The latest Episode of BasChat, with Bas Schnater and Kevin Rye, focuses on Fan Journey Mapping.  We’ve provided a breakdown of the steps to take, some resources to do it, and some tips, below If you want to get in touch with us to discuss this further, drop us a line via the contact details on our website  Fan Journey Mapping: How to do it Step One: Preparations Find a model that could help map the journey (try the Lego Experience Wheel, below) that shows the fan journey from the moment the...

Recorded in Jan 2021, this is a chat with Darren Bernstein, Director of Bury AFC. Darren was previously in a number of senior Marketing & Communications roles at The EFL, FA, and British Squash and Racketball. He also teaches at the football university, UCFB at their Etihad Campus, and is an Independent Non Executive Director at British Orienteering. It’s a dig into the challenges that the club has faced during a hell of a time to be reforming, and touches on some important points about...

The Fan Engagement Chat is where we hear about someone’s approach to Fan Engagement.  Recorded in Jan 2021, this interview is a conversation with US football (Soccer) activist, Paul Cox. Paul, who lives in Valencia, Spain, has been a fan of Seattle Sounders for years, and when in the States was involved in the formation of a couple of fan groups/organisations, including the Seattle Sounders Fan Alliance, of which he’s the former Chair...

This week Sports Marketing Guru Tim Crow and TFE's Kevin Rye chat with Julian Jenkins, whose Simul Sports Group recently put in a bid for Wigan Athletic, and is looking to buy - and radically change - a football club, based on Fan Engagement, Corporate Community Activism and a radical approach to the finances.  Part One: Wrexham, Netflix and Thrills Part Two: Cardiff City - Aren’t we supposed to be in it together? Part Three: Be the best Charlton Athletic you can be He tells us why he’s...

Welcome to the Fan Engagement Chat, the episode of the Fan Engagement Pod where we hear about someone’s approach to Fan Engagement.  Until recently, Jacob Naish was Commercial Director at FC Nordsjælland - one of the most innovative sports organisations in the world and the youngest professional football team in Europe. The club - part of the Right to Dream Group - has a unique model for developing players which emphasises the nurturing of purpose, character, and leadership in the young...

Welcome to the Fan Engagement Chat, the episode of the Fan Engagement Pod where we hear about someone’s approach to Fan Engagement.  This week we hear from Nick Hawker, Chair of the Exeter City Supporters Trust. We hear about how they managed to achieve top place in the Fan Engagement Index for the second year in a row, and in 2019/2020, put even more points on the board. We talk about why there’s more in common between Man United and Exeter City than some people think, and how constant...

Welcome to the Fan Engagement Chat, the episode of the Fan Engagement Pod where we hear about someone’s approach to Fan Engagement.  This episode is a chat with Howard Krais, former President of the UK Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators, and co-author of Who’s listening? A research project exploring how organisations listen to employees. We talked about the shared lessons & insights we can apply in football clubs.  Howard also happens to have been former...

Scott Goodacre runs The Online Rule, which publishes The State of Football Social Media (new edition out now), which examines the use of social media by football clubs globally, and thought to be 'the biggest survey of football social media staff in the world' (but he adds that if it's not, he's going to claim it is until someone tells him otherwise!) Whatever it is, it's a really important contribution to understanding how clubs use technology and social media to listen - or not. His work...

Welcome to the Fan Engagement Chat, the episode of the Fan Engagement Pod where we hear about someone’s approach to Fan Engagement. This episode takes a look at the fastest risers in the Fan Engagement Index for 2019/2020, Bristol Rovers, in a chat with Commercial Director Tom Gorringe, who you can also hear in Episode 5. He comes with a richly deserved reputation for being one of the most effective at Fan Engagement in the game. How? I think it’s that he’s got an attitude of ‘getting things...

This is a new episode of the Fan Engagement Pod called Did They Ask The Fans, where Sports Marketing guru Tim Crow and me, Kevin Rye from Think Fan Engagement, talk about why fans don’t get listened to in football, and why that has to change. Guest this edition is Ronan Evain from Football Supporters Europe, talking about the clown-car of Super League and the lack of business acumen shown by all clubs involved, and why sponsors could now be at the forefront of pushing for change.  Don’t...

We're launching a new episode of The Fan Engagement Pod called Did They Ask The Fans, and the first one drops on 10/05/21. Sports Marketing guru Tim Crow and me, Kevin Rye from Think Fan Engagement, talk about why fans don’t get listened to in football, and why that has to change. Tomorrow starts with Ronan Evain from Football Supporters Europe, talking about the clown-car of Super League and the lack of business acumen shown by all clubs involved, and why sponsors could now be at the...

The Fan Engagement Pod is taking a short break this week, but will return for the launch of the Fan Engagement Index for 2019/2020 season next Wednesday 5th May. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Episode 43 of the Fan Engagement Pod is a very timely chat with former CEO of sports marketing firm Synergy Global, Tim Crow. He now does a variety of things, including advising other sports, brands and clubs. In his spare time he’s a fan of Halifax Town. Given the talk of a European Super League, this episode is a great bit of insight into the world of sports marketing, the psychology of clubs and particularly some of the foul ups that get committed by brands and rights holders when they...

