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Why You Should Listen to Your Fans (featuring The NRL & The AFL)
- 1. Why You Should Listen To Your Fans ….and why engagement is key Dan Fergusson Business Development Director
- 3. Fans can share their experiences and broadcast their opinions more widely than ever before.
- 4. Fans are now empowered by new technology Social Cloud Mobile
- 5. Do you have a strong emotional connection with your fans?
- 6. Our study – comparing Australian and American fan engagement VS
- 7. If you have a favourite team, have you been satisfied with them? American Data Australian Data
- 8. Did you switch your favourite team last year or would you in the future? American Data Australian Data Will switch favourite teams Have switched favourite teams Will switch favourite teams Have switched favourite teams
- 12. AFL
- 13. Does your affinity go beyond the team performance to other brand aspects? American Data Australian Data
- 16. NRL
- 17. NRL
- 18. Eels
- 19. Does your team listen to your opinions, and are they interested in hearing them? American Data Australian Data
- 20. Develop anongoing emotional connection using new digital methods.
- 21. Give Fans What They Want A closely connected online community of fans who are empowered with a voice that can be heard
- 22. Where Do You See The Future Of Fan Engagement?
- 23. Why You Should Listen To Your Fans ….and why engagement is key Dan Fergusson Business Development Director
Editor's Notes
- I’m here today to discuss a topic that is loved by many and hated by few, the world of sports. In my role I am lucky enough to be able to work with all kinds of sporting organisations, to connect them with their fans and learn how to improve the relationship over time. To speak towards this topic, I’m joined by an esteemed panel of experts, who will give their opinion on an international study we ran to dig deeper into this passionate topic. Today will be an interactive session with representatives from the two major football codes in Australia (AFL, NRL) on stage (INTRO THEM). These sporting teams talk about how they are engaging customers for research purposes and are actively using their fans councils to better understand segments of their customers. By better engaging fans, they are actively broadening the proportion of fans that they reach and understand. This is leading to better business and research outcomes and is a clear path to ensuring customer voice and research lives on into the future.
- Fans are not what they used to be though. Empowered fans today are fickle, disloyal and harder to reach through traditional means of the past. But in contrast to this, they are also enthusiastic, educated, bighearted and generous with their affections, especially on new digital platforms. As a result, sports teams and codes need to understand what their fans want and interact with them in the way they now expect.
- Fueled by the widespread adoption of the Internet, social media, and mobile devices, fans now have access to more information, more choices, and more opportunities to express themselves than ever before. For companies, who now have access to storing information on the cloud and building on this knowledge over time; surviving and thriving in this changing landscape requires a new, long-term, approach to the way they interact and engage with their fans. As a result of this, brands are moving beyond a one-way relationship that views fans as simple “customers” into a two-way partnership – a collaboration in which fans become trusted advisors. This has important implications for the future of customer research and understanding.
- When asking fans to become trusted advisors, we need to lean on the emotional connection that brands have established, so that there is a purpose for fans to spend their time giving opinions on how to improve the decisions made. In sports, there’s a great opportunity to do this, by collaborating with fans to uncover the how to deliver an experience that lives up to their expectations. That’s why we are joined by two leading experts in this space – Shaun Welch Head of Insights at the AFL and Brendan Head Of Fan Research at the NRL (third client participant to be confirmed) These thought leaders have found a way to successfully connect with fans (regardless of team performance) by collaborating with both the individuals and the wider community.
- Although sport is a very popular topic in Australia and it would be interesting just to hear them talk about how they are engaging fans in general – we were interested in hearing how their fan strategies compared to the American sports market – where engagement is a booming industry as well. As a non-bias third party (from Canada) I sourced engagement information from American sports fans from an access panel called Springboard America, and collected engagement information on sports fans in Australia, from our friends at Nine Rewards. From this study that we ran across codes, there were some interesting findings we will speak towards today. The data we found show some quite significant gaps between the two countries and we are going to have our panelists comment on the changes in regards to their view of the industry.
- Regardless of the league or region, a big part of any sports strategy is driven by having fans commit to a long-term relationship with their favorite team. This enables the team to build on the satisfaction of the relationship over time, starting with young children being brought to games, and ultimately leading to signing them on as members or season ticket holders when they grow up. By leveraging the memories that can be created by this favorite team over time, it can result in a bond with the team like no other industry. In America – on average across the big 4 leagues about 84% of fans have a favorite team, which is driven further by the intensity of fantasy sports and brand associations on social media. On closer examination of the health of these relationships, we see that only an average of 78% of fans are actually satisfied with their teams, which can be a leading indicator of a fan looking to switch. To both: how does your code get involved with driving the fan connections (and satisfaction) with their favorite team? NRL – speaking towards the measures the code has taken on in the past 2 years to improve their insights and connection with fans. Significant changes and programs now in place. Also talking on the information they have to compare the league against international comparisons and how they keep levels of satisfaction the same. AFL – speaking towards how clubs have started from a neighborhood focus but have developed into true brands that have followers internationally now. Also talking on how they partner with leagues like the NFL to understand how to compare measures internationally and how this is tracked.
