GOOD DATA HAPPY FANS
“Turning customers into fans” – this claim is often the guiding principle when companies actively look after their existing customers. But what if the customers are soccer fans and the objective is to turn these fans into customers? We provide a brief insight into our collaboration on the topic of data quality with one of the top clubs in the German Football League.
Challenge: Data in front, one more goal
When the members’ magazine is sent out twice a year, fans rejoice. Unless the booklet doesn’t arrive. Then the faces are long. This happens when addresses become outdated, recipients move, or even incorrect names are recorded in the CRM system. The challenge: data quality. And this plays a prominent role not only in the mailing of member magazines.
Fan campaigns, member analysis, fan support and much more also come to nothing or are simply not feasible without good data. Together with the Schober Information Group, a Bundesliga club has therefore vigorously tackled the issue of data quality. The goal: to increase data quality, expand the depth of information through data enrichment, and create a solid data foundation for the use of analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) in direct and digital marketing.
Solution: Data quality check and data depth enrichment
The Data Quality Check project was launched. This compares the CRM data of the association with the current data from the Schober data universe. The comparison shows: gaps in the data, outdated data, incorrect data or duplicates. As a rule, according to Schober’s practical experience, about 15% of the master data in CRM systems must be updated within a year. The younger the target group, the more mobile and the more frequent the need for updates.
After the check, the need for action is determined and the association decides to update and populate its own data (First Data) with Schober third-party data. Additionally, one uses the option to increase the data depth. This means that Schober offers additional information beyond current address data. Socio-demographic data, development at the place of residence, purchasing power information and many more details can be added.
Outlook: Analyses, but please automated and secure
The association has gained a solid data foundation for more in-depth analyses. After all, you don’t gain any insights from false data. Only those who can create added value for their fans and members thanks to good data can take the lead. And this is exactly where it should go: from data by means of analysis, information about fans, their joys and requirements is obtained.
The methods and analysis strategies can be diverse. Typically, cluster analysis, AI, and self-learning algorithms are used in such scenarios in addition to simple data mining with pattern recognition. Of course, all of this is done in compliance with DSGVO – security and data protection have the highest priority for us. Our membership in DDV as well as certifications by CSA and IABEurope underline our claim to secure and DSGVO-compliant data handling.
In the next step, the Bundesliga club plans to derive targeted marketing measures from the analyzed data. Who is a casual fan and only comes to the stadium in good weather? Which fans don’t need advertising because they are in the stadium for every home game anyway? Which fans have a pet and would be delighted with the original feeding bowl with club logo? These are just a few examples of questions that can be answered easily and automatically with the right methodology.
If you also want to play in the premier league with your data…
If you want to follow our customer’s example and play in the first league with data-based marketing, please contact us. At Schober, we have been shaping the future of sales and marketing for over 75 years. 
And the method described above has long since given rise to a cloud-based out-of-the-box platform for managing customer data (Customer Data Platform – CDP). We call the solution udo and think you should get to know udo. We would be happy to show you how easy udo can also turn your fans into customers or even happier fans.
Simply play in the premier league with your data.
