Jenna Piatak: Carlisle United can have 'global' impact

She believes that the Blues can be taken “global” with some well-aimed marketing work.

Jenna, part of the six-strong family who are now United’s owners, is a marketing graduate and intends to apply some of that skill set to her position as a Blues director now.

She said there should be no limits on how far the Blues can be promoted – with some new fans already on board across the pond.

These ideas may not be on supporters' immediate agenda given the chronic need for improvements on the pitch in the wake of Tuesday's annihilation at Reading. But they can certainly be filed in the cabinet of long-term ideas designed to bolster United for years to come.

“There’s so much bandwidth in the community – on TikTok, for example, there’s a fan with over 20,000 followers,” Jenna said.

“How can we use more people in this kind of way? There’s so much more inspiration to be brought.

“That’s how you get more people from all over – not just the UK but over the world. Well thought out marketing spin can take you global and that could be a huge impact for the club.”

Jenna is certainly helping spread the word about United back home in the USA.

Speaking at Monday’s media session with the Cumbrians’ new owners, she said: “After this, we're going to the Blues Store and we're buying 250 kits to bring home to Florida. We're passing one out to every single employee at Magellan [the family’s transport logistics company].

“Nick [DeMasi, Jenna’s fiancé] specifically gave a kit to every single member of his bachelor party, so now there's Blues fans in Connecticut and New York. When you wear the shirt in the United States, you immediately get asked what's the story here? And then you're able to kind of dive into it.

Jenna Piatak and Nick DeMasi talk to the News & Star at Monday's media session (Image: Ben Holmes)

“And for a lot of people, it might be their first glimpse at an EFL team. So why not have Carlisle be their team? All it takes is that one conversation to hopefully get a supporter.”

Jenna has played a key role in the family’s early messaging via their Castle Sports Group social media accounts.

She said the family want to be transparent with fans – and such online activity can bring plenty of positive interaction.

“We’re open to suggestions – reply to us and we’ll try to implement them,” she said.

“We read 95 per cent of comments and tweets, and the humour…we love it.

“A huge thing for me is on the social media side and marketing side, and the accessibility side in terms of being able to get to us.

Jenna, right, with sister-in-law and fellow United director Alice, pictured before Tuesday's game at Reading (Image: Richard Parkes)

“We really want to have that open dialogue with the fans. I want that open channel to be there.

“I think our social media team [at United] does a great job relaying the facts, relaying stats and saying who's going to be playing and who's scoring.

“We kind of want to tap into the more fun side of memes after the game, stuff that's going to really capture that younger audience.

“We see it a lot in the NFL, so kind of taking inspiration from that and making the social media so that everybody wants to follow this, everybody wants to repost it, can widen that reach.”

Jenna has echoed her family’s appreciation for the welcome they have received from Carlisle fans – and said they take the responsibility of running United in the best possible way extremely seriously.

“It’s a huge responsibility and I think we all know that,” she said. “We’re going to be really thoughtful in every decision we make.

“It’s going to be really well planned. We’re ready. We already have plans forming.

“Saturday was super unique. It was a once in a lifetime, kind of pinch-me moment. It felt like we were in a movie standing in the tunnel.

Nick, left, and Jenna, second right, show their delight after being introduced to the crowd on Saturday (Image: Barbara Abbott)

“We really had no direction, it was just, ‘walk to the middle of the pitch and wave’. The reception, the energy, flags flying – I mean, you just can't replicate that feeling and that sense of pride.

“It's also nice to finally have the keys, for the lack of a better term. We've had all these ideas and plans in our minds for the vision of the future.

“But now we're finally able to execute and start doing things and making small changes and hopefully big changes.

“It's hard with the season going on, but there's a lot that we have in mind.”

Jenna, Nick plus Jenna’s brother Tom II and his wife Alice bring a youthful look to United’s board, and she believes that can be an asset.

But she also says the family are mindful to respect the English football culture and not look to import too many things from the US sporting landscape.

 “The NFL can make it a little bit of a spectacle. And sometimes it can be a little too much, where I feel like the EFL…there's so much tradition and history here,” she said.

“Does Olga [United’s mascot] need to bungee jump off the top of the building? Probably not. That's what our mascot does [in Jacksonville]. There's some silly things they [do] where I'm like, ‘We don't need that spectacle’.

“We're here for the game, we're here for the match. But then on the other side, we can bring some fun aspects to it.

“The four younger adults are fully aware that we are young to be in this position.

“But we see it as an asset to bring a different perspective in the boardroom, at the directors’ table. Just kind of a fresh new perspective.”

Alice, left, and Jenna Piatak, right, meet a young fan (Image: Barbara Abbott)

Jenna says she and her family are eager to learn as much as possible about the inner workings at United, and says that process is critical given that they will not be able to be on site at Brunton Park every day.

“I think in a week when we come back [next month], those two and a half weeks are going to be critical to fully understand how this oiled machine works,” she said.

“We’re new to it – who's doing what, making sure everyone has the responsibilities and they're acting on them.

“So I think we'll get a good glimpse at it then. And then as long as we know what everyone's job duties are, it'll be able to do it.

“We have a great leadership team with Paul [Simpson], Nigel [Clibbens] and Suzanne [Kidd], where we know we have good people in charge that have the best interests of the club.

“We're always a phone call away, five hours behind [in Florida], but always a phone call away. And we really are going to make it a priority to be here, especially during this transitional time where we need to get it where it needs to be.”

Jenna also spoke about some of priorities for change inside Brunton Park.

“Bathrooms,” she said. “I know, it sounds simple, but everybody needs them, so we are trying to update the bathrooms in between the bars, the bathrooms near the Warwick Road End, and then also the bathrooms for the players.

“I mean, these are the people that are playing in the match, providing the game that we're all here to see, and their showers and toilets were honestly despicable and a little scary.

“So we've already said that's top of our priority, and we plan on moving to the other side of the stadium of the future.”

Jenna said she is realistic about the need to be transparent in good and bad times during an ownership which the family intend to be for the long run at Brunton Park.

Jenna, third from right, believes having four young family members on the United board can be an asset (Image: Ben Holmes)

“It's been pretty rosy and rainbows this whole beginning, and we know there's going to be hard times but we're not afraid of that,” she said.

“We're here for Carlisle. We're here for the community.”

Jenna said their ownership of United has fulfilled a long-standing family dream – and now they are ready to get to work.

“This has been a long journey over a decade, really,” she said.

“We’ve found the right club and community.

“I’d still be surprised if you told me a year ago [that this would happen], but the stars aligned, it’s the right club and we think we’re the right family for the club.”