Liberal Democrats back return of 'safe' standing in Premier League stadia

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By Zack Wilson

22 Apr 2010

As the build-up to the General Election continues, Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat spokesman for culture, media and sport, has revealed that the party would look at reintroducing safe standing areas to English stadia 21 years after the Hillsborough disaster seemed to signal the end of an era.

The Lib Dems would investigate an issue they admit is sensitive, but many football fans would see it as a popular move, with many perceiving all-seater stadia as atmospherically sterile and over-priced venues.

"The Liberal Democrats are committed to exploring options for introducing safe standing at football grounds in consultation with fans, clubs and safety experts, and have passed a motion at our party conference to this effect," Foster told The Independent.

"The evidence from countries like Germany shows that safe standing can operate effectively and safely to give fans more choice about how they enjoy the game.

"This is a sensitive issue. But we cannot ignore the large numbers of fans who want to stand."

Standing was not seen as intrinsically at fault for the Hillsborough disaster, rather the design of the stadium, poor sign posting and policing errors were to blame for 96 people losing their lives.

Standing is still popular at many grounds in Germany and Austria, whilst the Colorado Rapids, owned by Arsenal shareholder Stan Kroenke, are the first team in a major American sports league to open a specific standing area for 2,500 people at the Dick's Sporting Goods Park stadium.

The Football Supporters Federation (FSF), a group with 176,000 members, has campaigned for the return of terracing at English grounds for years.

"Standing isn't a nostalgic 20th century throwback. It's the future," Steve Powell, FSF director of policy, said.

"Look at Germany, Austria, the US and Canada. It's a choice that fans want, including those who prefer to sit. It's safe and it's inclusive. To maintain the ban in the face of the evidence is illogical, arrogant and perverse."

Gerry Sutcliffe, the current Labour minister for sport and tourism, insisted that there were no current plans to reintroduce terracing.

"There have been dramatic improvements in safety and Germany is a case in point but the practicalities of re-profiling new stadiums plus the cost would be a huge issue," he said.

"It would need a dramatic shift in football authority opinion backed by clear evidence before government would look at supporting any change to existing policy."

For more information on Smart Stadia please click here

Week in the Life of a Football Supporter with a Residents Smartcard. Part 8 of 8

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Summary, Conclusion and Next Steps

The previous 7 parts and this final conclusion of a “Week in the Life of a Football Supporter with a Residents Smartcard” demonstrate very clearly how a single card can provide access to many different services and activities delivered by multiple providers from both public and private sectors.

This is not theory every one of the applications below is a live application in a scheme in the UK. This document “Week in the Life of a Football Supporter with a Residents Smartcard” simply brings them all together on the one card.

LIST OF APPLICATIONS USED

• Logical Access – Home PC
• EMV Payment – (Europay/MasterCard/ Visa)
• Access Control – Council Building access
• Council specific – e-Purse
• Access Control – Parking
• Loyalty
• Library Membership – Local Authority
• Staff ID
• Access Control – Football Stadia
• Ticketing – Football match day or season
• Football Club Specific – e-Purse, Cashless in the Stadia and Shop
• Football Club Membership
• Leisure Club Membership – Local Authority
• Access Control – Leisure
• Network ID – Higher Education / Learning Resource
• PC Accessibility – SNAPI
• Auto Form Fill
• Concessions - Transport
• Parking – Local Authority
• Bill Payment – CTax / Rent
• Entitlement – Cycle Hire

NUMBER OF USES

• Monday 10
• Tuesday 10
• Wednesday 14
• Thursday 12
• Friday 11
• Saturday 16
• Sunday 4

Total for the week 77

Average daily uses 11

BENEFITS

For a full list of operational and cashable benefits of such a scheme in your organisation contact sbeecroft@smartstadia.com. However we have highlighted below the typical benefits that other Football Clubs and Local Authorities have realised.

