Mystery shopper to join Rickshaw
On Wednesday afternoon our mystery shoper will go to an undisclosed location in Kent where he will join the 'Rickshaw' as the Valley Express service has become known among blogmeisters.
It is an opportune time for a mystery shopper to report his experiences of the Valley Express as soon a new North Shore Rickshaw will be joining the web of services. Basildon Man (or woman) will now be able to be whisked across the Thames to The Valley. Given the current level of dissatisfaction among Irons fans, it might well bring in new punters.
Given that there is a view in some quarters that blog writers rank below journos, we would like to emphasise that our mystery shopper has been instructed to give an objective and fair account of his experience 'On the Buses'.
If Charlton to progress as a club, the fan base has to be strengthened. The Rickshaw service is an innovative way of bringing in new fans and also renewing the links with the club of those who lapsed many years ago, even if they are disappointed to see a young Irish fellow between the sticks. What happened to Eddie Marsh who was an understudy to Sam Bartram for so many years?
Of course, many of those who use the Valley Express service are already season ticket holders, although it may encourage them to renew. For both these fans and the new ones, there is a clear element of subisdy, but the marginal revenue no doubt exceeds the marginal cost. Whether the longer distance services from locations like Folkestone will be viable in the long run remains to be seen (even with a rumoured Hovercraft link from the Goodwin Sands). But that judgement can be made in the light of experience.
Considerable hype has surrounded the launch of the Rickshaw and that may be defended as necessary marketing to get the service off to a good start. It may, however, have distracted attention from other initiatives.
The club has said that it has plans to link up with the builders of new developments in the home boroughs and that is very welcome. However, could more be done to tempt longer standing residents to The Valley? The club has a well deserved reputation for its anti-racism stance, but ethnic minorities are still substantially under represented in the crowd.
The retention issue
There is also the question of retaining existing supporters. Some supporters will unavoidably be lost each year because their personal (family, work etc.) circumstances change. But there's not much gain if you bring in five hundred new supporters from Kent if the same number of existing supporters fail to renew.
This year there does, however, appear to be more than the usual level of moaning from long established supporters. It is open to question whether there was enough consultation about the season ticket price rises, although my personal view is that they were necessary to help the club to progress. Having a supporters' director on the board, particularly one with a relatively low profile, is not a substitute for broader forms of consultation.
Other complaints centre on negative and defensive football and the 4-5-1 formation. Many other clubs have adopted this formation and it perhaps reflects the structure of a Premiership where relegation is a financial nightmare and each place is worth around two million quid.
A direct bus link from North Greenwich would be useful not only for those who wanted to use the extensive car parks there, but also for the many supporters from north of the river who use the Jubilee Line. The North Shore Rickshaw does not completely meet this need, particularly given congestion problems in the Blackwall Tunnel.
The brand
Deep down there is a real concern among supporters about what is happening to the SE7 brand. Charlton is a London club, not a Kentish club. Circumstances have dispersed fans all over the globe, but their emotional heart is in SE7 at The Valley. Supporters from Kent are very welcome, but the 'many miles I have travelled' in Valley Floyd Road does not refer to time spent on the Valley Express.
Many of those involved in the Target 40000 efforts were involved in the Target 10000 initiative which at one time seemed over ambitious but was fulfilled. We need to innovate to move forward, but we also need to reflect on how we are doing so.
As yet there is no Valley Express for Warwickshire fans, but I will nevertheless be interested to hear what our mystery shopper has to say.
It is an opportune time for a mystery shopper to report his experiences of the Valley Express as soon a new North Shore Rickshaw will be joining the web of services. Basildon Man (or woman) will now be able to be whisked across the Thames to The Valley. Given the current level of dissatisfaction among Irons fans, it might well bring in new punters.
Given that there is a view in some quarters that blog writers rank below journos, we would like to emphasise that our mystery shopper has been instructed to give an objective and fair account of his experience 'On the Buses'.
If Charlton to progress as a club, the fan base has to be strengthened. The Rickshaw service is an innovative way of bringing in new fans and also renewing the links with the club of those who lapsed many years ago, even if they are disappointed to see a young Irish fellow between the sticks. What happened to Eddie Marsh who was an understudy to Sam Bartram for so many years?
Of course, many of those who use the Valley Express service are already season ticket holders, although it may encourage them to renew. For both these fans and the new ones, there is a clear element of subisdy, but the marginal revenue no doubt exceeds the marginal cost. Whether the longer distance services from locations like Folkestone will be viable in the long run remains to be seen (even with a rumoured Hovercraft link from the Goodwin Sands). But that judgement can be made in the light of experience.
Considerable hype has surrounded the launch of the Rickshaw and that may be defended as necessary marketing to get the service off to a good start. It may, however, have distracted attention from other initiatives.
The club has said that it has plans to link up with the builders of new developments in the home boroughs and that is very welcome. However, could more be done to tempt longer standing residents to The Valley? The club has a well deserved reputation for its anti-racism stance, but ethnic minorities are still substantially under represented in the crowd.
The retention issue
There is also the question of retaining existing supporters. Some supporters will unavoidably be lost each year because their personal (family, work etc.) circumstances change. But there's not much gain if you bring in five hundred new supporters from Kent if the same number of existing supporters fail to renew.
This year there does, however, appear to be more than the usual level of moaning from long established supporters. It is open to question whether there was enough consultation about the season ticket price rises, although my personal view is that they were necessary to help the club to progress. Having a supporters' director on the board, particularly one with a relatively low profile, is not a substitute for broader forms of consultation.
Other complaints centre on negative and defensive football and the 4-5-1 formation. Many other clubs have adopted this formation and it perhaps reflects the structure of a Premiership where relegation is a financial nightmare and each place is worth around two million quid.
A direct bus link from North Greenwich would be useful not only for those who wanted to use the extensive car parks there, but also for the many supporters from north of the river who use the Jubilee Line. The North Shore Rickshaw does not completely meet this need, particularly given congestion problems in the Blackwall Tunnel.
The brand
Deep down there is a real concern among supporters about what is happening to the SE7 brand. Charlton is a London club, not a Kentish club. Circumstances have dispersed fans all over the globe, but their emotional heart is in SE7 at The Valley. Supporters from Kent are very welcome, but the 'many miles I have travelled' in Valley Floyd Road does not refer to time spent on the Valley Express.
Many of those involved in the Target 40000 efforts were involved in the Target 10000 initiative which at one time seemed over ambitious but was fulfilled. We need to innovate to move forward, but we also need to reflect on how we are doing so.
As yet there is no Valley Express for Warwickshire fans, but I will nevertheless be interested to hear what our mystery shopper has to say.
posted by Wyn Grant at 12:23 PM
1 Comments:
Great post Wyn. I have never lived in SE7 but I do feel great affinity to the area and it is important for the club to remember that fans feel like that especially with many people moving back into central London areas it would be catastrophic to forget the people on their doorstep. After all it is those residents that have the biggest say in the redevelopment of the Valley not you man or woman in Folkestone or Basildon.
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