Quote ="Donnyman"Lets not be accusatory, the dictionary defines advertising as being a part of marketing. I've had a long career at the biggest and smallest companies (my own) and I did get a good enough grounding not to be "somewhat confused". I have worked at Mr. Caddick's sites including Headingley where I managed to speak to Mr. Hetherington but only "good morning sir". I admire these two guys - Mr. Caddicks climb from the bottom to the very top, and Mr. Hetheringtons admiral work at Sheffield and later guiding Leeds to fantastic success on and off the pitch.
With respect I don't think either you nor I could teach Mr. Hetherington a thing about marketing or advertising but despite that I would agree that "some" of the clubs are maybe "reluctant or stubborn" as far as their own marketing and advertising goes. I'd love to be an RL journalist and actually ask clubs about this and see what the issues are? See why Hetherington's best practice isn't being rolled out across the board, and see what Mr. Elstone is doing about this problem you raise as it may be part of his remit. Is RL's loss of appeal simply a social trend we just can't stop? Is pure survival a better measure of success than taking SL crowds to a 12,000 average? It just could be in the circumstances we are in?.'"
Hetherington is undoubtedly an astute guy, and a successful RL man. I think there are things that he and Leeds do very well, and things that they do less well. I think the club has really dropped the ball on PR in recent years, for example. But I've also seen the work they do first hand through one of my previous agencies, and there are things they can do better in my view.
As for why what Leeds do isn't being rolled out, I think there are a lot of reasons. Leeds' business model is very different to most RL clubs - you only have to look at how Headingley has been remodelled to see what the priorities for the club are. The club isn't interested in a "bums on seats" mentality that most clubs are, and much more interested in a "three-course dinners in front of wealthy clients" mentality. The new corporate faclities at Headingley are better than those at many Premier League football clubs. Most clubs couldn't do that to anything like the scale Leeds do.
I think clubs should be accountable for their own business models and for that reason, I don't see it as Elstone's job. At best, his remit is to ensure that the structures are in place so that those clubs who can and do get it right can reap the rewards, rather than being held to the pace of the slowest man. That, in my view, is the way to change the zero-growth culture.
We can't just accept that RL is helplessly stuck in the midst of a social trend. There are things that can be done, but it needs some vision and gumption to do it. If we aren't, we end up like every other business that resigned itself to being "helplessly stuck in the midst of a social trend".
