Hi 1EE,
So, in response to the Chairman's Message last week about 'Connection with the Eels Community', I had a long rant about my observations of shitty community engagement. Particulary in relation to young, primary school aged children and their parents. Many of you responded to my lengthy dribble in a much more positive way than I expected and made some excellent points. In summary, a number of you, like me, get the feeling that the Club believe they are doing a better job at community/young fan engagement than what they really are.
Mick said "... this just demonstrates the total disconnection between what the club stands for and what it delivers..."
The Captain made some great points saying "... There has been a real lack of modern community engagement from the club... There is a lot to be said for the engagement attitude of the club. Heck even the players seem disengaged with the club. If we ever want to capitalise on our nursery we have to treat it with the care it deserves..."
Tad rightly remarked about community engagement "... If it's not authentic it won't work despite the intention through spin. Unfortunately the commercialism ( which is a reality) built into the organisational psyche works against the spiritual connection which is so highly desirable .
The Captain agreed "... Great points Tad, and I agree I think that local authentic identity, what it means to be an Eel, that still seems to be missing and for a club with as long of a history as ours we should have a stronger sense of identity by now. We still feel more like a brand and less like an identity sometimes. It's a deficiency we really need to work on..."
Perhaps Obums summarised best - "...Some excellent ideas here, but we all know that "community engagement" is just corporate speak for selling merch..."
Well, timely today that I read an article about a sports marketing summit held just yesterday, where supposedly "... Kate Chapman, the Parramatta Eels’ general manager for brand, social impact and fan development – unveiled the branding strategy and ethos that helped the Eels secure an iron-clad bond with its fans..."
Iron-clad?? Do they continue to miss the point?? Long term supporters from the 80's maybe. Where is the next generation coming from. There is some OK ideas being looked at but they can't possibly (genuinely) believe they are currently doing enough to grow a new/junior fan base to carry the club forward. Particularly in Eels heartland.
Apparently, Kate Chapman delivered a "...masterclass in brand development..." Have a read:
Plenty of corpoate jargon and ticking some PC boxes but very much in line with what some of you have mentioned about brand versus identity. My take on it is that Kate and the club are more focused on the branding and 'PC' social impact parts of her job title. Nowhere near enough focus on, or resourcing of, the fan development aspect . No real, feet on the ground understanding that in our younger demographic, the Panthers now have such a massive following in the Eels' own backyard.
Following my long rant last week about a poor example of community engagement, some encouraged me to give the feedabck to the club. Does anyone have any real contacts that can get the feedback directly to the people who may need to hear it?? I do wonder if I use some of the generic contact details/emails from Eels website, whether some of the feedback might find itself 'watered down' so to speak or not actually get to where it should.
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You lost me at Kate Chapman.
I know this is a puff piece because it's Mumbrella, and as a puff piece it's...well, it's kinda what I'd expect. Full of puff.
You know what's missing from this puff piece though?
Results. Measurements. Statistics. Anything that proves that Kate's strategy is actually working, because comments like this come across a bit deaf given the timing:
"Our vision for our club and what we can do outside of just winning games is much more important than that"
Yes Kate, that is all well and good if we were, in fact, winning games. Maybe not the right time for that phrasing coming off such a poor season.
For someone who should be brilliant at communications the timing of this article isn't really reading the room.
All the kids in my hood go for the Panthers, because they are winning 😒
I grew up in the lower mountains and barely anyone went for them when I was in school. Now everyman and his dog go for them. Everyone forgets they used to get sub 10k crowds not too long ago
Not sure what you mean Avon, to me it implies how good a job Penrith have done growing their brand whereas in Parra's case how poor we have been in sustaining it after 1986.
Its no coincidence that 40 years have passed and many of the members on here (1EE) are 50 plus, ranging up to 100 in the case of Cumberland Eel..... where are all our young supporters.....from what I can see the only young ones we seem to have on here are mentally challenged? No inference to the dedication of LB and EA by the way, they are an exception.
You need to ask the question what is the sustainability of our young followers, my two eldest sons 48, 47 are ardent Parra supporters born in Sydney based in Qld, my youngest 42 born in Qld follows Bronco's ...... my grandsons follow Parra, with one of them a tragic, He has just turned 20 and is going to University for a medical degree and with study and commitment his passion has now waned when it comes to Parra.
WE offer nothing much for young people to follow......by way of performance on the field.
she clarified, before naming three actions that collectively serve as the Eels’ purpose: “uplift[ing] lives, creat[ing] unforgettable moments and bring[ing] communities together.” no one can argue with any of these actions but I'm finding it really difficult to understand what our club is really about - from the outside looking in the club's marketing department seem to be latching on to whatever social issue is hot at the moment in time and then trying to tie that back to the brand - unfortunately this vision is too complicated, our club has lost its personality and identity! This piece is a perfect example of what not do when it comes to marketing and brand development - don't understand its how its come this.
Yes Mick I just read that piece and it comes across as a marketing strategy to create a commercial serving herd. I would rather the focus was on creating a bonding of tribal souls . That has a better connection with being supportive of people not a commodity
"marketing strategy to create a commercial serving herd" perfectly said Tad!. It's appears the football department is not the only issue the club faces... time for independent experts to unravel what's happening at the club.
Mick about a hundred years ago I read some material about big corporations hiring modern day anthropologists to look at the human dynamics in organisations to give there employees a sense of belonging and owning there contribution to the organisation. This was mainly to build productivity to their business by empowering staff to feel like they have a stake in making the company profitable and in every ones interests.
Same is desirable with a footy club -- everyone connected in a spiritual supportive partnership. You only have to look at this site sometimes and the connections we have. Is it supportive and how strong are our connections to players coaches and admin.. Do we try and be supportive of players,coaches,staff when we go through a bad patch. We are all guilty (myself included) of going to the blame game and player shopping list when things go wrong. That is not like we are all tribally connected. If we have a healthy culture we are more likely to have different approach in how we resolve performance issues .
The how do we do it and have a built in maintenance system is where an industrial anthropologist can That is why they do best studying cultures and have some great understanding of all aspects of culture Your reference to outside help)
The problem is getting the right people to work on organisational culture. Everyone starts with good intentions until EGO comes into play and takes you into a different direction. Ryles desire to have his ego to work "in the services of others" is a good start and needs his discipline and all those around him to stick to it
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