• More Customer Data
• Better Quality Customer Data
• Improved Know Your Customer Capability
• More Effective CRM Campaign Development
• Better CRM Campaign Management
• Increased Revenue (potentially £300+ per season for a Football Club)
• Reduces Costs
• Greater Efficiency
• Leaner Overall Service Delivery
• Richer Customer Experience
• Improver Customer Loyalty
• Fewer Debtor Days
• Faster Payment
• Improved Cash Flow
• New Revenue Streams
• Peer Envy
• Greener Operations
• Improved Community Reputation

This is not and exhaustive list however it is a good example of what a smart card scheme like this can do for your organisation. If you don’t think your Chief Executive would like you to deliver any of the above benefits then we will simply thank you for reading and advise you to stop reading now.

********************

Still reading?............... Ok you must be serious. If you really do wish to find out how a multi-application, multi-vendor scheme can help your organisation specifically then call or email Steve Beecroft, Smart Technologies Consultant on 07855 364493 or sbeecroft@smartstadia.com.

Your CEO will thank you if you do, and you will kick yourself if you don’t.

THE END

If you want to see what Sam can do with the "Residents and Supporters" smartcard during the rest of his week follow, then us on Twitter http://twitter.com/SmartStadia and you will get a tweet when each day goes live.

Week in the Life of a Football Supporter with a Residents Smartcard. Part 7 of 8

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Sunday

Sam and Thomas look at the pictures of the match yesterday on the Football Clubs website. Thomas has received an email with his membership details and he sets up his account.

Sam finds a replica shirt from the early eighties which he adds to the “wanted list” in his Loyalty account so that when he has enough points he will get an automatic reminder by email and text, there was an option for the shirt to be automatically sent to him when he had enough points and the

loyalty points redeemed automatically but he didn’t choose that option.

It is a nice day and Same takes the family to a local petting zoo and country park. The park is operated by the county council and there is a small charge by as Sam is a “Residents and Supporters” smart card holder he and his family enjoy free admission.

On the way home Sam get fuel at a small local petrol station and uses the EMV payment method on his “Residents and Supporters” smart card and gets some more loyalty points. (4)

THE END

If you want to see what Sam can do with the "Residents and Supporters" smartcard during the rest of his week follow, then us on Twitter http://twitter.com/SmartStadia and you will get a tweet when each day goes live.

Week in the Life of a Football Supporter with a Residents Smartcard. Part 6 of 8

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Saturday

Today is a top of the table clash and Sam is taking his son, Thomas, to the game this is Thomas’ first game of the season. Sam and Thomas drive to the town centre Sam parks the car in a council managed Pay and Display car park as a resident of the borough Sam is entitled to a discount on parking charges Sam presents the card to the parking machine and receives his discount.

Then Sam takes Thomas to the Club Shop in town centre and redeems some of the loyalty points he has been accruing and receives a home shirt for Thomas.

It is still early and Sam takes Thomas to the local museum to research a topic that Thomas is studying at school. The “Residents and Supporters” smart card entitles Sam to a half price entry but as there is no card reader in the museum Sam simply shows his card. This type of “Show n Go” discount scheme operates in a number of places in the town also and helps local small businesses, this initiative is backed by the councils local regeneration scheme.

Then Sam goes to a local shop that is a Pay Point agent to pay his Rent and Council Tax as he does not have a direct debit set up. At the shop Sam pays cash but presents his “Residents and Supporters” smart card to the reader to identify him and allocate the funds to the right amounts to the correct Rent and CTax accounts.

It is now time for Sam and Thomas to go to the stadium and as it is close and a sunny day they decide to hire one of the public cycles in the town. The Sam knows that the football club are part of this “Fit 4 Life” initiative operated by the Council and backed by the local PCT as it is part of the Football Clubs “Green Travel Plan”. At the automated cycle store Sam presents his “Residents and Supporters” smart card to the reader and releases an adults cycle for himself and does the same for a junior cycle for Thomas. They both cycle 2 miles to the stadium where they store and lock the cycles in a storage facility located in the stadia car park and is similar to the one in town. The locking mechanism is also operated by the “Residents and Supporters” smart card, which if applicable is also used for payment but not in this case as the system recognises that Sam is entitled to free use.

