The Business of Cricket Awards 2012
Review
The Cumberland Hotel
Thursday 18th October
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Introduction
With Thursday 18th October 2012 now feeling like a long time ago with much of the celebration banished from memory, I thought it would be useful to provide
this short review of the event and those that won each award to help you prepare your entries for this year’s event.
Being my first year working on the BoCAs, I was hugely impressed by the high standard of entries across the board. You made it an extremely tough job for our
judges with a number of closely fought categories and I’m sure that will continue to be the case this year. With an extremely strict judging process, it is our
intention to provide as much information as possible behind why the winners of each category were rewarded. I also hope that this helps you to understand
how to give your entries the best possible chance of success as we want to see as many of you rewarded for your efforts as possible. I know first-hand how
much hard work goes on at each and every county, but the judges don’t and it’s the job of your entries to convey that. I know that this isn’t an easy task but if I
could give one piece of advice from what I observed last year, other than making sure you follow the criteria as closely as possible, it would be to make sure
you provide clear results and detail how these were achieved and how success was measured. Presentation is important but results are crucial.
Hopefully this deck will help you with your submissions for this coming year.
Ed
A message from Karen Earl, Head Judge
I've been asked to judge a number of award entries and am consistently impressed by the work that goes into both the campaigns and the entries. There is
nothing better than achieving recognition for a year's hard work and dedication - celebrating success is uplifting and inspiring for the whole team. It's
disappointing for those teams that have put in a tremendous amount of effort and energy into their work over the year, but who miss out on such recognition.
For this reason, I thought it worth providing some guidance on what the judges look for in those all-important entries - just to make sure that everyone has an
equal opportunity for success
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Presentation is all-important. Make your entry clear, concise and easy to read. Grammar and spelling is paramount. Sloppiness leaves a bad impression.
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Don't assume the judges know anything. Set out the strategic reasons behind the campaign, the objectives, the activation methodology and, above all, the
results.
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Highlight any particularly important achievements within the campaign - there's nothing wrong with showing off your pride in meeting a specific goal.
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Small is sometimes beautiful; big budgets don't necessarily mean bigger success. So don't be afraid to tell the judges you had a limited budget - it's what
you did with it that counts.
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Judges are impressed with a clever concept, however large or small, which is well conceived and executed.
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Results, results, results - tell the judges what was achieved against the stated objectives
Good luck this year and keep the entries coming in - we love reading them!
Karen
Best Friends Life t20 Campaign
This award recognises excellence in the marketing and promotion of Friends Life t20. The winning county has displayed highly
effective ways to attract new fans and retaining existing ones. Creativity, initiative and the results achieved were all important in
deciding this award.
The Winner – Essex
To lay the foundations of their campaign, Essex set out to gain a better understanding of their customers and what makes them
purchase tickets. This allowed them to target new ticket buyers and lapsed purchasers. Posters and flyers proved to be an
instrumental backbone in the campaign. The use of QR codes assisted in driving traffic to the ticket pages of the website.
Voicemail messages sent to new and lapsed buyers from Ravi Bopara increased ticket sales and formed a major part of their
integrated approach. Essex enjoyed two sell-out games with 40% of the audience being new customers through the philosophy
of “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”.
In meeting the award criteria, four key things stood out for Essex:
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the scale of the campaign relative to the budget
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their response to customer insights
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their use of players to appeal to segmented audiences
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evidence of results achieved against clear measurement
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Best Friends Life t20 Matchday Experience
This award recognises specific attention paid to the t20 matchday experience. Here the judging panel have looked for particular
focus and creativity around the fan experience at Friends Life t20 matches across the season, and how this encourages fans to
become regular cricket watchers.
The Winner – Kent
Kent set out to improve overall member and supporter assessment of their matchday package whilst also increasing
engagement levels. As a key part of the ‘Your County, Your Team’ campaign, they created a number of initiatives to improve the
fan experience, including music on arrival, dancers, a mascot challenge, autograph sessions and distribution of clappit cards.
Customers were rewarded with give-aways and prizes.
What made Kent’s entry stand out was:
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the value they place on the matchday package
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the importance of creating an experience as added value beyond the cricket itself
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their creativity and imaginative use of resources
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Best Clydesdale Bank 40 Promotion
This award specifically recognises attention paid to the Clydesdale Bank 40 competition to drive engagement with the
competition and, in particular, attendance to matches. The winner would have taken into consideration all stages of the customer
journey - either individual or a combination of.
