Manzana Group has created a loyalty program for the Sochi hockey club

2021: Creation of the Sochi Club loyalty program

On July 23, 2022, Manzana Group announced the creation of the Sochi Club loyalty program for the Sochi hockey club.

Most sports clubs purposefully build communications with their audience. The presence of fans on the podium can often change the course of the game. In addition, loyal fans are also an article of income. Realizing this, the leadership of the Sochi hockey club decided to automate marketing communications and develop a loyalty program. Manzana Group became a strategic partner in this project.

The goals and objectives of the project were as follows: to build effective marketing communications, increase the involvement of sports fans in the life of the club, increase the recognition of the club and attendance at matches, develop an official club website, a fan's personal account and an online store integrated with the CRM system.

To implement the project, the Manzana Loyalty Sport system was chosen - a CRM system for managing communications with fans, media, stewards, partners and sponsors of sports organizations and facilities.

Manzana Loyalty Sport integrates with software that is used by sports clubs and facilities: with systems for selling season tickets and tickets, turnstile systems, systems for selling attributes and food in stadiums, contact center software, SMS and e-mail providers, mobile applications and personal accounts, as well as accounting systems.

During the project, the following tasks were implemented:

• The system of Loyalty and Communication Automation Program management has been implemented;
• developed a comprehensive Fan Loyalty Program concept, including operating, marketing and financial models;
• launched a complex of club sites integrated into a single ecosystem: an official website, an online store, a fan's personal account;
• a single authorization center for all online services of the club was implemented;
• virtual wallet loyalty cards are connected to and. iOS Android

Project results according to Manzana Group:

• The growth of the customer base for the first season amounted to 42.5%;
• the share of active Loyalty Program participants - more than 1/3 of all clients in the database;
• more than 4,500,000 bonus points were awarded for the six months of the Program (from August 2021 to March 2022).

"We chose a partner for the implementation of our goals based on the characteristics of the system - how much the functionality meets our needs - and the supplier's experience, and at Manzana Group it is more than convincing," said Alexander Kremenskov, director of marketing and communications at Sochi HC. - The main task that we solved when choosing a marketing automation platform is the introduction of a relationship management system, which will allow us to combine all the club's client services into a single ecosystem for our fans. The key was usability on both the business and client side: personal account, fan profile management, understandable mechanics of earning and writing off points. The project was qualitatively implemented by the beginning of the new hockey season 2021/22. During the season, marketing integrations were carried out with the club's partners. In addition, after the launch of the solution, Manzana Group provides comprehensive technical and business support and helps us with its expertise in the development of the Fan Loyalty Program. "

As part of the Sochi Club loyalty program, a virtual card is generated in your personal account immediately after registration on the club's website and/or in the OSMI application. The program allows you to receive exclusive souvenirs, significant discounts when buying tickets, paraphernalia, cashback bonuses for active participation in the life of the club. The loyalty program has five levels, which are assigned depending on the number of team home matches attended. The higher the level, the more cashback from purchases is charged.

In addition, a catalog of impressions has been created for loyalty program participants - this is an online store of unique goods and exclusive services from the club, which can be purchased only for bonus points. An online auction was also launched, in which more than 10 unique lots were played in one season. Fans could, for example, watch the game for free from a comfortable box, take part in the opening ceremony of home matches, receive exclusive club paraphernalia or personal congratulations from their favorite player.

"The value of the Loyalty Program for the club lies in obtaining information about their fans and their needs for building effective marketing activities," added Alexander Kremenskov. - Having implemented the Manzana Loyalty Sport solution, we received a complete set of tools for intelligent marketing analysis of the client base. For example, we use RFM analysis, segmentation by the date of the last purchase, social features and geography. This gives us the opportunity to build a system of mass and targeted communications. "

Integration of the solution with the Infotech ticket system, POS of the attributes store, Devino Telecom mailing service, OSMI card generation service plus the development of a complex of club sites integrated with CRM - tasks solved during the project. The next important step will be the development and launch of a mobile application for fans of HC Sochi, which will integrate with the club's online services: a ticket system, an online store, and CRM.