Sons' sorrow

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Sons Fan said:

Which is great but then don’t chop and change after that just stay with it apart from changing sponsors etc. Change the away top every year if you want but home should be the same.

I’d agree. Bespoke would be my choice. Off the shelf away one and a bespoke home one, 

yeah it might cost more but surely you sell more when it’s more appealing to the fans too 

[Jan Vojáček]

1 hour ago, DobbiesAgent said:

I’d agree. Bespoke would be my choice. Off the shelf away one and a bespoke home one, 

yeah it might cost more but surely you sell more when it’s more appealing to the fans too 

I spoke to Alan Findlay about that a fair bit a few years ago, and he basically said that wasn't the case. We spent extra on bespoke designs, but the number of additional tops we sold didn't justify the added cost.

Fwiw I know we're getting a bespoke design for the anniversary kit next season, and I reckon that will be a cracking seller. If that proves successful then hopefully we can stick with bespoke (white..) designs - but folk have to keep buying them!

[BallochSonsFan]

4 minutes ago, Jan Vojáček said:

I spoke to Alan Findlay about that a fair bit a few years ago, and he basically said that wasn't the case. We spent extra on bespoke designs, but the number of additional tops we sold didn't justify the added cost.

Fwiw I know we're getting a bespoke design for the anniversary kit next season, and I reckon that will be a cracking seller. If that proves successful then hopefully we can stick with bespoke (white..) designs - but folk have to keep buying them!

We have a core of fans who will always buy a Dumbarton jersey. The number of fans who buy occasionally depending on the jersey design is relatively small. Overall our jerseys don't sell in big numbers. He was right that the extra cost of a bespoke, or even a more expensive off the shelf kit, wouldn't bring in significantly more in shirt sales.

I miss Alan. He did a power of work for the club and knew his stuff. Always enjoyed chatting about the football or the club in general with him and our time together on the trust board. No idea if we'll ever see him back at the football and that's a real shame. 

[The Moonster]

6 minutes ago, Jan Vojáček said:

I spoke to Alan Findlay about that a fair bit a few years ago, and he basically said that wasn't the case. We spent extra on bespoke designs, but the number of additional tops we sold didn't justify the added cost.

I've always struggled with this and I spoke to Alan myself about it. When we get a bog standard off the shelf design you see a few home tops at games and maybe one or two on the street but think back to the 1872 kits - everybody had one. You really couldn't attend a game without seeing them in goood numbers and I saw kids wearing them out with their mates. The club need to take that into account too, it can't simply be profit, its getting the clubs image out there and making other kids say "I want a Dumbarton top". You don't see Airdrie giving up on their diamond tops because a bespoke kit costs more, it defines their clubs image. 

[Sweet Pete]

14 minutes ago, BallochSonsFan said:

We have a core of fans who will always buy a Dumbarton jersey. The number of fans who buy occasionally depending on the jersey design is relatively small. Overall our jerseys don't sell in big numbers. He was right that the extra cost of a bespoke, or even a more expensive off the shelf kit, wouldn't bring in significantly more in shirt sales.

I miss Alan. He did a power of work for the club and knew his stuff. Always enjoyed chatting about the football or the club in general with him and our time together on the trust board. No idea if we'll ever see him back at the football and that's a real shame. 

I didn't realise Findo had stepped back from the club. Sorry to hear that.

[optimistic]

What we really need is a shop in Dumbarton’s high st, or St. James’s retail park willing to have a stand or even better, a window display, showing the local public our strips for sale.

Surely at little or no cost to the club, and show their backing in our community to a wee team like ours?

Morton have had their strips for sale within smiths for a good number of years, and I’ll bet they sell many more than we do ( unsure if they still do)

Kids need to see it to buy it I reckon

[lorenzo71]

On a trip to Methil for  A LC tie about 5 years ago( the time of 1872 strips/brand)  EF had a trailer in front of the ground packed with merchandise from strips to ties to shorts, mugs,keyrings the lot.I couldn't and still can't understand why they could do it but we struggled.I'M not aware of EF having a vastly superior fanbase to our own.So there must be something I'm missing.Are EF more welcome in their community????I wouldn't have thought so.

Back in the 90s(early) you could buy a Dumbarton top in Intersport in places like Stirling and IIRC Falkirk.I think getting the tops into stores in the High St is vital and promotes the club.Availability is first and foremost when selling any product.Most people will not go out of their way to buy DFC merchandise but if they have it to hand who knows?The trailer at EF outside the ground was good because you could buy stuff without having to pay an admission fee to access  it.

[optimistic]

Or a trailer in St. James’s

[FifeSons]

If the bespoke kits wouldn’t sell in greater numbers, then just bump the price up. I reckon the core who are buying it regardless would pay a bit more for something nicer. Football kits are ridiculously priced these days anyway, and ours are always pretty cheap comparably.

[super-son]

I've always struggled with this and I spoke to Alan myself about it. When we get a bog standard off the shelf design you see a few home tops at games and maybe one or two on the street but think back to the 1872 kits - everybody had one. You really couldn't attend a game without seeing them in goood numbers and I saw kids wearing them out with their mates. The club need to take that into account too, it can't simply be profit, its getting the clubs image out there and making other kids say "I want a Dumbarton top". You don't see Airdrie giving up on their diamond tops because a bespoke kit costs more, it defines their clubs image. 

