Peter Buckley

[Oldman]

See http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/i ... 9yZy51ay8=

Let's wish Peter every success as such can only benefit orienteering.

[madmike]

See http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/i ... 9yZy51ay8=

Let's wish Peter every success as such can only benefit orienteering.

Indeed. Let's hope he can do more than just make the post self-funding! got to be worth a try as our sport appears to be slowly dieing in the UK!

[andypat]

I hope he can teach us all a thing or two about marketing.
Orienteering is a great "product" but orienteers are frankly pants at getting this across to people.

[Oldman]

I hope he can teach us all a thing or two about marketing.
Orienteering is a great "product" but orienteers are frankly pants at getting this across to people.

Whilst I don't fundamentally disagree with your comment about orienteers' ability to market orienteering, I am not so positive on the current "product". Yes, it's great fun for those like us who have tried it and enjoy it, but ...
... it's not mass market (yet)
... it's not spectator or TV friendly (to other than some existing orienteers)
... it has if anything a negative profile (think backpacks, sandwiches and pace counting while walking on a bearing) and
... even the concept is not understood widely in the way that many other sports are.

However, we should get behind anything he does to help us overcome these issues.

[awk]

... it's not mass market (yet)

No, and perhaps it shouldn't try to be. Filling a particular niche successfully can be far more productive than trying to compete with bigger guns in the mass market arena who have much more money.

... it's not spectator or TV friendly (to other than some existing orienteers)

Does it need to be? Personally, I sometimes wonder if fixating on these standard ways of getting the message across has been part of the problem.

[SeanC]

From a participation viewpoint Orienteering is a highly marketable product, at least the bit between the start and the finish. The same can't always be said for stuff before the start and after the finish. For many outsiders this must seem like an episode of 'Life On Mars'.

Well done to BOF on this one. It seemed like only recently there was a Nopesport discussion on sponsorship and how BOF might do this. I remember thinking sceptically that BOF would never be able to do anything but now something has been done, so to all those who've got this going.

[andypat]

I hope he can teach us all a thing or two about marketing.
Orienteering is a great "product" but orienteers are frankly pants at getting this across to people.

Whilst I don't fundamentally disagree with your comment about orienteers' ability to market orienteering, I am not so positive on the current "product". Yes, it's great fun for those like us who have tried it and enjoy it, but ...
... it's not mass market (yet)
... it's not spectator or TV friendly (to other than some existing orienteers)
... it has if anything a negative profile (think backpacks, sandwiches and pace counting while walking on a bearing) and
... even the concept is not understood widely in the way that many other sports are.

However, we should get behind anything he does to help us overcome these issues.

Where you do disagree with me quite clearly is on your definition of "product" and "marketing"!

"mass market", tv friendly, negative profile, understanding of the concept - these are all issues fundamentally to do with the marketing, not as you seem to suggest, the product.
Orienteering "the product" is a fun, challenging outdoor sport suitable for more or less anyone. Everything else is marketing.

[AndyC]

Shaking the dust off my marketng qualifications, I'll point out that marketers talk about the core product and the extended/expanded product.
The core product is what happens between start and finish of the course (plus probably download and results) - we mostly have that pretty well sorted (and if we don't we soon complain).
The rest is the "non-essential" elements, the image , the advertising, the traders, prizes, photographs, assembly area -even the signage to and from the event.
The core has kept us in the sport and will keep a percentage of new comers in but the razzmatazz is what will attract people to try the sport (and is what we need to work on)
So you're both right

[andypat]

I bow to Andy C's superior knowledge of the genre, and also because he's bigger than me...

[superstartradesman]

This thread on marketing is a great illustration of the sport's problem. It should be titled "British Orienteering appoints a Marketing manager", an announcement of some positive news.

But I looked at the thread title and expected to read that someone called Peter Buckley had just died...

[Spookster]

This thread on marketing is a great illustration of the sport's problem. It should be titled "British Orienteering appoints a Marketing manager", an announcement of some positive news.

But I looked at the thread title and expected to read that someone called Peter Buckley had just died...

Yes, except that the thread should be titled "British Orienteering appoints Commercial Manager". He's not a Marketing Manager, though clearly marketing is a large part of his role to bring new income into British Orienteering.

[AndyC]

Spookster - to follow your point - that it is the appointment of a Commercial Manager that is important (and it is) wouldn't it be better if the news item on the BO website included the job title in the headline? At the moment it could be the announcement of a new member! (Oh in the teaser text "at the Commercial Manager" it's a place?)
Sorry I'm in pedant mode again

[andypat]

Incidentally anyone see WOC 2015 event director Paul McGreal on the adventure show on Tuesday (in Scotland sorry) in his role as event director for the Celtman Triathlon? Some event - puts those mudrunner types into their place!

[Gross]

Is this the same Peter Buckley as New Balance ?