The Winner – Kent
Kent’s ‘Your County, Your Team’ campaign created a real identity for CB40 matches focusing on their ‘family fixtures’. Despite
difficult weather during the first half of the campaign, a targeted approach saw crowds for the last three games double those of
earlier matches – making up three of the highest four attendances in the last three years.
In a closely fought contest, the judges rewarded Kent for:
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their overall dedication to the competition
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the consistency in their promotions across the season
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their targeted approach using customer insight to constantly evolve and improve what they do
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their clear attention to return on investment
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Best Promotion of an International Fixture
This award specifically recognises attention paid to the tactical promotion of an international fixture to drive engagement and
attendance. Similar to the CB40 award, this rewards consideration to all stages of the customer journey; it is primarily results-
focused with creativity and initiative also recognised.
The Winner – Hampshire and the Ageas Bowl
Hampshire executed a fully integrated marketing campaign capitalising on the ‘Ten Town Plan’ approach, first implemented in
2011, which profiles and identifies their most likely ticket buyers. A radio campaign on Heart South Coast and Gold (covering
Hampshire, Dorset and Berkshire) gave a reach of over 663,000. Personalised and innovative e-marketing communications
(including a personalised Alastair Cook e-shot) were sent out to various targeted segments of the database. Social media was
actively used to communicate helpful messages in times of bad weather to improve customer experience. A Caribbean theme
was also set, including a steel band to add to the atmosphere. As a result, the Ageas Bowl enjoyed maximised ticket sales.
In crowning Hampshire and the Ageas Bowl, the judges recognised:
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their effective use of restricted resources
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their ability to create a wide-ranging campaign, integrating a variety of channels with limited budget
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their strategically targeted approach with a clear message
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their clear attention to return on investment with impressive sales figures
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Best Sponsorship Activation
This award recognises excellence in the activation of sponsorship to achieve mutual objectives of both the county and the
sponsor. The successful county has shown how closely they work with their sponsors and the added commercial benefits this
brings to the club.
The Winner – Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire have forged a close relationship with key partner PKF through a shared ambition to make a meaningful
difference in Nottingham’s most deprived communities. The PKF Apprenticeship Programme saw the recruitment of six postgraduate apprentices to serve an eight-week summer placement funded entirely by PKF. The apprentices delivered a total of 960
coaching hours in 2012, including free-to-access sessions for 6-14 year olds at all of their Friends Life t20 and Clydesdale Bank
40 matches. Additionally, media were invited to attend the ‘PKF Christmas Mission’ where players presented gifts sponsored by
the company to every child who was spending Christmas in a Nottingham hospital.
With many strong entries in this category, Notts particularly impressed the judges by:
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their overall attention to working in true partnership with their sponsor to fulfil both parties objectives
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the strength of the partnership built over a number of years
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the depth of the campaign and the sentiment behind it
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Best Membership Campaign or Promotion
This award recognises excellence in the strategic creation and delivery of a specific campaign to drive membership. Focusing
upon retention and growth, the winning county has displayed how they have engaged with fans to increase their member base -
whether that’s a clever tactical promotion or a wider, integrated campaign.
The Winner – Somerset
Somerset embarked on an ambitious campaign to increase membership and extend the membership product range. Creating a
strong ‘Somerset’ identity throughout, the campaign reinforced members’ sense of ‘belonging’ to Somerset. Digital print was
used to personalise each letter and, with the data segmented, each member received a tailor-made proposition. Instalment
options overcame affordability barriers and a £30 early bird discount encouraged purchase/renewals by January 31st.
Personalised ‘We Are Somerset’ reminder postcards were also distributed before the discount deadline cut-off.
The judges felt that every nominee deserved recognition for their work in what was a very competitive category.
However, a winner had to be chosen and their decision was based upon Somerset displaying:
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a simple, well executed campaign which clearly showed year-on-year progression
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a campaign which clearly resonates with the target market and continued to build the relationship with the county’s fans
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clear and impressive results providing strong foundations for the county’s future
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Best Community Programme
This award recognises distinct efforts around the engagement of the local community to enhance the perception of the game
within the county’s region. This award is particularly focused upon how FCC’s have developed and strengthened relationships
with local County Boards and third parties.
