It's been a fairly quiet off-season in Perth so far. There's been no Asian Champions League, no real deep run into the finals, and nothing in the way of Socceroos action on our doorstep. For once even the notorious rumour mill seems to have died down; and end-of-season staff changes at the club haven't really seen a smooth transition in terms of constant useful information being fed to the public.

So you can imagine the reaction when this was posted on Perth Glory's twitter account:

 

@PerthGloryFC

MARQUEE ANNOUNCEMENT Perth Glory to announce major Italian signing tomorrow..

 

For those of you who may not be able to picture the flurry of speculation that followed, it went something like this:

 

@dprcolpol

Ambrosini?

 

@smat1616

Ambrosini would be lush

 

@Kuta15

I heard Ambrosini received an offer from an Australian club last week

 

@FoxSportsNews

Stay tuned to #Ch513 today as @PerthGloryFC are expected to make a major announcement regarding a new Italian marquee player #ALeague

 

@stustar09

Can’t wait to find out who this big name Italian player is that we have just signed!! #whowhowho #aleague @PerthGloryFC

 

@docker_dave

Luca Toni to @PerthGloryFC ??? #ishetheone #aleague #marquee #lucatoni

 

Now Glory fans are not what you'd call virgins to the ways of disappointment. Obviously, a number of those online had seen similar stunts pulled before, and were deservedly wary of this 'marquee signing'. Still, perhaps due to the psychological makeup of football fans, any outward scepticism still masked a secret skerrick of hope hidden deep inside - maybe, just maybe, we had landed someone. Luca Toni was getting on… Ambrosini had just been released by AC Milan and had been rumoured for a MLS or A-League side. Perhaps Del Piero had been speaking with some of his former teammates about a move down under? Against all hope, perhaps we would pull off the coup of the season…

 

@PerthGloryFC

Bellissimo! Glory joins a great Italian family Macron. Home to Lazio, Napoli, Bologna & more. NEW kit – can’t wait! bit.ly/1auRmPn

 

Well, shit.

Within minutes – nay, seconds – of Perth Glory's current social media operator tweeting that announcement, there was an instant reaction:

 

@yolajenga

Oh Perth Glory, it’s too pathetic to be funny. #aleague

 

@A_n_d_r_e_w_S

@PerthGloryFC If Macron was you “Marquee announcement” you will have become the most hated #Aleague team. No way to treat your fans

 

@neilsherwin

Very disappointing manipulation of fan emotions by Glory ahead of the Macron announcement. Absolutely no need for it. #aleague

 

@matthewbrala

So it seems Massimo Ambrosini has transformed into an Italian sportswear company. That’s a neat trick. #aleague

 

@dasher39

I think @PerthGloryFC’s “marquee” announcement will be used for years as an example of how NOT to use Social Media. #epicfail

 

@dprcolpol

Fucken cocktease shouldn’t have said “marquee”

 

@rhimmer

@PerthGloryFC should know that false advertising (tweets are ads) makes customers very pissed off #aleague #fail

 

@JasonJFT9620_Jun

Simply deceitful @PerthGloryFC, putting hope into loyal members by announcing an "Italian marquee" only to announce Macron. Horrible PR.

 

Over on the club’s Facebook page, the fury continued:

 

“Trolled, we hate you Glory”

 

“Last week Ambrosini received an offer from an Australian club. Yesterday, glory said on twitter they were going to announce a marquee Italian signing. To find out it's just this I'm pretty annoyed.”

 

“Today’s announcement makes the club look like a pack of these, especially after announcing a Marquee signing [picture of donkeys]”

 

“You really are a bunch of clowns. Marketing 101: Do not raise the expectations of your customer only to deliver well below those expectations.”

 

“Just not being a douche bag 101 says not to do this but it continual happens. Maybe they are of the opinion any publicity is good publicity. Well its clearly not“

 

“Want to hear a joke? Perth Glory”

 

Now the heads-of at Perth will no doubt wave their hands and say that this will all blow over - and to be honest, it probably will. The 'internets' have already returned to normal, or something approaching it. But sadly, that misses the point entirely.

The thing about social media is that it's supposed to be exactly that - social. You build engagement, you build excitement, and you get people involved in something that they care about (or more to the point, you convince them that they do care about it). Most of you reading this article had probably never heard of Joseph Kony, and to be honest these days you've probably gone back to not hearing about him. But for a brief moment in 2012 everyone seemingly cared about Kony. That's the power of a clever piece of social media.

