Guest Post – The View From Auchterchoochty – Part 3
Feb 14th, 2013 by 'holic
Bergkamp’s the Man has been bashing the keyboard again, and in his own inimitable style he has looked at Arsenal. the brand. I understand that terminology doesn’t fit well with those who want their Arsenal back, but the future success of the club does depend on building income streams from across the globe and across different commercial markets. Indeed the way to get our Arsenal back, on the pitch at least, undoubtedly depends on the achievements of those now filling the offices at Highbury House.
On a brand and a promise
The fire in the Boars Head snug was deep red with an occasional crackle, whiskies were chasing pints down nicely and then someone mentioned the word BRAND.
“Jimmy Brand the fermer ye mean?” No.
“Thon red-hot iron they use to stamp a coo’s erse?” No.
“Ralphie Brand wi’ sword in hand? Played for Rangers?” No.
So, as several reached comatose and slid silently ‘neath the sight line of their tables, those still standing got right into it. Discussion on brand began, and all concerned waxed lyrically and ludicrously, if rarely lucidly.
And one of the easiest ways to bring everyone closer on such a theme is simply to point. There he was, walking right across the second shelf in his iconic new coat and hat. Johnnie Walker. “Keep Walking”.
“Get awa wi ye! That’s no a brand is it? I thocht thon was just that laddie Walker’s name. His label”
He’s nothing whatsoever to do with motor racing, but Johnnie Walker is at every Grand Prix, flying at speed on the side of Jenson Button’s McLaren F1. That privilege costs his owners a fortune. Do they spend millions just so it might help us to remember his name, his label? Well, actually they do, but that’s not the whole story.
Diageo of Norwalk, Connecticut (“Whit? Not Scotland?”) owns and has trade-marked Johnnie Walker, “Keep Walking” and the striding man figure device. They’ve changed the name from the (much more catchy J) Walker’s Kilmarnock Whisky – and that’s an awful lot of bother to go to for a label, isn’t it? But Johnnie Walker is much more than just a label. He’s a brand, an icon and he’s promising us an experience.
“So a brand’s a promise of an experience?” It is.
And in the case of Johnnie Walker, Diageo would have us believe that a wee sip will expose us to the promise of the World’s Ultimate Scotch Whisky. And they’re very clever. They know that some of us won’t be interested, won’t be fooled, will never even drink whisky. But they also know that some of us can be persuaded. We’re their target audience and they seek us out.
They seek us out with laser-like focus. It’s not sufficient that the brand is on a Formula 1 car. Not for them Force India or the Scuderia brigade in Ferrari red. Their target audience is the McLaren fan. They seek him out, entice him with the brand’s promise, and try to differentiate, by association with McLaren’s winning ways, their particular mix of peaty Scottish water and malted barley, from the gallons of similar stuff on supermarket shelves.
Diageo spend gazillions to build their brand. The brand promises an experience. They target their brand communications at a carefully researched audience and then they wait for the supermarket cash registers to go ballistic.
The brand becomes the mechanism for differentiating between peaty water mixes that would otherwise be unknown and unheard of and probably considered identical. Great global brands provide the key to the highest prices on the shelf and the strongest bottom line on the balance sheet.
And I hear you. “This is all very well but what the hell has it to do with Arsenal? Arsenal is just the name of the football club that we all love so dearly!” Well, it is – and then again, it isn’t. Arsenal is a brand, and so it’s the promise of an experience. Arsenal’s badge is one of sport’s most distinctive icons, but how many know it, have even seen it?
Now it’s much easier to differentiate football clubs than it is whiskies. The players wear different colours, the teams are made up of eleven distinct component parts. Telling which one is best is simple – just check the league table. So doesn’t that make investment in football brands unnecessary and a complete waste of money? What’s what is obvious and who’s who is clear, isn’t it? Save the money and spend it on a new player or two, like “us fans” have been saying all along.
Emirates Stadium holds 60,000, only 0.01 percent of the global audience for football, which is closer to 600,000,000. And, of these, not every single soul even knows that Arsenal exists, never mind knows their league position. Just like drinkers, who need to be influenced toward whisky and then to choose Johnnie Walker, so the uninitiated of the round leather ball, in Indonesia, Africa and India, need to be wooed on a promise – the experience that the Arsenal brand promises. But that won’t just happen. It needs to become part of the Arsenal business strategy.
Coca Cola sells more shirts in Singapore and Malaysia than Pepsi. Investment has made the Coke brand the most recognised and valuable in the world. The brand promises an experience and that experience pulls punters through doors for drinks. And while they’re at it, they’re happy to wear a free shirt to advertise the brand and advocate for Coca Cola. Coke has achieved this without winning one piece of silverware. Arsenal can too, even when Manure sits atop the Premier League.
Arsenal needs to deliver the promise of the Arsenal brand on the field. They also need to “spend some fecking money”. But that money needs to be spent to build the Arsenal brand as much as it does to buy new players. Building one of the great global sporting brands will deliver commercial gain of, at least, as great importance as game day wins.
That commercial success will enable Arsenal to attract and then retain the world’s great players. Jack Wilshere will serve out his days in Gunner Red rather than Mancy Blue. And who knows, if Arsenal really get this right, TaBS dream of cheap tickets for The Home of Football may well come true – enabling a round at The Tollie for all for whom “solids are for wimps”. We can but dream. Praise the Lord.
So come on, Arsenal. Spend some fecking money – just spend it on the brand. Ivan Gazidis, are you listening.
