Hibs marketing initiatives

[Hibernian21]

Posted this on the bounce - would be interested to get a view here as well:

Should get a chance to speak to Fyfe Hyland on wednesday night at the Aberdeen game and wanted to ping a few ideas his way.

Anyway, I think Hibs have picked up their game marketing-wise over the last few years and it will be interesting to see how they develop this 'Club membership' they seem to be promoting: Hibernian | Hibernian FC | News | Featured Content | Hibernian Membership update (http://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/page/FeaturedContent/0,,10290%7E1940617,00.html) (£45 seems a bit steep to me though, especially as an existing season ticket holder).

Anyway, looking at the business side of football, which we're all too aware of recently, undoubtedly football clubs have a truly unique 'customer base' with customer / fan brand loyalty that most companies would kill for. However, there is surely more that can be done to ensure fans and the club get the most out of this unique relationship:

Customer interaction / engagement
As evidenced by the proliferation of message boards and fans forums there's no shortage of opinion on what would improve our football club. I'm also aware of the occasional fan feedback sessions but no idea how and why these are set up and how you get an invite. Surely Hibs could do more to utilise fans eagerness to give their views?? Sometimes it feels like a mass of valuable feedback just gets ignored.

Community initiatives
One thing the manky mob from the other side of town have got right is the focus on community initiatives - todays children are tomorrows fans. We've got this community foundation however shouldn't we have a regular presence at most schools (with players/coaches running football/fitness lessons etc.) across Edinburgh and the Lothians to ensure the next generation of Hibbies? Something similar to what Gretna did?

Ticket pricing
I don't have kids but it seems that taking them to the football isn't cheap. In line with the above community initiatives shouldn't we be enticing kids (and their parents) to the football with vastly reduced prices. It pains me to see empty seats at ER that could be filled easily innovative pricing schemes. Fiver for all kids? Kids go free on certain category B/C or early cup games? Airline ticket booking system with price changing to ensure bums on seats? Extend the half-season ticket idea so there is a sliding scale pricing system throughout the season? (not sure what Hibs Kids does - it may do some of the above).

New media
I must admit I don't visit the official site much (only for the occasional fixture info really) but when I have i've not been that impressed - not particularly usable and just seems solely focused on trying to flog stuff. It could do a lot more to become a hub for fans. Also, why don't we have Hibs on twitter? Yogi with a prematch tweet to all the fans mobiles or a half-time message via bluetooth to the fans? Text alert with team lineup (aware there is a text alert service but £4.99/month FFS! That should be free or massively reduced in my opinion) Blogs with information from the camp, updates from East Mains etc? People lap up stuff like the crossbar challenge on soccer am, so why not provide that sneak preview via video on a semi-regular basis? Easy to do, costs nothing but generates massive interest, web traffic and potential revenue.

There's plenty other things they could do with gift experiences e.g. train with the team at East Mains, auction of honour of playing on the hallowed turf with ex players etc....

I'm not saying all should be done (some may have been done before or are being done at the moment) but there must be some innovative ideas out there that would work, benefit the fans / club and fit with the forward thinking ethos Hibs are quite rightly proud of. In addition there may be some cool stuff that other clubs or even other sports do?

Anyway, I fancy cornering Fyfe Hyland on wednesday so lets hear your ideas bouncers - you never know they might get some attention!

P.S. this topic may have been discussed in the past - if so, could someone please link to thread?

[Toaods]

what times your interview?

:greengrin

[ArabHibee]

Ask him when they will be accepting applications for the Matchday Experience Manager. :cool2:

[Alex Trager]

Posted this on the bounce - would be interested to get a view here as well:

Should get a chance to speak to Fyfe Hyland on wednesday night at the Aberdeen game and wanted to ping a few ideas his way.

Anyway, I think Hibs have picked up their game marketing-wise over the last few years and it will be interesting to see how they develop this 'Club membership' they seem to be promoting: Hibernian | Hibernian FC | News | Featured Content | Hibernian Membership update (http://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/page/FeaturedContent/0,,10290%7E1940617,00.html) (£45 seems a bit steep to me though, especially as an existing season ticket holder).

Anyway, looking at the business side of football, which we're all too aware of recently, undoubtedly football clubs have a truly unique 'customer base' with customer / fan brand loyalty that most companies would kill for. However, there is surely more that can be done to ensure fans and the club get the most out of this unique relationship:

Customer interaction / engagement
As evidenced by the proliferation of message boards and fans forums there's no shortage of opinion on what would improve our football club. I'm also aware of the occasional fan feedback sessions but no idea how and why these are set up and how you get an invite. Surely Hibs could do more to utilise fans eagerness to give their views?? Sometimes it feels like a mass of valuable feedback just gets ignored.

