Miami Heat delivers real-time personalized digital experiences with a headless CMS

According to Matthew Jafarian, executive vice president, Business Strategy, Tridion wasn't able to meet business expectations on several levels: Tridion’s licensing was costly, customization and integration expenses were cost-prohibitive and Tridion was not able to scale to satisfy the needs of a growing user base.

In an attempt to build out much-needed functionality, the Heat development team started layering on third-party software, resulting in a complex system that was extremely difficult to operate.

Ultimately, the Heat reached an impasse where Tridion was not delivering the desired results. To add to the sense of urgency, mobile as a digital channel in sports had grown in importance to engage captive audiences during game time and beyond, with mobile device penetration among fans visiting the arena nearing 100%.

It was time for a new content management system, so the Heat began searching for a solution that could address their existing CMS issues and simultaneously unlock the potential of a compelling mobile content experience.

Jafarian recalled that moving to Contentstack was a very welcome transition for the Miami Heat’s content team.

“The best part was that the new platform is customizable to meet all our content team’s needs, without requiring highly complex development,” he said, adding that with Contentstack, internal adoption shot up by over 30%, while developer costs and time were cut in half.

Using Contentstack to feed content to the app resulted in a 24/7 engagement tool with advanced personalization capabilities. The new solution provides the Heat with unique visibility into individual fans’ preferences and the means to delight them beyond expectations by treating each individual like a VIP.

The Heat’s investment didn’t just pay off for its fans but also delivered a strong ROI for the sports franchise.

“We launched a targeted messaging campaign that informed our season ticket members about an exclusive retail offer once they scanned into the arena,” Jafarian said. “That resulted in an almost 100% influenced app open rate and a spike in sales for our Retail group.”

Edson Crevecoeur, vice president, Business Intelligence and Strategy at Miami Heat, said, “Right now, on any given day during the season, we have over 70 users actively monitoring 250 dashboards and reports and, with Contentstack, we are more efficient and can make better decisions as a result.”