Do Saints need a PR company?

[Fitzhugh Fella]

There is debate on other threads about David Bick's involvement in promoting Southampton FC and whether it is having the desired effect or does it ultimately cause fan alienation.

PR companies working for football clubs is something that has only evolved in the last 10 or so years but is there a need?

 

Do fans just want open honest up-to-date info which maybe good or bad or do they want to be kept happy with spin which may or may not be the total truth?

 

Football clubs have not always been honest with their fans, especially when it came down to transfers fees and scandals but, by and large, you got somewhere to the real story through the local papers who were independant and not afraid to fall out with the board if neccessary. The likes of Ken Bates and co soon learnt the value of supressing or manipulating the media but it seems to me nowadays football clubs attach as much importance to how things are pitched rather than what actually takes place on the pitch.

 

Even Rupert Lowe realised the advantages of good PR and I seem to remember the predecessor to this forum being infiltrated by especially hired PR only for it to spectacularly back fire when we realised we were being spun.

 

So do we need it, is it helpful or will it end in tears? Is there room for the likes of David Bick in our football club?

 

There are lots of accusations of people having agendas on this forum if they differ from the populist view but surely PR in football clubs is all about setting agendas?

[saint_mears]

No and Cortese has been totally screwed over by Bick.

 

Lowe said the bill for him last time round was around £200,000 a year ! what a joke.

 

Bring back Hiley !

[docker-p]

If a club is well managed it doesn't need a PR. So yes Saints need a PR.

[Topcat]

Hire a good PR Manager for £50k a year and actually take their advice.

[saintroyt]

a few back up players would be nice !

[docker-p]

Even Rupert Lowe realised the advantages of good PR and I seem to remember the predecessor to this forum being infiltrated by especially hired PR only for it to spectacularly back fire when we realised we were being spun.

Was it the same company currently being used?

[aintforever]

Whoever is in charge of PR at the moment is doing a fantastically sh!te job.

 

The only important thing is to have someone who knows the fans/customers because footie fans are a funny bunch. Expensive PR companies are just over complicating things and are a waste of money.

[Saint Fan CaM]

Of course PR is important in any business that relies on the public to buy it's product/services. The question is I suppose, who is the PR for? Is it for the benefit of the club directly or is it designed for the benefit of the supporter (who then feels connected and therefore happier with the product/service)? This is the key issue for me. The PR and communications have been poorly managed of late in my opinion - oh, it's been very stage managed and one could say professional (Bicks influence), but it's only providing what the CLUB want us to know, rather than what WE would LIKE to know.

 

And for me, that's the big problem....they haven't bothered asking their customers - the supporters and in particular the ST holders - what information they would appreciate getting periodically from the club. What we get is the party line rolled out ad infinitum...it was OK to start with, but now (alongside poor results) it's getting a bit tedious. And while I think about it, that 'dinner with Nicola' session - why was that not properly advertised? Nothing on the OS as far as I could see - most of us were kept in the dark and if it wasn't for this forum most of us would not have known about it happening, let alone know what was revealed during the discussions.

 

I don't know what they're paying Bick, but for a L1 club on a clearly limited budget I would hazard a guess it's far, far too much.

Edited 25 September, 2010 by Saint Fan CaM

[Big John]

Hire a good PR Manager for £50k a year and actually take their advice.

 

The bit in bold is the key. Chances of that happening = slim (imho), based on pure conjecture, speculation and rumour of course. ;-)

[Fitzhugh Fella]

Of course PR is important in any business that relies on the public to buy it's product/services. The question is I suppose, who is the PR for? Is it for the benefit of the club directly or is it designed for the benefit of the supporter (who then feels connected and therefore happier with the product/service)? This is the key issue for me. The PR and communications have been poorly managed of late in my opinion - oh, it's been very stage managed and one could say professional (Bicks influence), but it's only providing what the CLUB want us to know, rather than what WE would LIKE to know.

 

And for me, that's the big problem....they haven't bothered asking their customers - the supporters and in particular the ST holders - what information they would appreciate getting periodically from the club. What we get is the party line rolled out ad infinitum...it was OK to start with, but now (alongside poor results) it's getting a bit tedious. And while I think about it, that 'dinner with Nicola' session - why was that not properly advertised? Nothing on the OS as far as I could see - most of us were kept in the dark and if it wasn't for this forum most of us would not have known about it happening, let alone know what was revealed during the discussions.

 

I don't know what they're paying Bick, but for a L1 club on a clearly limited budget I would hazard a guess it's far, far too much.

 

Interesting points you raise. I don't know about THAT dinner. Could well have happened I suppose. I liked the report back, I like the words that NC spoke - it all made sense but like you say there was no "official" info given so was it a figment of Bick's PR and if so did it serve a genuine purpose if no one is sure it was factual?

NC already has a reputation of "doing things his way" so why would he worry about employing someone like Bick to "spin" for him?

[sadoldgit]

I think you just need a good Communications office and better relations with the press both local and national. I don't hold with this they have no right to know our business attitude currently prevailing at the club. Football is big business in this country and people want news and gossip. So provide it. Of course thee will be critisism but these people should have tough enough hides to deal with it as part of their job. If you are going to make unpopulat decsions, explain why. You only hack people off even more if you don't. And it is not enough to invite a select few to a nosh up and press some flesh. Just communicate properly with people. It is not hard.

[benjii]

PR isn't a dirty word. Of course you want to manage the image you put in the public domain. If you don't, you either don't care or are an idiot.

