'Hot Topics': Replies from the marketing department (#96)

[Legion]

We've been invited by the head of the marketing department at Aston Villa (Russell Jones) to tender suggestions on a monthly basis from the good people at H&V after the success of this initiative.

Please feel free to offer your constructive thoughts and ideas.

Thanks in advance.

[bertlambshank]

Ticket information on the OS this season has been shocking.

[TaxDodger]

Ticket information on the OS this season has been shocking.

Agreed.

[Bully2345]

Any chance of a screen making a re-appearance in the North Stand/Witton Lane Corner?!

[Chipsticks]

The 'early bird' idea has been really good, got a ticket in the Holte for the Man Utd game for £18, which is cracking by today's standards.

My biggest suggestion was perhaps to offer more incentives for the 'smaller' games, such as perhaps if you attend the Arsenal game you get £10 off the Swansea game? Just something like that to improve attendance against smaller teams which has been slightly embarrassing this season.

[brian green]

The most glaring example of lost potential income for the club is the failure to maximise beer and lager sales in the ground.   Through no fault of their own the staff are largely inexperienced, disorganized and terribly slow.   They also commit the cardinal business sin of talking to each other not the customers.

I would run a quarterly competition for the bar which sells the most beer and lager adjusted appropriately for size with a cash bonus and a big shiny trophy to be held and displayed for the following quarter.   It would pay for itself ten times over with increased takings.

You would also have to do something I have long advocated and that is name the bars - the Johnny Dixon, the Peter Withe, the Billy Walker and so on - even the Best Mate who carried the claret and blue to glory so many times.

[The Moose]

We have a Marketing Department? Well, well...

[Greg N'Ash]

I spent a futile hour in the shop trying to find matching Gordon Gowans memorabilia to go with my recently purchased christmas decorations. Are they trying to airbrush former greats from the club's history?

[JJ-AV]

McGrath DVD and some live music in the Holte Suite pre-kick off.

[MarkM]

My suggestion to the marketing dept is to work to improve the 'product' that they sell, the product being what we watch on the pitch

[Chris Harte]

I would say keep Season Ticket prices down, rather than doing gimmicks like loading each ST card with a fiver or sending out pretty packs full of goodies that I'm not interested in when the card itself is delivered pre-season. Remember its whats on the pitch that we want to pay for, not the superfluous trimmings.

[Holte132]

I would say keep Season Ticket prices down, rather than doing gimmicks like loading each ST card with a fiver or sending out pretty packs full of goodies that I'm not interested in when the card itself is delivered pre-season. Remember its whats on the pitch that we want to pay for, not the superfluous trimmings.

Totally agree!  A couple of seasons ago, before I became a ST holder, the Villa contacted me to encourage me to buy a half-season ticket. Part of the marketing was a half-year calendar with my name in prominent places around Villa Park - the stadium was in my name, I was the match winner in a newspaper report, my name was on the back of a Villa player's shirt with other players around, my name was on the big Holte End flag and also on the advertising strip! It was brilliant and I have kept the pictures. I would gladly pay to have my name on such a calendar - it would make a brilliant gift for any Villa fan. How about it, Villa?

[philthebar]

The most glaring example of lost potential income for the club is the failure to maximise beer and lager sales in the ground.   Through no fault of their own the staff are largely inexperienced, disorganized and terribly slow.   They also commit the cardinal business sin of talking to each other not the customers.

I would run a quarterly competition for the bar which sells the most beer and lager adjusted appropriately for size with a cash bonus and a big shiny trophy to be held and displayed for the following quarter.   It would pay for itself ten times over with increased takings.

You would also have to do something I have long advocated and that is name the bars - the Johnny Dixon, the Peter Withe, the Billy Walker and so on - even the Best Mate who carried the claret and blue to glory so many times.

Been in the home section of other grounds where the bars are open for an hour or so after the game.  Doing ths would:

Increase sales
Encourage some of us to hang around for post match chat. 
Reduce the crush to get out (roads, public transport, etc)

Of course you need decent beer to do this!

[The Laughing Policeman]

The most glaring example of lost potential income for the club is the failure to maximise beer and lager sales in the ground.   Through no fault of their own the staff are largely inexperienced, disorganized and terribly slow.   They also commit the cardinal business sin of talking to each other not the customers.

I would run a quarterly competition for the bar which sells the most beer and lager adjusted appropriately for size with a cash bonus and a big shiny trophy to be held and displayed for the following quarter.   It would pay for itself ten times over with increased takings.

You would also have to do something I have long advocated and that is name the bars - the Johnny Dixon, the Peter Withe, the Billy Walker and so on - even the Best Mate who carried the claret and blue to glory so many times.

Been in the home section of other grounds where the bars are open for an hour or so after the game.  Doing ths would:

Increase sales
Encourage some of us to hang around for post match chat. 
Reduce the crush to get out (roads, public transport, etc)

Of course you need decent beer to do this!

How about some bottled ales from some of the excellent small breweries in the West Midlands?

[Vanilla]

How about, those people paid megabucks to come up with marketing ideas . . . come up with marketing ideas.

It's like a bin man knocking on your door and asking 'what's the best way to get rid of your rubbish?'