Geoff Wilson Head of Marketing & Communications, Irish FA

Geoff WilsonHead 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

• 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

Background pre 2005

• 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 Challenge

E-Marketing

NIBFA

Club Web sites

Women’s

Discipline

Player

Comp/Fixture Management

MembershipLoyalty Caps

Loyalty Points

Event Management

MediaAccreditation

International Management

E-Learning

Data

Data

Email/Letter/SMS

Email/Letter/SMS

Dat

aD

ataEm

ail/S

MS/

Lette

rEm

ail/Letter/SMS

One mainDatabase

FSI

The Overview; System Scope

Referee’s

Ticketing

Coaching

High Performance

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

• 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

Users of the System

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

• 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

Learning's

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