THOSE of you who’ve read my articles know that I’ve previously talked about the lack of consistency in communication from the owners of Liverpool, the boardroom and the boot-room.
As a professional marketer who has worked for some of the biggest brands in the UK (and a fan) I’m frustrated about the current approach being taken by Liverpool. So here’s some free advice to Liverpool FC on the fans:
1. In football fans are emotional consumers
Your actions as a company need to be in line with the way you portray yourselves as a brand; if not you end up like the modern day Amazon or Starbucks whereby you’ve done all the hard work, built a successful business, gained trust from your consumers, and by trying to be greedy you destroy your consumer trust.
As football fans we’re not just consumers, we’re not going to jump ship and support Chelsea. We have something ingrained within us that makes us love our club and want to support it through thick and thin. However we are none-the-less still consumers. We pay to watch a match, buy club scarves, regalia, strips & so on. Therefore to keep shelling out our hard earned cash on our club we need to be given assurances. As Liverpool fans, those assurances need to be solid, given the heartbreaking times under Hicks & Gillett.
With no UK presence from FSG and Henry not coming to Anfield at all this season, this sends a message rightly or wrongly that you’re disinterested. Your Chairman (Werner) should be at all games. It’s important for the fans to see you care. Show them no interest and you’ll find yourself in very hot water.
2. In club communications, from Boardroom to Bootroom, stay on message
In November our chairman Tom Werner said: “our actions will speak louder than words”, yet midway through the transfer window, up pops Ian Ayre telling fans we’ve got the right mix of experience and youth. He went on: “we may or may not do anymore business in January, depending on the deal”. Anyone can see that’s not right. At the fan interview with Brendan Rodgers in December, Rodgers admitted that he felt sorry for Gerrard with all the players relying on him and playing with kids. Rodgers admitted Gerrard has been used to playing in teams with Mascherano, Alonso, Hamann and Hyypia, to now playing with Sterling, Wisdom, Suso and Shelvey.
Consistency is important, otherwise you look a mess. Have a clear vision of what you want to say and keep saying it. If you have nothing new to say then don’t bother.
[ad_pod id=”liverpool-tees” align=”center”]
3. When the media wants to speak to a player or manager, make sure you don’t create a story. If you’ve failed to do that, then you need to learn how to kill it.
It’s clear that with the club (apparently) sanctioning Suarez’s interview with the South American arm of Fox Soccer that they’ve lost control of what the players are saying in public. Luis’ comments are an unnecessary distraction for the club. Tell him to zip it; he’s clearly upset and annoyed at the treatment he gets. But help him through it, don’t allow him to fall on the slippy floor which is the media.
Likewise with Gerrard’s comments (which I wholeheartedly agree with). When a captain who kept quiet over the Hicks and Gillett saga comes out and criticizes your transfer policy you need to be careful. Gerrard is an incredibly savvy and mature man, he knows he’s pressing buttons and the club needs to work with him to resolve that before it gets out of hand. It was interesting Suarez also saying: ‘kids win you games, experience wins you Championships’.
As much as I like Rodgers, he talks about his tactics far too much. Be open and nice to the media, but don’t tell them everything you’re planning or doing. More importantly learn how to kill a story; when something controversial happens, deal with it internally and don’t comment on it. Otherwise the story just rambles on.
4. Tell people what your vision is and be clear on it
It’s not enough to say we want to win, and keep winning. You need to be clear on what your timeline is for that success. Team Sky did it when they launched and delivered quicker. They know that you have to have a credible plan, and can be held accountable for not delivering on it. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but it was built with a clear vision and timeline in mind.
Both Houllier and Rafa had slightly shaky starts when it came to winning against the top 10 teams. Kenny had the opposite problem. He could get a result against United, but slipped up against the poor sides in the league. If his results weren’t good enough, then what is acceptable? If you run a business without strict targets and don’t meet them then in any normal workplace you may be given more time depending on circumstance – if you just haven’t cut the mustard, you leave. If FSG believe in what they’re doing, they’ll have a plan – just what it is or when it’s due to deliver is another question altogether.
5. Marketing to your core fan base at home is more important than your fans abroad. Remember the fans filling the stadium on a weekly basis. Win them over and you’ll win the rest!
Whilst the new home Warrior kit is (in my view) beautiful, the same can’t be said for the away kits. What on earth the third kit has to do with Liverpool I’ll never know. Does this reflect Liverpool’s club history in anyway? Your team are your main asset as a brand, send them out looking odd and your brand doesn’t come through.
