Cardiff Blues Website

How a business presents itself in an increasingly digital world is crucial and an important determinant of how successful it is. In this blog we take a quick look at Cardiff Blues’ website against the background of our recent suggestions as to how a professional regional rugby club needs to market itself more effectively.

Let’s start with some good things. The ‘News’ section is always pretty much up-to-date and you can look backwards as far as 2004, month by month, to check out what was happening along each step of our regional journey. The recent mini-films of current squad members and their feelings about playing at Cardiff work really well. You can also find out about who sponsors the team, how you can join the Supporters’ Club (but not CF10!), how to hire the pitch and even about the choir. You can also look at player stats, which are not bad though we reckon not 100% accurate.

There’s no doubt that there’s lots of information on here-possibly too much in fact. It’s easy to slip down a sub-menu and quickly lose track of where you are and why; in this sense, the website looks as if it’s just grown organically without any structure, having more and more content added to it until it has started groaning at the seams. It could do with a prune and reorganisation. While this is something that would cost money and may not therefore be viewed as a priority but it's utterly essential if the company is remotely serious about building a better future. In fact, it’s probably a pivotal step in its doing so. Let’s then look at what doesn’t work at present.

First up has to be the attention paid to the regional role. At present, this is split under two tabs, Rugby Development and Community Rugby. In the former you have six sub-menus that cover subjects from the Blues Academy to the University Cup. There’s no narrative under any menu to explain the role and function of the side in question, just a list of squad members. As we’ve previously reported, the accompanying pen portraits are usually incomplete which, as well as just looking poor, is a missed opportunity to pay tribute to our youngsters’ teams and districts of origin; in other words, a missed opportunity to evidence player pathways in operation and engage interest from the broader region.

You then have the Community Rugby tab, under which is included a real rag bag of content varying from the Cardiff Blues BTEC (a great initiative!), half-time tag rugby, and how to get discounted tickets (but only for junior members of regional clubs and only for the less important matches at CAP). There’s also a small tab on ‘Regional Clubs+’. When you click on this you get a very unimpressive ‘Map of the Region’ and a list of hyperlinks to our 75 regional sides- most of which don’t work. If ever you wanted a statement that the region is an afterthought, then look no further!

Our suggestion would be that the website ditches the separate development and community rugby tabs and replaces it with one called something like ‘Cardiff Blues Regional Development’ in which the club properly reflects its role in the WRU development pathway and makes all our member clubs feel part of that pathway rather than a half-forgotten postscript. This should be backed up with action. We used, for example to hold a ‘Regional Clubs’ Day’, at which clubs could get 25 free tickets. It was meant to be an annual event, but we think that the last one was held in 2013…on a Sunday...with a 2.05pm kickoff…and against Edinburgh.

‘Regional Clubs’ Day’ should be an annual event, but it should be held on an A match day, not simply on a day when ticket sales are likely to be poor. The club representatives should receive our best hospitality and could perhaps march around the ground before kick-off (rather than at half-time when most people are either queuing for the loo or the bar). The inclusion of regional club names on the new Llanelli Scarlets home and away shirts is also a great idea to steal. It’s really not difficult to be more inclusive is it?

Second, there is nothing about Cardiff’s rugby history on the site-a particularly appalling oversight and particularly so when allegedly ‘The history and heritage of Cardiff Rugby at Cardiff Arms Park is of paramount importance to the Board and it is essential to protect all elements of this great club and its iconic home.’ In time, we hope that there will be a hyperlink to the online museum that we at CF10 are currently building-to be fair, Richard Holland is keen on this too-but in the interim, let’s at least have a timeline of great moments in Cardiff rugby history. If the Scarlets shop can be built around a replica score board form the 1972 All Blacks match and their official history (link) cover the full and proper history of the team, why are we so feeble and inconsistent in promoting our heritage? Clubs like Gloucester manage this so much better. Established in 2003 my arse!

Third, there is nothing on the structure of the management – nothing on who runs Cardiff Blues. There should be pen portraits of the board and full-time officials with details of how to contact them directly rather than through the ether. As we’ve suggested, there should also be copies of board meeting minutes available. Above all, there should be a clear statement of what the business’ strategic plan is-assuming of course that we have one.

The website is really reflective of a beast that doesn’t know whether it’s a lion or a dormouse. Is it a region or is it a club? The answer is that it’s both, but neither function is addressed even remotely well on the current site. It’s easy to sort though if the will is there. Let’s do it!