Technology & Innovation
Projects, Launches, & Forward Thinking
Indy Eleven App Development
I was tasked with creating and developing our Indy Eleven APP, after the first app we launched did not meet expectations nor serve any real purpose for supporters other than the same content that came from our website. I started with the end in mind. What purpose should any app provide? What would I expect as a supporter? Do I have behaviors would I want to reinforce or change? What can I learn about our supporters with an app? How could something like a phone app actually make the experience even better or enhanced? Click the photos for below for more detailed instructions of the work, the solutions, ideas, and partnership we created.
The Eleven Q
Our in-app Trivia show we host pregame, halftime and post-game for supporters around the world. The aim was to provide another touch point for supporters for those who did not want to attend games due to the pandemic concerns. In partnership with The Q, we create some live elements to our match days for those who were at home and did not feel comfortable coming to match days. Below are some examples our work on this project as it steamed directly to your phone and allowed you play along to win real prizes. This helps us stay engaged with all of our fans, no matter where they were in 2020.
Running the Eleven Q took us building out some production elements utilizing no budget, as it was the pandemic & budgets were essentially frozen. We wrote, shot, and produced the whole entire show internally - all with the goal to continue to drive fan engagement. Even if people chose to stay home, we wanted to be able to included them in our experience. We also used answers to questions as a way to learn more about our fans, their preferences and what kind of shows/themes we would host in future games.
We also hosted a “halftime” show for fans watching from home sponsored by Bota Box Wine. It was a way to get in-stadium & home participation.
XI CENTURY CLUB: Rewarding Fan Behavior
When players reach 100 games, soccer clubs make this a moment to celebrate the achievement and make it a grand occasion. As a supporter (and then the VP of Marketing) I saw an opportunity to encourage our supporters and celebrate THEIR achievement of 100 games. But why?
While with Indy Eleven, I decided it was more important to focus on what I could control (fan experience) versus what I could not control (on-field results). I went through an exercise where I mapped our desired & undesired fan behaviors by each department. I then began to further map the actions we took as a club that reinforced, encouraged, or discouraged those behaviors. When we then prioritized these desired behaviors, we began to reexamine and redeploy our internal resources and prioritized maximizing revenue capture, increasing fan engagement & rewarding the actions we desired fans to take. The number one element we wanted to reinforce was being there. If you had tickets, you went to the game & Indy Eleven acknowledged you were there. We began to track fan’s experiences by having them virtually “check in” at games via the Indy Eleven app. We also did a thorough job tracking the previous number of games attended, and we provided this in their app personalized to their experience. We went as far as to create a personal win-loss-tie record, and we also geofenced away stadiums to provide fans their away game appearances as well.
The behavior we wanted to help make more important with our fans was ATTENDANCE, that sense of “because I have a ticket I need to be there”. We started rewarding “appearances” exactly as we have with players.
We we also hope to determine is when you come to your FIRST game versus when did you become a season ticket holder? What other events/items/experiences did you have with Indy Eleven that helped that come to fruition? How do we as a club do more of those items? As we begin to learn more about our fans, we also reinforce their journey as to when they reach milestones. A message from their favorite player, a surprise in the mail, free seat upgrades - whatever it is that we can to invest in them as a supporter and their experience with Indy Eleven. We found that fans really appreciate this gesture and continue to do so even today. The long term goal is to determine how many games or what the club does to help determine a fan to become a season ticket member? Number of games? Total revenue spent? Wins? Player meet & greets? Ultimately, acknowledging the fan and their role in our experience is important to continue to grow engagement as well. We also recognized when fans reached 100 games with on-field recognition. We saw an immediate increase in both away travel to games and overall ticket redemption with the launch of the program. With more fans attending games, we made more overall revenue on these game days.
It is still something Indy Eleven uses today, and several other clubs throughout the world have inquired about the same approach to their fan experiences.
You use your MEDIA DAY to plan ahead to welcome future members!
The long term strategy for any club or organization utilizing this strategy is to first realize - its your FANS that make your game days.
They are your energy, your revenue, & your passion personified. Understand them and build the experience they want to have. The Century Club is there to both thank them, reinforce the right behaviors & allow you to encourage them to 100 games & highlight fan’s journeys as they look to achieve the same goal as Indy Eleven fans and players before them.