Then there’s the campaign slogan #WeComeNotToPlay…in my view an epic fail. It leaves you open to so many jokes and jibes. When your home fans cringe at it, you need to seriously rethink your approach.
Lastly, about the tradition the club was built on and what’s important to your core. Sometimes the old ones are the best ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’
Follow me on Twitter @JohnRitchie84
[ad_pod id=’DFP-MPU’ align=’right’]
Live4Liverpool is recruiting columnists. For further info contact the site editor at live4liverpool@snack-media.com
Follow us on Twitter here: @live4Liverpool and ‘Like’ us on Facebook
A very good article. FSG don’t go over to Anfield enough to show they do care about the club and also communicate with the fans about their intentions, especially when Werner says ‘action speaks louder than words’ well I haven’t seen much action.
As for Rodgers, I wish he would keep he mouth shut. There is no need to tell everything that is going on inside the club, now the media know they can get every little piece of dirt from him.
Very good article but it would not matter much to the evil axis of FSG, IA and BR as doing what’s best in not at the core of their thinking.
For FSG, its simple, LFC is just another money making tool for them, it does not matter to them if we do not win another trophy, as long as there is enough i***** outhere who can be duped that they have our best interest at heart and keeps buying those hideous shirts.
For IA, its simple, his job is to keep the OWNERS not the fans happy.
For BR, its simpler, its to be compliant and keep both IA and FSG happy, it does not matter if he can actually do the job as a LFC manager, which over time had proven he can’t. Why do you think a man who won the CL with us in his first season along with a FA Cup and finishing 2nd plus who also broke the REal and Barca duopoly was overlooked eventhough available.
A very good article. FSG don’t go over to Anfield enough to show they do care about the club and also communicate with the fans about their intentions, especially when Werner says ‘action speaks louder than words’ well I haven’t seen much action.
As for Rodgers, I wish he would keep his mouth shut. There is no need to tell everything that is going on inside the club, now the media know they can get every little piece of dirt from him.
BR can’t keep hios mouth shut. He has achieve nothimg and would continue to do so, so he needs to talk plenty to make him looks smarter than he really is.
Have you noticed that guys like Pep does not talk much?
good article , agree with every word . i think we need a lot more from our owners . they have made mistake after horrendous mistake since taking over , and are obviously getting poor advice from people (ayre)
i believe we are in as big a muddle now as ever , their vision was wrong , their vision is not working and wont work . we clearly need a man at the top who knows what he is doing …. and that is NOT ian ayre , the man talks bull , has ridiculously poor communication with the fans ,and pretends to (but doesnt) know what the fans want . AYRE MUST GO
finally i am disgusted by the gross americanization direction FSG have taken us , rather than the traditional values . i have 4 kids who all love and buy kits and clothes every year , but this year no , none of them have bought any , all the warrior kits are revolting as are all training stuff too . how much money are liverpool missing out on ? the documentary was embarrassing too
mr. henry said when he first came he values the tradition and history of LFC and would maintain them . well he hasnt . the way liverpool fc is being run by fsg disgusts me and many many others
I agree totally . I and most fans i know feel disgusted with FSG , they have behaved like amateurs , and are taking us backwards . Hiring an incompetent unknown as manager just about sums up their tenure , incompetence !
Agree with everything . There are things FSG need to do immediately and they are not doing them . The most important is finding a new manager , Rodgers is so far out of his depth its unbelievable . And secondly a new MD , Ayre is a fool and is letting his own ego and pride get in the way of doing his job properly
FSG have been really poor so far , waaay to many fk ups , but i would forgive if they sacked BR and gave us a decent manager . We need a good manager to get behind
Marketing my a**e
Crikey, how high maintenance are you? boy do you need a good woman. What difference does it make if JH attends the games? I don’t remember Peter Robinson attending game when we swept all before us, I assume he was there, but I was busy looking at the players on the pitch. I can remember David Moores sitting at all the games, in his leather jacket looking glum (didn’t seem to do those teams any good), also didn’t seem to help him unfog his mind when he chose the two fools to run the club over Sheikh Maktoum, I mean Shiekh Maktoum he was only about the most high profile billionaire sports fan at the time. My worry over this article is the constant re-assurance you seem to think all the supporters need. I don’t, I’m happy to simply concentrate on what happens on the pitch and so far as I can see, the football is becoming attractive again and is becoming more effective. If that carries on I’ll be happy, what the media chose to foam at the mouth about I couldn’t really care less about, I stopped buying papers in the 80’s
What would you expect BR to say about transfers, yes we’ve got sh**loads of money and are desperate to spend (if only to appease some noisy fans) please why not come along and fleece us once more? You have to look no further than the Tom Ince situation to realise the club are finally doing the right thing. Or would you rather we found oursleves with more Alberto Aquilani and Joe Cole’s at the club?
