TTM is rubbing people up the wrong way

The Limpopo side whose existence in the paid ranks started when they bought the GladAfrica Championship status of Milano United in 2017. The club then went on to do well in he country’s first division and have twice come close to winning promotion.

They forced their way to the top division by unexpectedly buying Bidvest Wits’ Premiership status.

For this, the club got some stick as some were unhappy with how the transaction happened and how it means an end of an institution that’s produced so many stars for local football.

For me, it doesn’t bother me that the club chose short cuts to get to the division every team in the country dreams of competing in. What has been a worry for me is a lack of marketing strategy for the club.

Their media and marketing division has been doing one blunder after the other. It started when they sent out a poorly written statement ‘congratulating’ Wits. Then, when they signed Oupa Manyisa and Joseph Malongoane, they declined media interviews for print and digital media whole ferrying them around to radio interviews.

Then it came to the way they handled their last game in the Championship where they played Swallows FC who desperately needed a win while they were already guaranteed a place in the playoffs.

The things they said on their social media platforms and the way the team performed left a sour taste. It was like they deliberately let Swallows win.

Then this weekend they again sent out a statement congratulating their opponents in the three team playoffs, Black Leopards after losing to them 1-0. They congratulated Leopards as if they had won the playoffs and went back to the top flight. This didn’t sit well with Ajax Cape Town who are the other team in the playoffs and who also lost their first position to Swallows.

Their communication has not hit the right spots and will lose them potential supporters if they are not careful.