Maybe if you bothered to read the posts on this very page you would see my own complaints about it (without offering up any tangible ideas), so I guess I'm being a smart ass by including myself in that group?
And yes, I agree with certain personnel needing to be replaced, but what exactly are we looking for? Just shuffling the deck on the titanic won't change much. I agree that we need people with certain experience, but what is it exactly that we want them to bring?
I also think that the team should look south and try to attract some people who are currently working in NFL organizations. Obviously you won't get people who are top level executives, but perhaps they can bring in some younger personnel who have been exposed to what works, but perhaps have their upward mobility blocked by those above them.
You also state you work in marketing. I don't. But I think you could offer some very good ideas to this discussion.
I go in and out on these threads because the current state of the team bums me out a bit. I wish they were supported better, but they've got pretty big demographic problems (read: fans are old) and a flagging marketing strategy. It's going to involve spending a bit of dough to get the best talent, especially given where the team is located and the cost of living involved, but it would be a good gig for a mid-level exec really looking to pad their portfolio.
Pulling back from so much focus on legacy media (print, bus/SkyTrain ads, radio/TV campaigns) and pouring some of that money into online, particularly places like Facebook, will be worth it in the end. The ROI for Facebook versus legacy media is incredibly lopsided and the Lions already do great online work. It's just a matter of turning that work into more sales.
It's important to note the Lions
have come back from these sorts of troubles before, around the time Braley was sniffing around buying the team ~20 years ago, only it's much less dire right now. Investing in the staff needed to create a better marketing strategy will be a big factor in turning things around, but a re-investment of time on the ground in the community will probably be the most important part.
How do they make Jonathan Jennings massive in the city?
He's featured on their TV ads and the print ads I see. Are you suggesting they run more ads? How else do they accomplish this? (Perhaps this is my own ignorance coming from a more financial background rather than marketing).
A lot of it will involve going to where the people are. The key growing demographics for the Lions will be in the suburbs. People around our age are settling down, getting married and having kids and for the most part, we (the royal we) don't venture into Vancouver more than a few times a year for special events.
One would think having the team offices in Surrey would give the team a keen eye on the Mainland and the Valley, but apart from print ads, I haven't seen a whole lot of effort. Setting up a folding table at community events with one player signing autographs for half an hour doesn't do it. It'll require a multi-year investment of time.
An emphasis on getting young families out to games - which would involve lowering ticket prices, too, they're just too high - would start the wheels turning a bit. They have to provide a reason for people to make the effort to go downtown and part of it involves improving the in-game experience too.
I personally think the team needs to work with the media a lot more. Media coverage is piss poor compared to what the Canucks get. In the summer you still get Canucks coverage almost every day, while after the Lions season ends you don't hear anything about them until mid-late spring unless there's something special that happens. Furthermore, local media only covers the Lions and doesn't really go into much about the rest of the league. Vancouver as a sports market is lousy. A lot of people attend events if is a place to be seen, rather than for the actual entertainment value. If the team and the league as a whole received a lot more coverage, people might take it more seriously.
Lions kind of boxed themselves into a corner with 1040/1410. In the beginning, they were the top dog on the TEAM, but things changed pretty quick when they got the Canucks rights.
Moving away from NW was necessary in terms of its dwindling audience and mediocre talent - McConnell was long past it by the time they departed - but now they're stuck playing 2nd/3rd fiddle on an outlet
they need a lot more than it
needs them. I'm not sure what the solution is here. They're not in a position to pressure 1040, but they're really not getting much help.
If we're talking about print media, Lowell Ullrich retiring/getting re-assigned at the Province really hurt them. He was a great beat writer who really did a great job covering the games and telling the stories of the players. Mike Beamish is still around, but he can only write so many articles. There are a smattering of blogs and online-only pubs that make an effort to cover the team and if improving grassroots support is on their agenda, getting closer to these independent outlets is the way to go.
Access to players is far better with the Lions than it is with the Canucks though. The Lions hold several events throughout the season for season ticketholders and the general public. They also do the road trips better than the Canucks, where you actually get to fly with the players and coaches, and you stay in the same hotel, and even dine with them at the pre-game meal.
And this is something they should be keying on. Separating themselves from the Canucks in their marketing should really be job one for whomever they have running the show next year. An emphasis on these guys being regular Joes might be an interesting tack here. I remember they did something similar ~10 years ago and a refresh may be worth looking at, especially with guys like Manny Arceneaux on the team who have big personalities.
Manny has done some good community work and he's got a magnetic personality in addition to being a pretty damn good football player - he's the sort of guy they should be focusing on. I like Travis Lulay too, but he's a backup playing the back nine of his career, get him out of the ads. Nobody comes to watch Lulay hold a clipboard and run short yardage plays.
In a way, the Lions are in a better position than the Canucks because the product itself isn't the problem. Being able to sell and properly scale a really great product is a lot less of a challenge, but there's still plenty of work ahead.