This little announcement by the club however was never about building engagement - or if it was, it was done with incredibly poor forethought. Even pre-ADP, the word 'marquee' has particular connotations in Australian football. Definitely in these post-ADP days, the phrase 'Italian Marquee' can only mean one thing - and it struts its stuff on the pitches around Sydney, attracting throngs of people wherever it goes. So to announce you're about to sign a new Italian marquee, and then unveil a new shirt, well… that's just plain stupidity on the club's behalf. What do you think fans are going to react with? You're not building expectation - or rather you are; you're building expectations that you know you can't meet. Why on earth would you do that?

What's more, I lie when I say Perth was unveiling a new kit - they were simply revealing the manufacturer. There wasn't even a new shirt to show! How much of a drop is that from the lofty expectations of a new international marquee player? It's like walking into a high class restaurant and ordering the 'fresh market fish of the day' only to be served Birds Eye lemon crumbed fillets! You just wouldn’t do it. Yet someone in the Glory offices obviously thought this was a great way to gain some attention in amongst all the Socceroos qualification talk, despite surely knowing what kind of backlash they would receive.

To be honest, with the staff turnover at the club at the end of last season, I’m not sure who is responsible. I don’t know if the new social media person is one of the many ‘personal assistants’ at the club, or a work experience kid, or even one of the coaches (there’s a great in-joke about the future of the club being so reliant on Alistair Edwards that he does the coaching, cleaning, and communications too). Considering that (almost) any one of these could be a possibility, I don’t want to be too harsh on the person responsible – but it’s just the latest in a long line of off-field happenings at the club during their time in the A-League that simply reflect a lack of care for their fanbase.

To help this person going forward, here’s a couple of ways the same information could have been communicated without causing a furore:

@PerthGloryFC

X WEEKS TIL OUR NEW KIT IS UNVEILED Step one happens tomorrow with the announcement of our new kit partner – who do you think it will be?

In this example, you’re clearly setting the expectation with your audience that you’ll just be announcing a supplier. At the same time, you’re connecting it to a bigger goal that people might actually care about (seeing the new kits). Finally, you’re encouraging engagement by getting your audience speculating and discussing the subject – but without going overboard in terms of their expectations.

@PerthGloryFC

NEW KIT SUPPLIER ANNOUNCED TOMORROW – Would you like a chance to design a third kit for Perth Glory? Get creating in our competition!

Here is another example, similar to the above, but one that takes engagement in a different direction. Designing new kits isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (personally I don’t care for it) but there are a lot of people with the creativity and time to get involved in such a competition – just see Melbourne Heart as the most recent example. Glory’s paltry effort at a ‘special’ kit so far has been a hideous all-blue outfit ‘celebrating’ their connection with QBE insurance… perhaps a competition like this would encourage a lot more positive feeling amongst their fans?

I’m sure those reading this can come up with many other ways to communicate this information, and I’d be happy to see them in the comments below. But the point remains that the club chose probably the worst strategy imaginable in terms of this announcement, and instead of engaging and enthusing their fans, they’ve instead enraged and embittered them.

 

Returning to my earlier thoughts on the mental makeup of a football fan, even someone like myself, who wrote about unsubscribing from the club due to their off-field antics harbours hope that the club can somehow turn things around, despite all signs to the contrary – I think all Glory fans past and present, whether they go to the games or not, still have that hope hidden away. For a while, with Alistair Edwards taking the limelight off people like Tony Sage, and saying all the right things in press conferences, articles, and fan forums, it almost seemed like subscribing once more would become a certainty. Then something like this happens – something as innocuous and silly as a stupid tweet – and we’re once again reminded of an attitude in the offices of the club that seemingly treats fans with mere contempt, and we’re back at square one once more.

Perhaps as time goes on, Perth will miraculously sign an Ambrosini from somewhere (hopefully not the Italian seventh division masters reserves). But for now, it’s just another blight on the club’s ability to communicate and engage – and puts more pressure on the football department to distract people from the woes of the administration. In the meantime, at least other A-League clubs have been given a timely lesson in how not to engage and excite their fans.

Isn't that just Perth Glory, though – helping other A-League clubs improve since 2006.