166 Responses to “Guest Post – The View From Auchterchoochty – Part 3”
Paddles it.
Pour us a quioky before I dive in. 🙂
first!
A third part! Must be due to popular demand 8)
abc, I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news… 😆
It certainly is by popular demand, Wind 😉
Top half of a daytime table
BtM, you are clearly seeking a post-career career at Highbury House. I would be more than happy to recommend you on LinkedIn but Ivan is not in my network.
Another fine piece of writing, especially:
“….and slid silently ‘neath the sight line of their tables,….”
A wee dram o’ yon Johnnie is on the bar fer ye faether.
BtM, congratlations on another fine post, and well done for braving the ire of those, to complete TS’s partial quote @8 above, who have “reached comatose“.
TS,
I can’t find anything to disagree with in your words @163 on the previous blog.
If anywhere, we part company over the importance of “Jack is streets ahead on that front” when discussing his and Peter Storey’s levels of skill.
I think that’s absolutely fundamental and it is why, even if the two players might be comparabale in some ways, I can’t really believe anyone could confuse the two.
BtM, I really enjoyed it 😀 But I feel you can elaborate in even more detail especially on what exactly we’d have to do to swing the dominance of Chelsea/Man Utd for example in West Africa in our favour and similar situations in emerging markets such as Indonesia. Would love to hear more at the Tollie on Saturday pre and/or post Blackburn game and then at the Chip Inn Fish Bar post game? Wind wants himself some of this legendary haddock, What say ye? 🙂
Lucky TS, from previous drinks, I forked out £83 for my Bayern Ticket because of the fear that I wouldn’t be able to get one on Tx. But I wanted to break my West Stand Duck by having some choice of where to sit& be able to say I saw Arsenal at a CL Last 16 Knockout game (irrational fear of just not being in the Comp next year is somewhere in the back of my mind) so the price in retrospect is worth it 🙂 And also, I had the money then, who’s to say I would have had it now… 😛
Oxon
I agree, the two are “unconfusable”.
With apologies to the English language.
Btm,
Thankyou for a thought-provoking read. There will be some,possibly many who reject these sort of thoughts because its nothing to do with football. I think you have proved very clearly that it does and
why it does.
If Arsenal is to maintain or even improve its standing in the football firmament we need to ensure that we maximise commercial income and as we marketing types say “leverage the brand equity”. Basically we have to do what you indicate Coke do better than Pepsi all over the world.
There are probably three challenges. Firstly we have to remain a successful club not a sleeping giant. secondly it would be helpful if we can maintain the quality as well as the success of our football. Finally the odd marquee signing or two will galvanise international support. The days when we get outbid for the pick of the world’s stars will be over if we can really crank up the commercial side and maintain playing success (which means at the least playing in the Champions League every year).But Ivan and his team must be as world class off the pitch as our lads need to be on it. They haven’t shown that sort of quality so far.
Deprived us of a 200. Bastard!
😉
Team news.
At the eve of Chelskis inevitable deafeat by the hands( feet, heads, whatever) of Sparta Prague, I found nice gallery of Spartas CL clashes with famous teams, lot of pictures are containing The Arsenal, I really like this one with super young TR 🙂 http://cdn.i0.cz/src/public-data/f2/60/f925064a3f60b691510975cdbdd5_base_optimal.jpg
whole gallery here 🙂 http://sport.aktualne.centrum.cz/foto-ceske-zapasy-s-giganty-debakly-i-tesne-vyhry/r~6b2a3704752111e299c10025900fea04/r~a5a0ccc2746311e285360025900fea04/
*defeat of course god dammit 🙂
Ollie, heh 😀
heh at legless H2H in the previous 197 😀
Heh Holic & 6 Ollie @ 14 😛
The scene : an elevator with three people in it. One of them is a blond, green eyed female wearing white scrubs (yours truly 🙂 ) The other two are young men 🙂 Dialogue : Me “What floor, gentlemen?” “Fourth, they reply in unison.” Hmm, not much time I think to myself 🙂 And then I start in on them (why not!). “Guys, have you heard of the Arsenal ? Tis the greatest soccer club in the world!?” At this point they look at each other and smile. One of them says, “Nah don’t watch it, it’s a game for sissies. I follow hockey!” 🙁 The other lad says he played soccer in high school but watches ‘real’ football ;). So BTM, of course I agree with you, much work needs to be done on this front!!! But I would argue that quality is the reason for Coke’s success over Pepsi just as much as their advertising :). A nice cold one on the bar awaits you 🙂
ollie@14, unless some numb nuts just sees the open net, thinks he has a winner, celebrates, then realizes the game has been over for an hour…
I may have forgotten the link that was supposed to go with ‘team news’:
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/team-news-vermaelen-wilshere-and-more
Good Article BTM.
I remember a pair of years ago in the days when you were lucky to get a stream in any language watching and moreover listenning to a stream in chinese.I didn’t understand anything but once in a while there was a conjunction of words which I knew and these were “Champagne Football”
I remember at the time being impressed that my team had managed to tie it’s brand to the epitome of luxury and good times throughout the world and logically building up a global fan base winning trophies and brand awareness.
This was the time when all the deals should have been struck but the new stadium was top of the agenda and sort term fixes for the financing thereof.
Unfortunately Arsenal and Champagne Football have not been allied for a few years now much to do with managers such as Big Sam ,MON and Pulis having devised a way to bung up our Champagne Football with negativety.This has led us lately to be content with George Graham style battling 1_0 wins,satisfying but more in line of keeping hold of our worldwide support than growing it and developping the brand.