Sam takes Thomas to the ticket office to buy him a match day ticket. He presents his “Residents and Supporters” smart card to collect the loyalty points but he pays for the ticked cash. When the ticket office take Thomas’ personal details for the ticket purchase they see that although this is his first match this season, he did attend 6 matches last season and travelled to an away FA Cup tie with the Official Supporters Club. They offer Thomas the chance to join the Junior Supporters Club with discounts and his own supporters card. As Sam is already a “Residents and Supporters” smart card holder and for a limited time the Junior Supporters Club Membership is free. Thomas does apply and Sam is given an immediate discount on Thomas’ match day ticket.

Sam and Thomas the go to the turnstiles they both enter the stadium Sam with the “Residents and Supporters” smart card and Thomas with his own barcoded ticket. In the stadium Sam buys them both a drink and a burger using the closed e-purse on the “Residents and Supporters” smart card as again that queue is much shorter than the cash queue.

Sam and Thomas watch the first half during which Sam gets a text message welcoming Thomas to the Junior Supporters Club and giving a promotional code for Thomas, 2 friends and a responsible adult to have a free stadium tour. All Thomas has to do is have his parents complete an online form with names, addresses and ages of the 4 people attending the tour. Sam also tops up his e-purse on his “Residents and Supporters” smart card by text message. Then at half time Both Sam and Thomas get a cold drink from the kiosk where Sam again uses the closed e-purse on the “Residents and Supporters” smart card and is served very quickly.

After the match friend Sam uses the “Residents and Supporters” smart card to unlock the cycles for the ride back to town to collect the car.

At home Sam registers himself Thomas and 2 friends for the tour using the promotional code in the text message and as he is a “Residents and Supporters” smart card he will be given Loyalty Points if anyone in the party purchases anything and if they become season ticket holders Sam and Thomas will be invited to meet their favourite player. Sam then checks his loyalty account and sees a total of 225 new points from the purchases and entering the stadium early. (16)

THE END

If you want to see what Sam can do with the "Residents and Supporters" smartcard during the rest of his week follow, then us on Twitter http://twitter.com/SmartStadia and you will get a tweet when each day goes live.

Week in the Life of a Football Supporter with a Residents Smartcard. Part 5 of 8

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Friday

Sam follows his usual routine into work using the “Residents and Supporters” smart card on the bus and to access his office building.

At lunch time Sam goes to the councils “One Stop Shop” to apply for Free School Meals for his 2 children. He uses a public PC and presents his “Residents and Supporters” smart card to the reader which identifies him asks for a secret word (2 Factor Authentication). As Sam is registered with a sight impairment, the councils public facing system and reads the visual preferences indicator on the card and as with the system at the football clubs conferencing facilities system the councils public facing system is set to Sam’ preferences.

As the councils CRM already holds many pieces of information required for the Free School Meals Entitlement Form some information the has been automatically completed i.e. Name. DoB, Address, Contact details etc. This is called Auto Form Fill. Sam check the the auto populated data is correct, completes the rest of the form and returns to work.

After work Sam decides to go to the gym he uses the “Residents and Supporters” smart card for the bus journey and once at the gym, which is a council leisure centre Sam uses the “Residents and Supporters” smart card to gain entry to the centre as it is also his membership card for the leisure centre. Sam also uses the “Residents and Supporters” smart card inside the leisure centre to register his use of the gym and again use of the swimming pool. Sam then travels home on the bus using the “Residents and Supporters” smart card for the journey home.

Sam then collects the shopping list and drives to the local supermarket where he pays for the weekly shopping with the EMV Payment option on his “Residents and Supporters” smart card.
When Sam gets home he again checks his Loyalty Points balance and he has received points of using the Gym and paying for the weekly shopping. (11)

THE END

If you want to see what Sam can do with the "Residents and Supporters" smartcard during the rest of his week follow, then us on Twitter http://twitter.com/SmartStadia and you will get a tweet when each day goes live.