[docker-p]

I think you just need a good Communications office and better relations with the press both local and national. I don't hold with this they have no right to know our business attitude currently prevailing at the club. Football is big business in this country and people want news and gossip. So provide it. Of course thee will be critisism but these people should have tough enough hides to deal with it as part of their job. If you are going to make unpopulat decsions, explain why. You only hack people off even more if you don't. And it is not enough to invite a select few to a nosh up and press some flesh. Just communicate properly with people. It is not hard.

I think you absolutely right SOG, particularly about maintaining good relationships with local and national press. Stop making dumb decisions like banning the local press from using the club crest, and the need for expensive PR firms will be lessened. Unless of course the PR company involved is advising NC on the PR consequences of his policies rather than simply issuing communiques.

[Fitzhugh Fella]

PR isn't a dirty word. Of course you want to manage the image you put in the public domain. If you don't, you either don't care or are an idiot.

 

Accepting what you say do you think football clubs need "to manage the image they put in the public domain". Surely what you see is what you get? I suppose what I am trying to say - a bit cackhandedly - is do we, as fans need to have our club's image manipulated for our benefit.

[benjii]

Accepting what you say do you think football clubs need "to manage the image they put in the public domain". Surely what you see is what you get? I suppose what I am trying to say - a bit cackhandedly - is do we, as fans need to have our club's image manipulated for our benefit.

 

The website doesn't write itself... statements don't write themselves... The only direct access the public has to what happens unless the club choses to put something out there is by watching matches and seeing/hearing the manadatory snippets immediately after matches. I don't think there's anything particularly Kafkaesque about wanting to have some sort of strategic direction to the additional output; it's not something that happens organically and requires effort and management. The danger is of over-management to the point where everything gets dismissed as PR - this often seemed to be the case with the endless "rallying cries" we got under Lowe's last hurrah. But choosing to put anything "out there" ie an interview with a paper, something on the OS, the radio, is inherently an act of public relations and such decisions have to be the responsibility of someone to manage.

 

I think the answer to your question is "no" - you don't need a PR agency. You could do it inhouse but using an agency might make sense for certain businesses, in certain circumstances, at certain times. That's not to say ours is or isn't doing a great job. Ultimately, winning matches is good PR!

[Saint Fan CaM]

The website doesn't write itself... statements don't write themselves... The only direct access the public has to what happens unless the club choses to put something out there is by watching matches and seeing/hearing the manadatory snippets immediately after matches. I don't think there's anything particularly Kafkaesque about wanting to have some sort of strategic direction to the additional output; it's not something that happens organically and requires effort and management. The danger is of over-management to the point where everything gets dismissed as PR - this often seemed to be the case with the endless "rallying cries" we got under Lowe's last hurrah. But choosing to put anything "out there" ie an interview with a paper, something on the OS, the radio, is inherently an act of public relations and such decisions have to be the responsibility of someone to manage.

 

I think the answer to your question is "no" - you don't need a PR agency. You could do it inhouse but using an agency might make sense for certain businesses, in certain circumstances, at certain times. That's not to say ours is or isn't doing a great job. Ultimately, winning matches is good PR!

 

I think you've hit the nail on the head there. When the team are doing well and there's clear investment, who needs a PR machine. Conversely, if the team are not doing so well (or you need to sack a Manager), that's the time that a higher level of PR is needed by the club to off-set criticism and negative vibes. It makes sense for a lower league club like us to employ a part-time person or agency to assist with this work as it would not make sense hiring a full-time staff member(s).

 

That leaves two questions. Do we need PR right now and if so, is the quality of the PR fit for purpose? I would answer, clearly yes it's needed, however it's not doing everything I would wish for.

Edited 25 September, 2010 by Saint Fan CaM
typo

[alpine_saint]

Who gives a flying f**k as long as we win our games ?

 

All the good PR we need.

[ottery st mary]

In the old days..We had Ethel the tea lady.

 

Now she knew how to spin a line........Like a few on this forum...

 

Recently old Ethel has been under used.

 

Time to bring the old girl back into the fold..

 

Not forgetting good old Woggy..

 

PR....... BOLLLLIXX...Just ask Uncle Rupes.

[70's Mike]

Do you only need a good PR man if you are introducing policies which will hit the most loyal fans in the pocket ?

[TopGun]

There is no point hiring a PR guy if you don't listen to what he says.

[jam]

Do you only need a good PR man if you are introducing policies which will hit the most loyal fans in the pocket ?

 

No, only if you are introducing policies that are going to **** at least one section of your audience off (which covers pretty much anything).

 

Unfortunately the club's communications with the fans has been simply poor and personally I think that they should address this. It's all well and good saying 'let's do Twitter and post snippets from the pre-season' but meanwhile the club was dropping a major bollock over season ticket renewals and the withdrawal of the installments scheme. If there was a reason for the way it was handled then personally I think the club should have explained it with the customers and at least pretended it cared in order to preserve goodwill. Instead we had silence and the impression that the powers that be didn't give a hoot and as we see on this forum there is less goodwill in Cortese as a result.

 

We also have the situation where there is so much hunger for football coverage that there is a whole industry (papers, tv, radio, innernet) devoted to poring over each and every potentially noteworthy issue and making it into a discussion point, and getting anyone they can to offer their take on it, even if those people offering their opinion have no idea of the actual facts.

 

Sorry 70's Mike, one light hearted comment and someone goes off on one...

Edited 25 September, 2010 by jam

[saint_kev]

PR? Of course you do. The Echo phones up.. who exactly, for a quote? The TV phone up because they want an interview.. who do they get put thru to? The Press Office? and who runs that then? A public relations person.

 

Or do you thing that Nicola and Atkins field all the calls?

 

As for managing opinions, it's clear from any sample of posts on any subject, that you can't manipulate opinion. Some people will always see black as white, while others will see it as green with a hint of orange.

 

So yeah, why not employ a PR person?