Carlton has revealed the long-term plan behind its bold complimentary membership strategy.
The Blues’ membership tally has soared to a record 80,378 five rounds into the season, boosted by a portion of free packages.
While the Covid-inspired approach has attracted some scepticism around membership totals, Carlton is confident playing the “long game” will safeguard its future while looking after its supporters.
“This whole concept was developed around this time last year. With Covid forcing the season into shutdown and such uncertainty around what remained for our members in 2020, we quickly had to develop what was effectively a salvage operation in our biggest revenue stream,” Carlton chief executive Cain Liddle said.
“We had members who were paid up for the year or paying on direct debit and it would have had a catastrophic impact, had those memberships stopped.
“Where clubs can sometimes aim for consistency in how we deal with some issues, we all went our separate ways on this.”
While some clubs offered credits, refunds, upgrades and signed jumpers, the Blues went down a unique path.
“We wondered how we could turn this crisis into an opportunity by trying to set ourselves up for future years and where we landed was trying to offer everyone a portion of the value of their membership back by providing them with a complimentary 2021 membership,” Liddle said.
“The only condition was it has to be given to a friend or family member who wasn’t already a club member, with a view that we would back ourselves to engage with them through that process and convert them the following year. It’s the age-old question, what is a lead worth?”
Every Carlton member who left money with the club in 2020 was given the opportunity to provide a general admission membership in 2021 for free to give to another Blues fan, as long as that member also renewed in 2021.
Liddle was optimistic that the strategy would net them 10,000 new members for 2022.
“The naysayers will say you’re giving away memberships, but as long as the campaign is supported by a clear and well-resourced strategy, we are confident it will pay off significantly in the long run. When you are trying to double your membership in five years, you need to be prepared to take some chances and we think this one is a well calculated risk.
“The true test comes next year. If membership reduces it will have been a fail, but if we go from 67,000 during Covid to 80,000 in 2021 and 85,000 next year, against the backdrop of the pandemic and associated disruptions, then it will have been a raging success.
“The yield on membership is critical and it’s clearly a key priority, but you’ve got to play the long-game in membership. Our yield on membership is going to be up significantly on last year, which is terrific, but it’s not going to be proportionate to the amount of additional members. No way.
“That growth comes from converting them in 2022 and if we engage and service our new members well, make them feel a strong sense of connection to our club and help them understand their importance in our future then I am really confident we can convert a high percentage the following year.”
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