.....and don't get me started on flowers on a round-a-bout either
well its nearly spring and time to get the flowers in the beds. Somebody mention a train station as a good site?

Outside the replacement bus service stop would be ideal.

Much of station destined to be under a huge concrete slab if Solum have their way. Not sure the blooms would appreciate that.

Indeed...In Texas now and doing very well for himself. Amazed that the RFL let him slip through their fingers.

Even just simple things like the cowgirls handing out flyers in Twickenham on game day seems an idea beyond anybody. It's truly shocking how little appears to be done apart from the once every couple of years invite-the-reporter-to-training story.

You lightweight matt.

I know. But I was back in the gym on Monday trying to knock some sense into my back. Pain is pain, but it's whether you choose to suffer...

correction.......they are only historical if they happened pre-2012.........they are no longer historical as the 1,970 who bothered last week points to!
Also, if this had been a thread regrding the performance of the team, then by all means comment on my marketing musings, but as it's a thread on the topic of a shameful attendance, take your personal attacks elsewhere.

The Shameful attendance is a direct result of CURRENT marketing activity being about as much use as a chocolate teapot......

To my mind, the fundamental problem with marketing this club is that there's b*gg*r all to market without a successful team and that's something we don't currently have. Unlike most of our northern and even Welsh cousins, we don't represent any community so we can't fall back on people having a natural soft spot for the local team.

We could market away and get folks to attend a match or two, but would they come back to see and support a beaten team? I think not. If the sport of RL is serious about having a club based in the capital then it has to ensure that it's up there at or near the top of the league. And how does it do that? By removing any restrictions on who we can recruit (players and coaching staff) and by ensuring that the funding is there to enable us to pay these people long term and without the arbitrary time-outs on overseas recruitment that were previously imposed (rather like a government committing to get its military out of a foreign war zone by a fixed date rather than when the job's proved to have been done). There would of course be understandable howls from M62-land about unfair treatment, not a level playing field, etc. So this approach would have to be supported by all SL clubs who'd need to persuade their fans that this is the way to go.

Would it work? Would crowds flock in to see a team that played with panache and had continuing success? Don't know and the omens from what happened during Branson's time aren't really positive. What is sure is that without success on the pitch there's absolutely no chance of selling a sports team which has to operate in a competitive environment.

So, IMO any emphasis on a marketing-led approach is putting the cart firmly ahead of the horse and just won't work.

I guess it's a bit like having a brand new product.

No-one knows about it. So what do you do?

Get it known.

Market it.

If people try it for the first time then great, if they don't they don't. If they try it again, then great, if they don't they don't. Some people will like the product, people won't.

But you do need to make people aware of its existence in the first place.

That's second place. First is having the product.

Which is why David Hughes invested in strengthening the squad this year.

Not enough - isn't allowed to spend more and probably couldn't or wouldn't.

And there's the matter of the coaching staff.