The Portland Trail Blazers have always been a tech savvy team. They have to be. Being in one of the coolest, but smallest cities in the NBA, the team has to work hard to keep its business strategies on par with “the big boys.”
As the Pacific Northwest turns into its own version of Silicon Valley, the Blazers are taking advantage of the influx of tech startups in their own town to become even more engaged with their customers than they already are. With connections on nearly every major social media channel, Rip City is already reaching its fans in unprecedented numbers for a small market team. Yet with customer engagement being one of the most valuable end results of marketing, it never hurts to do more.
Dewayne Hankins, Senior Vice President of Brand Strategy & Digital for the Blazers, recently discussed with SportTechie two new partnerships with Oregon-based businesses. Not only will these partnerships increase customer engagement for the Blazers, but they will help put these two companies on more radars.
A Living Poster
While it might be a long while before sports posters on kids’ walls breathe with nearly the same life as the athletes they project, Beaverton-based Digimarc is helping the Blazers make their fan engagements more timely. The Blazers and Digimarc already work together on the barcodes for Fan Scan, part of the Blazers app.
Using Fan Scan, Rip City regulars can look for embedded barcodes in information at Moda Center and engage while at a game. The beauty of a Digimarc barcode is that it is invisible and printable anywhere on a package or embeddable anywhere on a site. Traditional barcodes are obvious, and customers and their phones see one.
For Portland’s new posters, Digimarc will embed invisible barcodes repeatedly on a printing. While fans see a conventional poster, their phones will see a continuous set of barcodes connecting them to more promotions. This represents a great opportunity for Hankins and the Blazers to use analytics to predict the most effective engagements for fans. If fans aren’t engaging with the links in the arena, Hankins will know that he will not only need to change those codes to something more dynamic, but change the codes for the posters on Portland fans’ walls.
The Airbnb of Parking Spots
Parking sucks. Let’s just remind ourselves of that fact, and it can suck even more if you’re trying to find a spot for a playoff game or the next match. This is especially true if you’re visiting from out of town, like I would be. While it might be easier to head to the game via the MAX for the locals, it’s not always easy, no matter how many light-rail guides you read.
The Trail Blazers and the Timbers are working with Portland-based Citifyd to provide easier access to parking for fans. You can already get your event tickets before you head to the Moda Center or Providence. Why not pay for your parking spot before you leave your house, too? Citifyd partners with parking lots and other leasors and parking lot owners to rent out spots for Trail Blazer and Timbers games.
This provides Portland businesses with an extra means of income when parking lots aren’t full during working hours. Reserved parking lots may sit empty for hours overnight, but Citifyd gives fans a chance for ease of parking and lot owners a chance to not let their real estate go to waste. You can even rent out your residential parking space if that’s not prohibited by any lease agreements or neighborhood covenants.
Citifyd has moved out of beta testing and is now available to locals and visitors alike. You can only purchase parking for Timbers and Blazers events, but there are plans for the Oregon-based app to go nation-wide.
For teams like the Blazers and the Timbers, showing the way with these technological engagements sends signals that thinking big is the how you create such loyal fanbases.
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