Cod Almighty | Article

by Mark Wilson

1 November 2009

Grimsby Town FC's PR and communications have come under an avalanche of criticism recently (not least on this website), as we appear to have lurched from crisis to crisis with little coherent comment from the club and certainly no apparent strategy or direction – a bit like the team under Mike Newell, really. I was wondering why this is and what could be done about it – and whether I could offer some kind of analysis and a few potential solutions. I'm going to try to do this below.

What qualifies me to comment on it? Firstly, a desire to see the club communicate with its fans so that they are as well informed as can be. Secondly, I spent a year managing the internal communication of a blue chip company, so I actually do have some kind of professional perspective.

The principles of PR and external communications

Human beings hate a lack of information and not being able to understand why something is happening. They hate inconsistency and surprises (they can almost handle nice surprises but hate bad ones). They also hate being made to feel stupid or that they are being kept in the dark about things that they should probably know about. All these things differ according to the individual, but broadly we are all the same in this regard.

Sadly, GTFC's 'communication' to its fans ticks every box of these hates and fears. The prime source of information about GTFC should be the official website, but it lacks any kind of reliability – and therefore lacks credibility. This leads to a vacuum which gets filled by unofficial websites, chat rooms and the Grimsby Telegraph. Unfortunately for the club, the most used sources of information tend to be the chat rooms and unofficial sites – and these are where the club has the least control of what's said, and where rumour and supposition can grow like a mushroom. Moreover, a story or rumour that starts on a Sunday or early in the day will have had between eight and 24 hours of 'life' before the Telegraph can report what the club's views actually are. In an age where news is pumped instantly at the consumer, that is too long.

Town's external communications (that means what it tells us: communication to the fans) have to be consistent, proactive and part of a plan and a strategy. When unforeseen events happen, the club's response should be well thought out and carefully prepared. Instead of telling us that Mike Newell has been sacked, they need to spend an hour drafting a communication that tells us he's been sacked and why. This stops any speculation and is more likely to gain support from supporters as they are clear and understand the situation. I still can't tell you why Newell was sacked – two weeks since it happened.

The perception of chaos

It is conceivable that Grimsby Town FC is a well-run business with clear aims, where all the staff are working together towards a common goal. From the outside, though, it appears – and 'appear' is the key word here – that the club is absolutely chaotic with no planning and acts in a completely reactive fashion to events. Is it coincidence that Ryan Bennett and Jack Barlow were 'sold' in the week that Newell left the club? Or was it because Peterborough and Hull saw an opportunity and pounced? We just don't know, because we get very bland statements from the club with no context or background to the deals.

John Fenty's background is a key reason why Town's PR is poor

The announcements about Newell's departure and the on/off nature of Bennett's move are classics of poor PR. If you have nothing to tell people then tell them nothing until you do. When an event has definitely happened and the outcome is defined, then give a clear message with some context, and 'signpost' what is going to happen next. It is OK to tell us Ryan Bennett has gone to Peterborough to have a look round and discuss a move if it has happened or is happening. It isn't OK to post a statement that he has moved before the transfer actually takes place.

The communication should go as follows: Offer received for Bennett and chairman agrees, Bennett goes to have a look and discuss, Bennett agrees to move, deal is done and Bennett is a Peterborough player. Ideally this is followed by an article from the chairman and Neil Woods explaining why the timing was right for the deal and that both of them agreed to it and what we're going to do (if anything) to replace him. As in turned out, the fans only got some of this and had to piece other bits together from gossip, 'a bloke who knows him' and the Telegraph.

The chairman doesn't help himself either. It appears (there's that word again) that every now and then Mr Fenty blows his top and uses the website to release his stress and produce a rambling, slightly incoherent and reactive stream of consciousness about an 'issue'. Because of the infrequency and nature of these outbursts they don't ease fans' concerns or give a considered context; they instead become a signal that all is not well and that someone is going to get their arse kicked in the very near future. Even worse, one of these statements looked like it was prompted by rumours on a fans' forum. Dogs, tails and wagging come to mind.

I am not a critic of John Fenty, because I believe that if he weren't chairman we wouldn't have a club to support. But I do think his background is a key reason why Town's PR is poor. He is a successful businessman and made a lot of money, but his business was relatively small, completely uncontroversial and employed few people. The need for PR in that business was almost nil and he could afford to manage it with little eye on the external. A football club is completely different and requires not only the internal staff to be kept up to date but an external group that has a core of about 5,000 people in it but could potentially be millions if you appoint, say, the first female club manager in British history. I'm not sure that Mr Fenty appreciates this at all.

