OWLSTALK SOLD OUT THE WEDNESDAY PLAYER OFFER !

[Guest Cheese]

Think it's out of their hands. Fairly sure that the site structure at least is a 3rd party package. Which is why so many other clubs have a similar service. That would mean they are left waiting for an upgrade from the supplier for things like that. Could be wrong though, I usually am.

Honest question Neil. Which has no baring on anything, just curious. Are you employed by the club? I know you take photos on match days and I know I've seen pics from DJ on twitter of you in an office with him. Have I got my wires crossed?

I was under the same impression to be honest but thought the club would be the best place to contact in the first instance, and I did ask if they were aware. I don't know who supplies the service to football clubs or I'd ask them direct.

[fatzooma]

Got mine earlier...it's rubbish trying to log in on the iPhone though.

[Dan™]

I can't believe some are actually having a moan about this...

I don't think anyone is moaning about the offer (it was a great deal, hence more people like myself wanting to buy it), just that its been limited to such a small number of people for some mystifying reason.

Imagine starting a business which sells a product that is free to manufacture; why would you only sell only 400 of the things and then pack up home if there is clearly more demand for it? I'd call that a business which doesn't really know what its doing, they're just turning away people's money for no benefit.

And before Neil comes back in saying it's worth £100 to any true fan, ask them to at least try getting the players' names right in the highlight commentaries for once, that might be a good start

Edited August 8, 2012 by Dan™

[@owlstalk]

I don't think anyone is moaning about the offer (it was a great deal, hence more people like myself wanting to buy it), just that its been limited to such a small number of people for some mystifying reason.

IRONIC CONTRADICTION KLAXON

[Juror8]

flip

ME

Seriously

So you're saying that no company should EVER do any offers in case their current customers get all mardy about it ?

What about those who pay full price for Wednesday Player who have just signed up to a company for product x on a 'new customers only' deal, whilst those who landed the Wednesday Player deal for a tenner and yet pay full price for product x so are actually worse off ?

Get real

Seriously

GREAT offer today from the club and LivingSocial

No other club's done it

WELL DONE SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY

flip THE HATERZ

Give me an example of another business that offers annual subscriptions, and publicly offers a select number of subscribers the same service for a quarter of the price?

[trevdi9]

jesus if you got it good luck to you ,

if you didnt sorry but it's tough ,

if there are offers use em if you don't then it's your own fault ,i didn't get it so what ,it's my own fault fair play to the club for offering a deal in the first place ,they didn't have to

[owlZfan84]

Wow, there really are some morbid sods on here at times.

I think its a fantastic idea that SWFC is using the likes of LivingSocial to promote the club, and give the fans a chance to grab themselves a bargain from time to time.

Back on topic - Does anyone know whether we'll get an e-mail once the gift card is dispatched? Currently, via 'my vouchers' the Wednesday Player offer states it will be ready available '24-48 hours after purchase'.

Edited August 9, 2012 by owlZfan84

[owlZfan84]

Wow, there really are some morbid sods on here at times.

I think its a fantastic idea that SWFC is using the likes of LivingSocial to promote the club, and give the fans a chance to grab themselves a bargain from time to time.

Back on topic - Does anyone know whether we'll get an e-mail once the gift card is dispatched? Currently, via 'my vouchers' the Wednesday Player offer states it will be ready available '24-48 hours after purchase'.

**edit - just had my email confirmation from LivingSocial. You need to e-mail megastore@swfc.co.uk with your voucher number and they post out the gift card to you within 7-10 days**

[Gerinako]

Thats a bit daft.

Can't they just e-mail me the code - save them the £ then.

[owlZfan84]

Thats a bit daft.

Can't they just e-mail me the code - save them the £ then.

Ditto.

Seems a bit bizzare.

[MirfieldOwl]

Neil: what is the reason why the deal was limited to the amount it was? That's a not a moan pal, just a question into the marketing thought behind it?

The limiting of supply to meet demand in its most simple form is an interesting one (the best example I think of these days is the introduction onto the market of the iPhone by Apple who keep people queuing / begging for weeks!), but just wondered if it was something as simple as LivingSocial only allowing a certain amount? To me, it's a tough one to get right if you're a much smaller organisation (such as SWFC). Sales promotions in this sense can weaken the brand (not in this case though), but can drive initial word of mouth (but I wouldn't have though the 'hey, I got Wednesday Player for a tenner, you should get it too, but it'll cost you £40ish!' would work here?

There's also the question of taking a small dip in revenue over a short period of time to drum up some good PR (as done with people like myself who got the deal!). Then, there's the risk of bad PR with those who didn't jump on the limited supply fast enough.

Neil's spot on when he talks about dipping price doesn't equal a guaranteed increase in custom in the long term. Think of the tenner matches we do at Hillsborough - I know loads who come to them, but then sack off the next match as it goes back up to £25ish. You can understand why in these tough times.

Just wondered what the marketing thought behind it was?

Incidentally, it's worth thinking about the fact that (I don't know the exact numbers) around 400 (??) of us got the deal and were very happy yesterday with SWFC etc. We then go away and tell our mates etc (=good PR). Unfortunately, you've only got roughly a 30% chance of expressing how happy you are with something than publicly expressing your annoyance with something you perceive to be a bad product/service, as is evident here :)

Ditto.