- In almost every major metropolitan city around the world there are multiple sports teams that compete for the fans’ loyalty and entertainment dollar. In Melbourne, there are 92 professional teams, and 10 teams in the AFL alone. In addition to other sports teams there are also an abundance of other entertainment options like concerts, shows, movies and more. In America – sports are largely seen as part of the entertainment industry due to the level of competition from non-sports organisations. In addition to this, many regions don’t have a local team that is supported, so there are segments of fans that support teams out of their region. That being said team loyalty isn’t very high with 30% of respondents saying that they have switched favorite teams in the past year and 22% responding that they will switch in the future. To AFL – how does your organisation collaborate with fans to understand how to improve their loyalty within the competitive set? AFL – Traditional methods of brand tracking are employed – but these only give you a snap-shot in time. As governing body, we set up Fan Focus in 20103 our Feedback panel of 11K profiled supporters – to better understand our fans, give them a voice. I’ll use last years affordability study as an example here.
- To AFL: How has Fan Focus changed how your business engages with your fans? (or something like that) The AFL Fan Focus online community has driven key changes in how we relate to our customer base in numerous ways. Historically, some decisions had been made based on ‘gut feel’ or as a reaction to views expressed by the media or views from highly-engaged supporters on our social media channels and talk-back radio. Alternatively, research conducted done using non-profiled data (whatever data we could get) or opt-in on-line pollling which can lead to non-response bias. Since launching AFL Fan Focus in March of 2013 all areas of our business have begun asking the question ‘can we test that in Fan Focus?’ Internally AFL Fan Focus has provide our business with the opportunity to give our customers a voice and to provide them with an opportunity to be involved in decision making in a way that had previously not been possible. During all phases of recruitment we ensured that a wide range of AFL fans were invited to join our community. As a result of this targeted recruitment, we are now able to interact with a much broader range of customers. Previously when undertaking research, we relied heavily on databases of highly-engaged fans which limited the insights we were able to capture. As a result of this, our customers now have greater visibility of decision-making at the AFL as we communicate back to them about how their input has helped shape our strategies. Having a direct line to our supporters has given us a real appreciation of the diverse range of people who are involved with our game. Having the ability to segment these supporters has also allowed us to view the survey responses in new and dynamic ways that we were unable to previously. This flexibility allows us to dig deeper into the sentiments of our supporters and provides us with key insights across a range of departments within our business and the wider industry.
- To AFL: How have the fans responded to the panel The feedback that our community members have provided indicates that they feel closer to the game and that they feel like they are able to voice their views and opinions directly with us as an organization. Our community members also believe that they are able to be involved in the direction of the future of the game of football in unprecedented ways by influencing decision-making within the AFL Industry. It’s also a useful media tool in terms of being able to call on credible facts from fans to back up controversial decisions Some quotes from our community members: “It's been a great experience & I love that I get a chance to have my say about the game I love.” “I'm pleased to have my voice heard on matters pertaining to our great game.” “Interesting! I am enjoying the process as a long-time fan it is nice to feel that just maybe we are being listened to.” “Mostly I appreciate that the questions need to be asked and I enjoy being asked my opinion on football matters. I still love the game despite some of the changes that have been made.” “Love it! I love getting more involved in AFL and my team and very excited in sharing my view on Australia's great game!” “My experience so far has been welcoming Q AFL – what’s one cool thing that the Fan Council has changed in the last year? I’ll think of something
- To AFL: Any other examples? Dan- I’ll shorter below and make it punchier The AFL Commission, the governing body of our sport, decided to review and evaluate the structure of the three elite competition formats – the NAB Challenge pre-season competition (then known as the NAB Cup), the Toyota AFL Premiership season and the Toyota AFL Finals Series. Anecdotal evidence suggested that the pre-season competition structure needed to be adjusted. Research conducted through AFL Fan Focus was used in conjunction with feedback from AFL Clubs (including coaches, CEOs, administration departments) and internal AFL departments to put a recommendation to the AFL Commission to change the format of the pre-season competition. The AFL Fan Focus research was imperative in terms of being able to reference the responses relative to our segmentation framework, enabling us to understand the impact of changes for a diverse range of supporters and markets. The proposal was reviewed and adopted and subsequent changes were made to the competition for the 2014 NAB Challenge. Post-evaluation of the revised competition format showed significant improvement in satisfaction with the structure of the competition with 52% satisfaction in 2014 compared with 29% satisfaction in 2013.