I am sure that we will very soon be winning trophies again and that will be the moment to strike sponsorship etc on good terms rather than tieing ourselves into deals when we are on a lull rather than the next crest of a wave.
End of ramble.I will repost this link which is freely available on Arsenal Player showing at the same period last year before our home clash with Barca our worldwide supports matchday experience.
http://player.arsenal.com/player/3181-day-of-passion
Well worth a half hours watching
Nice picture, Eandy!
heh scruz, I see 😀
Harsha previous drinks, quite possibly! I’ve blanked it out due to the return game 😉
Thanks again, BtM, for another thought provaking, well written piece.
If I may be so bold;
I agree that like Coca-Cola or JW we have a brand and we need to build and invest in that brand, but that’s were the similaritys end. Coca-Cola is what it is, there maybe variations of it, e.g light, zero or whatever the latest trend is, but at the end of the day it’s a fizzy drink.
Arsenal is a brand in constant flux, it’s always changing, not the complete brand, but componants within.
For example, a part of our income will be generated by shirt sales. The most popular players are the most marketable and therefore will sell the most merchandise, once that asset (player) moves on then said revenue drys up, the guy on the Johnie Walker bottle is not going to think grass is greener somewhere else and toddle off to stand on a Ballentines bottle.
I agree, to a certain extent, that we can increase our brand even though Man U win the title, but that’s doing things the hard way and it will take five times the effort and probably yield less then a small percentage of Utd’s result. (it already does). Like it or not we’re in a trophy driven business, no trophies/titles, no new fans, it really is as simple as that. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the new fans in the devolping world cares not a jot about our history, nor that we are a prudunt well run club with morals and values. They only care about bragging rights, who won the PL, the CL, La Liga and the likes, not that we are debt free and have a few quid in the bank.
You’ve suggested over the last few weeks that the business side of things can be acquated with the cart coming before the horse, I’m afraid I’ll have to respectfully but stringently disagree. Once again with risk of repeating myself, the business of Arsenal is football, success on the pitch is paramount and will go hand in hand with success off it. Sponsorship deals will be easier to obtain and considerably more lucrative, brand recognition will grow, shirts and merchandise easier to shift, Theo Walcott will be as big internationally as he is in his own mind. 😉
Under investment in the team will killl the brand. I did a little experiment here in the bar to test a theorey. I asked a number of punters, with whom I regularly discuss all thing football, to name the last 5 CL winners. Almost all of them trotted out the names with little trouble. I then asked the same guys to name the last three winners of the Europa League, a grand total of one knew the answer and we’re in Europe. Try the same question in the new football markets of Asia and Africa, Europa League, Poo smoker League. We drop out of that and we’re (our brand) in trouble.
Ofcourse it’s not the be all and end all of everything, it may just be a transitional season, but I’m pretty sure that Liverpool probably thought the same thing, but here we are a few years later and they are now a top 6-10 team, paying way over the odds just to bring in mediocre players. I’m not saying that this could happen to us, but the warning signs are there.
I won’t get into the whole losing our best assets and failing to replace them arguement, because that’s been done to death and in all honesty I’m pretty much optimistic about the squad we have now, not that a few additions in the summer would be amiss.
I just wish that for the close future that the board and those involved would just stop for a breather and quit treating Arsenal like a business and start treating it like a Football Club, get our priorities straight, get back to being victorious and install that winning mentality to everyone involved in the club. If we can do that the brand will take care of itself.
A drop of the top shelf stuff for Mr theMan and a drink for all who braved this post.
Cheers.
abb, loath though I am to disagree with a blond haired, green eyed specimen of the fairer sex, I’m going to have to call you out on your Coke-Pepsi comment.
The power of Coca-Cola lies firmly within their marketing, they re-invest an extreamly high percentage of their income in advertising. In 2010 a total of $2.9 billion was spent, that’s more then Apple and Microsoft combined.
Over here we now have a Pepsi tv comercial, the one with LJW in it the previous one had Madonna I think, it was years ago and that’s my point. Pepsi have been literaly asleep over the last few decades here and Coke has blown them away.
Loving tabs’ work on twitter!
This pretty much sums up the importance of doing well on the field;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21458845
BtM, thanks for that. An interesting and easy to read post.
I have to say, however, that while growing the brand seems undeniably vital, it will not happen without the necessary on-field success to maintain and grow our football profile.
The key word for me, in your Coke analogy, is ‘investment’.
It’s not as though we don’t have the funds to improve the squad, and the likelihood is that the stronger the squad is, the more likely we are to be successful.
On that basis, some sensible investment in the product is both necessary and the most likely thing to enable the brand to grow.
An analogy of my own, if I may:
A few years ago Hyundai cars were a bit of a joke. Cheap, terrible quality, unreliable and, as a second hand proposition, difficult to give away. I know, my parents had one.
Hyundai knew as well.
How did they turn their brand around ?
They invested in new designers, better quality materials, better quality build, and were prepared to guarantee their product for at least as long as any other manufacturer.
There’s that word again – ‘invested’.
I have just, by default, hired a Hyundai for my holiday in France.
It is comfortable, drives well, has a decent feel to it, looks good, has loads of bang-up-to-date features, is brand new, and rather than shying embarrassedly away from it, I’m actually quite happy to get out of it in the car park.
You could have tried all day to get me to buy one of those erstwhile bangers without a hope in hell that I would succumb.
