Business Advantages of Supporter Community ... - Supporters Direct

6 Co-operative ‘Added Value’Key Question:Does co-operative community ownership help create ‘added value’ forthe club?Top Three Findingsi) Most of the clubs felt that community ownership could give themadvantages when marketing the club as co-operatively owned.ii) Some clubs have overtly and deliberately used this distinctiveness totheir strategic business advantage.iii) Clubs who felt that this impact was limited said that this was due moreto the limitations of their overall marketing strategy overall rather thantheir co-operative ownership.Most clubs involved in this work feltMost clubs involved in this work that marketing their businesses asfelt that marketing their businesses co-operatively owned gives them aas co-operatively owned gives competitive advantage over companiesthem a competitive advantage over owned in more common, privatecompanies owned in more common, ways. This was based on it giving themprivate ways.distinction in the market place butalso a set of demonstrable values withregards to co-operation, financial responsibility, democracy and communityinvolvement that other clubs could not match.Lee Carter from AFC Telford United said that the ‘closeness’ of supporters,staff, players and officials was something that helped attract wider audiencescompared with other football clubs:‘The power of the community owning the club is still the most attractive messagewe can get out to the public. Our ethos is attractive to people once they can seethat Telford is a family-friendly, community-owned club, where they can bringtheir children to games and have that experience of touching and feeling a footballclub again – being able to speak to a manager or get the autograph of a playerand feel a part of something. I believe that is what community ownership gives usand that’s very powerful in terms of our marketing.’One point that was raised by several clubs was that it does take time to buildan understanding of what co-operative ownership means and to changeBusiness Advantages of Supporter Community Ownership 27