Pleased to see this morning’s initiative by Celtic to provide people with a more visible and accessible complaints procedure, including an “Our commitment to you” section. I know it’s almost blasphemous to use the word ‘customer’ in a football context, but when it comes to levels of service, it is useful to benchmark the ‘customer experience’ at Celtic Park, which is patchy and often disappointing.
I’ve been meaning to pick up this topic for a while but there is a Supporters’ Forum coming up next month, where various supporters’ groups will be given a chance to put issues of concern to the club, and I planned to raise it directly with the club before writing about it here.
Celtic have a great brand (if you indulge me with another blasphemous but useful term), born to feed the hungry, champion of the underdog, fundraiser for the poor and needy in Scotland and across the globe. We still have the unique Seville legacy – which is 11 years old today – and on Saturday, 47 years after their own crowning moment, the remaining Lisbon Lions will cast their considerable shadow over European football, but a great deal of the ‘customer contact’ reflects a club weary from more recent skirmishes. It needed be this way.
We are one of the world’s unique brand properties, like Disney, but a lot smaller, of course. Every customer contact, every public-facing decision, should reflect this. Disney understand this. They make you pay ridiculous amounts for their tat, but you pay willingly, because every customer contact reflects the highest service levels achievable. None of this comes on minimum wage, you need to select, train and retain good staff, who remain in place irrespective of available alternatives.
Legendary customer service is expensive, but if you own a uniquely ethical brand, paying that expense can be profitable.
Look around at brand management elsewhere. BP throw an environmentally responsible ‘better use of energy’ message at you straight from their home page, and they are one of the world’s most notorious polluters. Barcelona give their ‘More than a club’ message the prime spot (top left) on their home page, without a notion of irony around their tax or Qatar cash transactions. Apple have “Apple and the environment” prominently on their home page. They have little to do with the environmental movement, but they know how important to their business it is to maintain their unique brand.
Ethically, Celtic are miles ahead of any of these outfits but you need to go hunt for our considerable ethical works on the club website.
What should Celtic do when training, match day stewards, or kiosk staff (don’t start me)? What should we do when faced with an expensive business decision? Consult the brand values. Brand values are absolutely sacrosanct and the cost of maintaining them should be looked on as an opportunity to invest in them. At the moment lots of areas are under-invested in, reflecting completely different values to those who rush into the ground on match day.
Our values are to build a great football club which improves Health, promotes Equality, encourages Learning and tackles Poverty. Celtic do this through the very real help they give to thousands of people through Celtic FC Foundation. This is where we are today but all of this should have a higher profile.
When you visit the Celtic web site two days before season ticket renewal deadline day (today), you should be smacked around the senses with our work on Health, Equality, Learning and Poverty. Do that and the drag-through to renewals or merchandise sales will follow, ask Apple or Disney.
We need confidence in this strategy. I know it’s expensive, things are tight and demands enormous, but these values, this unique brand, is why we will flourish for another century.
If you want to raise a question at the Supporters’ Forum leave a note below.
Order your signed copy of Tommy Gemmell’s All the Best below.
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So many good points Paul, all of which need to be addressed. But it all comes down to money. The people that are employed to serve you cold pies and bovril and warm juice are not in the slightest bit concerned the service they provide. Can’t say I blame them too much, as the huge profit made from said items does not find it’s way into they’re wage packet..!
Dontbrattbakkinanger:
and some will be strangled by silence.
SUPPORTERS’ FORUM
Question for Forum re trophy presentations.
When will the league trophy be presented in a way that the majority of fans can view it?
The most recent was worst of all ……. yet again most of the crowd were big screen watchers and then there were all the choreographed photo opps …… it was about 20 minutes or so before the players went on lap of honour.
Football is nothing without the fans? On presentation day, sponsors, media and pyrotechnics take precedence. And while I am on a rant ……. cut out the persistently deafening and often unwelcome music and let the fans get on with celebrating in songs of their choice ( within the law, of course).
Rant over.
Batsman 12.43
Good question. Would you like to repost but with “Supporters Forum” at the top and it will get raised there for the club to answer as they will have the latest news by then.
Thank you.
Batsman = Bawsman sorry.
just thank your ole lucky stars you can still pay by card…even if the fees are barely justified
Kitalba
To give coherent and consistent responses.
bazza67
12:48 on
21 May, 2014
Last game of the season and the usual appalling retail experience, 15 minute wait, run out of pies, overpriced fare served by wee lads running about clueless.
Have been in the same seat in the main stand for last 18 years and not one jot of improvement in the catering.
Is it really so hard?
Make an effort Celtic, the match experience is dire compared to equivalent English teams
Inelastic demand may not last for ever
Can’t disagree with that, my 8 year old bhoys burger last game was burnt and cold. Queues too big to go back and get another without barging in at front.
