New appointment at the U's
Oxford United are pleased to welcome Marcus Rutter to the club as Marketing Officer.
Marcus, 21, joins the club after completing a degree in Broadcasting and will be responsible for marketing, match day experience, family provision and supporter services.
He said:
"It's a great opportunity and one I am really looking forward to. I have been made to feel very welcome and I'm looking forward to helping strengthen an already very strong link between the club and the fans."
Managing Director Greig Box Turnbull said:
“Marcus is really enthusiastic and has a real passion for football, marketing and fan engagement. We're delighted he has joined the backroom team. I'm sure he will quickly make his mark and take the club’s marketing and fan engagement to a new level.”
Marcus joins after the departure of Sarah Gooding who is joining the West Ham Community Trust. We thank Sarah and wish her well for the future.
The club is today launching fresh ways to enhance fan engagement and supporter services.
A new designated email address for fans to send feedback and ask questions has been launched. You can now get in touch via ask@oufc.co.uk
And as part of the club's commitment to supporter engagement two United followers will be appointed as Fan Liaison Officers. Any interested fans should email ask@oufc.co.uk to register interest in the volunteer role.
Additionally the club is in active discussions with Oxvox around broadening ways in which fans feedback can be gathered by the Supporters Trust on a matchday and then be channelled into the club.
Greig said:
“We have examined how we use all of our communication platforms, how we interact with supporters and also how to market the club more widely. This process has involved internal discussions, consultation from external experts and discussions with various supporters. This will remain a fluid process.
"It’s an exciting opportunity and one we are sure will be both flexible and adaptable as we put it into place.
"The new email address will provide a central gateway for supporters to get in touch and receive a response.
"We're excited about the opportunity to appoint United supporters as Fan Liaison Officers. It will strengthen links and provide additional channels for supporters feedback into the Board. We’d like an adult and a young adult to fulfil the volunteer roles, so that the club receives feedback from different perspectives and parts of the fan base. Having supporters as Fan Liaison Officers is popular on the Continent and is just starting to take off in the UK.
"The community is at the heart of Oxford United and we all enjoy working hard to bring the club and supporters together and understand they are at the heart of Oxford United."
The club is also preparing to implement a fresh marketing programme, with an aim to spread the Oxford United story more widely.
Greig added:
"In time our marketing outreach will include physically going out into our communities more with engaging activities, in schools, sports clubs and town centres. This will be combined with an even stronger use of video content and a renewed focus on the club's use of CRM, so it is more engaging and more targeted."
The central focus of United's social media platforms will be to communicate the club's news and activities.
Fans will notice one or two changes in the way the club interacts over the next few weeks on Twitter and Facebook.
Although we will endeavour to answer every question we recognise that this can make the official timeline hard to follow and so will, where appropriate, reply by DM to fans asking a question.
The club will endeavour to forward any enquiries that require a more detailed answer to the correct department by email and track these to ensure that an answer is supplied. The Club policy is to reply to all emails within 24 hours, where possible.
A team of Club staff will be responsible for maintaining Twitter and Facebook, to ensure supporters are kept up to date on all areas of Oxford United.