Now, following a lot of well directed investment, I might just think about it.
But the investment in the product had to come first.
Sparta very much on par with Chavs so far.
Lafata just missed a sitter ..come on!
Whoooooo ??? 😉
😛 well David Lafata, Czech leagues top scorer:)
Gazidis.
Paint.
Fence.
With a few well chosen words in between.
Ramires being his usual cunt self, kicking others up..
As for the BtM article, I will agree with whatever N7 says when he gets round to posting. 😉
Ollie @ 27 – agree, he’s on fire.
Top 20 cunts – c’mon tabs- repost em here. 🙂
Yeah, I can’t (don’t wanna) see twitter.
L’pool let in two in a minute, “terrific run”.
Come on people, add your own ‘bonus cunt’ to tabs’ list!
H2H,
Seems you are still bouncing around in me noodle today too.
Agree with your post. And Trev too. A little investment in the squad to get us over this humpwould pay off handsomely in the long term wealth of our brand.
I am optimistic that we can do it, but we need a deeper squad. That won’t happen if we miss CL football.
Forward.
Ollie,
True Storey said a bonus cunt would cost me 10 grand. Too steep for me. 😉
What list?
heh NorCal.
1-1 HT in Kiev between Dynamo and Girondins.
Lol and Viktoria Plzen leading 1:0 against Napoli :)) so far so good.
I seem to have left the cooker on since last night :$
The problem with not having breakfast is I couldn’t see it in the morning….
On the bright side, I don’t need to put the heating on tonight….. :s
Bloody Hell, Ollie, gotta be careful with that mate.
I know. It’s a bit bizarre because this morning when I reached work, I had a feeling it might be the case, for absolutely no reason at all.
All’s well, that ends well.
==
I got Ajax v Steaua Buch’t on here in the bar. Ajax playing some decent stuff, 2-0 up and pretty much coating. Lots of camera shots at the bench where Lord Dennis is watching contently.
*coasting.
Slow cooking horse, Ollie?
Bennygoon on for Chelski, kinda sickening to see him in Chavs jersey, I really liked his contribution last year for us.
Rolan (new 19 yo signing) enters the fray.
haha ‘holic at 51 🙂
Poor old Maurice is off, Ollie 😉
Lol commentary “Lampards teammates are doing everything to make him look indispensable for FC Abramovich” 😀
Blimey, are these his first minutes of the season, Eandy or has he played before?
Can’t believe (well maybe it’s the wages) he hasn’t found another club.
You’re on form, ‘holic! 🙂
I have no idea Ollie, he has been kinda off radar since the start of the season, but I have some recognition of him being loaned out somewhere but I might be incorrect of course:)
🙂
Fuck, pelanty.
Not an obvious penalty, so I’ll consider that crossbar ‘justice’! 🙂
Serves the bastards right for diving. Still 1-1 🙂
Fuck..Oscar coming on and scoring goal in 15 secs until now, Chavs really did not show much…harsh.
bleh ..shame, well at least Plzen is leading 3:0 against Napoli in final minute.
Well played Bordeaux. Tough game out there. Good draw.
1-1 will do.
Think it might be the end of football tonight.
Unless there’s a decent alternative to the cuntfest.
Benny and June was on loan at wet spam for the first half of season.
I got Stutgard v Gent up next.. Europe Meh League
http://news.arseblog.com/2013/02/lehmann-warns-gunners-as-phw-eyes-return/
Welcome back, PHW
Yeah, not sure that game motivates me to watch, H2H.
Indeed Ollie.
Luckily I’ve got my dart team in the house, so I think we’ll just
drink til we dropthrow a few legs. 😉*Not an Oscar Pistorius joke
heh H2H
I am well aware that there are 2 important cup ties to be negotiated in our next two games which I would have loved to have been able to attend, but cant.
As a consolation, and by some careful jiggery-pokery with my business calendar, I have managed to ensure I will forget to fly home from London next Friday night, so I am around for the match against Villa.
Clock end.
Hope to see some of you reprobates in Brolly central. 8)
You will, sir. 😉
Good stuff, zico!
Think I’m Clock end that game, and exceptionally Upper Tier (I may be wrong, but I think it will be my first upper tier game this season)/
Oh my effing god Lyon just scored a top corner, half volley PEACH
Good work, zico!
What da fuck ya doin’, man?
ps. Get me a program.
* and a scarf.
Lars,
It looks to me like its “no work, Zico”.
What’s the Dutch for Wagon Wheel?
😆
I only know the Dutch word for two-timing back -stabbing twat. 😉
That’s three words. 😉
H2H turning from red to black @ 80 to 84
The opposite of my real employer, once I’ve put in my expenses claim 😉
Sorry Clive but I gotta say it,
They are a one ape team.
Yes he’s good. Fine. That just makes it worse.
HEH
Evening all,
Thanks for the post BtM. Will try and muster some thoughts when the red wine has worn off.
Shame Chimp boy pulled one out of the fire. LWC’S very ordinary otherwise.
On the good news front Olllie has just alerted me to the fact that Miyaichi is now nearing a return for Wigan after 3 months injured. Hope he can kick on from here.
Dr Z on a mission? Excellent news! 🙂
Trev, you got it exactly right in your post. I also owned one of their cars before they concentrated on quality as their mission statement. H2H, that was the point I was trying to make about Coke, it just tastes’s better 🙂 Cheers all!
Coke is good. 😎
Please people, anything that shines up pennies like Coke is doing some serious harm to your insides.
Anyway, how are you abb, ok I trust?
