Ideas For The Cronulla Sharks

[Gibs]

This thread is for ideas you would like the Club to adopt. I realize there are previous threads for this, but I wish to make this thread a lot less cluttered than the others.

When someones idea is posted here, I will provide a link in the opening few posts directly to the idea for quick access.

If you have ideas in regard to the following, please feel free to post here instead of cluttering up the forums with multiple topics.

* marketing
* merchandising
* media placement
* community engagement
* increasing revenue
* improving match day experience
* innovative business strategies

Thank You.

http://www.sharksforever.com/forums/showpost.php?p=193472&postcount=2

Align ourselves with Junior Clubs who use the sharks logo. - Bundy

http://www.sharksforever.com/forums/showpost.php?p=185333&postcount=66

Small price drop for increased revenue from ticket sales - Explained in more detail by footyfortress.

http://www.sharksforever.com/forums/showpost.php?p=193496&postcount=8

Pre Season Fan Day with the new team and Sharks Connect - DrunkDazz

http://www.sharksforever.com/forums/showpost.php?p=193498&postcount=9

Increased membership benefits and looking after sponsers. - Sixgill

http://www.sharksforever.com/forums/showpost.php?p=193501&postcount=12

8 various idea's from mtk.

http://www.sharksforever.com/forums/showpost.php?p=193502&postcount=13

Interstate membership upgrade options - gosharks

http://www.sharksforever.com/forums/showpost.php?p=193558&postcount=26

Post-match entertainment at Sharkies.

http://www.sharksforever.com/forums/showpost.php?p=193504&postcount=14

Fitz's wall of idea's

http://www.sharksforever.com/forums/showpost.php?p=193546&postcount=22

MC Hammerhead out and about around the shire. - Deathmoth

http://www.sharksforever.com/forums/showpost.php?p=193563&postcount=27

Get supporters gear in by Xmas. More Fan Days. More advertising of Home Games - Lumpy

http://www.sharksforever.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44029

A poll on the best day to play sharks home games with discussion.

http://www.sharksforever.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43361

A way for interstate fans to be able to group together for seating instead of being spread out.

http://www.sharksforever.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43362

Active membership recruitment drives.

http://www.sharksforever.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43365

Allow the fans to buy into the sharks, say 250,000 memberships at $100 a piece for example - Thanks Fitzy

http://www.sharksforever.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43375

Flyers like these for example, handed around the shire and st george area to try and get more people into the game.

http://www.sharksforever.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43374

Save our sharks Poker Tournaments

http://www.sharksforever.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44626

Keep the sharks website up to date. many people now just refer to NRL.com instead of the sharks website for sharks information.

 

[BundyShark]

Marketing

As a life long Cronulla supporter may I suggest that the club try to focus on aligning themselves with junior clubs around Australia who also use the shark logo. When I was a young fellow(a long time ago) I was invited to Shark Park as a fan and met the coach, players etc... and consequently I will never desert my sharkies no matter how frustrating they are to follow.

This wouldn't cost a lot of money but it would go a long way to building our fan base not just in Sydney but around the country.

 

[fitz]

For a list of threads that contain lots and lots of good ideas go here

What would be great is if we could go through all of those threads and extract the ideas out of them.

Just the ideas without all the chat and duplicates - some threads contain multiple ideas - some ideas have also been commented on and improved so perhaps it's best to summarise the idea with any relevant additions.

It's important that we don't overlook some of the ideas because some of the simplest ideas are the easiest to do and could have a huge positive impact on the Club.

 

[DeathMoth]

i reckon everyone should just go nuts with ideas. some dude up at sharks HQ is probably getting paid a substantial wage to trawl through this site. lets make it a wild goose chase... just for ****s and giggles

thats my idea

oh and when i say dude... i could also possibly mean "female dude" because its good to see the company is accomodating sheilas.

perhaps a range of eveningwear for women. i'd buy that sort of thing for my mrs.

perhaps MC Hammerhead could have his own range of merch. everyone knows MC is the key to glory. he's such a loveable yet menacing beast. i'd be first in line to buy Hammerhead head wear.... Hammerheadwear! see what i did there!

