Dave Landa, Chief Operation Officer – LAVA.ai
Charlie Shin, VP, Analytics & Digital Innovation – Indianapolis Colts
To start the afternoon session at the ISC Fan Engagement Summit, delegates were treated to a case study showcasing best practice in US sport.
Charlie Shin, the VP of Analytics and Digital Innovation at the Indiana Colts, explained how the team had revolutionised its fan rewards strategy with the help of LAVA.ai – a real-time AI platform used by teams and organisations across North America, offering personalised membership, stored-value services and mobile wallets.
The partnership has given the Colts richer insights into fan behaviour, both at the Lucas Oil Stadium – still one of the most advanced and spectacular venues in the NFL, 17 years after it opened – and across their digital lives.
“We knew what they were doing but a lot of times,” Shin said, “we didn’t understand what the motivation was.”
Using information generated by LAVA.ai’s platform, the Colts segmented their fanbase into three parts based on an understanding of what each group wanted from their team.
The ‘Communals’, Shin explained, look to the Colts for a sense of community and shared experience. The ‘Hometown Hoosiers’ are proud Indianans who see in the franchise another way of expressing that local spirit. And the ‘Colts Purists’ are in love with the team and the game of American football itself.
This gave the Colts scope to engineer their engagement and rewards plans around those needs, while they were also able to use LAVA.ai tools to digitise their benefits for season ticket holders and their ‘Colts Cash’ loyalty points scheme. These stay assigned to individual tickets, helping fans who share or trade their seats to pass on associated offers and discounts.
Those attending games at Lucas Oil Stadium could carry their ticket and bonuses – such as the annual $100 voucher given to season-ticket members – in the same digital wallet. Each of their transactions, meanwhile, provided feedback for the team through the LAVA.ai platform.
Integration with LAVA.ai has brought other partners into the Colts ecosystem as well. Fans can use their Colts Cash points within the Fanatics merchandise, memorabilia, betting and ticketing ecosystem – which also operates on LAVA.ai – while the team is now able to bring Fanatics into offline experiences at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The next phase, explained Shin and LAVA.ai Chief Operating Officer to roll out this functionality with local companies in Indianapolis who are also Colts partners.
Using LAVA.ai has enabled the Colts to incorporate offers at high speed and to experiment with marketing and pricing innovations like ‘micro-grants’ of fan points, which have been shown to increase purchasing intent. Data from the scheme also helps the Colts monitor analytics that anticipate trends like churn in season ticket renewals.
Outside of US sport, Landa explained, the LAVA.ai platform is used by the likes of Real Madrid, where its flexibility allows for different fan experiences around the world. Integration into mobile wallets helps the club create an agile, differentiated offering in each territory – whether fans are engaged with the club app, enjoying official watch parties, or buying merchandise from their local online store.