I think you are referring to a geezer called Charlie, H2H 😉
You know me too well sir. 😎
For all of my fellow gooners that are worried about the influence of the simeon at the see you next Tuesdays from the dispicable, no go, marshy, swampy, highly stinky and down right delapatated area of the Seven Sisters Rd. Please worry no longer, for I have a plan so cunning that you could stick a tail on it and call it a fox, but not just any old fox, no, no, no. A fox who’s just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University and was top of his class at cunninglinguss. Aplan that is
All shall be explained on the morrow (if and) when I have sobbered up.
God rest ye merry goonermen.
*revome the Aplan that is
Time for bed.
Evil plans will resume post haste. 👿
Still time for an assist…………………..
Bang?
Another nice one, BtM. Lang may yer lum reek wi’ ither folks coal!
Key to the Arsenal brand, imo, is NOT being controlled by an oligarab. It’s our unique difference in the marketplace. Bad enough being owned by a yank, but at least ours stays clear of player management decisions. So long as Arsenal maintains its traditional business model and avoids becoming another Abramovich/Mansour self-indulgence, or Glazer money-grabbing scheme, we will continue to nurture a much healthier brand image than any of them.
Buying premium players (Falcao, Jovetic, Bale, Neymar, Gotze, Eriksen eg) certainly wouldn’t harm our image, but if more than one were acquired it could well cause balance sheet problems on account of their massive (for us) transfer fees and weekly payments, and probably disquiet in the ranks of those on lesser money. If one premium buy would solve our problems I’d say risk it, but if we need several, and I believe we do, then leave it to AW to unearth another trio like Henry, Vieira and Pires even if it means more Squillaci, Cygan, Chamakh hiccups along the way. A couple or three more like Santi, Poldi and Ollie G would be enough to keep us where we belong, imo.
Oskar
I vote for:
“Thon red-hot iron they use to stamp a coo’s erse?”
Happy Valentine’s Day, BtM, albeit a few hours late to have fitted iinto your time zone I think. 🙂
Good read, as ever, BtM, and a point well made. A basic tenet of branding is that if a brand is to be a significant source of value for a company, it requires investment and dedicated management. That is what companies that own the world’s leading brands do: they nurture them, grow their value and evaluate their performance like any other asset. Another tenet is that there has to be core values underlying the brand. Relevance is necessary for brand success but not sufficient. A brand needs to be authentic, too. I am reminded of a line from “Good to Great,” a management book by Jim Collins, that speaks to the need to have a strong set of core values that you never compromise. “If you are not willing to sacrifice your profits, if you’re not willing to endure the pain for those values, then you will not build a great company.” The enduring the pain bit at least we have got down pat.
A small nit-pick: Isn’t Diageo a plc and headquartered in the sun-kissed uplands of London NW10?
Trev@29: Remember the days when Japanese cars were a joke, let alone Hyundai? You could have got long odds then on Datsun ending up as Infiniti or Toyota as Toyota, let alone Lexus. But, to your point, they invested in the product and took the long view.
Younger members in the bar may not recall Diageo’s lineage (older members have difficulty recalling anything…). It was formed in 1997 by the merger of Grand Met and Guinness — yes, that Guinness — and subsequently sold its food interests (Burger King and Pillsbury) and bought the Seagram’s liqour empire. So a wee dram of the Singleton of Glen Ord (one of its brands) with a Red Stripe (another) chaser for any still in the bar.
Pleased to report that the sun has risen and all is normal in the UK. No tumbleweed in N Lincs.
COYG
http://www.skysports.com/opinion/story/0,25212,27032_8496915,00.html
Is this what the board had in mind when deciding to move to the Ems?
http://www.skysports.com/video/inline/0,26691,12602_8501076,00.html
Even the guy that the WOB’s are clamoring for (apart for Usmanov) thinks that AW is the right man for the job.
Granted, he is his friend, but isn’t David Dein what they want? Well, if they do get him (not gonna happen), then AW won’t be leaving.
Snir’s burning the midnight oil.
I hope the era of the sugar daddy ends immediately. I hope the move to the emirates bears all the fruit it deserves.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21468116
Bloody meteors can’t be trusted, should have struck the Bernabeu on Wednesday.
Blimey, well in CoR!
Having not seen the game or the goals, who am I to believe?
The media and AVB overhyping Bale, or all these people on Twitter mentioning goalkeeping howlers?
Hmmmmm
Well in CoR @ 100!
http://www.francefootball.fr/#!/news/2013/02/15/004601_garde-on-est-frustres.html
Not sure this will make Mediawatch, but it should.
Classic Aulas (the cunt):
‘Without linking the portuguese referee and the nationality of the Spu*s coach’. Well, you just did, didn’t you?
Mornings
Norcal @ #41 – That’s not quite what I said/meant, however, appreciate the mention old bean 🙂
Dr.z – It’s a shame we keep missing eachother. I’ll raise a glass to absent friends on Tuesday evening. Enjoy the Vanilla game. Easy three points :-S
Oskar @ #101 – Further, it’s now about keeping hold of what we’ve got (Sagna?) and making quality (sorry) additions to the squad to build on our our excellent core. Then, we can compete more effectvely. IMO, our last 4 purchases have all been excellent. However, our last sale, forced or otherwise, has cost us the league and handed it over to the Manc c*nts.
Drinks on the bars fellas.
Ollie @ #112
I watched a chunk of the game in the pub and was rude and noisy to a few plastic scum fans. I’m not proud of my boorish behaviour but it felt good at the time.
