The digital sporting world continues to expand with new ways for teams to engage their fans throughout the day and calendar year. Movable Ink, in a partnership with the Detroit Pistons, is the latest example of fans getting a digital dose of communication from their favorite team.
Movable Ink is a digital user engagement company who supplies the technology that enables brands to update their emails after being sent. The Detroit Pistons are now looking to transform what would normally be a routine pre-game email to subscribers into a real-time feed on score updates and other pressing information.
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The team’s owner launched the technology earlier this season and the email is now known as the Interactive Gameday Guide. Late last month, Movable Ink won a globally recognized award for “most innovative use of customer or other data”.
This @DetroitPistons campaign saw a 45% increase in engagement time https://t.co/9WlrAqbvqc #emailmarketing #Pistons #sportsmarketing
— Movable Ink (@movableink) April 14, 2016
“We really wanted to take our pre-event communications specific to the Pistons and step it up to the next level,” Mike Donnay, VP of brand networks for Palace Sports and Entertainment, told Adweek. “Our previous emails were doing a good job; they had good engagement. But for the most part, they were very static.”
Enjoying the @DetroitPistons at @ThePalace with the @Adweek award winning email team! @movableink pic.twitter.com/I3ZEj0AIz4
— Vince PeGan (@VincePeGan) April 12, 2016
Before the game, the email shows team lineups and matchups, and once the game has begun, fans can see live scores, in-game statistics as well as find out ways to get to each game.
Another impressive feature involves a live traffic map before the game, informing potential attendees of the best routes to take and how much time to give before a game tips off. Mike Donnay says this has been an ongoing concern for many fans in recent years.
“As we surveyed our fans, one of the pain points that we always run into from a fan-experience perspective is ingress and egress, which is common with any venue,” Donnay said. “Obviously, when you’re trying to get 15,000 to 18,000 people into one place at one time, there’s always going to be a little bit of congestion. But at any given point, you can open up that email in real time, and if there’s congestion or a traffic accident on the freeway, they can see the best route to actually clear the venue.”
The Pistons tracked the influence of the new technology after six games and noticed a considerable increase in engagement, including an 18% increase in click-through rate, a 45% increase in engagement time and a 49% increase in mobile engagement.
This is a strategy that can keep fans involved with the club no matter where they are at the time of the game, whether it be in a line for the concessions at the venue or stuck late at work. It would be more than reasonable to assume that we should certainly see this form of technology make its way through the NBA, and then into other major leagues around the world. It’s a great way to keep fans involved and dramatically increases the club’s exposure to it’s fans.
Now if only Movable Ink had an answer for Pistons’ current opponent in the playoffs: Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.