Magazine Advertising

[NoelStokoe]

I would just like to say that this is my first post on this most interesting thread which was started by Alan regarding putting adverts into the motoring press to publicise the Club. This has created a fantastic debate, most of which I agree with even though we tend to go off at a tangent at times, but this makes it all the more enjoyable when you read the full thread in one go!
To answer Alan’s specific point, for what it is worth, I do not think the Club gets value for money by placing adverts in the Old Motor Press, as these are now very expensive, and you would need at least 4 or 5 new members each time one is placed to cover our expenses, which from past experience, does not happen. In the good old days some magazines placed free adverts for clubs, but sadly, those days are long gone, we are, however, mentioned in the lists of clubs that several of the magazines produce.
To turn the clock back to February 1984, I came along to the Exec Meeting and volunteered for the then vacant post of Press Officer for the Club, I was told then that this was a novelty as people were normally “volunteered” for roles they did not really want! In my opinion I have carried out these duties with the same enthusiasm I started out with almost 30-years ago as a fresh-faced 33-year-old with a full head of hair, as I still have the same love for Jowetts that I had all those years ago!

I have thoroughly enjoyed this role over the years and feel I have done a lot to promote the Jowett marque since I started out and have been told on many occasions that Jowetts are, “punching above their weight” in the amount of publicity that we manage to obtain. I am sure this is true, but it does not just happen, a lot of hard work has to go in to achieve these results.

Anyway that was then and this is now, and yes I totally agree we MUST get more of our younger members involved with the running of the Club. I think that with the guidance of some of the older committee members they can bring a breath of fresh air into the Club.

I for one am greatly enjoying working closely with Jack Moon on the 2013 90th Anniversary of the Club Rally, as he has great enthusiasm and has new ideas that I would not have been able to come up with such as the internet vote for the Practical Classics car of the Year awards, firstly with Amy’s Jupiter and now Alan’s Kestrel, also the donation of the Javelin to the Leeds College which has also produced numerous articles, and will continue to do so over the coming years as the car is restored. Another great addition to our Shop are the new tax disc holders that Jack has arranged, they have the “QR Patch” on them so people with a smart phone can scan it and get directly on line to our Club Website. This clearly works as Keith reported that he had hits from all the countries he visited on his marathon Baltic trip in the Jupiter. I know that at the last Exec meeting there were jokes made about these patches, but clearly, if things like this are embraced by the Club it will make us much more accessible to a greater audience as we move further into the 21st century.

Coming back to the 90th Anniversary rally next year, Jack and I have been busy with several ideas, I suggested that we should have a proper logo, as we did when the North East Section arranged the 1993 Rally – the 70th Anniversary Rally, we used this on all our correspondence and it seemed to help us have articles published, as it looked a little more professional. Jack has now had this super logo produced which I will use on all correspondence I write regarding the rally. It also appears on the 1,000 word Press Release I have done for Jack, which is the basis of the article in last week’s Classic Car Weekly. (I have Press Releases of various lengths which I can alter to fit most requests). I am planning to send this to all the motoring magazines over the next week or so, as to quote a phrase used by one of my previous bosses, “We want to hit the ground running in 2013!”

I have also mentioned in the last Jowetteer that a very easy way to produce free publicity in local papers is for any Jowett owner who is attending the Rally to contact their paper to say they are going. In my experience, if there is a local connection they are more than happy to publish an article plus a picture as it is easy to arrange. I have also offered to send a Press Release to any owner with details of the Club’s history, if required, to make the exercise as easy as possible for them.

A note of caution….I have had no requests for a Press Release so far – in fact after nearly 30 years of requests for interesting articles from the membership, I have only had two or three articles sent to me, so I have had to come up with them myself! Apathy Rules as they say….let’s hope that 2013 is a year when the membership really comes up trumps with lots of new ideas!

I commented earlier about this post going off at a tangent, and I am sure I must be the worst culprit after writing this epistle, but at least you can see what we are hoping to do!
Noel

[Chris Spencer]

Noel - Really nice to hear your prospective of it - for me the last few years have been a proved a huge success with all the publicity angles we have managed to achieve has a club - my main point is let's just keep that ball rolling - I know that Jack keeps the fresh idea's coming in and we are always thinking / bouncing ideas off each other when we are together (mainly in the workshop) - the other point is that some members tend to confuse the point that although they may write a worthy article for 'The Jowetter' which gets printed - it will have it's limitations in terms of impact - please remember that although excellent 'The Jowetteer' is read virtually by members only - it does not tell the world what we are doing as a club - only the members can do that - so please ensure that you keep Noel & Jack informed of any news / event where the club can gain publicity from a wider audience.