The Portland Trail Blazers recently announced their partnership with Microsoft Cortana Intelligence Suite that will have them using Cortana to help increase ticket sales by honing in on purchasing patterns more efficiently and effectively.
As the Blazers fight for their NBA playoff-lives against the defending champion Golden State Warriors, the franchise is looking to help esnure the future growth of the team by generating more revenue through ticket sales.
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Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen purchased the Blazers in 1988 and since then the team has been relatively successful. They have only missed the playoffs seven times since Allen took over, while cultivating a large fan base in a small market. However, their unsuspected success this season and track record has not stopped the Blazers from looking to build and strengthen their organization.
Aside from television rights, ticket sales and season ticket sales, help to generate a lot of revenue for NBA teams. Therefore, continually looking for ways to increase the number of season ticket holders is vital. This is where Cortana’s advanced analytics come into play.
The Intelligence Suite is able to discover purchasing habits of every fan. This information is then used to analyze what fans are most likely to convert to season tickets, or what opponents a specific fan is most likely to go see. The goal of the partnership is not only to the help Blazers increase ticket sales, but also make the marketing in order to do so, more efficient.
Since a lot of fans rarely change their purchasing habits Cortana is able to help the Blazers identify the small number that will, which allows the team to tailor marketing exclusively to these fans. For instance if a fan only purchases Blazers tickets when they play a big-name team, they would be less likely to convert to season tickets the next year. Therefore Cortana can help tailor marketing for the casual fan, as well as the die-hard potential season ticket holder.
The Blazers have tried to stay at the forefront when in comes to adopting technology to enhance the fan experience, as we have covered here. They recently partnered with a local start-up, Citifyd, to help make parking at the Moda Center in Portland, much easier.
With Allen and his connection to one of the largest technology companies in the world, it is hardly a surprise that the Blazers have tried to stay on the cutting edge of technological advancements. However there is always room for improvement. Portland is currently the 15th most valuable NBA franchise, and they have the 13th highest average ticket price. At the same time they rank 8th in overall league home-attendance, but in terms of percentage filled to capacity, they fall off that pace.
Microsoft Cortana will now be put to the test. Can the Intelligence Suite help the Blazers maximize the efficiency of their ticket marketing, to allow the organization to continue to improve the fan experience and team in Portland?