Client
Williams Racing, a historic Formula 1 team, faced the challenge of engaging millions of fans worldwide through a cohesive digital experience. With growing demands in the sports entertainment industry, our client recognized the need to centralize fan data and create personalized, real-time interactions.
Challenge
According to Chief Growth Officer, Aidan Lyons, “The average Formula 1 fan is passionate about the sport and has a deep interest in the technical aspects of racing. Williams fans are more likely to adopt technology and use new media and communications channels and as a company we needed to evolve the way we communicate and market to them.”
The team wanted to deliver a modern, engaging experience for their global fanbase but faced several key challenges:
- Fan data was scattered across five sources, making it difficult to gain a unified view of each fan and deliver targeted campaigns.
- The lack of a centralized platform for fan data and communications led to duplicated messages and missed engagement opportunities.
- Decentralized content and the lack of message templates caused delays and limited campaign personalization.
Solution
Softcrylic, a part of Hexaware, partnered with Williams Racing to build a dynamic fan engagement platform using the Adobe Experience Platform (AEP) and supporting tools. Key solution elements included:
- MarTech and CRM Overhaul: Within Williams Racing’s pre-CDP data warehouse, Softcrylic organized a fan data model using the Adobe Experience Data Model (XDM). This setup consolidated seven data schemas into a unified model, enabling Williams Racing’s marketing team to continue activating campaigns during data integration, setting a strong foundation for future scalability.
- Real-time Data Collection: Through the AEP Web SDK and Adobe Client Data Layer, data from Williams Racing’s official site and mobile app was routed into AEP in real-time. With a single tag deployed across all pages, Adobe Analytics and Adobe Target collected interaction data instantly, allowing for dynamic content adjustments based on fan activities. Additionally, real-time authentication data was ingested directly into AEP, allowing for immediate activation when fans registered on the site or app.
- Personalization via Audience Segmentation: Leveraging Adobe Real-Time CDP (RT-CDP) and Adobe Target for same-page personalization, Softcrylic enabled Williams Racing to dynamically adjust site content based on fan interests and behavior. This capability delivered relevant messaging, offers, and updates instantly, enhancing the fan experience.
- Coordinated Audience Strategy Across Media and CRM: By combining CRM data with behavioral, transactional, and third-party data through RT-CDP and identity resolution, Williams Racing could create rich audience profiles for targeted engagement across multiple channels.
- 1-to-1 Message Personalization: Using Adobe Journey Optimizer (AJO) and Adobe Target, Softcrylic enabled personalized messaging at an individual level. Dynamic content modules allowed messages to be tailored to fan profile attributes, such as driver interests, location, purchase history, and content preferences, ensuring unique and relevant communications.
- eCommerce Migration: The migration of Williams Racing’s eCommerce platform to Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento) created a bridge for data analysis and reporting, facilitating targeted and personalized shopping experiences for fans on the store site.
- Streamlined Campaign Activation: With Adobe Journey Optimizer (AJO), Softcrylic optimized campaign workflows, using templatization to streamline the sending of newsletters, post-race updates, store promotions, and geo-targeted messages. This reduced the time for activating campaigns across email, push notifications, SMS/MMS, and other channels, ensuring fans received timely, relevant updates.
Benefits
The digital experience platform driven by Adobe digital solutions brought several benefits to Williams Racing, enhancing their connection with fans worldwide:
- Unified Fan View: Consolidated fan data for consistent, accurate insights, enabling highly personalized communication.
- Rapid Campaign Activation: Reduced campaign spend times from 2 days to 5 minutes, allowing timely engagement during key moments.
- Increased Fan Engagement: Real-time personalization achieved an open rate of ~50% on emails and ~36% on geo-targeted push notifications.
- Efficient Media Buys: Leveraged audience insights for targeted media placements, lowering acquisition costs and expanding the fan base by 500k registered users year on year.
- Improved Customer Journey: Enabled multi-channel activation, ensuring fans received relevant messages across email, SMS, and push notifications.
“Softcrylic was able to stand-up AEP Web SDK, AEP Data Collection, RT-CDP, Target, and AJO in less than 45 days – this was an incredible feat and their approach to solutioning is unparalleled. We continue to work with Softcrylic to Run & Operate our Adobe stack. They are the best consultants I have worked with, but I don’t really look at them as a consulting group, I look at them more as valued members of our team.” Brian Mermelshtein, Senior Director, Fan Analytics, Williams Racing
“The value in Digital Marketing is not in the continual implementation of platforms and thankfully we partnered with Softcrylic and solved that problem. Now we can focus on using the technology to improve our fan experiences and drive our business.” Aidan Lyons, Chief Growth Officer, Williams Racing/Dorilton Motor Sports.
Summary
Softcrylic, a part of Hexaware, partnered with Williams Racing to construct a robust digital experience platform powered by Adobe digital solutions, transforming the fan experience for this global Formula 1 team. The solution unified fan data, enabled real-time personalization, and streamlined campaign activation, driving engagement and increasing fan loyalty. With this platform, Williams Racing can now deliver timely, personalized interactions that resonate with their diverse fanbase worldwide.
