Geoff Wilson
Head of Marketing & Communications,
Irish FA
Our WOW moment!
It is well documented that brands that increase
advertising during a recession, when
competitors are cutting back, can improve
market share and return on investment at
lower cost than during good economic times.
John Quelch that appeared in The Financial Times (2008)
SMEs see direct mail as offering the best return
on investment of all their marketing spend.
New Brand Vision Group 2008 Survey
• Head of Marketing and Communications – Irish FA
• Various Marketing Posts in BT Northern Ireland –
(Market research, Market Intelligence, Market
propositions, Database Marketing, Business Marketing
and Consumer Marketing – TV production, Billboards,
Press Ads, Online (emails, web), 3rd Party Channels,
Telesales/Sales Channels, Direct Mail, Magazines, PR,
viral campaigns, event management)
• 2008 Marketing Director of the Year CIM (All Ireland)
• Re-branding work for the Ulster Grand Prix
• Columnist with a Daily Newspaper in NI
• Currently ‘Marketing Consultant’ with UEFA
Background pre 2005
• Paper Based System
• One Stand alone PC for ticketing
• Dependence on Operator Expertise
• High staff resource demands especially ticketing
• Manual data processing was time consuming
• No communication with our customers or sponsors
• Image of the Association
The Challenge
• Introduce a new database that will be able to touch all areas of
the Association from
– 1.) Administration to
– 2.) Revenue Generation/Marketing
• Introduce the new system in a short period of time – 6 months
to 1 year
• Able to use the data generated in the new database for specific
IFA requirements ie Marketing Campaigns
The Overview; System Scope
Coaching
Player
E-Learning
One main
Database
Club Web sites
NIBFA
Email/Letter/SMS
Women’s
High
Performance
FSI
Data
Discipline
Email/Letter/SMS
Data
Data
Comp/Fixture
Management
Email/SMS/Letter
Referee’s
Membership
Loyalty Caps
Loyalty Points
Data
Email/Letter/SMS
International
Management
Media
Accreditation
E-Marketing
Ticketing
Event
Management
Main CRM System
Admin: Competition & Fixture Management
Admin: Player Registration
Admin: Discipline
Admin: Coaching
Admin: Refereeing
Admin: International Management
Revenue: E-Ticketing – Loyalty Caps
Revenue: Fans Membership (inc Loyalty caps and points)
Marketing: Event Management
Marketing: E-Marketing – Email
Marketing: E-Marketing – Texting
The IFA today
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Integrated Solution
Increased revenue
Single Record for each Individual
Audit trails and accountability – ticket sales
Reduced Human Error – due to applied rules in the software
Increased accessibility to data – real time
Future proof expansion – able to add additional modules to the
main CRM system
• Reduced demand on IFA staff ie ticketing
• Able to market and communicate to our fan base
Users of the System
• Competition Services
• Ticketing Department – Finance review ticketing reports
• Marketing Department
• League Secretary’s
• Referee’s
• Coaching Department (including grassroots, excellence)
• Women’s and boy’s FA’s
• International Department
Advantages v Disadvantages
• Advantages
– One database, one record per
individual
– Plug and play system with a
company with previous history in
the sports sector
– Transformed our processes
– Modular based system so the
database can be expanded in the
future
– Access to the system is via an
internet browser
– Database for Marketing (Revenue
generation and keeping fans
informed) and administration
(cost saving/more efficient in the
way we work)
• Disadvantage
– Guinea Pig – it has been hard
work! First users in some of
the modules
– Culture Change – getting staff
to change the way they are
working
– Cost for change requests
– Issues if the internet goes
down
Learning's
• This is not an easy project!!
• It is good to have one project manager in your
business who has previous experience and
knowledge in database and data cleansing.
• Scope all areas first (be specific as possible
and try to cover all areas) – change request are
costly!!
• Hold monthly conference calls and develop a
work stack report
Learning's
• Agree maintenance fee up front
• Agree a change request fee up front – push
them down on price!
• Bring on board a partner who has previous
CRM knowledge
Basic Tips
• Be clear on the business objectives for implementing a
database
• Prepare a scoping document and involve all the key
staff
• Implementing CRM solution can be expensive but if
you don’t have the funding start with collecting contact
information and product history on Excel/Access. Or
you can rent a CRM system!
• Identify departments and internal processes that will
benefit from introducing a CRM system ie Customer
Service, Sales, Marketing, Engineering
• Ensure you have captured the main decision maker in
your database
Basic Tips
• Think about where you can generate data on your
customers – competitions, online, events etc
• Start building a picture on your current customers,
where they live, what they have bought from you,
buying patters, contact information
• Think about using geo-demographic data
• When your customers contact you, reconfirm their
contact details – keep the database up to date
• Don’t just send on Direct Mail – sequential DM
strategies should be employed
• Introducing a CRM system will mean a cultural
change and will require staff training – be warned!
Basic Tips
• Pin Point those customers who buy from you and get
them to spend more (high valued and most profitable)
– this is one of the ways to tough out the recession!
• Introduce a loyalty scheme to reward your customers
• Target new customers with the same profile as your
current profitable customers
• Make sure your DM has the right message to the right
customers, a call to action, may be lead with an offer
•Data Protection Act – make sure you comply with this
Act
• Make sure your database is flexible ie able to expand,
add more fields etc.
Basic Tips
• If you are using telesales on the back of a DM
campaign, make sure you have fully trained sales
advisors in place
• If you can personalise your DM or telesales ie Dear
Mr Wilson, then this would be preferred
Campaigns
• BT
• Direct Mail campaigns – acquisition and retention
and loyalty campaigns
•Irish FA:
• Renewal of our block booking ticket sales
• Identification of new Sponsors – telesales
Campaigns: BT – take BB during Christmas – DM and call
Campaigns: Members promoting 10% discount and
Summer offers – Letter and email only
Dear Official Supporters’ Scheme Member,
The summer is now approaching and I am sure you are thinking
about your holidays. So why not visit our online shop or our shop at
20 Windsor Avenue for a range of Northern Ireland merchandise from shorts and t-shirts to baseball hats and the all important beach
towel.
As a member of the Official Supporters’ Scheme you automatically
receive 10 per cent off Irish FA merchandise (excluding sale items)
in store and online and in addition you are awarded loyalty points
every time you make a purchase.
So why not visit us today at www.irishfa.com/shop or call in our shop
at Windsor Avenue.
Regards
Geoff Wilson
Head of Marketing and Communications
Campaigns: Referee’s Joining the OSS – email and call
Campaigns: members to our legends evenings
Campaigns: Members IFA Magazine