Week in the Life of a Football Supporter with a Residents Smartcard. Part 4 of 8

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Thursday

Sam follows his usual routine into work using the “Residents and Supporters” smart card on the bus and to access his office building.

At lunch time Sam goes to town and buys a CD from a local music store and some accessories for his car from a national motor factors retailer using the EMV payment on his “Residents and Supporters” smart card.

Sam has study leave in the afternoon and travel home on the bus using his “Residents and Supporters” card, and collects his Business Management course books and course work . At home Sam logs on to www.yourfootballclub.co.uk and checks the balance on his loyalty account and discovers that he has an additional 160 points for the EMV transactions at the local music store and the national motor factors retailer. As these transaction are using the EMV payment facility they attract a slightly lower rate than transactions using the pre pay e-purse on the “Residents and Supporters” card.

As Sam is registered as a mature student studying at the stadium he is allowed free access to the WiFI within the stadium conference suite. Sam drives to the stadium early, for his second study night of the week, as he is meeting a study buddy there. On arrival at the stadium Sam presents his “Residents and Supporters” card to the parking barrier which opens as it knows from the CRM that Sam is studying tonight and is entitled to free parking. Sam uses the “Residents and Supporters” card to log on to the network using dual factor authentication and the system recognises Sam is registered with a sight impairment and has stored visual preferences to help him read the text. The system is set to Sam’s preferences. This same function could be used to change language for those whose first language is not English.

Once the evenings study is over Sam leaves the car park again using the “Residents and Supporters” card to open the exit barrier.

When Sam gets home he again checks his Loyalty Points balance and sees that, just as he did on Monday evening he received 50 point for attending college, this is part of a local “back to work” programme run by the council and supported by local businesses. (12)

THE END

If you want to see what Sam can do with the "Residents and Supporters" smartcard during the rest of his week follow, then us on Twitter http://twitter.com/SmartStadia and you will get a tweet when each day goes live.

Week in the Life of a Football Supporter with a Residents Smartcard. Part 3 of 8

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Wednesday

Sam follows his usual routine into work using the “Residents and Supporters” smart card on the bus and to access his office building. Today is Sam’s birthday and direct from the football club CRM to his mobile phone via text he has received a 2-4-1 offer to eat in the restaurant at the stadium so at lunch time Sam meets his wife for lunch. The offer also states that if he pays for the meal with the closed purse on his “Residents and Supporters” smart card he will receive treble loyalty points. Sam tops up his e-purse on his “Residents and Supporters” smart card by text message. Sam redeems the 2-4-1 offer and pays for the meal with the closed e-purse on his “Residents and Supporters” smart card.

When Sam returns to work he uses the “Residents and Supporters” smart card to access his office building.

After work Sam decides to go to the gym he uses the “Residents and Supporters” smart card for the bus journey and once at the gym, which is a council leisure centre, Sam uses the “Residents and Supporters” smart card to gain entry to the centre as it is also his membership card for the leisure centre. Sam also uses the “Residents and Supporters” smart card inside the leisure centre to register his use of the gym and again use of the swimming pool. Sam then travels home on the bus using the “Residents and Supporters” smart card for the journey home.

At home Sam logs on to www.yourfootballclub.co.uk and checks the balance on his loyalty account and discovers that he has an additional 350 points for topping up, paying in the restaurant and also a bonus for his birthday. Sam has also been given additional points for participating I physical activity at the gym, this is an PCT initiative to promote healthy living and combat obesity and help reduce the pressure on the local NHS. The scheme is supported by the Local council and the football club. (14)

THE END

If you want to see what Sam can do with the "Residents and Supporters" smartcard during the rest of his week follow, then us on Twitter http://twitter.com/SmartStadia and you will get a tweet when each day goes live.

Week in the Life of a Football Supporter with a Residents Smartcard. Part 2 of 8

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TUESDAY

Sam follows his usual routine into work using the “Residents and Supporters” smart card on the bus and to access his office building. At lunch time he goes in to the local library and borrows a book relating to his Business Management course. He uses the self service desk and presents the “Residents and Supporters” smart card to register the loan of the books, the card is also acts as his library card.

