It’s good to talk (unless it’s Gary Megson doing the talking)
Thursday September 24th, 2009
Gary Megson's latest press conference
Gary Megson's latest press conference
Bolton Wanderers’ online communications strategy? Stick head in sand…
With vitriol pouring down from the terraces on a regular basis at the Reebok Stadium these days, you might think that the club would want to go on a PR offensive. But like a Gary Megson team selection, the club’s PR strategy is decidedly defensive – especially on the web.
Leaving aside the PR disaster zone that are Megson’s interviews – his ‘am I bovvered‘ routine after the Stoke game being the latest example of his apparent mission to piss as many people off as possible – the Wanderers’ entire online communications strategy is looking incredibly archaic.
Exhibit A is this blog post about the club’s failure to use Twitter to communicate with fans. Twitter haters may think this a good thing, but it’s worth seeing how Liverpool and Manchester City are using Twitter to engage supporters.
The reason given for the lack of an official Bolton Wanderers account is that they want to protect the mobile text alerts from bwfc.co.uk, for which fans are expected to pay. This is a very ‘old media’ approach to take. Twitter is already awash with Bolton Wanderers news and updates anyway. By staying away from Twitter the club is only allowing the likes of Manny Road and several other prominent BWFC tweeters (also these guys and these guys) to dominate the #bwfc discourse.
Given that protecting the sanctity of the official site appears to be paramount in the club’s online communication strategy, you might think bwfc.co.uk would be awash with fan interaction… which brings me to exhibit B: I’m not sure of the exact date but the official site’s fans’ message board has been closed for several weeks now. According to the message on that page, it is currently ‘under review’.
Meanwhile, the club commissioned a digital agency last month to build five new websites that will ‘raise awareness of its activities away from football’. Priorities?
Whilst I’m sure that the club’s Football In The Community projects are all very worthy, there’s not much point doing good work in the community if the club is slowly being ripped apart by disillusionment on the terraces.
Gary Megson had a brief flirtation with Facebook and Twitter last season (assuming they weren’t hoaxes), but making Megson the public face of the charm offensive was never going to work (his Facebook fan page has just 161 devotees).
The club needs a voice of its own in these spaces to start winning back the fans – just look at the numbers screaming out to be engaged with over on the (unofficial) Bolton Wanderers Facebook fan page.
Of course, a quicker solution would involve Megson and a P45. But that may be a few weeks away at best, I suspect.
Your views welcome in the comment box below…
BWFC News, BWFC People, Gary Megson
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