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read moreSingapore-based The Entertainment and Education Group (TEEG) is heading into a new phase of its long-running digital transformation in focusing on customer experience analytics.
Speaking at the recent IBM THINK 2019 conference in San Francisco, USA, TEEG's outgoing Group Head of Digital Ross Hoier laid out the company’s digital journey and its likely next steps.
Hoier explained “we’re a venue where customers come to bowl or play games, but it’s really occasion-based, such as for school holidays, work team events, or to just have fun with friends and family."
The company has consistently been trying to engage with its customers in a more personalised way, with Hoier recalling that when he started out with Ardent Leisure's AMF Bowling business (which TEEG acquired early last year) just 1% of transactions were performed online.
He advised "a big ambition for me was to take that to 50%. We didn’t quite get there, but we went from 2% of revenue from online to 27%, which is a huge transformational shift.”
As reported by itNews, Hoier advised that, in addition to driving up online revenue, TEEG’s efforts were about better using data to personalise the way it interacted with customers.
Advising that prior to the transformation, online as a channel for engagement didn’t really exist, Hoier stated "it’s been a big education piece because customers in Australia are used to either walking into these types of venues or picking up the phone, so a real behavioural shift was needed.
Seeing data as critical to personalising marketing efforts to customers, Hoier noted "a big thing for this business is people say, ‘I love bowling’ or ‘I love playing laser tag’, and then the next question is, ‘Well when did you last come?’ ‘Oh, five years ago’.
“A big thing for us is to stay top of mind and implement some nurture and engagement marketing strategies.
“It’s about delivering the right message at the right time. You really need something compelling to get them back.”
The company overhauled its booking engine, integrated it with a Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM system, and started using IBM’s Watson Campaign Automation to, as Hoier advised, “engage and nurture those customers, but on a more personalised basis”.
“We didn’t want to be just marketing to customers with broad brush communications. Instead, if we knew they came for a kid’s birthday party, that they always come back in school holidays or they came for a work team building event, then we could start to push them down the path (to return).”
TEEG was also able to contextualise why players visited its arcades, for example, by digitising paper tickets that games used to release that could be redeemed for prizes. For a number of years now, it has used a 'debit style card' instead.
Though Hoier has now exited TEEG, he said there is more digital transformation to come.
Seeing further opportunities for TEEG - and the family entertainment sector generally - around gamification and mobile, he concluded "one thing I don’t feel has been cracked in the bowling space is gamification around your bowling scores.
“Deeper personalisation in a business like TEEG could be achieved around scoring.”
Images: Zone Bowling Clayton (top) and the Timezone New Zealand National Championship (below).
4th April 2019 - CityAccord keynote to explain digital transformations in the stadia environment
8th November 2018 - New central Wellington FEC offers New Zealand’s first Timezone redemption shop
7th November 2018 - The Entertainment and Education Group implements Embed throughout 50 new locations
13th June 2018 - Chinese waterpark boosts Village Roadshow performance: Ardent completes bowling division sale
23rd May 2018 - Australasian AMF Bowling centres to adopt Zone Bowling brand
11th May 2018 - Timezone New Zealand looks to find first ever national WMMT champion
20th December 2017 - Ardent Leisure sells bowling centres division for $160 million
15th November 2017 - Quadrant to back Timezone Group’s accelerated growth plan
9th February 2017 - Timezone plans expansion as shopping malls look to entertainment
14th December 2016 - Timezone Gold Coast named 2016 Gold Coast Business of the Year
12th October 2016 - New Timezone FEC opens in Werribee
21st September 2016 - Timezone Group appoints Scott Blume as Group Managing Director amid board restructure
20th August 2015 - Opening of Kingpin Darwin marks new era for Ardent Leisure
23rd June 2009 - Macquarie Leisure Finalises US Funding Facility
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