LWCs were distinctly average bar Bale. Lyon OK on the counter. Two great free kicks from the simian, he always looked dangerous going forward. Lyon GK could probably have done better for the second.
Bale is LWCs Wilshere figure. The differecne is we have more strenght and talent in depth BUT they are more consistent in The league so far. If they lose Bale, they’re in trouble.
Adebaywhore was a joke cameo BTW. Heh!
Morning Holics.
Fine post BtM. Well argued.
Explains our tours to the far east and aborted tour to Nigeria in the last few close seasons.
Our conservatism and perhaps somewhat parochial arrogance at board level and Arsene’s preference for the familiarity of the Austrian pre-season training camp are the reasons why we have been slow to fly the flag in the third world. I think they’re on the case now BtM.
Heh @ TS @ 116.
At least you got out alive.
Honestly bath, if you’d have seen them there was no bravery involved whatsoever.
I find it so difficult to keep my gob shut, however, when anyone celebrates a scum goal and it is so easy to take the mick out of that lot.
I do remember breaking out into a mock singing of that nauseating, slow song they love to sing at The Sh*thole when Lyon equalised.
My daughter has dragged me out of so many near-rucks in pubs cos of my tendency to do the same. I can fully empathise, mate.
Heh! and splendid 🙂
Did you sing ‘Gareth Bale peels banana with his feet?’ TS.
without the confused punctuation, of course.
No! I pictured a disgruntled Sweeper wagging an accusatory finger in my face and it put me off,.
Plus that c*ntnugget doesn’t need me singing its name and promoting its existence.
I chant it with zero guilt. Someone else started it in the 5-2 around me though 🙂
NBN @ #103 – CHQ is indeed in NW10. Appropriately within staggering distance of Wem-ber-lee but hardly a sun-kissed upland 😉
hi drinkers, just caught up on the back drinks and thanks to BTM for that insight
With regard to marketing, a key advertising outlet is tv.
As one who chases round the satellite channels to watch our matches, I use liveonsat.con . We are usually chosen as a live match by lots of sports channels, and though I am not sure how they pay to show the match, it does indicate that we are very popular. Wby is this so – because we are an enjoyable side to watch (dare I say because results are unpredictable so often) – long may it be so!
Interesting post BtM.
I’ll go along with you that sadly “brand” is a necessary evil in the glutinous commercial world of The Premiership, and that money needs to be spent in order to promote, foster and nurture it. In short, that Arsenal need to “up their game” on the commercial side.
Like H2H, however, I don’t buy the analogies with either Johnnie Walker or Coke. Their “product”, once decided upon, remains constant and unchanging. Further, they deal in a world where there is little or no material difference between their product and those of their competitors. All that is left is, as you put it, “to sell the dream”, or as I would rather put it “bombard the world with phoney bullshit”. 😉
Football does not have that luxury. It is a much harsher world. It is a results driven business in it’s purest form, and the results are there for everyone to mull over every Saturday night. The “product” is in a constant state of flux. Get the product wrong, and no amount of marketing will fix it. Get the football right, and the marketing ,to a degree, looks after itself. The product must always be a successful side playing in front of a packed Emirates. Any spare shillings must therefore, at this stage, be spent on the team. Horse before the cart. I agree completely with H2H. The Football must always be the horse, driving the business along. Not the other way around.
I would also be wary of over-marketing. It is a fine line between promoting the brand and becoming a ubiquitous turn off. You mention the chap wearing a coca cola shirt. Should I ever come across him, not only will I question his sartorial elegance and his drinking habits, but I will have no hesitation in thinking him a bit of a twat.
You might think from the above that I am a bit anti-marketing. Not so. I will admit to being influenced. This morning, like every morning, my underarms received a liberal dose of Lynx deodorant. I take this measure largely in the hope that I will be accosted by several hundred bikini clad beauties every time I step outside the front door. It hasn’t happened yet but I remain hopeful. This morning a sweet old pensioner asked me the time and called me “young man” so I’m clearly making progress.
As for the wish for “cheap” tickets, I would have preferred it if you had said “cheaper”. Supply and demand necessitates cost. Demand is , for the moment, high, and therefore ticket prices will reflect that. All I ask is that the cost of football maintains some relation to the cost of watching other Sports, bearing in mind that Football Clubs have a captive audience, a significant proportion of whom will pay whatever it costs because they “have to be there”.
On 9th December 1972 I attended my first NLD as a wide-eyed 8 year old at the Lane with my father. We won 2-1. I didn’t miss another one, home or away, until sometime in the mid nineties. For the first 10 years Dad was in tow. Could a Dad do it now? Not many. £130 for a seat?!? Dad with two children has to find £390. What happens? Dad goes, children get left behind. Question. Will those children turn up as adults to Arsenal vs Wigan on a cold february night in 2025? I don’t know, but I have my doubts, no matter how good the marketing is.
Johnnie Walker on the Bar for you Squire.
The sad truth TaBS is that the marketing push is designed to get an altogether more homogenised ‘fan’ to buy the tickets that our sons won’t.
Yeh understand that ‘H, you’re right.
The empty seats at the Emirates however, suggests that they’re aren’t enough of ’em when the going gets even slightly tough.
If that’s the plan, God forbid that we ever again have a truly fallow period.
This morning a sweet old pensioner asked me the time and called me “young man” so I’m clearly making progress.
