You may not have noticed - what with all the fun of the World Cup on the way - but Crystal Palace, a club with an 105 year history, was on the verge of going into liquidation this week. Shocking stuff, but sadly reflective of the over-stretched and unrealistic finances in the football world today.
We were saved by the CPFC 2010 consortium, fronted by ad man Steve Parish of Tag fame. David "Kid" Jensen, a massive Palace fan, acted as their spokesperson. The huge active fanbase made their mark too.
Protests at Lloyds, vigils at Selhurst. Tens of thousands of connected Londoners petitioning the banks as well as the media. Their collective voice helped force through a painfully complex deal. These fans, the "customers", were orchestrated though.
The Crystal Palace BBS and Holmesdale.net are two of the most populace football communities on the web. And have been for a number of years. Their posters have been petitioning the club with ideas for marketing, the ground, the staff, the players, the tactics and even the finances for as long as the boards have been in existence. Yes, there is a lot of ill-educated dross on there, but there is also some wonderfully insightful opinion.
But through all the previous regimes of Noades and Jordan, no-one from the club ever engaged with their customers on this platform. They never activated this huge community of willing volunteers, activists, and marketing brains. Then suddenly on 31st May, a new user appeared on the BBS and HOL.
It started as a means for them to deliver statements, but in no time, they did what so many CEO's of companies fail to do - they started engaging with their customers. They were transparent in the progress of the deals (and its sticking points) empowering the fans to get up and do something about it. They made us, the fans, feel like we were part of the rescue. And we bloody well appreciated it.
And since the acquisition went through it hasn't lost pace. They have already got in contact with one member who spent much of last season orchestrating a brilliant compendium of the fan's ideas to help drive more people into the club and increase ticket sales. And look at this:
And it isn't just on the bulletin boards. David Jensen has been active in keeping us up to date on Twitter too. He is even polite enough to @ reply those that chat with him.
This may all be down to the digital age that we are in. It may be down to the bond that we all have as fans in wanting to collectively save our club. It may be down to Steve Parish's advertising heritage. But whatever the cause, I fucking love the outcome. Long may this dialogue continue. Long live Palace.
I hope that other clubs (and ALL businesses) take heed. This is a lesson in how to connect with your customers for a mutually beneficial outcome.
*UPDATE*
After putting a précised version of this post up on the Palace BBS, the first response came from one Wandsworth Eagle. To further reiterate my point, Wandsworth Eagle is Ben Browett, son of Stephen Browett, one of the four members of the CPFC2010 consortium. Love it.
Even better, this is the consortium's official response. I love my club.
It's very heartening to read this. I still believe that the hierarchical elite are ignorant to crowd wisdom and participation.
It makes me also think that the football club is the natural platform for issues in the geographical area. So politics, environment, schools, hospitals etc all discussed in the same manner but if need be through sub apetures such as a Facebook group or where ever is sensible.
Posted by: Charlesfrith | June 15, 2010 at 09:54 AM