the ticket for only a couple of quid on top of their usual footie ticket, and a fair few Tigers fans would probably go to an AFCTU game. We could expand the schools programme outside of Telford, assuming of course that this hasn't been done already and the people who do it can find the extra time. |
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Post by onlyme on Apr 5, 2011 22:08:38 GMT
I think reports in the Shropshire Star need to be more enticing to attract newbies. Last December I read the Shropshire Star for the first time in ages and the report had a negative comment from the coach, along the lines of 'the lads didn't play well enough'. This may well have been totally true but if I had never considered going to an ice hockey game before this type of comment would not have encouraged me to give up my Saturday evening and £10 for the ticket.
Obviously if the team is at the top of the league and winning the majority of games it would be easier to promote the club, but until that time game reports need to inspire new people to commit their time and money to supporting the club. To me that means nothing blatantly negative in the reports.
P.S. I don't mean to sound rude because I know that the reporter and the coach put in a lot of time and effort. I am just adding my point of view to help the club improve. I would love to see the rink packed each week like the old days!
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Post by topbeats on Apr 6, 2011 8:48:03 GMT
Personally I think our press coverage is fantastic. In the Star we always get a thumb nail or a 'stop press' size article on a Monday advising full report to follow Tuesday, then Tuesday we usually get pride of place just inside the back cover and video coverage. Any other important stories receive the same.
Pick up the Journal through the season and their has usually been a full colour picture plastered all over the back page, with our coverage usually eclisping that of AFC.
Press is a fine line, if we're bottom of the league and then printing it was a great game and we played really we'll, we're sending the message that the team are playing as well as they can and all are happy to lose every week and remain bottom. If fans turn up to see what they read as a fantastic game and then see a completely dire performance they may feel they have been mislead and may never return - this in turn diminishes the credibility of our released media.
Good press should be balanced, which is what I think our articles are. Our PR's are honest, truthful and we're not afraid to say 'we were poor'. Don't forget that the Tigers are very fortunate to have two local journalists covering our games and involved with the team, Caroline who does press and James who does video - both of whom work for the Shropshire Star full time.
As professional journalists they realise they have to report both the good and the bad, and do a very good job of making the bad look a lot better and the good look bloomin' great!!
Some of the influence will also be that of the paper themselves, don't forget that whilst these media organisations are happy to support us they are also interested in selling their papers, and the stories with the biggest draw will get the biggest billing.
I'd much rather hear our coach blast his players after a bad game than praise them as it sends the message he wasn't happy with the performance and is striving for better.
As an aside, all of our press is circulated to a very wide distribution list including all local radio stations and local / regional media. We have no control over whether our stories are used by these news organisations, but certainly the Star, Journal and BBC Radio Shropshire always support us and give us great coverage and placement at every opportunity.
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Post by onlyme on Apr 6, 2011 19:44:14 GMT
Topbeats - as I mentioned in my first post, I have no intention of being rude. I agree the amount of coverage is great. It has been for all the years that I have known about Telford hockey. I have also been involved in sport long enough to have heard many a comment from good and bad coaches.
However I am looking at this from the perspective of a potential newbie supporter, because that is what the Telford Tigers hockey club needs to attract. Personally, if I was considering doing something new with my Saturday evening, such as watching an ice hockey game, and I read an article with the coach blasting the players, it would not encourage me to go to the game this week, next week or at any other time in the season. I would find something else to do with my time.
I think you make a very valid point about honest reporting, but win, lose or draw the Telford Tigers need to attract more people to the games. For me every press article needs to give people some motivation to attend the games and, for me, negativity is not going to achieve that.
I apologise if I have offended anyone because that was never my intention. But a question that I ask is, with all of this media coverage have the crowd numbers significantly increased? If the answer is no then maybe this is something that can be adapted/improved.
I realise that a number of people put a lot of time and effort into the Tigers club. I am just trying to provide an objective view to help the club continue to improve.
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Post by topbeats on Apr 6, 2011 21:56:08 GMT
You haven't offended anybody so don't worry about that :-)
What I would say is to remember that the Shropshire Star - like any media outlet - are independant of the team and don't have to run stories submitted to them. Additionally they always retain full editorial right and can change stories as they see fit.
My point relates to credible reporting, if our press officer constantly paints the rosey picture yet results appear on the surface at least to state the opposite, it will reduce the credibility of our match reports and ultimately could result in the Star lopping masses out of our press releases or even choosing not to run them at all.
Sports press is just one of the arms for marketing the team, and whilst its great for our general profile and potential sponsor coverage I'd question whether a person looks through the sports pages of the paper to decide what they're going to do on a Saturday or Sunday night.
Personally I would like to see some focus and thought on what we can do to significantly enhance our more pre-match coverage. Ideally the local radio stations thinking 'right, what can we do to help the Tigers' and then them offering to run some simple radio advertising for us on a Thursday, Friday & Saturday to advertise the forthcoming weekend home game. Telford FM (now the Severn) did this for AFC Telford Utd, and Beacon have given a fair bit of advance coverage to them this season too - trouble is though...
a) convincing one or all of the radio stations to do this
b) doing so without impeding the coverage other stations provide us
Thinking away from press coverage thiugh, what ideas do people have to increase awareness in and around Telford & Shropshire during the season to specifically advertise forthcoming games, say 1-2 weeks max in advance?