Seems a bit bizzare.

I thought this too. Just got mine this morning. Security perhaps? Dunno?

[nk]

Aaaaaarrrgggh

Thats a bit daft.

Can't they just e-mail me the code - save them the £ then.

Was just about to have a moan myself, got all this technology but I've got to wait for a card to come through the post.

[martyn8484]

Aaaaaarrrgggh

Was just about to have a moan myself, got all this technology but I've got to wait for a card to come through the post.

By the time we get our cards through the post it'll only be a 11 month and 3 week subscription. I demand a refund! (tongue in cheak)

[Blueblood]

Depends on the thresholds and the perceived value of the offer I suppose. At present the normal price of Player is pretty much two match day tickets for me, and every year I will choose the extra two home games. The standard price is just a massive barrier to entry for me, a tenner or maybe twenty quid isn't. I dare say the same is true for thousands of other fans whose disposable income is limited after transport, family costs or student living etc

For me, and by the looks of it at least 400 other people, a lower value player subscription is an attractive offer and has added at least one more subscriber to the service, and potential future customer at full price.

I'd be interested to see how many subscribers there are at full price. Clearly there is an interest in having the service at a lower price. Twitter has had nothing on it related to Wednesday today apart from hundreds of people passing the offer and draw info on for this.

Or you could say that the monthly subscription is the price of a couple of pints a month

Depends on the thresholds and the perceived value of the offer I suppose. At present the normal price of Player is pretty much two match day tickets for me, and every year I will choose the extra two home games. The standard price is just a massive barrier to entry for me, a tenner or maybe twenty quid isn't. I dare say the same is true for thousands of other fans whose disposable income is limited after transport, family costs or student living etc

For me, and by the looks of it at least 400 other people, a lower value player subscription is an attractive offer and has added at least one more subscriber to the service, and potential future customer at full price.

I'd be interested to see how many subscribers there are at full price. Clearly there is an interest in having the service at a lower price. Twitter has had nothing on it related to Wednesday today apart from hundreds of people passing the offer and draw info on for this.

Or you could say that the monthly subscription is the price of a couple of pints a month

[@owlstalk]

Let's review the FACTS then

Club does the fans a favour and gives a limited number of 400 people the opportunity to try Wednesday Player for a year for just a tenner and posts the security card out to fans with the code on it.

400 people snap the offer up and when they get their card can scratch off the security thing and type their code in and activate 12 months service to something they didn't have before

This is done at 75% of the usual price in an extraordinary offer that no other club has given their fans

The offer is super popular and not only have people signed up to the offer, but others who missed out have subscribed at full price anyway after realising that actually the full price is actually really decent - especially for such a big season coming up.

So now we have over 400 people who are Wednesday Player subscribers (able to hear away day commentaries etc) who can benefit from all the videos, behind the scenes footage, matchday commentaries etc for a full season of Championship football

[Gerinako]

Yeah but...

[Blueblood]

Has anybody got any spare authorisation codes

[@owlstalk]

PS - you do know on livingsocial/groupon etc that the offers aren't unlimited and there's a limited number of offers for those who get in there first ?

[Juror8]

PS - you do know on livingsocial/groupon etc that the offers aren't unlimited and there's a limited number of offers for those who get in there first ?

Depends on the commissioner of the offer, doesn't it. Living Social and Groupon are just conduits, benefitting from commission, so the higher the number of offers (as long as they're deliverable and don't damage their brand), the happier they are.

Never answered my question about another offeror of annual subscriptions offering a select number of subscribers the same subscription for a quarter of the price. Sky and phone companies, amongst others, offer incentives, but keep these confidential, as to release them publicly or in a widespread way, would risk alienating existing and future customers.

I asked a friend who's involved in the delivery of an iPad paper edition whether they'd ever entertained offering such a deal. He said it made no business sense. Though obviously, the different markets/customers, make them difference situations. He said a better business decision in his eyes, would have been to offer a discounted 3 month membership to an unlimited number, get them hooked in the midst of the season, and thus signed into the full price package. It's also easier to justify to existing customers.

Just because we're the first to do something, doesn't necessarily mean it's a good thing. And I'm not going to be a simpleton who doesn't actually think something over and offer my view.

Ultimately, it's hard to judge whether it's a good business decision or not. You'll never know how many new subscribers you've deterred from signing up by revealing the base value, how many existing subscribers won't renew due to it and you'll only know in a year how many of the 400 you'll retain on the full package. So there aren't any facts currently available to determine whether it's a sound commercial decision or not.

You can't say it's unequivocally a good business idea. I can't say the opposite. I can, however, hold the view, that in my eyes, having an offer of roughly £30 for the year, £3 a month and something like 3 months free for those who've paid the higher amount, would be fairer and in the long run work better.

[@owlstalk]

Just because we're the first to do something, doesn't necessarily mean it's a good thing.

No

But thank flip Sheffield Wednesday are at least trying em

As opposed to in the past pre-strafford when the club had a 'no' culture and fans got flip ALL

But hey - sit whinging about an offer that 400 grateful fans have benefitted from