The Winner – Nottinghamshire
In 2012 Notts introduced a county-wide disability cricket programme, integrating disability cricket into mainstream clubs. They
successfully established three impairment-specific disability hub clubs that provide individuals with high quality cricket. The Duke
of Edinburgh, Cerebral Palsy Sport and Sportivate funding has supported introductory sessions at 19 special schools reaching
over 300 children. The project brought together the Nottinghamshire Royal Society for the Blind, Nottinghamshire Cricket Board,
PKF staff (sponsors), Club volunteers and V1 players to complete work that included the installation of improved lighting, a 40metre path, high contrast step painting, high contrast pavilion refurbishment and square renovation.
To win this award Notts clearly displayed:
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that community is central to what they do to raise the profile of their Club and cricket within their region on the whole
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that what they did last year was an evolution to their overall long-term community strategy
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a scheme that is clearly valued by members of the local community
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Best Community Programme – Special Commendation
Lancashire
Even though Nottinghamshire were the judges’ choice for this award, they would like to offer a special commendation to
Lancashire for the creation of the Lancashire County Cricket Foundation. Set up earlier this year, Lancashire has created its own
charity to reach out to the community with a whole range of initiatives to provide opportunities to local people. In joining forces
with celebrities and other high profile characters, the Lancashire County Cricket Foundation is making great strides raising the
profile of cricket whilst improving lives, creating and opportunity and getting more people involved in the sport. Well done to
everyone involved in the scheme.
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Best Improvement in Customer Engagement
This award recognises the biggest improvement in how a county interacts with its customers. Specifically targeted around a
county’s approach to customer relationship management and efforts to enhance its database, it reflects how they apply this as
part of a long-term strategy to improve the relationship with its customers across all touch points.
The Winner – Essex
Removing the ‘one size fits all’ approach, Essex embarked on a long-term, strategically led innovation and cultural change to
how they interact and communicate with their customers. Listening to what their customers wanted via surveys, focus groups
and one-to-one meetings helped them shape and target their campaigns with maximum impact. Engagement with the customer
started with ‘thank you’ emails for purchasing tickets (for both online and offline bookings) which included information relating to
the match and a post-game survey along with carefully selected up-sells – and saw the database grow from 9.2k to 13k.
Additional to this, an iPhone app was developed and launched in September to further enhance the customer experience.
With a clever, tactical approach to customer engagement, Essex…
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demonstrated a clear desire to improve the way in which they communicate with their customers
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created a simple and successful campaign which resulted in high response rates to achieve database growth
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clearly know their market and how to appeal not just to existing fans but lapsed and potential new fans as well.
The Innovation Award
This award rewards those who display the highest level of creativity in their thinking and approach to marketing across all
channels. This is all about recognising those who think outside the box and contribute most to taking the sport forward in how it
promotes to its target markets.
The Winner – Kent
This year Kent aimed to improve customer experience through relevant and personalised communications from the Club. Using
data management technologies the Club set up a new operational approach to customer engagement, which included
developing their ‘print at home’ ticket, establishing mosaic and location profiles for all customers and using clean data for new
insight led marketing. Through the new approach the Club are able to see purchasing behaviours and measure the success of
campaigns.
Showing a great degree of creativity, Kent…
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displayed a strategic approach to how they innovate to improve the way they work and communicate with their fans
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are evolving what they do with innovation at the heart of their long-term plans, constantly looking to improve and raise the bar
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Team of the Year
This is the ultimate award, recognising excellence across all levels of how counties perform and operate as businesses. As a
result, this award does not have a shortlist and all counties are considered based upon a combination of factors such as the
strength of all entries, feedback on overall performance from the judges, and input and recommendations from those who have
worked with the teams over the course of the year.
The Winner - Essex
Essex displayed creativity, initiative and astute commercial acumen to consistently deliver strong attendances across all formats
of the game, in particular Friends Life t20. Taking an integrated, targeted and measurable approach to their marketing, they have
delivered a hugely successful campaign for the 20-over game with sell-out matches a regular feature.
But what really stood out was the manner in which they applied themselves. Never accepting average, they constantly strived for
improvement by measuring absolutely everything they did to ensure that every pound spent was working hard for them. This was
helped in no small part by their efforts to get to know their fan base better and enhance their relationship with them.
Only a small team, they have worked with a true team ethic to get things done and are always seen on match days with their
sleeves rolled up, helping across any facet of the Club in which they are needed. Their ability to apply their efforts consistently
across all areas of the County game stood testament to this.
It was the combination of all these factors that led to Essex being named 2012’s Team of the Year.