3rd strip

[parsforlife]

It’s not that bad and you need to expect something a tad mental in a 3rd kit

[Digs]

This will be worth a few Bob in a few years much like the Le Coq Sportif ‘Hazard Light’ one. 

I don’t mind it, as I said, it will only get worn a couple of times, if that anyway.
 

I’m more against us having a kit we don’t need. If we are supposed to be a community club all about inclusivity how does putting those families in that community who might not be able to afford it under pressure to buy three kits every season make us inclusive? It’s the exact opposite of inclusivity.

[Number Eleven]

I agree - there’s no need for a third kit. I don’t like to he look of it either.

[parsforlife]

36 minutes ago, Digs said:

This will be worth a few Bob in a few years much like the Le Coq Sportif ‘Hazard Light’ one. 

I don’t mind it, as I said, it will only get worn a couple of times, if that anyway.
 

I’m more against us having a kit we don’t need. If we are supposed to be a community club all about inclusivity how does putting those families in that community who might not be able to afford it under pressure to buy three kits every season make us inclusive? It’s the exact opposite of inclusivity.

There isn’t pressure to buy any kit, it’s something that everyone has a choice to do so. Doesn’t matter if we have one or ten kits,  you can buy zero or all of them and neither choice makes you more or less part of the club.

[Digs]

22 minutes ago, parsforlife said:

There isn’t pressure to buy any kit, it’s something that everyone has a choice to do so. Doesn’t matter if we have one or ten kits,  you can buy zero or all of them and neither choice makes you more or less part of the club.

Of course there is, but you’ve missed my point. 

Of course parents can always say no, it doesn’t stop kids asking or parents feeling like they should buy them if they do though. That is a fact, not an opinion, it’s how marketing works. This is clearly not aimed at fat Boab the 50 year old is it?

In regards to inclusivity, I’m talking about social inclusion. If someone can’t afford the kits for their kids or are already not able to attend any/many games due to the rising cost of living, how is trying to sell them more kits than we need, inclusive? 

We need revenue, I get it, but we’re a small community focussed club, so we’re told, we’re not Man Utd, so three kits a season is excessive. The pool of people spending the money on merch is small and finite. Asking them to buy more and more and more just feels like the hand is constantly out to me to squeeze every last penny out of the fans, a lot of whom already spend more than they probably should. 

 

[parsforlife]

The point of having club merchandise at all is to squeeze money out of fans.   There is a limit to how much we can make but it’s the job of cook etc to find that limit and not push beyond it when spending more on marketing etc ends up being a loss maker

Is selling more inclusive? Maybe not, but it’s not excluding anyone either and therefore not a problem.

We have community activities and commercial ones that have different aims and will largely act completely separately and I don’t see how offering another commercial option to put money into the club harms our community activities.

[SanguinePar]

2 hours ago, parsforlife said:

The point of having club merchandise at all is to squeeze money out of fans.   There is a limit to how much we can make but it’s the job of cook etc to find that limit and not push beyond it 

I hope that's not how Cook sees the job. Feels like a horribly cynical way to run a club which, yes, is a business, but is also meant to be much, much more than that. 

That line of thinking would also see ticket prices pushed up and up until a market limit was reached. It would see financial considerations overcome tradition and heritage (eg renaming the stadium to whatever some future sponsor might want. Or changing the core home strip maybe, or the team name - why not, as long as enough cash was dangled our way?)

I'd rather see us kick around in the lower leagues than sell anything and everything we can, just to make a few extra coins.

We're not there yet, of course. And hopefully we never will be.

[Eastendtales]

Whilst I've been happy so far with sponsors, th idea of a 3rd strip at this time of the season is a joke. 

We're a 2nd tier club, our fanbase isn't blessed with hundreds of millionaire benefactors and we're trying to be a socially inclusive club. Peddling 3 nay, 5 tops including goalie tops at this time of the season is excessive. 

3rd goalie top anyone? May as well. 

[Number Eleven]

I think there is a better way to provide merchandise options than introducing a third kit. Simple have a range of training kit / leisurewear rather than an actual kit.

We are a community football club, not a cash cow and there should be limits to our marketing activity. We probably won’t all agree where those limits should be but a third kit for no reason is just not needed.

[parsforlife]

8 hours ago, SanguinePar said:

I hope that's not how Cook sees the job. Feels like a horribly cynical way to run a club which, yes, is a business, but is also meant to be much, much more than that. 

That line of thinking would also see ticket prices pushed up and up until a market limit was reached. It would see financial considerations overcome tradition and heritage (eg renaming the stadium to whatever some future sponsor might want. Or changing the core home strip maybe, or the team name - why not, as long as enough cash was dangled our way?)

I'd rather see us kick around in the lower leagues than sell anything and everything we can, just to make a few extra coins.

We're not there yet, of course. And hopefully we never will be.

I hope cook does see his job as that,  It maybe cynical but we are a professional football club whose by far main aim is to win as many games as possible and achieve as much success on the pitch as we can. that area is mostly influenced by budget which is his job to make as big as possible. 

  I agree there's a few red lines that can't be crossed in that aim,  we shouldn't change our name,  the town our team play in and the general themes of the club kit/badge, I would also disagree with things like risk financial disaster, using PED's, hiring scumbag individuals (racists, rapists etc)   beyond that,  I'm doubtful there's much. 

Being a nice wee club dodging about in the lower leagues sounds ****e and has been ****e for a long time,  being a successful club who is ruthless in exploiting commercial opportunities is so far the preferable choice I don't understand the objections, don't cross the handful of redlines and you'll be a great CEO.