There are only 20% of supporters who buy the programme on a regular basis whereas 42% buy it sometimes and for the these people the comments reveal that this is often when there is an offer or a special match. 38% never buy the programme although 15% claim they would if it was cheaper.
Programmes have changed enormously over the years and are now much bigger and glossier than ever. As a consequence they are also proportionately more expensive and with the age of the internet and social media the information they contain can easily be accessed elsewhere. This is a real dilemma for not just GTFC but club's in general hence the launch of the online version. The results for this though are very disappointing. Only 1% buy it regularly, 23% didn't even know about the online version but wouldn't be interested anyway, a further 25% didn't know about it and might be interested whilst a massive 51% know about it but not interested. There is certainly a massive awareness issue for the online version. Clubs in general may need a radical re think on getting attractive and cost effective versions of both printed and digital versions. The general view is that the current programme is very well put together and is of good quality but the bottom line is that it is too expensive to produce and not enough people want to buy it.
The club's Gold Bond draw is an important fundraiser for them and is part of a regional draw involving a number of other clubs. We found that 19% are already in it ,40% know about it but not interested and 7% know about it and might be interested in joining. There are then 34% who didn't know about it split 50:50 between those are not interested and those that might be. Again a big awareness issue which we find quite surprising. We will be following up with the club on those that might be interested and talking to them about how we can help raise awareness.
When asked about Mariners Player 33% already subscribe and would continue while 5% subscribe now but have said they won't in future. This is a higher rate of subscription than we would have expected and probably reflects the high number of exiles that have completed the survey. In the sub analysis we are now doing we will be able to see any differences between local and distance supporters. There are another 28% who would be interested if the quality was better and/or it worked better on tablets and phones. There are then 28% who say they will never subscribe and 7% who don't subscribe now but might be interested. We will be passing these on and talking to the club about how the quality can be moved forward because there is obviously considerable further potential. The service is provided by a third party supplier and we plan to involve them in our findings.
Tomorrow we look at what supporters say about relocation.