William Hill
Background:
William Hill, one of the world’s largest sports book and betting organizations, is always seeking to keep its information-hungry customers up-to-date on the latest news and odds. William Hill has worked with Enpocket to provide mobile marketing solutions via SMS and Java, rapidly delivering two-way communications while building loyalty and revenues. William Hill uses SMS and Java to improve customer care and drive revenues.
Objectives:
- Build and integrate mobile with existing channels
- Rapidly deliver information direct to sports fans’ mobile phones
- Ensure maximum customer service by profiling mobile database
- Build state-of-the-art Java applications allowing live gaming from the mobile
Solution:
In the gaming industry, knowledge is power and customers like to have the most up-to-date information and odds at their fingertips. William Hill decided that the mobile channel was the best channel for delivering this information free to its customers. As speed of delivery is such an important factor William Hill licensed the Enpocket Engine on a hosted basis, enabling it to deliver SMS messages itself in real-time, without having to manage technical issues. The SMS program integrates with William Hill’s call centers and WAP betting services, allowing William Hill to handle an even higher number of enquiries around big sporting events, where the company sees huge peaks in demand. William Hill and Enpocket began to build up a mobile community by advertising a short code in stores that offered odds and information on the Cheltenham Gold Cup, a major horse-racing event. It also signed up football and racing fans for SMS alerts through its call centers and web site.
The Engine’s profiling and segmentation capabilities allow William Hill to send customers tailored SMS alerts that relate to their favorite sport. Depending on their profile, each user receives different response mechanisms. For example, a high spending telephone betting customer who likes football will get a direct line to a sales representative within the SMS message, whereas a mobile Internet-using racing fan would get a WAP link to the racing homepage.
Best practice
William Hill and Enpocket take privacy very seriously and only fully opted in customers receive texts. Opt-outs are actioned immediately through an automated process. Some mobile owners may be opted in to receive numerous texts in relation to different sports. Each alert or news update message gives them the opportunity to opt out by texting ‘NO HORSE’, for example, back to the short code. The alert service is now being used on an ongoing basis for a diverse range of sports and for major events such as Ascot (racing), Euro 2004 (football) and the British Open (golf) amongst others, as well as for keeping online gaming fans informed of when the next Poker tournament is taking place on the William Hill website. William Hill and Enpocket have also built Java applications, using Enpocket’s Pocket Portal development tool, that customers can download from the William Hill website for live gaming via mobile. Enpocket has built and optimised the black jack, poker and slot machine games for a variety of the latest handsets.
Results:
- An opt-in database of over 15,000 loyal customers
- Superior customer service by giving instant odds and a rapid response mechanism
- A more detailed picture of customer preferences using the Enpocket Engine with existing systems
- Improved sales and service using latest mobile technologies
“Mobile gives us the ability to deliver personalised data direct to our customers’ handsets for events like the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Speed of delivery and reliability are key to ensuring that our customers receive relevant updates on odds and time-sensitive information at the right time. This is why we have licensed the Enpocket Engine,” said Michael Grenham, Sports Information Controller, William Hill.