- To AFL: How has you gained traction across the business in terms of being the custodians of giving the fan a voice? We see us as strategic advisors & we actively seek out ways in which we can give the fans views to a specific issue/proposal etc. AFL Fan Focus is used to support all business units within the AFL. Since launching, we have undertaken varied projects for departments in the organization including but not limited to: Events – Testing our supporters views on their preferred choice for entertainment during the Toyota AFL Grand Final Football Operations – Garner views on areas such as rules of the game that should be changes through to whether the roof should remain open or closed on sunny days Commercial Operations – Using our supporters to test their views and perceptions on the affordability of attending an AFL match Broadcasting / Fixturing – To test public sentiment towards the notion of playing an AFL game on Good Friday in the future Game Development – Using AFL Fan Focus to survey panel members and an external sample to better understand awareness of the AFL 9s social participation program, and also to clarify the reasons for participation and the key elements of this program. We are committed to providing more frequent/regular reporting to the AFL Executive. Furthermore, the insights team will be promoting and providing wider reporting throughout the business of the customer insights generated from AFL Fan Focus, ensuring that the online community will continue to be a part of the language at AFL house. We also plan to take the engagement to a new level with approaches such as the online discussions / multimedia tools to ensure that we are able to engage our community members through qualitative and quantitative research that is engaging and relevant to fans. We hope this will also further empower/engage our community members while also providing important insights to the business.
- For many organisations, being a member (in Australia) or a season ticket holder (in America) essentially means you are becoming a part of their family – and there are special offers and experiences that you come to expect as a part of this relationship. Even fans that are not fully committed to an annual package are still receiving many touch points (in the form of email communications, digital application messages or advertisements) that keep them up to date (and satisfied) with the experience – irrespective of what is happening on the field. In America, due to the amount of marketing activity and investment in community campaigns, there is a strong affinity towards each brand. Proving this 71% of fans said their affinity goes beyond their team’s performance – a perfect example being my team – the Toronto Maple Leafs – who have an average attendance of 103.7% even though they have not won a championship since 1967. To NRL: how does your organisation ensure that fans have affinity to the team’s brand, regardless of their performance? NRL – speaking towards the research that is outsourced to track brand effectiveness, as well as the involvement of fans in NRL Nation to understand their opinions and how they pertain to crisis’s, involvement with the sport and local teams, loyalty towards their brands, etc.
- The NRL Nation was launched in July 2014and has over 3,000 members that represent all of the teams in the league . The NRL Nation online community has driven key changes in how the NRL relate to our customer base in numerous ways. No longer are decisions based on the squeakiest wheel or on gut feel of people that have been in Rugby League for a long time. All club supporters are represented not just the wealthiest clubs. Internally the NRL are now asking what do the fans think of that issue or can you ask the NRL Nation first for their view. It’s a step change.
- A range of activities on offer, not just research requests. Feedback, prize winners, quick polls on what the in the moment issues are.
- NRL National members also get a chance to shape what is going on within their community and how they want to be engaged. It’s a completely different dynamic.
- Engagement is developed by mixing key information they want to share with new surveys for. The NRL annual report from the CEO which was sent to the members is a good example of this. Mixing survey invite and feedback in one communication is the way of the future for engagement and two way exchange. They also give members a heads up on what research is coming up which again is a different engagement method. Fans look forward to giving their view on topics that interest them!
- Survey invites and exclusive ticket offers customized based on the team members follow. This has a dual benefit, people see content targeted to them, things that they didn’t expect to see and also helps the NRL get buy in from their various stakeholders. For some clubs it is the start of their own fan understanding and allows the NRL to play a leadership role vs enforcement.
- Involving fans in the team’s decisions is becoming a prominent component in most fan engagement strategies. Whether this is done through a dedicated online environment, feedback channels, in-person open forums, or though social media; fans now want to be included in both the business and sport side of the organisation. In America – having open, transparent fan engagement is still in the early stages, with teams like the Orlando Magic boasting that they have over 70 data points on every fan (which they use to sell them more tickets), but only a few select teams actually allowing them fans to impact decisions (such as the NYC Football Club who let fans design their kit for the inaugural season – which was groundbreaking for North American fan engagement). Proving this, less than half of fans thought their team was interested in hearing their opinion, with only a third saying that they actually did it. To both: how do you believe your code is perceived for fan engagement and are your teams actually following through with this? NRL – speaking towards how teams are starting to trial insight approaches, whether this is through agencies or implemented through marketing teams – North QLD Cowboys AFL – speaking towards how many clubs have brought on an insights manager (Essendon, Port Adelaide) to connect with the fan, and how this year has been declared “the year of the fan”
- From these examples you can see that developing strong emotional connections using new digital methods to understand fans can have a drastic impact on sporting organisations. Now these connections are not isolated to the sport industry – as all brands have loyal followers they can tap into for collective wisdom (from banking to media to even utilities).
- In sport the response to these trends is called the Fan Council solution – where we work with teams and leagues to recruit and engage with a fan base in a branded, online environment. Online communities provide similar engagement across all categories of business to both internal and external stakeholders.
- But this is our answer, so let’s leave off with a final question – where do you see the future of engagement going in the next 10 years for sports and brands in general? Understanding customers and creating opportunities for people to get involved will become increasingly important as Millennial’s take over as the dominant workforce in many major markets around the world. Study after study has shown that a deeper understanding of the Millennial generation in a human context will win the day and to get input from this generation it needs to engaging, it needs to be a two way relationship. This type of business focused engagement will certainly shape the future of customer research and is right for the times!