Sam decides to go straight to the football club from the office and meets his friend outside the stadium, where Sam realises that he has forgotten his ticket. However Sam is not concerned as he simply goes to the club shop where they read his card and confirm he was issued with a valid ticket and validate the access control system to accept the card. (In reality Sam did not need to do this as when he used the card to ID himself online the previous day when purchasing the tickets, the card and the barcoded ticket were automatically added to the access control system as valid for entry for this game. The system however would only accept the first form i.e. card or ticket for entry, once one form had been used the second would be automatically rendered void this is for security and revenue protection purposes.)

Sam’s friend arrives and they both enter the stadium Sam with the “Residents and Supporters” smart card and his friend with his own barcoded ticket. In the stadium Sam and friend both get a drink and something to eat. As Sam has the “Residents and Supporters” smart card he goes straight to the cashless payment queue which is shorter than the cash queue and to boost take up of the new “Residents and Supporters” card there is a discount on all product when paying by the pre pay e-purse. Sam pays using the closed e-purse and he is served quicker than his friend who is paying with cash and saves money. Sam then receives a text message from the football club Events Team thanking him for entering the stadium early and offers him a bogoff offer on the new line in pasties from a local bakers if he uses his closed e-purse for payment.

Sam and friend watch the first half during which Sam tops up his e-purse on his “Residents and Supporters” smart card by text message. Then at half time he takes advantage of the bogoff offer.

After the match friend Sam uses the “Residents and Supporters” smart card for the bus journey home. At home Sam checks his loyalty account and sees a total of 125 new points from the purchases and entering the stadium early. (10)

THE END

If you want to see what Sam can do with the "Residents and Supporters" smartcard during the rest of his week follow, then us on Twitter http://twitter.com/SmartStadia and you will get a tweet when each day goes live. Alternatively if you would like to find out what the costs and benefits associated with multi application smartcards in a football club or local authority environment would be please click >http://www.smartstadia.com

Week in the Life of a Football Supporter with a Residents Smartcard. Part 1 of 8

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BACKGROUND

Our fan, Sam, is a typical family man looking to improve his future prospects. He is thirtysomething and married with two young children. He lives with his family in rented accommodation with the local council appointed housing association. He works full time 9-5 with the local council as HR officer and is also a part-time mature student studying Business Management two evenings per week.

Sam goes to almost every home game and around 5 away games per season, but he is not a season ticket holder, he cant afford the one off cost and does not know about the budget plan payment terms. He usually meets friend before home games at a local pub as he believes it is too expensive to eat and drink in the stadium.

Sam Has a “Residents and Supporters” smart card issued by the local football club but as a Joint venture with the local council. The card is a Football Club Membership Card with a closed purse for use in the stadium and the club shop in the town centre. It also has a Europay / MasterCard / Visa (EMV) payment and is Local Authority Smart card Standards e-Organisation (LASSeO) & Integrated Transport Standards Organisation (ITSO) compliant, so it can be used to gain access to council provided services and on local transport. The card has also been developed and encoded in accordance with the emerging Football Association standards for smartcard technology in stadia.

MONDAY
Sam logs on to www.yourfootballclub.co.uk and checks the fixtures for the coming month, decides to purchase two tickets for tomorrow nights cup game, he will take a friend from work who has never been before. Sam has a USB smartcard reader purchased from the Football Club for £89.00 and just presents that card on the purchase screen and all his personal details are populated. (if Sam did not have a reader he would simply key his “Residents and Supporters” card number into the purchase screen. Sam then chooses to pay for the ticket with the EMV payment. Once the purchase is complete Sam check his Loyalty points balance and it have increased by 200 one for each ticket. Then he chooses the “print at home” option and prints both barcoded tickets, then sets off for work.

The bus arrives and Sam gets on and presents his “Residents and Supporters” card, which stores his ITSO compliant monthly bus ticket to the reader.

