Murray, Marketing and missed opportunities

[Waltersgotstyle 297]

We now find ourselves on the dawn of a new era however I still find myself looking back on the Murray stewardship and the missed opportunities that could have prevented the financial mess that we now find ourselves in.

 

Over the years we have seen our great club go from being a global brand steeped in history, which is talked about all over the world however now you would be lucky to find a Rangers key ring in most sport shops outside Scotland as the interest in Rangers and Scottish football has been allowed to Dwindle.

 

Now before I go further I must state that the interest or lack of I should say in Scottish football is not down to Murray but rather could be blamed on the SPL's failed rendezvous with Setanta.

 

Although we cannot ignore that Murray has allowed our club to go from being the Second biggest club in terms of merchandise income in the UK to a club who no longer operate their own shops.

 

I do not intend to list all of Murrays short comings as I would like everyone to list one that they feel Murray got wrong; I will start with the following:

 

Murrays Missed Opportunities

 

1. The Big Screen Fiasco

I always wondered what was going through Murray�s head when he introduced the big screen TV�s. The opportunity to actually use them were limited as TV rights dictated what games could be shown. Surely if some one actually sat down and calculated the amount of seats that could have been placed there instead and the average ticket cost across the number of games we are looking at a lot of revenue lost over the years.

 

Anyways guys over to you to list what you feel he got wrong.

[Bears 0]

I agree with the screens. We could have put two smaller ones from the top of the Copland and Broomie stands for advertising and to show vids before game and at HT.

 

I believe we should have built small Rangers kids and youth teams with good quality training facilities in Ayrshire, Edin, The Highlands and somewhere between Aberdeen and Dundee.

[Stimpy 0]

2. Merchandise:

 

JJB deal never appealed to me, probably because my past is in retail and have an understanding of what customers want. We went from 2nd biggest generator of income in the UK to sitting on the sidelines. Yes, people say it's guaranteed income, however, Rangers fans buying club merchandise is already guaranteed.

 

Then we have the argument whether is it profitable to run our own shops. Perhaps not as many was needed, but some simple investigations into what stores run at a loss and what don't. I really do feel we could have trimmed the loss making ones, or invent new ideas to bring more footfall into the shops.

 

We have a massive loyal customer base that is ready and wanting great merchandise. It's not as if they'll buy elsewhere like you'd go to Sainbury's one week and the next to Tesco's.

 

It's also worth noting that JJB are going down where their main competitors, Sports Direct, are going from strength to strength. Seems we share the inability to change to market conditions.

[maineflyer 0]

2. Merchandise:

 

JJB deal never appealed to me, probably because my past is in retail and have an understanding of what customers want. We went from 2nd biggest generator of income in the UK to sitting on the sidelines. Yes, people say it's guaranteed income, however, Rangers fans buying club merchandise is already guaranteed.

 

Then we have the argument whether is it profitable to run our own shops. Perhaps not as many was needed, but some simple investigations into what stores run at a loss and what don't. I really do feel we could have trimmed the loss making ones, or invent new ideas to bring more footfall into the shops.

 

We have a massive loyal customer base that is ready and wanting great merchandise. It's not as if they'll buy elsewhere like you'd go to Sainbury's one week and the next to Tesco's.

 

It's also worth noting that JJB are going down where their main competitors, Sports Direct, are going from strength to strength. Seems we share the inability to change to market conditions.

3. Supporter Numbers

Related to your post is the insidious erosion of our supporter numbers. Poor marketing, dreadful PR failure on a daily basis, confused identity, inadequate outreach ..... are all contributing to less and less new youngsters choosing Rangers and more children from the existing Rangers constituency rejecting the club. I see this all around me and it worries me what another twenty or thirty years of this will do to the health of the club. All of this stems from the huge gulf that has opened between the club and the fans, stoked by lack of respect in both directions.

[Tumshie RFC 0]

The downsizing of the club has been shown by our failures off the park in the last decade. The club shops and the big screens are two of the biggest example. I would throw in another two.

 

1. The failure to re-develop the land around Ibrox. The money that could be made from re-generating that area to include things like shopping centres, a conference centre or a hotel would all contribute to bringing in much needed extra revenue for the club.

 

2. Our lack of willingness to explore markets across the globe. Places like Canada, Australia and the US have massive areas of old Ulster-Scots and the Rangers is already ingrained in many of them. We should be doing our best attract more fans to our unique club.

 

Over the last 10 years we have went so far back in a commercial sense it is untrue. It pains me to say it but Celtic are miles in front of us in that side of things, mainly because they play up to their Irish, Catholic tradition, which appeals to the Plastic Paddys. We have to reach out to that broad Ulster-Scots base across the globe. As I said earlier we are a unique club and we should be marketing ourselves in a much better way.

[Stimpy 0]

3. Supporter Numbers

Related to your post is the insidious erosion of our supporter numbers. Poor marketing, dreadful PR failure on a daily basis, confused identity, inadequate outreach ..... are all contributing to less and less new youngsters choosing Rangers and more children from the existing Rangers constituency rejecting the club. I see this all around me and it worries me what another twenty or thirty years of this will do to the health of the club. All of this stems from the huge gulf that has opened between the club and the fans, stoked by lack of respect in both directions.

 

That was going to be next point but prefer how you've put it.

 

It's certainly a possibility that in the next two generations, we may see our numbers eroded by our inefficiencies and the likes of the EPL becoming more appealing. Fuck! Irish league football!

[Frank Hovis 0]

The Ibrox Land Bank: It baffles me that we have Rangers supporters heading to Pizzahut, McDonalds, Wee Rangers Club, Stadium Bar and every pub on PRW, yet the club have never even come close to having a supporter friendly food and beverage proposition near Ibrox. I presume this would have been part of the casino project?

 

Regardless, we see these types of supporter villages at loads of away grounds on our european travels and I suspect even the most simple of market research would confirm there is a demand for a Rangers orientated leisure experience for pre and post match.

[pete 2,499]

I will stay on my Rangers pools posts. With mushrooming of online gaming, Poker, Bingo,lotteries etc etc I think far more could have been made of his lottery company. I am totally against gambling but I do realise it could be a massive income to the club.

[Stimpy 0]

I will stay on my Rangers pools posts. With mushrooming of online gaming, Poker, Bingo,lotteries etc etc I think far more could have been made of his lottery company. I am totally against gambling but I do realise it could be a massive income to the club.

 

Good idea and one I hadn't thought of.

[Waltersgotstyle 297]

I know many would not have liked the idea however renaming our stadium would probably have made us a lot of money a few years ago.