Commercial

[BahamasBluebird]

The implication is that I was not qualified.

I have to stand up for myself here. I was and am more than qualified to do that job. I worked tirelessly but was dismissed because I didn’t hit my financial target after 6 months. No performance management. No PIP. Nothing. Just asked to leave one morning because I didn’t hit a target and in my opinion because I am not a yes woman. I challenged and spoke my mind. And found obstacles at every turning point.

That is the truth. I wish the new CM, who ever it may be, the very best of luck because you can’t grow flowers without seeds and I hope they are a better man than I.

Thanks to all those who supported me.

Hi Emma,

The point I was making is that I am not qualified to be the new commercial manager.

Apologies for any misunderstandings.

[BahamasBluebird]

Thanks for the response Ryan and it's nice to see lots of work is being done behind the scenes, I am sure everyone appreciates your hard work and dedication to the cause.

I do hope more can be done to improve the match day experience going forward with covered areas around the ground where fans can have a drink and chat and get something to eat, if you don't want to walk up to the cross bar and miss some of the game you can be exposed to the elements for a couple of hours. I'd like to see the club take control of catering and improve the offering although I do appreciate this costs money to set up.

On the point about kids it was great when we got a boost to the crowd with all the kids coming to the game, unfortunately there was a little bit of trouble in the town centre which was blown out of proportion by the Evening Mail and on social media. I did read many parents saying they were put off letting kids come to the game because of this (no trouble at the game), would it be possible to have a family area or a room opened at the cross bar for kids to be dropped off / picked up after the game maybe selling pop and crisps and supervised by volunteer parents or something - just to put parents minds at rest that kids can go to the game and be safe.

Improving the match day experience is a must I agree, especially in these winter months when it isn't much fun just standing in the cold for a few hours. (Unless we win )

The trust ticket scheme is fantastic for getting younger fans in and I know another push for that is about to happen. A great idea about a family area/room and that is definitely something I will look at.

[Beardy12]

The implication is that I was not qualified.

I have to stand up for myself here. I was and am more than qualified to do that job. I worked tirelessly but was dismissed because I didn’t hit my financial target after 6 months. No performance management. No PIP. Nothing. Just asked to leave one morning because I didn’t hit a target and in my opinion because I am not a yes woman. I challenged and spoke my mind. And found obstacles at every turning point.

That is the truth. I wish the new CM, who ever it may be, the very best of luck because you can’t grow flowers without seeds and I hope they are a better man than I.

Thanks to all those who supported me.

Well said emma. Qualifications arent everything. It sounds as if u are better out if it of that's how things were. Football is a very male dominated environment and it sounds as if that could have been a case of face didnt fit.
The club needs a clear out behind the scenes in my opinion. - directors etc..same old faces for years who are no douby set in thier ways. Whole thing needs freshening up. Its a little bit of an old boys club.
Hopefully the club hire a brilliant commercial manager - fylde have a good one who used to work for bburn i believe. Appreciate these people cost money though. But we are owned by a millionaire so shouldn't be an issue - any clever business person knows the importance of this role.

[HenneysKnee]

Any clever businessman would have got these roles sorted from the start of his takeover, let’s be honest the money isn’t there for the level of staff required or a load of new stock for the shop etc etc

[K-Man]

The implication is that I was not qualified.

I have to stand up for myself here. I was and am more than qualified to do that job. I worked tirelessly but was dismissed because I didn’t hit my financial target after 6 months. No performance management. No PIP. Nothing. Just asked to leave one morning because I didn’t hit a target and in my opinion because I am not a yes woman. I challenged and spoke my mind. And found obstacles at every turning point.

That is the truth. I wish the new CM, who ever it may be, the very best of luck because you can’t grow flowers without seeds and I hope they are a better man than I.

Thanks to all those who supported me.

Well said emma. Qualifications arent everything. It sounds as if u are better out if it of that's how things were. Football is a very male dominated environment and it sounds as if that could have been a case of face didnt fit.
The club needs a clear out behind the scenes in my opinion. - directors etc..same old faces for years who are no douby set in thier ways. Whole thing needs freshening up. Its a little bit of an old boys club.
Hopefully the club hire a brilliant commercial manager - fylde have a good one who used to work for bburn i believe. Appreciate these people cost money though. But we are owned by a millionaire so shouldn't be an issue - any clever business person knows the importance of this role.

Going to play devil's advocate here. We have at least 4 new directors for the new regime. A woman ran the 'shop' and reception for the best part of the decade. So to suggest it is an old boys club seems a bit harsh. From a guesstimate there would be what Andrew Casson, Ryan(when in the country), Les the Kitman, the apprentice lass, and maybe Steve Patton around on a day to day basis. I could be wrong though.

[Beardy12]

I was more going a long the lines of patton, dodd, reid and collier.

