Merchandise and Marketing

[Fernster]

Is the club marketing machine working?

The reason why I ask is because I live in Durham and the only way I can buy anything City related is via the online store.

I can buy scum, dippers, arse, chelski in fact most other teams stuff but no City Gear?

Why? We are surely missing a trick here in revenue!!

 

[marcspurs]

Just a general answer to your post, I am a supplier of merchandise to a number of clubs (and a licence holder) and in general high street retailers, small independents and wholesalers in general will only take the SKY4, ManU, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool merchandise unless they are in the immediate vicinity of the stadium.....

You will also see Spurs merchandise in London and the South East..... but that is about it.

It is about "global" appeal, geographical fan base, nothing to do with the clubs really.

Man City's merchandising and licencing is all looked after now by Kitbag, anything that appears in the club shops, online store etc.... is selected and licenced through Kitbag....

Kitbag "run" the online store as well (as they do for many clubs)......

 

[Cellarite]

i'm in hull and can go to sports direct and get everton stuff but not city. i agree with the op, city are missing a trick here.

 

[marcspurs]

Then that is a deal Everton (another Kitbag client) have a deal with Sports Direct.....

Man City have only recently joined forces with Kitbag in handling their merchandise..... remember anything bought through the club store or online store generates income/turnover for the club...

Anything bought through SD, JD Sports etc.... generates income for those companies and in some cases royalties for the club (if it is a licensed product).... City's royalty agreements will generally be 12.5% or 15% of the wholesale price of the product....

I know many fans think the more widely available their club merchandise is available the more coverage it can get, the wider the fan base can grow... but the commercial deal has to be right for the club....

I am sure the more successful (trophies, CL etc) that City are the more widespread availability of the merchandise will be.... and once the deal with Kitbag "beds down" there will be a wider geographical coverage of merchandise....

The profile of my club has gone sky rocketing this year with the performances in the CL...

 

[Innsbruckblue]

I thought City only sold their stuff at the official stores?

 

[marcspurs]

I thought City only sold their stuff at the official stores?

If a company has a licence to manufacture and sell City merchandise (IE: Keyrings or Mugs or Scarfs) then they can sell them wherever they want (within the terms of the licence)....

City do not run their own merchandising side anymore, it is all run by Kitbag, most of the retail staff at City now work for Kitbag.....

 

[peoffrey]

I thought City only sold their stuff at the official stores?

It's exclusivity on the merchandise.

You can get retro shirts from Mike Ashley's Mob or various other places.

 

[mad4city]

Most of the larger sports shops in Ireland (where I am) carry the tops of the SKY 4 plus Celtic in huge quantities but also (to a much lesser extent) Barca, Real, AC, Inter, Spurs, Villa, Newcastle, Sunderland (since Quinn took over as chairman) and City.
City jersies are definitely more readily available, these days. I suspect that this has something to do with Umbro also making the Irish team's kit rather than glory-hunting fans suddenly appearing. Our supporter's club certainly hasn't seen any dramatic surge in membership since the takeover.
That said, you could buy this year's Liverpool home jersey (if you were so sadly inclined) for €15, in my local JJB, last November! Whether that's the recession or disapponted glory hunters, I do not know.
As for polo shirts, tee shirts, mugs, key rings, duvet covers etc... Yoonited, Liverpool and Celtic yes - anyone else (bar GAA and Munster Rugby, of course), forget about it.
Munster Rugby, incidentally, is by far the biggest sporting brand in Ireland.

 

[danebanksheik]

Is the club marketing machine working?

The reason why I ask is because I live in Durham and the only way I can buy anything City related is via the online store.

I can buy scum, dippers, arse, chelski in fact most other teams stuff but no City Gear?

Why? We are surely missing a trick here in revenue!!

So if you can buy one then what's the problem?

how many extra shirts do you think they would sell in Durham if they made them available in all stores? I am sure we have been here before with this Durham / Hull stuff.

 

[fbloke]

City's model will mean shared retails space (where City create larger turnover) or stand alone stores (such as Abu Dhabi) rather than licensing deals.

The rationale is to maintain the exclusivity and complete control over these things as well as a brand awareness.

It may seem silly to say this but its a bit like the way Apple have done things.

The deal with Kitbag, as far as I can tell, has in it a requirement to open City stores across the globe.

Perhaps marcspurs could also confirm the rumour I heard last year that we might see Umbro stores on the high street as well?