The official website doesn't help any of this. It is a vehicle to generate income for the club through being part of a franchised operation which can sell advertising to companies on a national basis and offer them a national audience with very specific interests and demographic segmentation. Thus a lot of the content on the site and its layout and format aren't controlled by the club. But it seems the club has compete control over what it posts about football and what goes on Mariners Player (née World) and could use it much more cleverly. I don't want to go too deeply into Mariners World but it's another opportunity lost: by all means charge for the content for subscribers, but then let it be free to air 24 hours later so that everyone can hear the news from the horse's mouth.

What's actually written

If all of the above could be distilled into one phrase, it would be lack of professionalism. The easiest way to seem more professional in your communication is to get the person who writes and publishes the material to be able to spell correctly and be able to structure a communication in a fashion that is grammatically correct. If they can't, ensure that everything is proofread by someone who can before you publish it. This is an absolute basic that GTFC are getting wrong and they have to change this to appear professional. My heart sinks when I read some of the mistakes made in statements and quotes on the website. Does the club not use Word? Does the author not have a spellchecker, or are they so poorly trained that they don't know what the red and green lines are below what they write?

I see no evidence whatsoever of Town having a communication plan or strategy

The other obvious howler is the amount of information that is copied and pasted without any kind of proofreading or editing. It's not unusual to see material from the Football League or Johnstone's Paint having [insert club name here] in its text or similar. Doing it right has few consequences. Doing it wrong makes the club look unprofessional.

Strategy and direction

Properly run companies have a communication strategy and plan so that all those involved in communications know what 'image' the company is trying to project and how it wants the public to see it. Some of you reading this may view this as too corporate, or as spin, but it is a fact of life and I suspect that Town would benefit massively from it. It also gives clear guidelines to anyone who represents the club about what can and can't be said to the media. As a result of a strategy, most of what comes out of an organisation is 'joined up' and consistent and makes the viewer think the organisation is professional, well run and a good place to invest or buy products from.

I see no evidence whatsoever of Town having a communication plan or strategy.

What can be done?

The way to deal with this head on would be to employ a PR and/or communication specialist to manage all aspects of Town's communication. Let them produce a strategy and plan and write all public statements, and they would have to be strong enough to say no when Mr Fenty fancies a rant on the website. I do realise, though, that this would cost money and that is something the club is a little short of at the moment.

The club should use the website much more proactively to manage the information coming out of the club. Give key people a diary or blog so that we can read every day what is happening and what their thoughts are on what is going on. I'd suggest that the manager is essential here and probably the chairman as well. The secret to this though is that the manager and chairman don't write it (they're too busy): the PR people do so that it fits in with the club's strategy. Don't make it too bland though as it loses impact.

Spend more time on getting spelling and grammar right. As we've seen above, this is a cheap and straightforward way to give a much greater impression of professionalism.

Significant statements should be drafted and then discussed and agreed before being published. When, for example, a manager is fired, someone should be asking what the implications are of every word written and how it could be misconstrued, interpreted or misrepresented. An extra hour spent doing this will save hours and hours of squirming later when your inconsistencies and lack of clarity start to be examined.

Mariners Player could be worth its weight in gold if used as a proactive way of managing news and getting messages over to the fans. Get a professional to produce it and make it available to all fans, as I suggested above.

I also have a potentially controversial suggestion. Have someone logged into all the forums who is 'dripping' official and correct information into discussions so that rumours don't get out of hand. This has to be done subtly and in a semi-open manner, but if handled cleverly it can be a great way to kill rumours and give fans more information. Many threads on The Fishy die a death because Dave Boylen makes a comment and everyone knows he has the 'inside track' while not being officially part of the club. Many companies do this as a means to advertise or head off negative publicity: Pepsi have recently managed a potential PR gaffe in exactly this way.

Get closer to the unofficial sources of information, like The Fishy and this publication. Give them better access to the club and sources of news so that they can offer a more accurate analysis of what is going on and they can then act as a barrier to rumour and flights of fancy. There's no need to try to gag them or make them mouthpieces – that certainly wouldn't work with Cod Almighty – but help them to be better informed.

My ultimate frustration with the situation at Town is that it can be easily remedied but it requires an investment of money or time from someone senior at the club. I doubt Mr Fenty can see the problem and I don't know whether someone else is strong enough to point it out to him. I hope it improves because I don't want my club to look shoddy and unprofessional on or off the pitch.

What do you think? Comment on Mark's piece or share your own thoughts on Town's PR and communications using the Cod Almighty feedback form.