Gerrard did not criticize the clubs policy, he was talking about Chelsea not offering Lampard a new contract, the newspapers completely spun that story and you not only bought it but are re-inforcing that lie in your article.
Take a chill pill, enjoy watching the team grow and improve and don’t expect us to win the league this year or next, I’m going to enjoy watch Suso, Sterling, Wisdom, etc become great footballers, with any luck they’ll do it at Anfield.
YNWA
What a load of biased short-sighted nonsense . You sound like John W. or even worse Mr bullsh!t Rodgers .
Nobody expects the team to win the league in the next 2 or 3 years , but we do expect improvement and progress of which we have seen NONE under Rodgers , in fact he is making us worse
So enjoy the chill pill , but open your eyes and wake up man
Short-sighted is absolutely correct. You simply don’t know just how concisely you hit the nail on the head.
Bob Paisley taught the players to do nothing except concentrate on the next game. Not the one after, or a cup tie a few weeks away, just Norwich City at home at 3pm tomorrow. If you do that everything else takes care of itself, as Bob so beautifully put it.
What I find truly laughable is the nerve of a bellyaching internet warrior trying to tell John Henry about marketing, a man who has been in run sports teams in the USA successfully for nearly 25 years. To question BR after what he did with Swansea and what he has achieved in ridding the club of the deadwood he inherited. What may also have escaped you is that the players are now selected for games on merit, this is very easy to miss and is only really obvious when you see some of the players selected by BR. He really doesn’t care two hoots about reputations or price tags. If you perform consistently in training you earn the right to play, that’s so long overdue at the club.
And “Eric”, if you are so upset with BR in charge of the club then might I suggest you find another past time for the next few years when maybe the man is no longer at the club. Because if you don’t support him, your not supporting the club and you are thereby a hindrance and a negative drain on the team and the players. As a supporter it is you duty to support.
BR is the right man for the job, hopefully he will be financially supported by FSG, I expect he will be, for the simple reason that it is in FSG’s interests for the club to be successful. If we are top 4 we play CL (mo’ money), if we play CL we get more TV and sponsorship (mo’ money), if we develop players and some chose to leave, we make more than if we sell when we are struggling (again mo’ money). FSG are a sports investment organisation, I’d imaging making mo’ money is their aim, not sure if failure will help them do that.
What total crap u speak , its our duty to support an idiot manager who is making us worse ??? What bull .
Its our duty as supporters to try and rid ourselves of people who are clearly detrimental to our cause
Not just that bit , in fact every point u made is total rubbish , every single one . From the mind of someone who doesnt understand football or LFC
‘attractive football’ ? If negative sideways patient boring football does it for u then yeah
‘Fans’ like you make me sick ,its the worst team in 40 years , with the worst manager in our history and u want everyone to sit back and watch this car crash happen ?
Attractive, yes, actually trying to play it out from the back rather than lumping it forward might work for Stoke City, but we are talking about Liverpool here.
Worse team in 40 years? Have you forgotten Gerard Houllier’s team. This team is full of youth and promise. We have players like Suso, Sterling, Wisdom, Sinclair, Ibe, Coady, Shelvey, McLauglin and several others coming through, they may not all make it, but it’s a far healthier way of making it than spunking out shedloads of money for the likes of Carroll, Diouf, Diao, Cole.
I don’t want the team to win, I want them to win the right way. The team I grew up watching was a team without stars, playing for each other, they’d run through brick walls for the team, not for themselves.
Let Man City spend millions on players to warm their bench, we don’t have that luxury, so we therefore have a very thin squad, because BR has been bold enough to release players who either don’t fit into his plans or are a burden on the club, I think it’s great that he feels if we have an injury he’d rather a young player fill in that an average middling squad players there to pick up his wages. But we should not be looking to pad it out with simply numbers, the players coming in have to be right, they have to be hungry, have to have the capacity to improve and have to be team players.
Just another blind fool talking waffle ‘dale’ . u dont understand modern football u muppet
Worst team in 40 yrs ma arse, stop trying to hard to persuade pple to ur way of thinking.playing from d back might b risky but is a much more attractive way of playing d game.I see d team improving seriously n wit sturridge inclusive n borini back we r gonna b guns blazing
It IS the worst Liverpool team since Shankley built us . Rodgers slow passing rubbish bores most of us