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Post by tom on Apr 7, 2011 7:03:22 GMT
Thinking away from press coverage thiugh, what ideas do people have to increase awareness in and around Telford & Shropshire during the season to specifically advertise forthcoming games, say 1-2 weeks max in advance? Leaflet drops around different neighbourhoods? Peterborough have a sign outside their rink with "Peterborough Phantoms" on it, and then underneath "Next Home Game", then the opposition name, date and face off time. I think this is brilliant as it would advertise individual games directly to other rink users (e.g. public skaters)...I know we have the huge sign with "Home of Telford Tigers" on the car park side of the exterior wall, but something that details specific fixtures either outside the rink, inside the rink or even in the Shopping Centre would be great. |
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Post by onlyme on Apr 7, 2011 15:21:30 GMT
A calendar. Instead of the usual January-December create a calendar from August onwards to depict the hockey season. Include the fixtures and other key events across the season, fund-raising/social events, play-offs etc. If there is a social event planned the photos from the calendar can be used for advertising, something different to the usual person wearing shirt and holding stick picture, which might grab more attention. Perhaps the club could organise events to link in with other key dates. For example Oktober fest. I don't know much about this event other than people go to Germany to drink beer, but maybe a social event linked to this theme could be arranged after a game. You could ask the sponsors to sell the calendars. Maybe a percentage of the profits could go to another charity, to give people a further reason to buy. Maybe ask Asda if they will sell the calendars for a limited period.
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Following on from the school visits, have you asked the scouts/cubs/guides/brownies, etc, if you can visit their clubs?
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Keep on top of other charity events and offer free tickets to any charity event that has a tombola, raffle, or prize event. Offer to have someone available to present the prizes. Usually there are events throughout the summer so this is an opportunity to drum up support before the seasons starts.
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Contact the local parish councils to see if they arrange community days. I once attended a community day at Brookside where there were a variety of companies advertising and there were activities for the children too.
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Arrange a challenge game at the start of the season against a team that the Tigers can beat, offer free entrance to all. Whilst this has associated costs, the aim is to fill the rink and create that electric atmosphere of the old days. This also provides an opportunity for the club to promote season tickets or encourage people to return to the next game.
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Post by onlyme on Apr 7, 2011 15:34:39 GMT
Each person who signs up to the Trust can be given window stickers for their car.
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Contact local businesses and ask them to donate a prize, i.e. a free bike from Halfords. Once a month have a competition whereby everyone who pays to see the game is entered into a free draw for the prize. This can be advertised in the newspaper and/or on the radio, thereby providing advertising for the company which may encourage them to provide a good prize.
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Post by drummerboy on Apr 7, 2011 18:44:20 GMT
just think for a moment: what is one of the main topics in the public eye at the moment? A: the armed forces. and whats only 8 miles down the M54? only one of the most populated RAF stations in the UK! so, why not give a forces discount, or run a tickets for troops scheme? It gives the club great publicity and gets bums on seats |
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deall
Junior Member
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Post by deall on Apr 7, 2011 20:24:07 GMT
Approach various radio stations around Shropshire for live radio coverage of the games, or various games throughout the season. You could have a Tigers' Legend offer commentary. This will bring more publicity, but might be hard to land.
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Post by shrek on Apr 8, 2011 8:07:58 GMT
Not sure that we could talk a radio station into giving up 3 hours airtime, but it's a really good idea.
BBC Radio Berkshire do a very good live webcast, with a running game commentary. If we could do something similar, it would be really good. (Especially fo those like me who can't get to as many home games as I'd like).
I have no idea what would be involved to set one up, but can't imagine that it is more than most media companies already use for outside broadcasts.
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Post by topbeats on Apr 8, 2011 8:59:04 GMT
Good suggestions so far :-)
Radio coverage was something looked at previously with the previous owners. Problems in the rink being a dedicated ISDN line is required, and there is no PC access point either downstairs or upstairs in the DJ console.
We won't get any radio station to give us main stream coverage (i.e. a live broadcast like the football have) so will be looking at the same thing as BBC Berkshire do, i.e. you log on to their site on a game day and select a dedicated link for in-game streaming only.
Whilst streaming would be good for away fans not travelling or fans that can't make the game, I'd maybe question what additional advertising coverage it would provide us? If it was being streamed as the main programme between 5:30pm - 8:00pm when people turned their radio's on then that question answers itself, but as fans have to log on specifically via the internet to listen, I'm not sure whether it would have any effect on footfall.
Lets not forget that bums on seats are the main lifeblood of the club, and for every 20-30 extra people through our doors that could mean we could either retain an existing or bring in a new/extra player - so I guess it's what we can do to get our message out to the remaining 150,000 or so population that don't come to see us on a Saturday & Sunday night, and also the +3,000 businesses in and around the area that aren't presently involved with us.
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benji
New Member
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Post by benji on Apr 8, 2011 12:01:16 GMT
I'm not 100% sure if I seen this posted or written down was there not talks of a cricket game during the summer? If I was dreaming it why not set one up?
Being a player at St.Georges we hold a cricket fun day the last sunday of August where it's 6 a side you pay to enter to help raise funds for the club. Why not get 6 of the players to put a team in for this...it's a great day some of turn up in fancy dress, plenty of beer is consumed and a lot of people attend the day.
Those people that are interested in a particular sport tend to like many other sports also, why not target many of sports clubs within the area? There are many football/cricket/hockey clubs in Shropshire.
Also onlyme i like your idea of Oktober fest for the pure fact of it being beer :-P
Could the Tigers not hold a annual real ale festival or something? There are plenty of local brewerys in Shropshire? I know there are issues with licenses etc but sure could be over come?
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Post by tom on Apr 8, 2011 12:08:57 GMT
Could the Tigers not hold a annual real ale festival or something? There are plenty of local brewerys in Shropshire? I know there are issues with licenses etc but sure could be over come? Yup I'm down for that  It would attract a large audience as well. Everards Brewery in Leicestershire do a beer called Tiger, so we could have that on tap ;D |
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It would attract a large audience as well. Everards Brewery in Leicestershire do a beer called Tiger, so we could have that on tap ;D