HH
Auldheid:
How about we don’t get coherent and consistent responses. How about we don’t give them an opportunity to prepare an answer way beyond honesty?
iki @ 12:52 said: ‘… cut out the persistently deafening and often unwelcome music and let the fans get on with celebrating in songs of their choice ( within the law, of course).’
Hear, hear, iki.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with the loudspeakers at Celtic Park.
Letthepeoplesing.CFC
Close season, no game to look forward to, no signings to argue over, not even any accounts to review. And this is just the first week…
At least we’ve got the Hibs v Accies denouement, then the World Cup, and in between, the mighty EKFC v Dalbeattie in the final of the Challenge Cup this saturday.
Booked the family holiday this week in a wee homage to some of our European friends competing in the World Cup. We’ve got Italy, Switzerland, Spain and France on the itinerary.
I say ‘family holiday’, it’s actually just me and the Shabby Chapeau on holiday on our tod for the first time ever. I’m a little anxious about it tbh.
A couple of days in Bergamo, followed by a week lakeside at Lugano, then onto Spain (Torla and Pamplona) and finish with a couple of days on the beach at Biarritz.
Total cost for flights + accom but excl car hire… £900. Shoulda left the kids at home more often.
Paul,
Perhaps the club could make a start on defending the brand from the almost constant attacks by the Scottish media.
Radio, TV or newspaper, they’re all on message, if they cannot find negative Celtic news then make some up.
cv
How many parking spaces are left in the Resolution 12 parking lot?
DeniaBhoy
12:43 on 21 May, 2014
Paul – good points and it raises the question as to why, in the 21st century, we (and football) are still so far behind most other areas of industry when it comes to brand management. Football is good at exploiting brand loyalty but its product rarely lives up to the brand promise – or in plainspeak, the clubs take the fans loyalty for granted regardless of how poor the matchday experieince is.
One day a club will realise that people will happily spend more money on products that exceed their expectations.
———————————————————————————
I’d say the reason why football is “behind” (as you say) other industries in respect of “brand management” is that clubs do not need to manage their “brand”. They have a captive market in their fans. I’d even go as far as to say that there isn’t a brand in the traditional sense – until the club becomes a fully corporate entity and creates something artificial that the fans (not “customers) never asked for in the first place. In fact, any club creating a “brand” out of whatever history etc. already exists does so in order to ensnare new customers (note – I do not say “fans”). I think the whole dichotomy between club/company, fans/customers, tradition/brand is another example of where the PLC model does not fit well with the primary purpose of the club. We are attempting to apply the corporate template to something that is not a purely corporate entity.
Why do people buy into Disney? They don’t. They spend the money because they think it will make their kids happy. That’s all. They’ve not “bought in” to anything – they’ve just spent some money. I think it is instructive to look at one of the biggest football entities who took their club history and used it to create a brand to be sold to new customers – Manchester United. I suspect that brand will come and go. People who have no genuine emotional attachment to the club will find another brand more attractive at some point. If they’re sensible, they will have put money away for a rainy day. The day when the customers buy something else.
Football fans, however, do have an emotional bond with the club they support and that is why clubs get away with bad service etc. As I say – it’s a captive market. IMHO no amount of branding will solve that issue. However, that’s not to say Celtic should not be looking to give fans a better quality experience. In my opinion they have a moral (rather than financial) imperative to do so. There’s more than one way to skin a cat. Simply being able to get served a selection of good quality food would be an improvement.
doctor whatfor
12:44 on 21 May, 2014
Just so we don’t forget; here’s what a real footballer looks like.:-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is1sJVF8Fx0
………………………….
What did you go and do that for? I’m supposed to be driving through to Embra in a few minutes and I’m sitting here with tears rolling down my face. The Divine Hairband ….. will we ever see his like again? Fabulous!
Just heard that HL has come in this morning from 6/1 to 7/2 and now 5/6 to be at Celtic Park next season.
What do the bookies know?
Bbhoy@10.30
Further to CliftonvilleC post
Dunlewey centre and poison glen trip worth a visit. Used to do a boat trip around poison glen very kids friendly. Enjoy.
Is mo na cumann e
Bawsman
Next time I get first post, I’ll post “Lump of coal”, just for you :-))
Paul67
Question forum.
1. The forum appears to include only members of blogs and official supporters groups. Will club offer individual supporters an invite to the forums in future? Club has a database of all supporters that is frequently used for marketing purposes. Surely this database can be used to request the attendance of individual supporters with no regard for their background, affiliation to association, blog etc?
2. In the interest of transparency can Celtic request the SPL/SPFL provide detail and transparency surrounding the contractual obligations with regard TRFC in the current TV deal with the SPFL and previously with regards both Celtic and Rangers in preceding TV deal with the SPL?
