Houston Dynamo and Major League Soccer fans around the country come as loyal and rabid as any. With success on the field in the form of two MLS Cup victories, Houston Dynamo are now looking to connect with their fans a different level off the field with FanMaker’s rewards program.
Houston Dynamo’s rewards page, Dynamo Custom Rewards, is a fan loyalty hub for those looking to stay “Forever Orange.” Using a unique, customizable platform, Dynamo can now reward fans for their loyalty to the club.
"We believe that by offering point earning opportunities for things we want our members to do, such as purchasing specific ticket packages, engaging socially, participating in events, it will encourage them to do these things and do them more often." - Kimberly Sutton, Senior Service Specialist of the Houston Dynamo
“The rewards program offers us the ability to provide fans with custom rewards, hence the name of the program,” Sutton said. “In the past, we have included a season member gift with their package at the beginning of the season. These gifts have been lanyards, scarves and pins but we found that everyone did not like the gifts and therefore found no value in it.”
The Dynamo Custom Rewards program has proven to be very customizable. Along with all the ways to receive points, there are just as many rewards that you can cash them in towards that gives the fans the choice of what they want as opposed to choosing for them.
“With the Dynamo Custom Rewards program, we are able to offer fans the ability to choose their own gift, from a large menu of game day experiences or Dynamo memorabilia,” Sutton said.
The Dynamo Custom Rewards program started in February with the goal of benefitting buyers of season ticket packages. Initially, a bank of points was allotted to consumers based on their season ticket purchase, ranging from 20,000 to 30,000 points. Once on board, those season ticket members could rack up even more points by engaging in different behaviors. Sutton listed a variety of ways to up their points, including purchasing women’s season tickets, donating to team sponsored food drives, volunteering at special events or even just checking in to games by using the team’s mobile app synced with FanMaker’s beacons all around the stadium. All these opportunities gives Dynamo fans ways to increase their point totals and climb the leaderboard towards bigger and better rewards that you might not see at the stadium on game days.
“The main objective with this program is to increase desired behavior from our members,” said Kimberly Sutton, Senior Service Specialist of the Houston Dynamo. “We believe that by offering point earning opportunities for things we want our members to do, such as purchasing specific ticket packages, engaging socially, participating in events, it will encourage them to do these things and do them more often.”
“Members are able to redeem points for unique game day experiences that are not available for purchase or exclusive Dynamo memorabilia that is only available through the program,” Sutton said.
Dynamo is finding new ways to market the rewards program by combining the abilities of beacons into their sponsorships. By working with McDonald’s, Dynamo has created a promotion called #McDynamo10, where they will post fans’ photos onto a large number ten within the concourse of the stadium on game days. Sutton says they will use beacon technology to send push notification messages to fans at the games, reminding them to submit their photos as they pass the number ten wall space, connecting the fans and the sponsors more intimately.
“The goal is to provide more value to our sponsors and interaction with our fans which they hope to have become their customers,” Sutton said. “We are looking to incorporate beacon technology at a sponsor’s location as well.”
In just a short time, the Dynamo Custom Rewards program has been a success. Sutton is currently in the process of surveying members about the Dynamo Custom Rewardsprogram. Thus far, members’ positive feedback has been gaining access to experiences and other team items that are not generally available to fans. With over 3,300 users currently and great potential for growth, Houston Dynamo are now connecting with fans in ways contemporary marketing and game day service techniques couldn’t have allowed.