Case Studies, Sports Jun 09, 2020

Customer Stories - ECB

Challenge

Engage cricket lovers and general sports fans to help launch England’s new domestic and international season fixtures, including The Hundred!

Solution

ECAL was quick to build a large community of passionate cricket fans, and drive immediate response around ticket release dates for The Hundred, driving high demand for early ticket sales.

1. Introduction

England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the governing body of cricket in England and Wales.

The Hundred is a new professional franchise tournament run by the ECB, scheduled to start in July 2020. It plays a new 100-ball game format, in a round-robin tournament with eight city-based franchise teams. Each franchise will field a men’s and women’s team. 

2. Objectives

  1. Launch England’s new season cricket fixtures using ECAL, to connect and engage cricket lovers, general sports fans and social groups.
  2. Use ECAL to schedule the competition and team fixtures directly into the calendar of users.
  3. Leverage the connected calendar audience to deliver important ticket release details for The Hundred, to drive early sales and stimulate demand.

3. Strategy

A. Create

  • Multiple ECAL button displays were created for all cricket competitions, incl. The Hundred, International Men’s / Women’s, County Championship, Vitality Blast, and Royal London Cup.
  • These buttons were integrated into the ECB website and a link on their mobile app. 

B. Connect

  • ECB executed an integrated launch campaign around the release of The Hundred fixtures, to drive strong user adoption.
  • Promotion included web ad (home page), site article, social campaign and email. 

C. Activate

  • With a large, connected audience, ECB can then deliver important ticket release dates directly to an engaged audience, to stimulate sales and interest.

ECB Activation

4. Results (at end of Feb)

Timeline

  • 15 Nov: ECAL Launch
  • 26 Nov (7am): The Hundred Fixture Release

International user subscriptions

ECB user subscriptions

With very strong local adoption

ECB user subscriptions

Timeline

  • 12 Feb (10am): Priority Ticket Window Open
  • Next: 17 July (6:30pm): First Game

Definitive response to ticket release

 

Drives significant purchase intent

Testimonials

Fixture release day is a key moment in the Premier League’s calendar. It signals the start of our new season and provides an opportunity for us to onboard new fans. ECAL’s platform provides a powerful communication channel for us to deliver against our key objectives – driving tune-in and referrals for our clubs and broadcast licensees.”

Chris Archer

Head of Digital Operations

“Fixture release day is a highly anticipated event in the EFL calendar. ECAL's excellent support, from technical to strategic, allowed us to focus on maximising reach and delivering a timely and engaged service to our fanbase.”

Matt Hudspeth-Lamb

Senior Data, Research and Insight Manager

“The build up to big days like the fixture release day can sometimes be stressful hoping that everything runs smooth and the fans get the best customer experience. Needless to say, this release day was the smoothest and most successful yet seeing our subscribers increase by over 50%. We are very thankful to have ECAL onboard providing a great service to us and our fans. The simplicity of the platform is extremely easy to use and their team is on hand for any help that is required.

Liam Sisterson

Email Marketing and CRM Executive @ Newcastle United

“We couldn’t be any happier with the help, support, and advice from the team at ECAL, who went above and beyond to ensure that one of the biggest events in our calendar – Fixture Release Day – was as successful as possible. The guidance stretched from technical to marketing, which was of great use to the club, and we look forward to developing our channel on the platform further.”

Billy Taylor

Director of Strategic Operations & Communications @ Millwall FC

"Thanks to the team at ECAL for supporting Aston Villa on another Fixture Release Day and helping us deliver all our league fixtures and ticket on-sale dates to supporters around the world seamlessly. As well as allowing the fan to have this important information in their pocket at all times, it allows us to further personalise and amplify their experience when engaging with the Club."

William Street

Digital Marketing Executive @ Aston Villa FC

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