I think it would be easier if we did put £100 up front, it will feel less painful, show we are committed (we should be) and less admin. This would be fairly unque (some clubs have squadbuilder schemes) but none have a marketing armed wing! Someone with some savvy and previous contact some should bell or email Hoggy to see if they would let us do it.

I would be happy to let GF run the whole show, but that is not democratic and no one is perfect. But I do like his style and persistence, We would need some semi-formal group as money is involved but there are many mutual outfits out there and there is no reason why we can't be one of them. I really think we should tread carefully, but with a new CEO soon I think we may be knocking at an open door.

This all sounds great, and I would add my support by joining up if this does materialise. (£100 or £60 is OK for me, though I think £60 would be more likely to get more people to join).

I must say as well I have been following the club since the last year as London Bronco's, and this is the most promising and serious idea I have seen to really raise the profile of the sport/team. I know the first game as Quins RL got a full house but a dissapointing loss that day to saints didn't really help.
I also think saturday ko's this year will help attendances, I haven't looked at official attendances (even though they don't always seem 100% reliable) but I seem to recall that the attendances were slowly creeping up until we changed to Sundays.

p.s. I think sponsoring the station is a brilliant idea. A lot of trains go through Twickenham everyday, and most people in the country associate Twickenham with 'rugby' whether they actually watch games or not, so going through Twickenham station and seeing 'HOME OF HARLEQUINS RUGBY LEAGUE' will raise awareness of our club and our sport, then after that, pulling them in with ticket offers etc in theory should be more successful.

Good Post GF and it is amazing how close our ideas are, but tbh all we are suggesting is stuff that is proven to work!

I'd still go with a mailshot to all local homes. In fac, the ones who are very close by and get affected by our crowds should be given free tickets so they can see what all the fuss is about.

The local schools who QRL Coach should all get free tickets.

The local rags should be able to give out free tickets.

Why am I going on about free tickets?

The reason is simple, this works. The biggest barrier is the initial spend. Once someone is over that hurdle they are more likely to try something out.

My first game way back in the 90's I turned up with Mrs M (who say hi to Al!) bought a ticket saw loads of people in Broncos shirts, bought a shirt, programme, a few beers, London Calling (those were the days) and the club had me for years after.

If Quins truely believe that they have a good product then they must support this. I know restuarants who have done with and they all made money as people came back, the food was free on an opening night and they made money on booze and rebookings.

If people like your product, they will come back.

I think the true problem is, and I hate to say this, Quins don't believe in themselves. They lack ambition and courage. It has nothing to do with a markteing man, I do all the marketing for my firm and we're a company with a fee income of over £2m!

Quins need to do all the things that have been suggested, they cost buttons and returns are huge.

Rant Over.

Believe me....the rant never ends

A while back i mentioned the power of "social networks" and how for no cash outlay, but with a bit of planning and hard work, it would be possible for the club to build a "group" with thousands of members. This could be done by starting off with as little as 500 fans in the group, who are encoutraged to get "their friends" involved. Then, with the use of clever offers (free booze is always popular and can be arranged with a brewer such as Fullers...) we can attract the bring a friend fans AGAIN. We have all brought friends in the past, but let's face it, for the club to survive, we need to look at lowering the average age of our fans.
so, let's say, that by contacting our existing email data NOW...not in January/February next year, we get them to join the group on facebook.bebo.myspace...etc.etc...Facebook being the favourite. Then, the Group administrator not the club, but ourselves) update this group and its members on a weekly basis on things like training reports, places to watch RL on SKY, other RL related events such as schools tournaments, results from the many clubs in the capital etc etc.....
Then, as the season draws nearer, we post downloadable posters and vouchers for the forthcoming games. IF the club buy into this, then I believe they should offer prizes every week for a/ the person who brings the most NEW fans to a game and b/ a drawn prize from the membership of the group. The prize?? A free box for the person who brings the most NEW fans and 5 Free premium Tickets for the drawn prize, both for either...the next game, of for 1 target game later in the season.
The results may be minimal......but they would be positive, encourage repeat attendance from the newbies and cost 2 10th of SFA.
Little things like this, combined with other marketing and PR can only help.
On the thorny subject of Away fans.....I believe that although we shouldn't rely on them, we should do more to help them. The Social group should have an up to date and comprehensive guide of where to stay, special offers from local hotels and B&B's, pubs, bars, Restaurants, train timetables, taxi numbers. Wwe have Edinburgh, Wales and France to compete with for the away day £ and as much as we should not rely on it, we should do everything we can to encourage it.
Lastly, I noticed that London Lite had a full page ad on Wwednesday for the american bore fest at wembley later this month. Now, I am no expert, but I bet you £1 to £5 they didn't pay anything near full rate for the ad. London Lite ran at 21 x 8th pages on Wednesday.....about 30% of where they need to break even. Why don't the club pre-book some stuff now for next season....in the current climate, the newspaper industry is suffering and they will accept offers for future deals, pre-paid..........