Nail on the head.

The strip shouldn't be decided on how many punters are going to buy it. The fact is if you wear crap strips then you look like a diddy club. Reminds me of when Murray came in and made all of our players turn up to games in suits instead of tracksuits. It's all about looking and feeling professional.

The kit is a massive part of the image of a club and they have been pretty terrible in recent seasons.

The cost can't be that much more that it's totally unaffordable to spend that little bit extra for the team to look and feel good on the park.

[Guest]

Whilst we are on about kits, I would also say a bespoke home kit definitely encourages better uptake on player sponsorships too....

I would imagine people are more likely to sponsor a kit/player of their choice if they are sponsoring a kit they like as opposed to off the shelf catalogue, especially at £150 

 

On that note, what’s the difference between player sponsors and management team, £200 to sponsor the gaffer or back room staff? That’s obscene 

[O'Kelly Isley III]

1 hour ago, super-son said:

Nail on the head.

The strip shouldn't be decided on how many punters are going to buy it. The fact is if you wear crap strips then you look like a diddy club. Reminds me of when Murray came in and made all of our players turn up to games in suits instead of tracksuits. It's all about looking and feeling professional.

The kit is a massive part of the image of a club and they have been pretty terrible in recent seasons.

The cost can't be that much more that it's totally unaffordable to spend that little bit extra for the team to look and feel good on the park.

I think the club is understandably very wary of committing money for stock of any item which then fails to shift; most modern businesses try to avoid a large stores presence as it is effectively a lock on capital.

There is a way round this however, especially for bespoke items, and that is to get volume/price figures from the manufacturer, advertise the same to the support base and if numbers add up then request an initial deposit of say 50% of the cost from each purchaser - the merchandise is effectively made to order.  And if for example 40 fans placed orders on a volume price break of 50-off then the club could take the hit for 10-off to be sold via the club shop and which would probably shift, rather than commit to 50-off on spec.

I expect that next season's tops will be the 'liquorice allsort' style with a special 150th badge, and that should hopefully sell really well, but I'd be horrified if we returned to some sort of insipid yellow cheapo effort thereafter.

Edited June 11, 2021 by O'Kelly Isley III

[Sweet Pete]

16 minutes ago, DobbiesAgent said:

Whilst we are on about kits, I would also say a bespoke home kit definitely encourages better uptake on player sponsorships too....

I would imagine people are more likely to sponsor a kit/player of their choice if they are sponsoring a kit they like as opposed to off the shelf catalogue, especially at £150 

 

On that note, what’s the difference between player sponsors and management team, £200 to sponsor the gaffer or back room staff? That’s obscene 

What's the thinking behind the theory that more people will sponsor players if the club's shirt isn't an off-the-shelf one? Why would that make a difference to the number of people committing to sponsor a player?

[Sweet Pete]

For the record and purely from a personal perspective, I could not care less what the club strips look like. A football shirt is a football shirt and I don't wear replica jerseys anyway since I'm an adult.

[The Moonster]

2 minutes ago, Sweet Pete said:

What's the thinking behind the theory that more people will sponsor players if the club's shirt isn't an off-the-shelf one? Why would that make a difference to the number of people committing to sponsor a player?

The only physical thing you get with player sponsorship is their strip. If you think the strip is shite you're probably less likely to give the club £150 for one of the players tops. 

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Sweet Pete said:

What's the thinking behind the theory that more people will sponsor players if the club's shirt isn't an off-the-shelf one? Why would that make a difference to the number of people committing to sponsor a player?

I’d rather pay 150 quid to sponsor a player if it was a bespoke nice looking classic Dumbarton kit, than 150 quid towards a joma off the shelf effort? 
 

I would imagine a lot of supporters would say the same. 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

The only physical thing you get with player sponsorship is their strip. If you think the strip is shite you're probably less likely to give the club £150 for one of the players tops. 

Exactly 

[Jan Vojáček]

I'm pretty certain we sold out shirt sponsorships last year. And our kits were off the shelf efforts. 

Granted the price was a bit lower, but I'm not sure how big an impact the design has on sales. Nobody much is going to cut about in a Sons top with 'Langan 4' on the back of it anyway I wouldn't have thought. It's all fans just looking for another way to chip in, businesses looking for some cheap sponsorship and family members of players usually.

Anyway, like I said, hopefully the anniversary kit is as good as I think it'll be - everyone goes out and buys it, and the club can't possible switch back to yellow!

[lorenzo71]

Any rumours or sightings or discussions with the fish lady?

18 hours without a signing whats Faz playin at?

[Sweet Pete]

12 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

The only physical thing you get with player sponsorship is their strip. If you think the strip is shite you're probably less likely to give the club £150 for one of the players tops. 

 

10 minutes ago, DobbiesAgent said:

I’d rather pay 150 quid to sponsor a player if it was a bespoke nice looking classic Dumbarton kit, than 150 quid towards a joma off the shelf effort? 
 

I would imagine a lot of supporters would say the same. 

I'm not seeing it personally. Surely if you sponsor a player it's because you want to support the club financially / particularly like that player? I can't see the style of strip factoring into it. That you get the strip afterwards is just a memento of the support you lent, not a fashion item.