Are You Reddi?

First off, I’ve left this in the General section as I believe it will reach a wider audience here. Anyway, to set the scene, last week I went along to the new Abbey Stadium gym with my girlfriend to check out the facilities with a view to joining. She had already informed me that for £25 a month she gets unlimited gym access, free swimming pool and badminton sessions around Redditch and also, that her membership automatically entitles her to a Reddicard.
That night I went home, curious to see what this Reddicard was all about. What I found on the website (http://redditch.whub.org.uk/cms/communications/live-features/reddicard.aspx) was that it’s basically a discount scheme where for one cheap payment holders can get money off sports lessons, kids holiday clubs, Palace Theatre shows and Forge Mill etc. Basically reading between the line it’s aimed at families.
Anyway, a few days ago during what must have been a rather dull period of the day I started thinking about the Reds and our poor attendances. Then everything clicked into place. At the gym I’d seen packed exercise rooms mainly consisting of young males from Redditch who by being there would possess a Reddicard. From the blurb on the link above it seemed that those who would buy a Reddicard as a one off would almost certainly be parents with young kids. Therefore, by possessing one of these it seems that Redditch United’s target market’s (young males and parents with young kids) are ticked straight away.
Over the years our relationship with the council has been hostile to say the least, but this could go some way to fixing it if both sides worked together! Maybe the club could collaborate with the council to include Redditch United on the cards discounts with the following offers? Say £3 off entry for adults paying individually and free entry for kids with full paying adults who present a card at the gate (meaning the adults £3 saving here comes off the kid’s entry price instead.) This would then lead to people like the gym bods telling their mates and parents telling other parents that they can get a cheap day out at the Reds for their football mad kids. This then equals greater revenue for the Reds in terms of programme sales, drinks, food etc and more people coming through the turnstiles if we can also make use of the councils advertising wing to spread the word in papers/buses/council facilities such as the Abbey Stadium. The carrot for the council of course is the possibility that regular Reds fans and other football fans of Redditch would then be more likely to buy a Reddicard themselves to get a discount at the gates. This means more cards sold for them and more money spent at their facilities as the card would always be there and people are more likely to use a local pool or see a show at the theatre if they’ve already got a discount included on the asking price.
Personally I don’t have the time or resources at my disposal to chase the council and put my idea into action. Howver, if anyone who works at the club thinks it’s worth a shot then I’d be happy to help out. As fans we have tried to advertise the club to the local community and surrounding areas and thus far nothing has really worked so I thought this should be suggested. Anyway, this is just a spur of the moment idea that came about from using local facilities. For the record I’d never been to the Abbey Stadium gym before last week but am now likely to join. I’d like to think that many of those at the gym or parents who use other Redditch facilities could be given the opportunity to visit the Valley for the first time and leave with the same attitude. Please let me know what you all think

Top idea mate and looks like something the club should consider as it is a good market to target for those living in the town who have a Reddicard

Great idea!

But you'll get the old argument "Why should he have £3 off when me being a loyal, long time supporter have to pay full price"

We already know that the Regulars will pay their £10 and the non-regulars won't... so why not offer them discounts.

If they come back again it can only be a good thing.

Brilliant idea!

Great shout TG! I'll copy this post to the Club Comments section too.
Would think that £3 entry is a little cheap though, maybe £6/£7.

I think TG means £3 off not £3 in mate.

Brilliant, brilliant idea. (So good I named it twice.)

porrohman wrote:I think TG means £3 off not £3 in mate.

RB, just to clarify I did mean 3 quid off not 3 quid in.

Cheers and thanks for the responses.

Apologies, I misread!