Community initiatives
One thing the manky mob from the other side of town have got right is the focus on community initiatives - todays children are tomorrows fans. We've got this community foundation however shouldn't we have a regular presence at most schools (with players/coaches running football/fitness lessons etc.) across Edinburgh and the Lothians to ensure the next generation of Hibbies? Something similar to what Gretna did?

Ticket pricing
I don't have kids but it seems that taking them to the football isn't cheap. In line with the above community initiatives shouldn't we be enticing kids (and their parents) to the football with vastly reduced prices. It pains me to see empty seats at ER that could be filled easily innovative pricing schemes. Fiver for all kids? Kids go free on certain category B/C or early cup games? Airline ticket booking system with price changing to ensure bums on seats? Extend the half-season ticket idea so there is a sliding scale pricing system throughout the season? (not sure what Hibs Kids does - it may do some of the above).

New media
I must admit I don't visit the official site much (only for the occasional fixture info really) but when I have i've not been that impressed - not particularly usable and just seems solely focused on trying to flog stuff. It could do a lot more to become a hub for fans. Also, why don't we have Hibs on twitter? Yogi with a prematch tweet to all the fans mobiles or a half-time message via bluetooth to the fans? Text alert with team lineup (aware there is a text alert service but £4.99/month FFS! That should be free or massively reduced in my opinion) Blogs with information from the camp, updates from East Mains etc? People lap up stuff like the crossbar challenge on soccer am, so why not provide that sneak preview via video on a semi-regular basis? Easy to do, costs nothing but generates massive interest, web traffic and potential revenue.

There's plenty other things they could do with gift experiences e.g. train with the team at East Mains, auction of honour of playing on the hallowed turf with ex players etc....

I'm not saying all should be done (some may have been done before or are being done at the moment) but there must be some innovative ideas out there that would work, benefit the fans / club and fit with the forward thinking ethos Hibs are quite rightly proud of. In addition there may be some cool stuff that other clubs or even other sports do?

Anyway, I fancy cornering Fyfe Hyland on wednesday so lets hear your ideas bouncers - you never know they might get some attention!

P.S. this topic may have been discussed in the past - if so, could someone please link to thread?
tuttuttuttuttut

[Ed De Gramo]

Posted this on the bounce - would be interested to get a view here as well:

Should get a chance to speak to Fyfe Hyland on wednesday night at the Aberdeen game and wanted to ping a few ideas his way.

Anyway, I think Hibs have picked up their game marketing-wise over the last few years and it will be interesting to see how they develop this 'Club membership' they seem to be promoting: Hibernian | Hibernian FC | News | Featured Content | Hibernian Membership update (http://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/page/FeaturedContent/0,,10290%7E1940617,00.html) (£45 seems a bit steep to me though, especially as an existing season ticket holder).

Anyway, looking at the business side of football, which we're all too aware of recently, undoubtedly football clubs have a truly unique 'customer base' with customer / fan brand loyalty that most companies would kill for. However, there is surely more that can be done to ensure fans and the club get the most out of this unique relationship:

Customer interaction / engagement
As evidenced by the proliferation of message boards and fans forums there's no shortage of opinion on what would improve our football club. I'm also aware of the occasional fan feedback sessions but no idea how and why these are set up and how you get an invite. Surely Hibs could do more to utilise fans eagerness to give their views?? Sometimes it feels like a mass of valuable feedback just gets ignored.

Community initiatives
One thing the manky mob from the other side of town have got right is the focus on community initiatives - todays children are tomorrows fans. We've got this community foundation however shouldn't we have a regular presence at most schools (with players/coaches running football/fitness lessons etc.) across Edinburgh and the Lothians to ensure the next generation of Hibbies? Something similar to what Gretna did?

Ticket pricing
I don't have kids but it seems that taking them to the football isn't cheap. In line with the above community initiatives shouldn't we be enticing kids (and their parents) to the football with vastly reduced prices. It pains me to see empty seats at ER that could be filled easily innovative pricing schemes. Fiver for all kids? Kids go free on certain category B/C or early cup games? Airline ticket booking system with price changing to ensure bums on seats? Extend the half-season ticket idea so there is a sliding scale pricing system throughout the season? (not sure what Hibs Kids does - it may do some of the above).

New media
I must admit I don't visit the official site much (only for the occasional fixture info really) but when I have i've not been that impressed - not particularly usable and just seems solely focused on trying to flog stuff. It could do a lot more to become a hub for fans. Also, why don't we have Hibs on twitter? Yogi with a prematch tweet to all the fans mobiles or a half-time message via bluetooth to the fans? Text alert with team lineup (aware there is a text alert service but £4.99/month FFS! That should be free or massively reduced in my opinion) Blogs with information from the camp, updates from East Mains etc? People lap up stuff like the crossbar challenge on soccer am, so why not provide that sneak preview via video on a semi-regular basis? Easy to do, costs nothing but generates massive interest, web traffic and potential revenue.