Wait till bumps into you on the evening of a Saturday match 😉
*she*
excellent riposte by the way tabs
I would be perfectly charming Dr Z 😎
Might even ask her for a dance atop the tables!
Thanking you Sir.
I am generally not one to try and find the cynical ploy behind everything (and I certainly don’t buy the moans of the ‘they’ll say that when ST go on sale, because, frankly, I feel like I hear the same tune at any moment during the year from the club).
BUT (you knew a but was coming, right?) I am still surprised that the very apparent ‘Everton game may be moved if Arsenal or Everton reach FA Cup 1/4 final’ on the earlier version of the website didn’t reappear on the new one, even though Tickets when on sale to Reds only with the new version of the website….
Some people may have been misled in buying tickets for a game they may not be able to attend after all…
Given both our and Everton’s draw, it seems unlikely to mean that one of us (not saying which) at least will not make it to the next round….
Crikes Ollie in the house.
@130 they’re = there.
That does look a bit fishy Ollie re the website.
Ollie, the funny thing is that I am quite sure that the information about the possible move of the Everton game was there on the first day or two of the new site. Why it has since been removed is quite inexplicable.
tabs, sterling work@128. But at the same time my cap is also doffed in the direction of BtM – we may not agree entirely but an interesting and thought-provoking post it was. Well played, Sir.
Ollie in mega post shock. 😯
If I had not been going to see Wilko, I almost certainly would have fallen into that particular trap…..
Hi Chums 🙂 Holic, sorry I missed your inquiry, as I was heading out the door to work. Sadly, no captive audience on the elevator, but I won’t give up 😉 The problem with the brand thing (in the states) is that there needs to more blitz about the game itself. At least in Africa and Asia, the people are more receptive and knowledgeable (no offence to any Yanks here, you’re the exception). I really want Arsenal to come here, last summer Chelsea and Stoke toured the states but they’re not the best ambassadors for the beautiful game 🙁
Stoke on tour.
Lock up your children and livestock.
Bubble-wrap suits for all…..
Just seen the free kicks from Monkey-boy last night. What the fuck was that Lyon keeper doing??? The goal-keeping for both goals was absolute rubbish. Both shots would have been easy saves if he had done his job.
F1: that’s that overrated pseudo sport where souped-up shopping trollies go round and round and round in more or less the same circles, over and over and over; not a fan meself.
Pertinent questions from the boywonder Wind @ 11 mind. New fans in new markets are likely to choose teams what win stuff. So to beating Blackburn and beyond…
UreDS!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/feb/15/nikola-zigic-dropped-birmingham-training
It’s nice to know how nothing has gone right for that side since we screwed up against them.
Afternoon all.
I too just saw Galen’s goals, the first one was a decent strike (I say begrudgingly) the second, keeper error, but never the less he’s knocking them in and is in the most purplist of patches. He is the Top Magilla, the Chimp Champ and he’s doing the Monkey Business for our shadow dwelling cousins at this present moment in time. To say that the Spuds are a one man team would not be correct, (according to Darwin), but without their missing link they would most likely revert to the bunch of no-hopers we all know and love (to hate).
This could be a turning point in our history ladies and gents, I’ve done some research by watching all The Planet of the Apes films, (yes even the one with Marky Mark in it,) and lets say, if we let events continue things may very well end badly (yes, like the film with Marky Mark in it).
What to do?
Well, over the season I have noticed a pattern emerdge within my FFL team. Every time I draft a player who’s doing well in, something always happens to them, A few examples, Joe Hart, Mr Clean sheet, let in a ton of goals, Juan Mata doesn’t even make the team, Robert Huth from Stoke, one of the meanest defences in the league starts to leak goals like a sieve, Demba Ba gets transferred to the Chavs and gets his nose splattered all over his boat, Fellani gets a three match suspension (and our eternal gratitude) for manhandling Shawcross, the list goes on. Now, desperate times call for desperate measures, so I have, for the good of mankind, decided to enlist the Simeon Spudder to the ranks of H2HFC. This should no doubt jinx the fuck out of him, ruin Sp*rs saeson and restore peace and justice throughout the galaxy.
Hell, if I make him captain his head will probably fall off. 😉
Yours, taking one for the teamingly.
H2H.
Thanks for the interest and the indulgence, all. Thanks for the opportunity, Holic. I can’t possibly allow TaBS to have the last word 🙂 so I’ll come back briefly later. Darned work keeps intruding into everything Arsenal.
Cheers Lars.
H2H -Excellent foolproof plan! 🙂
Deserves a BM Sir. I have put one on the bar for you for a plan more cunning than even Professor Cunning might have imagined.
I do however detect one small flaw in your plan, and it is this. Your FFL team, managed by Sir H2H, seem to be doing rather well this season, flying high and touching the heights. One might even go as far as to say that they are Championship contenders.
In short, your players are doing rather well.
Are you sure this plan wasn’t hatched by Baldrick? 😉
Heh BtM 🙂
TS@126: traffic-snarled uplands?
Not to be confused with the match preview…..
Is there a single redeeming feature that you could attribute to Blackburn Rovers?
With perhaps the small exception of robbing Old Surly McPurple of a league title back in the day, it’s hard to think of one. Other than that small chunk of schadenfreude, they are, being kind, a team with a semi-glorious past from a long-forgotten age : 81 BC. (before cash). 😉
Jack Walker was the prototype for the modern financial dopers, sweeping up shiny new players that brought “success”, but on a far from even playing field. I don’t care much for Alan Shearer now and didn’t care much for Alan Shearer then, (although, to be fair, he had infinitely more presence on the pitch than he does now, cosied up on the BBC complacency couch beside the zombie, Hansen). I didn’t like his sidekick Sutton much, either. Add the foppish nancy-boy Sherwood to the face-like-a-slapped-arse Batty, and the “modern” Blackburn that Jack built, were clearly a side to be despised.