 

[Mark^Bastard]

I reckon they should have more mascots and they should really market them towards the younger children, and have toys and stuff made of them too, and maybe even look into making a cartoon or something if that's possible.

 

[san29]

as a life member and season seat holder i think the seats and entry should be cheaper it is far better to fill shark park then to be half empty this would help all the family's be able to afford to bring the kids out at present it is far to dear for people to bring there family's with the price of food drink and entry

 

[davetherave]

What if we start with a version of the Australia 2020 summit? A group of supporters from a mix of people sit down and do some brain storming, not all the ideas are good but they can lead to great ideas. This could be done after hours by some passionate volunteers (Sharks Forever members maybe?) proposal could then be submitted to the club for further consideration

 

[DruNkDazZ]

One of the best marketing movements this year was the introduction to Fan Day & the tour of the dressing rooms. Meet the players & so on.

I beleive it would be a brilliant idea to re-do this before the season, Maybe 2 weeks prior or a week before season kicks off. Introduce all the new recruits for the year & do the exact same thing. Have a massive Shark Fan Day.

Will pump the fans up & gain more support the more this happens.

Sharks Connect is another great marketing tool also. The flyer hand outs & all sorts before each home game for this year was great continue to push that concept for Season 2010, Get back in touch with the Shire.

 

[Sixgill]

Membership for 2010 need to be offered and sorted earlier, as soon as the club has the draw. I think a price reduction may be in order to increase numbers. Cheaper membership with more people at the games and out there wearing 2010 caps is better for 'the brand' and the ground atmosphere and revenue than expensive membership with little distribution.

Make the Sharks Membership card worthwhile: have sponsors commit to special deals when a customer shows the Sharks Membership card. 10% off tyres at Tyrepower for Sharks Members. Metallic paint free on all new Toyotas. First month free at Fitness First. This provides something extra for fans and feedback for the sponsors.

The Business Directory needs to be printed and sent to members. Make our sponsors feel looked after.

 

[Shark68]

I reckon they should have more mascots and they should really market them towards the younger children, and have toys and stuff made of them too, and maybe even look into making a cartoon or something if that's possible.

I have been to the US a and they have bit a lot of mascots but they also have a villain mascot that dresses up in the apposing teams strip the kids boo him but all in good fun MacDonalds use this ploy with a villain the Hamburgeralar who the kids love to boo

 

[Sutho Shark]

I think for the junior base, we should allign ourselves with Endeavour Sports High, alot of good players come out of the school, but not many of them seem to play for the Sharks.

The '99 team, there were alot of locals and we had better success than we are having now, so it would seem logical to try and build more depth in the lower grades rather than just poaching all the eels juniors. (im just using them as an example as we have had a fair few eels come to the club in the past few years). From memory a fair few of the guy's in that team all went through the grades together?

 

[mtk]

- Further develop improvements made in online communications... e.g. finish 'under construction' pages, continue regular webchats (but at a more sensible hour like 7pm - not in the middle of a weekday), provide more things to do in the 'members only' section
- Add upgrades for membership packages (i.e. discounted merchandise packages)
- Increase range of merchandise available at online store e.g. more ladies apparel, kids toys etc.
- Print car stickers 'Sharks - pride of the Shire' - or words to that effect... we need to reinstill pride amongst the community (and make it ok to be a sharks fan in public)
- Lead from the front - most other clubs have either their membership options for 2010 available or a form to express interest
- Provide mission statements/strategic plans so fans can see where they club is working towards and how to get there
- Provide info on the development on the website (there's nothing like pretty artist-drawn images to inspire people about a vision for the future)
- Many kids aren't allowed to play league because it is too rough; why not offer the junior soccer and netball clubs free season passes (or to occasional games) too?

 

[gosharks]

qld interstate members should have option to upgrade membership to cover both the game at skilled and sunscorp stadiums and different levels of membership so interstate members have option to pay more for good seating. as interstate members may only get to see sharks life a few times and are prepared to pay more for good seating.

 

[fitz]

1. Get the Merchandising Section out of the Leagues Club and into an established retail environment with lots of passer-by traffic and that is convenient to access by public transport. How many local kids can get themselves down to the Leagues Club to buy their dad a Father's Day, Birthday or Christmas gift?