On arrival at work Sam presents his “Residents and Supporters” card to the access control reader at his office building to open the door, because the card is Sam’s staff pass it allows him access to his office and it also has his photo on it. At lunch time Sam is busy so decides to have something quick at the staff restaurant. Most of the staff have council issued cards for Access ID and to pay for food but Sam’s can use his “Residents and Supporters” card in the staff restaurants of which there are three across the whole council. The e-purse used in the council restaurants, unlike the prepay e-purse used in the football club, is not part of the loyalty programme at all and thus Sam’s spending in any on the three restaurants do not accrue any loyalty points. However both e-purses reside on the “Residents and Supporters” card.

At 17:00 Sam leave the office and travels home on the bus again using his “Residents and Supporters” card, which stores his ITSO compliant monthly bus ticket.

Monday is one of Sam’s two nights at college so Sam drives to the football club where the course is being held in the conference facilities. On arrival at the stadium Sam presents his “Residents and Supporters” card to the parking barrier which opens as it knows from the CRM that Sam is Studying tonight and is entitled to free parking. Once the evenings study is over Sam leaves the car park again using the “Residents and Supporters” card to open the exit barrier.

When Sam gets home he again checks his Loyalty Points balance and sees that he received 50 point for attending college, this is part of a local “back to work” programme run by the council and supported by local businesses. (9)

Part 2 of 8 due very soon

10 Top Tips for Selecting Implementing and Operating a Cashless Sports Venue

10 Top Tips for Selecting Implementing and Operating a Cashless Sports Venue

1. Identify the Strategic Requirements
First identify the main objective of a cashless solution. Is the aim is primarily to reduce costs and not to develop a cashless relationship directly with the customer, or is it to deepen the direct relationship with the customer, control the funds and develop revenue generating opportunities? This forms basis for the type of cashless scheme required i.e. club controlled, fully outsourced or a hybrid where the club controls the scheme but a third party undertakes day to day operations.

2. Data Requirements
What are the transactional data requirement? This refers to the legal and financial reporting requirements and operational data requirements enabling efficient day to day running of the scheme. Moreover in terms of marketing with use of the transactional a top down approach is required. What promotions and are aspired to, and what specific transactional data will be needed to deliver them?

3. Integrate with CRM
There is a vast amount of data to be collected during a cashless transaction, and automatically feeding that through to a CRM system real time is essential if the full marketing benefits are to be realised. This should be one of the primary considerations or even a “must have” requirement. Simply building an interface from the cashless solution to the CRM system that updates in a overnight data transfer is not enough, the interface must be real time.

4. Card Supply
If the card will have MasterCard / Visa or similar facility then the card supply will be dictated by the issuing bank. If the cards are supplied by another service provider like loyalty or access control, it is important to ensure that third parties have permissions to add other applications such as cashless, loyalty, access control, ticketing, Healthy Schools and local transport. Some system suppliers insist on supplying cards and keep it locked down. This leave little opportunity for reducing card supply costs and also restricts that card to just one application and counter to aspirations of one card many uses. Look for an independent card supplier and solution providers that will work on that basis.
5. Card Technology
The technology chosen will be heavily influenced by the strategic requirements. There are several variables when it comes to selecting the card technology memory or microprocessor, contact or contactless Mifare, Desfire, JCOP Calypso or another platform. Ultimately thought if the right long term vision is held by the club they will need interoperability so that in future supporters in the visitors section can use their own clubs card just as home supporters do elsewhere in the stadia. The data from those transactions could be supplied to the visiting club and used for promotions on that teams next visit.

6. Breakage Rules
This could make or break a scheme. Breakage such as fees for lost / stolen/damaged cards or dormant accounts with residual balances provide significant revenue opportunities. However if the customers feel they are being exploited, it will be a massive disincentive to them. It will be a very fine balance between generating revenue, delivering a high quality customer experience and running an efficient and effective cashless scheme. There is a special formula to ensure the right balance is achieved, which will need to be harmonised with the clubs specific strategic requirements.