[barrowaberdeen]

There's free tickets (for kids and adults) organised between the club and Trust through schools for the Solihull game at Christmas. All Primary schools have been sent this message. Trust and Club working together on that one with local schools. Food Bank, Craig Rutherford and co are doing a lot of the running around and collecting- nothing has been too much trouble.

Dane Ghyll alone for example have 7 boxes to be doubled. More community than commercial perhaps but good stuff nonetheless. Ryan has helped with that as did Georgia today (and tbf so did Emma)

I do agree re the shop though.

[EHB]

I visit this site on a daily basis. I visit the club website probably once a week. I follow barrow afc scores on the Google newsstand thing. I follow the clubs Twitter and face book. And not once have I ever ever seen a web ad for Barrow AFC or any product we sell. You all know what I mean, you search car insurance one day or go on the Debenhams website and all you see for the next fortnight is digital ads promoting those companies.

Why are we so behind in terms digital marketing?

Emma I read your post with concern. This is not how we should treat our staff. I hope you got a significant payout, or are taking further action.

[Beardy12]

The cassons clearly don't understand UK employment law. The way they try and sack players (failed to sack hughes if i recall when he reported them to pfa) ,sacking full time members of staff like emma without notice etc, rumours casual staff being treated badly aswell.
Club as a lot to answer for in this area. Does not have to be like that

[BahamasBluebird]

I visit this site on a daily basis. I visit the club website probably once a week. I follow barrow afc scores on the Google newsstand thing. I follow the clubs Twitter and face book. And not once have I ever ever seen a web ad for Barrow AFC or any product we sell. You all know what I mean, you search car insurance one day or go on the Debenhams website and all you see for the next fortnight is digital ads promoting those companies.

Why are we so behind in terms digital marketing?

Whilst not rubbishing your idea straight off the bat EHB, I would question the effectiveness/necessity of using such ads for the club. The companies that use those ads are mainly huge companies who need to reach a massive audience and have a massive advertising budget to match. Only a fraction of those who see the ad will click on it, and even less will go through the full process from seeing the ad to purchasing a product, which isn't really useful for us.

Whilst we try to increase our fan base and increase sales of certain products all over the UK, a very large percentage of people who are interested (and more importantly could be interested) in the club live within say 40 miles of Holker Street.

There are tools which we can (and do) use to analyse our audience on social media and from time to time (for big events, new products, special offers etc) we use targeted ads on various channels. These almost always target a specific geographical area (eg. 40 miles from Holker St.) and then they can focus on specific age ranges, those with an interest in football and so on, depending what the advert is for and who the target market is.

I also keep track of how well our different types of posts "perform" at different times. For example I have come to notice that if we have something which will interest parents, Sunday Evenings are the best time to stick something on Facebook.

So I get your concern, but I certainly don't feel as if we are behind in terms of digital marketing for a club of our size, and we are always looking at ways to stay up to date with things like this. That said, if you have any ideas to improve this side of the club, feel free to send me a DM!

[EHB]

Fair reply. Although I disagree on your value of it. If you were selling half season tickets for Xmas or promoting shirts etc the last few weeks then I would possibly have instinct bought as a gift.

[mr_grey]

Fair reply. Although I disagree on your value of it. If you were selling half season tickets for Xmas or promoting shirts etc the last few weeks then I would possibly have instinct bought as a gift.

Half season ticket would start in 10 days... I've bought all my presents now.... didn't think they were doing anything like that this xmas.. money's gone elsewhere.

Oh look next home game is the 1st of the 2nd half of the season. Excellent planning !

[mr_grey]

So I get your concern, but I certainly don't feel as if we are behind in terms of digital marketing for a club of our size, and we are always looking at ways to stay up to date with things like this. That said, if you have any ideas to improve this side of the club, feel free to send me a DM!
[/quote]



Whatever happened to all the work that Lancaster University marketing students did ?

[BahamasBluebird]

Whatever happened to all the work that Lancaster University marketing students did ?

They presented their findings at the University and a few people from the club went along to listen. They also produced a report which we all read, and I use some of it quite often.

I'm sorry to disappoint about the half season tickets but as I have said, they won't be offered. We will be trying some different ticket offers in the New Year, some of which are actually part inspired by the Lancaster Uni students findings.

[mr_grey]

Whatever happened to all the work that Lancaster University marketing students did ?

They presented their findings at the University and a few people from the club went along to listen. They also produced a report which we all read, and I use some of it quite often.

I'm sorry to disappoint about the half season tickets but as I have said, they won't be offered. We will be trying some different ticket offers in the New Year, some of which are actually part inspired by the Lancaster Uni students findings.

Once again.. looks like it's being well advertise with plenty of advance notice.. appears you're trying to think very much on your feet to try and passify the dwindling support.on the terraces