There's plenty other things they could do with gift experiences e.g. train with the team at East Mains, auction of honour of playing on the hallowed turf with ex players etc....

I'm not saying all should be done (some may have been done before or are being done at the moment) but there must be some innovative ideas out there that would work, benefit the fans / club and fit with the forward thinking ethos Hibs are quite rightly proud of. In addition there may be some cool stuff that other clubs or even other sports do?

Anyway, I fancy cornering Fyfe Hyland on wednesday so lets hear your ideas bouncers - you never know they might get some attention!

P.S. this topic may have been discussed in the past - if so, could someone please link to thread?

Hibs.net has a twitter account (or you could follow me :wink:)

I get the line up before its announced because my dad sees the team on the betting board in the FF Lower :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[ArabHibee]

Hibs.net has a twitter account (or you could follow me :wink:)

I get the line up before its announced because my dad sees the team on the betting board in the FF Lower :thumbsup::thumbsup:

You blether enough pish on here without people having to read it on twitter as well! :greengrin

[Toaods]

Hibs.net has a twitter account (or you could follow me :wink:)

I get the line up before its announced because my dad sees the team on the betting board in the FF Lower :thumbsup::thumbsup:


TWIT @ ER :faf:

[Ed De Gramo]

TWIT @ ER :faf:

:top marks

p.s. It wisnae Hamed Namouchi either :boo hoo:

[down-the-slope]

Personally I think that its NOT expensive to take kids - regularly at least.

My daughters ticket is £85 for 22 matches...can't argue with that :agree:

Could do FAR FAR better with food in the ground...like get Greggs to run it

Making more of BTG (and adding bigger better facility to new East) sometimes not open on Sundays..can't get a Coffee (its a function suite how hard can that be) and serves a sad selection of grub that is rarley ready for opening time

What about a Hibs savings bond..say 5 year fixed where interest is better than bank (not hard) but costs hibs less tha it borrowing from bank...to fund New East

[CallumLaidlaw]

I DO think its expensive to take young kids to games. I am trying to get my 5yr old stepson into the Hibees, but wont buy him a season ticket as his dad has him every other saturday. Got him a hibs kids membership but unfortunately, he's only been able to attend 1 of the 4 games
He isnt 100% interested in the match itself yet, so £12 is a bit steep I find, Especially when I spend money behind the goals, in the club shop, and at the food stand on him, plus travel to and from Fife.

I think £5 for under 7's would be great. Should have them interested in the football properly by that point, so you dont mind paying a bit more for them to be there.

Also, Hibs have been pretty good at keeping things up to date technology wise. Would LOVE to see Hibs produce an iphone app with team/transfer news, match updates, team line-ups, etc

[Gatecrasher]

im not usually good at this sort of thing but i will have a go anyway :greengrin


Posted this on the bounce - would be interested to get a view here as well:

Should get a chance to speak to Fyfe Hyland on wednesday night at the Aberdeen game and wanted to ping a few ideas his way.

Anyway, I think Hibs have picked up their game marketing-wise over the last few years and it will be interesting to see how they develop this 'Club membership' they seem to be promoting: Hibernian | Hibernian FC | News | Featured Content | Hibernian Membership update (http://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/page/FeaturedContent/0,,10290%7E1940617,00.html) (£45 seems a bit steep to me though, especially as an existing season ticket holder).

Anyway, looking at the business side of football, which we're all too aware of recently, undoubtedly football clubs have a truly unique 'customer base' with customer / fan brand loyalty that most companies would kill for. However, there is surely more that can be done to ensure fans and the club get the most out of this unique relationship:

Customer interaction / engagement
As evidenced by the proliferation of message boards and fans forums there's no shortage of opinion on what would improve our football club. I'm also aware of the occasional fan feedback sessions but no idea how and why these are set up and how you get an invite. Surely Hibs could do more to utilise fans eagerness to give their views?? Sometimes it feels like a mass of valuable feedback just gets ignored.

as you said at the start the club are geting better at this sort of stuff, but i agree that hibs do need to open up a bit more and give fans a bigger say. ( i do think we are getting there though)

Community initiatives
One thing the manky mob from the other side of town have got right is the focus on community initiatives - todays children are tomorrows fans. We've got this community foundation however shouldn't we have a regular presence at most schools (with players/coaches running football/fitness lessons etc.) across Edinburgh and the Lothians to ensure the next generation of Hibbies? Something similar to what Gretna did?

