Adelaide Crows looking to form strong ties with members

ADELAIDE coach Phil Walsh and chief executive Andrew Fagan are in a series of members’ forums to further connect with its core audience.

AFL - Adelaide Football Club announce their new coach - former Port Adelaide assistant Phil Walsh. Walsh at the press conference today with new CEO Andrew Fagan. PHOTO SARAH REED

ADELAIDE coach Phil Walsh and chief executive Andrew Fagan are in a series of members’ forums to further connect with its core audience in an initiative started only days after the pair began working at the club.

Adelaide, once considered an obvious cash cow and the No. 1 ticket in town, is seeking to grow its brand and seek a stronger bond with its members.

The initiative is a far cry from the days when inquiries about the club’s expected crowd on the weekend were laughed at. ``We’re Adelaide; we sell out every week,’’ was the line back then.

The Crows still command crowds — last season, the best in the land — but they have also spoken internally of the perils of complacency.

The club is also sourcing revenues outside of the traditional markets, having recognised it is now the norm and the need to be one of the big players in the AFL.

What’s more, the Crows need to grow because it has an ageing audience; those who joined up back in 1991 were middle-aged then and are now less likely to front up on a regular basis.

The Crows senior employees met with another group of members on Tuesday night in an program that first began informally at the club’s canteen soon after Fagan and Walsh arrived at West Lakes.

The forums are understood to serve both as a link between the hierarchy and the members, but also work as ongoing market research, not dissimilar to focus groups used by other major businesses.

It is understood the club picks a random number of fans from their membership list and invite them to ask questions and air any concerns with how the club is travelling at the forums, which are intended to run on a regular basis.

They come as Fagan wants to improve the club’s inclusiveness in a market place where the Crows now have a strong-performing rival in Port Adelaide, whose chief executive Keith Thomas and coach Ken Hinkley have helped mushroom the Power’s membership by building the club’s brand on the back of successful seasons.

There is a sense of deja vu about Adelaide’s heightened sense of ambition: 1997, the year Port Adelaide joined the competition, would become the Crows’ landmark year.

The club faced this question at a press club luncheon post-season: Had the club become lazy?

The question was not dismissed by Fagan, who said there was always room for improvement.

Originally published as Adelaide Crows looking to form strong ties with members