It needs to be the sort of place that could be available for in-store appearances of players too.

2. Negotiate with local schools for an appearance by MC Hammerhead, Mr Sharkie, etc.' to visit school fetes and give away stickers, caps, flags etc., Offer passing competitions with the winner getting a couple of free family passes to the footy.

3. Offer fund-raising opportunities to local school P&C Committees for silent auctions, raffles etc.,

4. Get a local panelbeater to get a car (preferably a convertible yank tank) and do it up with a complete spray job in Sharkies colours... complete with sound system... and maybe a dorsal fin. The sort of eye catching thing that turns up to kid's games, schools, fetes, etc., with things like Jaws theme, Up-Up Cronulla, Can't Touch This playing on the stereo. Make an entrance.

Extra income stream - hire it out for weddings, parties, etc.,

5. See the game day as a show... don't just perform... ENTERTAIN! The whole event needs better staging and event management. Get some advise from people who are used to putting on open air shows and get their input.

6. Get a PA that works for the WHOLE ground and encourage people to make some noise. Take a leaf out of The Barmy Army's book.

7. Build suspense in the pre-match time - having the players warm up on the ground doesn't do that - they should "explode" onto the ground and not just run back on... the whole deal - adrenalin pumping music, fireworks / coloured smoke. LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!

8. Get in contact with all local schools and offer Sharks players to go to end of year Assemblies to hand out Sports Awards & Trophies.

9. Print up some bandanas to be worn in support of cancer kids campaign... Sell the bandanas at the ground for say $2 each and donate the precedings to Canteen. Take lots of photos of the crowd wearing them and organise media placement. Great to do this to show support for young people with cancer. Particulary since one of our own (Johnny Mannah) is undergoing treatment. ...BTW: Happy birthday from the other day big John!

10. Build a footbridge over, or a tunnel under Captain Cook drive to help with getting people to and from the game safely... and not hinder traffic flow in the meantime. Sell advertising space on it as another revenue steam.

 

[Sutho Shark]

I used to love the saturday night games in the 90's, the weather isn't condusive to that these days, so I would like to see more afternoon games.

I think that will get more families in the gates.

 

[Sharkiiies]

More like family orientated activities ... like yes were in money problems though i think it would be awesome like BBQ at the game, bringing childrens activities you know the lot

 

[Shiredad]

Here's a tops marketing idea:

When someone orders a membership online, actually follow through with it. My wife paid for one just before my birthday back in february. We paid by credit card online, and our bank statement shows the transaction taking place.

A few weeks passed, and nothing arrived in the mail. By early March, I went into the club to chase it up. I was sent upstairs, and the lady wrote down my details then did some searching. She couldn't find any records. She gave me a box with a hat, stickers and other paraphernalia, and assured me that the tickets would come in the mail.

The season is over, and my membership package, including tickets never arrived. Granted, we only bought a loungechair membership which had two tickets ... but they never arrived. I paid around $50 for a hat, some stickers and a keyring which fell apart after a couple of weeks.

I know I should have gone back in and chased up the tickets, but I was told they would arrive, and with our luck this season, I really didn't feel up to going to a game.

Still I'm pretty disappointed in that.

 

[sharkboy18]

Ideas for the club in signing players is that we should sign faster outside backs not just slow ones all the time.

Send the players around Australia abit more so that supporters that dont live in Sydney can get to meet the players a bit more not just having to go down to Sydney all the time, they should also possibly have a second ground somewhere that is not just in Sydney, wat about all us Northern Rivers and QLD followers, Sydney is a very long way for us to visit, from my house in NR, its about 9-10 hours for me to get to a home game therefor I have never been able to get to a home game andf I would really like to sometime soon

There are some of my ideas and I will be posting new ones later on in the next few days

 

[Mark^Bastard]

sharkboy16, they should definitely play a trial match in Ballina or Lismore. I'm keen!

 

[sharkboy18]

sharkboy16, they should definitely play a trial match in Ballina or Lismore. I'm keen!

Yes im with u there Mark, I would love that, that is something I should have also added before, thx for that Mark