I thought this was the type of thing the Hibernian Community foundation was set up for, but again agree with what you put there :agree:

Ticket pricing
I don't have kids but it seems that taking them to the football isn't cheap. In line with the above community initiatives shouldn't we be enticing kids (and their parents) to the football with vastly reduced prices. It pains me to see empty seats at ER that could be filled easily innovative pricing schemes. Fiver for all kids? Kids go free on certain category B/C or early cup games? Airline ticket booking system with price changing to ensure bums on seats? Extend the half-season ticket idea so there is a sliding scale pricing system throughout the season? (not sure what Hibs Kids does - it may do some of the above).

agree again - we have an empty top tier in the south stand most games, get the kids in for cheap and the money will be made back on programmes and food anyway :greengrin

New media
I must admit I don't visit the official site much (only for the occasional fixture info really) but when I have i've not been that impressed - not particularly usable and just seems solely focused on trying to flog stuff. It could do a lot more to become a hub for fans. Also, why don't we have Hibs on twitter? Yogi with a prematch tweet to all the fans mobiles or a half-time message via bluetooth to the fans? Text alert with team lineup (aware there is a text alert service but £4.99/month FFS! That should be free or massively reduced in my opinion) Blogs with information from the camp, updates from East Mains etc? People lap up stuff like the crossbar challenge on soccer am, so why not provide that sneak preview via video on a semi-regular basis? Easy to do, costs nothing but generates massive interest, web traffic and potential revenue.

while the twitter thing would be good, i think yogi would have enough on his plate on a matchday :cool2:, i keep up with the Mclaren F1 team and they have someone who goes to all the events takes photos and keeps the fans up to date, im sure the guy has other duties not just twitter, but maybe someone from within the club could do this :agree:

Soccer AM type stuff would be great on Hibernian.TV - top 3 games you have played in etc, i would love that, iv been thinking about signing up for a while and stuff like that would have me signed up by now :agree:

There's plenty other things they could do with gift experiences e.g. train with the team at East Mains, auction of honour of playing on the hallowed turf with ex players etc....

The ER tours during the summer were superb, the club pushed the advertising as well, billy was superb, maybe they could do one for EM this summer.

I'm not saying all should be done (some may have been done before or are being done at the moment) but there must be some innovative ideas out there that would work, benefit the fans / club and fit with the forward thinking ethos Hibs are quite rightly proud of. In addition there may be some cool stuff that other clubs or even other sports do?

Anyway, I fancy cornering Fyfe Hyland on wednesday so lets hear your ideas bouncers - you never know they might get some attention!

P.S. this topic may have been discussed in the past - if so, could someone please link to thread?

good luck :thumbsup:

[Iain G]

Can you ask him about including business class flights and 5 nights accomodation (inc breakfast) at the Balmoral for us out of towners, in the price of a normal West Upper ticket...I may make it to more games that way :wink:

[ArabHibee]

Personally I think that its NOT expensive to take kids - regularly at least.

My daughters ticket is £85 for 22 matches...can't argue with that :agree:

Could do FAR FAR better with food in the ground...like get Greggs to run it

Making more of BTG (and adding bigger better facility to new East) sometimes not open on Sundays..can't get a Coffee (its a function suite how hard can that be) and serves a sad selection of grub that is rarley ready for opening time

What about a Hibs savings bond..say 5 year fixed where interest is better than bank (not hard) but costs hibs less tha it borrowing from bank...to fund New East

Totally agree with you about BTG - it is a total joke the way that place is run. I'm pretty sure the catering is farmed out but it doesn't show Hibs in a good light at all. As you say, the food is sometimes not ready at opening time or they don't have enough ready and the bars are not stocked properly. Last week they didn't even have orange juice behind the bar at 12.15pm!! We then found out this week that apparently a half pint of fresh orange and lemonade costs the same as a pint! (WTF!) Also staff who understand your request might help as well.

[Gatecrasher]

oh, can you ask him if we can get hibs iphone cover, they used to do them for nokias and they were mint :agree:,

[Speedy]

I DO think its expensive to take young kids to games. I am trying to get my 5yr old stepson into the Hibees, but wont buy him a season ticket as his dad has him every other saturday. Got him a hibs kids membership but unfortunately, he's only been able to attend 1 of the 4 games
He isnt 100% interested in the match itself yet, so £12 is a bit steep I find, Especially when I spend money behind the goals, in the club shop, and at the food stand on him, plus travel to and from Fife.

I think £5 for under 7's would be great. Should have them interested in the football properly by that point, so you dont mind paying a bit more for them to be there.

Also, Hibs have been pretty good at keeping things up to date technology wise. Would LOVE to see Hibs produce an iphone app with team/transfer news, match updates, team line-ups, etc

:agree:

I don't have kids but I think something like that would be better. I've been with my mate and his 4 year old a couple of times and the wee man hardly watches the game. It's not really fair that young kids have to pay the same as a teenager, a student or a pensioner.

[Mikey]

Should get a chance to speak to Fyfe Hyland on wednesday night at the Aberdeen game and wanted to ping a few ideas his way.



Can't see you achieving much in BTG on a match day. He's a very good listener so why not make an appointment to go in and see him?..........

fhyland@hibernianfc.co.uk