Episode 42 of the Fan Engagement Pod is a chat with Amanda Jacks. Since 2008, Amanda has been been working to improve the treatment of matchgoing fans in England & Wales for the Football Supporters Federation, and now the Football Supporters Association. On a practical level she works with supporters in trouble, assisting them through the complaints process & improving their access to justice. She also works with external stakeholders, including the Police, to ensure a positive match...

Episode 41 of the Fan Engagement Pod is a bonus episode, with Fiona Green from sports industry data experts Winners, chatting about the new edition of her book, Winning with Data, published by Routledge.  She’s well known in her field, and you can hear more about her and what Winners does in Episode 30. We’ve also got three copies of her book to give away. Listen to find out how! If you’re not fortunate enough to win a copy of her book, go to https://tinyurl.com/fionagreen to buy a copy. It’s...

Episode 40 of the Fan Engagement Pod is a bit of a special one. We’ve gathered together five fan facing communications, media and social media managers and officers from clubs in the Premier League, Championship, League One, Two and National League North.  They are: Alex O’Loughlin, Media Content Officer at Southampton FC, Elliot Byrne, Multimedia Journalist at AFC Bournemouth, Scott Demmerling, Head of Media at Shrewsbury Town FC, Scott Palfrey, Marketing Manager at Exeter City FC and Dan...

Episode 39 of the Fan Engagement Pod is a chat with Christopher Addison from Le Golf National in Paris, where he holds a customer experience and marketing role. He has also studied sport and management both at the renowned Stirling University, and at Dundee, where he did a Masters.  This was recorded in Summer 2020, not long after the first nationwide lockdowns finished both at home and abroad.  Although he’s done some football related work with Mark Bradley at the Fan Experience Company, our...

Episode 4 of BasChat is a bit of a departure, but for a reason. It’s the last one in its current format. As you’ll hear in this episode we’re going to be changing things around a little bit, and in the future, focusing on the club side of Fan Engagement with Bas. This time around we look at the value of Fan Engagement when you get that approach from a tech company, why clubs value sponsorships & partnerships as they do and whether leagues should be providing more help to clubs to build...

Episode 38 of the Fan Engagement Pod is a chat with Cambridge United Director, Dave Matthews Jones. Dave is the director elected by fans, via the Cambridge United supporters’ trust, Cambridge Fans United. He’s learned to accept the realities of the game and not let them get to him too much! This was recorded in late May 2020, towards the end of the first nationwide lockdown.  The role Dave holds has existed since 2004, coming from a crisis that saw the Trust lead a campaign to raise £100,000...

Episode 37 of the Fan Engagement Pod is a chat with the Football Supporters Association’s Ashley Brown.  Ashley led the fan takeover of Portsmouth FC in 2013, and was a director until 2017 when US media mogul Michael Eisner took over. Under the stewardship of the supporters, the club was transformed off the pitch into a club unrecognisable from the one that collapsed twice and was caught up in never-ending financial crises.  Ashley now works as Head of Supporter Engagement and Governance at...

Episode 36 of the Fan Engagement Pod is a chat with Cheltenham Town Media Manager, Richard Joyce and Associate Director Murry Toms. Like many clubs of their size and level, they don’t have teams of people working on communications & engagement. Richard works across the piece, whilst Murry provides support on a practical and strategic level for Richard’s work.  This interview provides a really good window into Fan Engagement & communication with fans at a club of their size, how...

Welcome to BasChat episode three. This is where me, Kevin Rye and Bas Schnater, Fan Engagement consultant and expert, chat about marketing, commercial and activations with a Fan Engagement Flavour.  This month we look at the known unknown of what happens after Covid and the return of fans to stadiums, focusing on whether brands will pull back from their involvement in clubs, season ticket ‘no-shows’, and why we both think that in rebuilding a commercially viable club, dialogue will matter...

Welcome to Episode 35 of the Fan Engagement Pod, a chat with the person responsible at The FA for relationships with The Football Supporters Association, as well as clubs and others, Director of Professional Game Relations, Andy Ambler.  Andy used to run Millwall and before that, Fulham, under quite different owners, John Berylson and Muhammed Fayed. At Millwall they had a fan on the board (and still do). He has a fantastic level of insight when it comes to how clubs and their owners think,...

Welcome to Episode 34 of the Fan Engagement Pod is a wide ranging conversation with Brighton & Hove Albion Chief Executive & Vice Chair, Paul Barber. Paul is someone liked and respected throughout the industry, and we cover plenty of ground, ranging from the way in which leadership and values shape the way the club is run at all levels, involving all staff, and how that impacts on engagement with fans, to how important intention has been in rebuilding Brighton from a club that nearly...

Welcome to Episode 33 of the Fan Engagement Pod, a chat with another Mark, this time Mark Catlin the Chief Executive of Portsmouth FC. Mark is someone I don’t need to persuade of the merits of open and transparent communication, and good Fan Engagement, as they finished 9th in the inaugural Fan Engagement Index.  We chat about the prospects for football whenever it is we emerge from the pandemic, and what his concerns are in terms of numbers - and whether he’s concerned about a potential...