MWD says Aye
Hang on folk…..
Re TV contract/payments. There are different issues at play here.
1. Commercialisation vs Integrity.
Big issue throughout this game and others. Head of the EPL recently quoted as saying that the value of the ‘EPL TV Product’ is devalued by a weak Manchester United. I found this to be a bit scary. What does it mean? Why would someone like that have a view as to who should succeed? What happened to ‘good for team X, winning the league for the first time ever?’
2. It is everywhere. UCL is ‘fixed’ to get more eyeballs in front of TV screens. 4 English teams, etc. # of them not having qualifying games. Seeding. Top seeds having 2nd leg at home. Etc, etc.
3. Scotland is no different in this respect.
4. No contract should ‘Guarantee’ the ‘success’ of 2 clubs. Sure, pay more for more eyeballs, but such a guarantee cannot be given. Unless….
So, having said all that, the sweetener given to a tv company to take steps that will increase eyeballs, that in turn will put money in EVERYONE’S pockets is:
a). Not necessarily a ‘bad’ thing;
b). Not the ‘gotcha’ that some are claiming.
If this debate has the effect of opening up a wider debate, then that will be a good thing. However, if this debate distracts us from bigger issues, then it will prove to be counter productive.
theoriginalsadiesbhoy
…….will we ever see his like again?
Oh please, God, pal. Please, God.
Hail hail.
Chuck Norris bathes in the tears of virginal Disney employees.
F.A.C.T.
NatKnow:
As my ol’man used to say to me… if eleven monkeys ran out of the tunnel to represent Celtic there’d be thousands who’d cheer them on.
Extreme in making his point, maybe, but I think, to a degree, he was right.
Now in this day and age, with more trustworthy and instant communications at the will of the Celtic Supporters, they’d better be big friggin’ monkeys.
gourockemeraldbhoy
12:51 on 21 May, 2014
Credit card payments will typically cost the retailer 1% – 2%.
10% does seem a high but perhaps not unusual charge given other companies get away with it.
cv
they’d better be big friggin’ monkeys.
-they’ll be Timpanzees
Aff oot!
Supporters Forum
When will we be hearing about Resolution 12?
Will the club be re-visiting the ‘minimum wage’ for Celtic FC empoyees decision?
Has there been a cost/benefit analysis done into moving matches to cater for the TV audience.
Personally, I have declined to renew my 2 Season Books (SB) in the main stand as games seem to be shifted for everyones benefit except the SB Holder. I imagine I am not alone but would be interested how much the club ‘gains’ from TV compared to losing the distance travelling SB supporter.
My daughter attended the Scottish Cup Final with me on Saturday. This was her first “big match” experience. Missed the goal just before halftime and the start of the second half whilst standing in the queue for a pie and chips. Sullen staff, obviously no incentive for them to sell as quickly as possible, two tills only, no thought gone into the most efficient means of selling etc etc. It is not rocket science. Ask MacDonalds.
To compound the miserable experience the shutters were down and nothing was being sold at the end of the game.
My abiding memory of the whole catering experience was watching a member of the catering staff saunter over to the chip dispenser, wait her turn, then saunter over to the curry sauce and leisurely pour on three spoonfuls of the stuff and finally wander back to the till. All whilst an enormous queue waited….
Shambolic.
The Battered Bunnet
Is the cup final at K Park on Sat and if so what time. ?
Couple of Nephews up for weekend from Engurland to watch
their wee cousin play in Scottish cup final on Sunday so may
be ideal entertainment on SAT.
Dontbrattbakkinanger ☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺
DBBIA
”
they’d better be big friggin’ monkeys.
-they’ll be Timpanzees”
So long as they’re no Orange Utans
\☺/ \☻/\☺/ \☻/\☺/ \☻/\☺/ \☻/\☺/ \☻/\☺/ up the Celts
just back from the ticket office brisk business being done about 20 in line all the time I was waiting and re-newing, got mine and got one for my grandson (his first)….
Kitalba
That would mean no agenda to guide the meeting and would be unworkable.
In any case since many questions are asking to be informed it gives time to gather the information in order to inform.
BAZZA67 1248
I’m pretty sure that Celtic are not as much in control of the catering as they would like to be.
Contracts negotiated when crowds were larger have meant that ‘the customer’ has suffered as the company involved tried to make up the shortfall.
I doubt Celtic will make the same mistake again when that contract ends.
Pretty soon,too.
Auldheid:
Of course it is workable, haven’t you ever heard of “opening up the floor”?
jc2
Nope, following extensive lobbying by the local GP consortium, the final is being played at Palmerston down in Shangri La.
Amazed they could fit a football pitch in between the wind turbines.
Now I know what Celtic are going do east of the Celtic Way, they’re gonna build a bigger Resolution 12 parking lot.