Best Use of Technology in a Football Club 2017
Aston Villa FC
Our 2017/18 season ticket campaign revolved around ‘#MyVillaMoments’ and included the combination of various live data sources to create a progressive, fully personalised and responsive website for every season ticket holder and match ticket purchaser. The PURL allowed them to re-live the defining moments of the 16/17 season – to truly see what they’d be missing without a season ticket in 17/18. Using rich media, behavioural data and Opta stats we created over 50,000 websites with 19 variable sources of data in each.
The campaign goal was to build a 1-to-1 conversation with our supporters, highlighting to them the exciting moments of their attendances at Villa Park in order to encourage season ticket renewal or purchase. Other aims included a target of early bird sales, a specific marketing ROI, a % renewal rate and a set revenue vs. number of season ticket holders.
The campaign went on to be the most successful season ticket marketing campaign in the past 10 years, breaking several records and all targets, despite the Club finishing in its lowest position for 44 years.
Derby County FC with NewTek
In order to engage more effectively with fans and increase revenue streams, Derby County made significant investments in NewTek’s live production equipment and dedicated staff to produce high quality content for Pride Park Stadium’s jumbo screens and the club’s subscription-based online offering, RAMS TV.
In a relatively short space of time, Derby County has transformed the way in which it communicates to fans, and enabled the club to enhance its offering to sponsors and advertisers
Hull City
The launch of our new Club website which combines our news, ticketing, Tigers TV and new Tigers Rewards scheme in one domain.
Using in-depth CRM and analytics we are able to create bespoke advertising using over 25 pieces of supporter data. This enables us to ensure supporters only see relevant information and advertising but also has the commercial benefit of selling the same advertising to multiple companies.
The new site also houses our ticketing sales allowing supporters the ability to browse stories whilst adding tickets to their basket. They can also purchase Tiger Travel and car parking passes all within one location.
We have relaunched Tigers TV to be the main stop for all supporters for the latest videos and highlights. This is accessed through a free login on the site to enable us to analyse which demographics are viewing certain videos allowing us to cater more accurately for their tastes. We believe that this content should be free to all supporters and do not believe in hiding behind a pay wall.
In comparison with 2016, on launch in July 2017 we saw a 145% increase in users to 135,000 and almost double the number of page views with 669,000.
Leicester City FC with Seven League
Leicester City Football Club renewed all of their digital platforms in Summer 2017 – from main club website to ticketing, e-commerce and in-store retail.
Integrations across multiple vendors delivered in just 5 months from start to launch resulted in the most unified digital fan experience of any club in Europe, with a Single Sign On solution underpinning consistent UI and UX across all sites.
SSO and the associated Foxes Rewards scheme enables a membership scheme that combines access to tickets and content with cash value on purchases and a clear, incentivised journey through free and paid tiers.
Content presentation is beautiful, engagement stats are up and sales conversion rates are much improved, in particular on mobile.
Insight around site usage is market-leading, as is the Club’s ability to understand and improve the fan experience.
All of the above enables the club to deliver great content to fans on any device, and to create much improved commercial value for partners.
Manchester City FC with SAP
Manchester City, alongside official Cloud Software Provider and trusted technology partner, SAP, collaborated to place technology at the heart of the fan experience.
SAP designed and created the Premier League’s first fan-friendly interactive digital wall, entitled #CityPulse, featuring touchscreen interface and video display, located in City Square – the social hub of the Etihad Stadium.
The #CityPulse Wall, powered by SAP HANA, was designed to enhance the match-day experience for fans and help change how they access and consume football data, providing them with access to data-driven insights, real-time statistics and player profiles for every player across Manchester City’s First Team, Women’s Team and Youth Squad.
Through these insights, fans are able to analyse their favourite players throughout the season and dive deeper into tailored performance indicators.
The #CityPulseWall Teaser video and Launch video had very positive engagement on social media with more than 232,000 and 55,000 views. Media coverage was impressive, including stories on Sky Sports and The Drum.
The position of the #CityPulse Wall, located near key transport links, provides a perfect location for fan footfall. The #CityPulse Wall has become part of the fans’ match-day experience, creating an estimated number of 472,500 impressions across the 2016/17 season.