7. Implementation Approach
How a cashless scheme is implemented have a significant impact on the level of take-up and thus how successful it is perceived. The “Big Bang” approach of implementing 100 percent cashless in home areas is certainly one approach but requires exceptional communication with customers months in advance and will also require high levels of operational support for the first 5 or 6 home matches. A phased implementation is operationally the safer approach but does mean that the associated benefits are only partly realised until full roll-out is achieved.

8. Customer Experience
It is imperative for the success of the cashless scheme that the customer values it and feels valued by the club otherwise they will simply spend elsewhere before the game. To deliver a richer experience to their customer clubs should consider issuing a single card that allows the customer to enter the ground, make payments, gain access to all appropriate areas i.e. hotel room, box, hospitality areas etc. uploading funds must be easy, convenient and offer many channels such as web, direct debit, SMS etc is recommended.

9. Legal and Regulations
If a fully outsourced scheme is implemented the service provider is responsible for ensuring that their service adheres to all applicable laws and regulations but clubs should get confirmation of this. In the UK the are a number of regulations that need to be considered for clubs that plan to operate or control the cashless scheme themselves including the SeMIC, the Payment Services Regulations 2009 and the up coming e-Money Directive in April 2011.

10. Partners
There are a number of suppliers of cashless solutions all of which offer the basic function of prepaid debit facility. Not many of those suppliers have implemented in stadia environment. Even fewer have first hand knowledge of implementing a club controlled cashless scheme that fully integrates with all the other systems. So consider appointing a project manager or external consultant with relevant experience to liaise with each supplier to ensure all the strategic objectives are achieved.

By Steve Beecroft

For more information on implementing a cashless solution in your venue call Smart Stadia on 0208 123 0188 or email info@smartstadia.com

Majority of UK Firms Ignore Customer Insight

Majority of UK Firms Ignoring Customer Insight -- KDB survey reveals fewer than half of financial directors and managers see companies in their field using data in marketing

Fewer than half UK financial directors and managers think that companies in their industry sector are using customer data to drive marketing initiatives, a new survey by database marketing and consumer insight firm KDB www.kdbltd.co.uk shows.

When asked if, overall, most firms in their sector were able to access and analyse customer data and then use this intelligence in their marketing, only 43% of the 1,000 finance directors and senior financial managers surveyed said yes. The survey covered regions throughout the UK, key industry sectors and firms of different sizes.

The sector in which respondents were most likely to see firms using customer insight in their marketing was

To read the full story click here!

For more information on implementing smart card technology in stadia go to http://www.smartstadia.com/

Consulting Smart advising a Championship Football Club

Consulting Smart Ltd, parent company of Smart Stadia are now advising a Championship Football Club on the integration of customer centric services and their delivery through a single token.

When interviewed Steve Beecroft Consulting Smart's Smart Technologies Consultant, Founder and Managing Director said "This is a very positive step forward for the stadia environment and even more important for the fans and supporters or as we prefer to call them customers.

Customers want convenience and value for money, by enabling them to access many services through a single token this is exaclty what our client is providing them. This is the future of stadia as has been proven by the level of interest we are receiving from all types of sports clubs and arena managers across the UK and Europe."

When asked abouth the nature of the relationship Mr Beecroft responded "Consulting Smart are proud to be advising our client on how to organically deploy a multi-application smart card scheme within the stadia and intergrate existing services and solutions to that scheme. If at sometime in the future any of our clients need assitance with provision of a Cashless, CRM, Access Controls or even an Assett Tracking system our colleagues in Smart Stadia will be only too happy to help."

For further information on the services that Consulting Smart can offer your club and the financial & operational benefits that can be realised contact sbeecroft@consultingsmart.com

or for information on Smart Stadia go to www.smartstadia.com or email info@smartstadia.com

END

Note to Editors Consulting Smart Ltd is a privately owned company established in 2006, working mainly with Local Authorities, Holiday Villages, Schools and Universities dwsigning and implementing multi-application multi-supplier smart card schemes.

Smart Stadia is a newly formed division of Consulting Smart Ltd focusing on the delivery of customer centric delivery solutions to the stadia and venue environments.