Since then, they have mined a rich seam of cuntery, the criteria of twat apparently their guiding recruitment policy. Starting with Souness and progressing through Ince (player and manager), Hughes and Allardyce, to the risible Kean of yesterday.
On the playing side, the list is longer – Ince, Cole, Irwin, Ripley, Wilcox, Gallagher, Bellamy, Cole, and the oversized heads of Dunn and Bentley. As if that wasn’t sufficient , they still have the man with the ever bending back, Fatty Robinson, as their keeper of nets. (A highlight of last season was being on site to watch the Gunners knock seven past that mob. In his career, games against Arsenal alone will have consigned Robinson to a lifetime of chronic backache).
And what of the Venkys?
The face of modern football, “hands-on” owners, without the faintest idea of what they are doing. At the risk of seeming to be an Allardyce apologist, replacing him with the hapless Kean was the footballing equivalent of Gerald Ratner’s sales technique. Allardyce would have kept them up, even if he is a fat walrus, borne of a cross-bred Balrog. Amidst the background of relegation they are now posting million pound losses in their accounts and carrying more (high-salaried) deadwood than you’d find in the forest outside Chernobyl.
And whilst I am at it – what’s with the girly flower as a club crest? You want man symbols. A big fuck-off cannon -that’s the sign of a football club!
Don’t get me started on their rugby shirt, neither. (Maybe that was where Allardyce and Hughes got their inspiration from). Fail.
Blackburn Rovers.
Not one redeeming feature. Make sure and do ’em Arsenal!
Brilliant Dr Z.
“… mined a rich seam of cuntery …” Beautiful! 🙂 🙂
Not sure, Lars, I seem to remember I checked the first day or two and didn’t see it. Although maybe my allergy to the new site means I didn’t, so I’m not 100% sure, but it definitely wasn’t there the day before they went on sale.
Heh, cheers Tabs.
It’s no mystery why H2HFC is so high in the league……….
I cheat. 😉
Nah, it´s cunning captain policy, changing players a lot and taking the transfer points deduction hits. e.g last week bringing in L´poo and Swansea players because they had to play twice. But still managing to put the jinx on Sterling (benched) and Sturridge (not even the squad).
The Bale caper may not be completly foolproof, but it´s a solid plan.
Baldrick insures me it will work. 🙂
ps Good stuff at 128, we deffo signing from the same hymn sheet on those counts.
~~~~~~~
Nice one Zico.
*singing
Heh, tabs @ 151, finished work, hit the pub, and the first thing I find out is that Blackburn Rovers have taken on Bentley again.
Oh dear.
Not one redeeming feature.
Also in pub. Not as posh as yours. No Bentleys here…
If there is a programme for the Wilko gig can you get me one please zico, and I’ll see you right next Saturday?
Sure thing mate
Top man. Now, first two Guinni have evaporated, time for the treble…
By the way, great preview. You could have saved me a job 😉
Somehow I doubt they evaporated 😉
Ollie, please. There are laws about defamation you know 😉
The case of evaporating Guinni!
*Not a Hardy Boys mystery, just 24 cans that were quickly downed. 😉
Can they ever lose in the CL without having to go crying to Uefa?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21472237
Heh, ‘holic and H2H
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
BtM, another brilliant post…plus your other two early great pieces! No wonder people here in China say the quality of the Arsenal’s fans is the best!
A few statistics to support your idea about “Brand” and marketing:
In China, about 20% of the city population, i.e. about 130 million people (Yes, we DO have people, 1.3 billion!!!) are football fans. Football remains one of the most popular sports in China despite its lousy local teams. How many people are there in UK? 50 million? Oh, yeh, we have people…and some small money…to watch their dearly loved Club’s games!
An informal survey indicates there are some 10 million Arsenal fans in China, supported and influenced by more than 20 Arsenal Fans organizations, among which more than 1 million are those who would like to spend all their money just to watch a gunner’s game! I can’t call myself a real gooner – I’m only a “Marginal Gooner”. Since the day when I started to pay attention to the Club, all of sudden, I have found Arsenal all over the place: my hairdresser in Shanghai is a gooner; two Guangdong TV channels and one Shanghai play real-time English Premier League games, in which Gunners games are always on; people love to wear apparel with the Arsenal logo on; even in the touring group that I was in this week, a guy even wore an “Arsenal” short! Don’t forget the Beijing Nest Stadium can host 80,000 people to support any high quality games. Come on, Arsenal! Isn’t this market big and attractive enough?
If that’s not enough, let me give you another statistics: sometime after 2008 financial crisis, Manu collected £2M ticket fee alone for a visiting game in China for which they only stayed for 37 hours, and moreover, they find that there are about 72 million Manu fans in China, versus their 90 million fans in total in the entire Europe!
Foster the fans pool, promote the “Arsenal” brand, do a very good job in marketing…and most importantly, get the best of the best players and be the WINNING TEAM and the CHAMPION!
Good news is that, Arsenal has started to do something. They have already hired an Asia Commercial Director who’s responsible for promoting the Club. They need to do more: game licensing, sponsorship, franchising… all in all to make “Arsenal” a super brand with the glory of the Winning Team!