Online Community: Vitesse

Vitesse wants to involve the club's supporters in discussions on various topics, such as activities in the stadium around the game, catering, music, the webshop, and ticket sales. The club also hopes this will strengthen its bond with its supporters.

Online community

Because supporters were able to log in twice during the season for a week to answer questions, respond to statements, and engage in discussions with other supporters, it was possible to actively involve supporters in thinking about developments within Vitesse. Because relevant Vitesse employees were able to watch live, they could immediately follow up on the supporters' advice and turn it into concrete ideas that would improve the bond between supporters and the club.

The first week of online discussion revealed the supporters' need for recognition. Vitesse developed these suggestions into a loyalty program, which was then presented to the same supporters in an online forum. Supporters then spent a week discussing what Vitesse could do to attract new supporters and retain existing ones. Many suggestions were also made for the content of the potential loyalty program. This provided Vitesse with very concrete input that can be directly translated into practice.

The initiative was also appreciated by the participants. One of them wrote afterwards:

 “I’ve read lots of good ideas from fellow supporters. Great initiative from Vitesse.”
Participant in the Vitesse Fan Platform

Insights for Vitesse

Vitesse has incorporated the suggestions made by supporters into a loyalty program. With this program, Vitesse wants to show its supporters more appreciation. Vitesse believes it is important to continue to involve supporters in the club and has therefore Markteffect its collaboration with Markteffect . The Vitesse Fan Platform went live again in the 2018-2019 season with new participating supporters and new themes.

“We wanted to thank the supporters for their input and enthusiastic participation. We immediately took the opportunity to present the results to them, along with the action points we will be addressing at Vitesse.”
Patrick van Mil, marketer at Vitesse

Conducting qualitative research using Fan Platform

We conduct qualitative research for various national and international parties via our online platform. A Fan Platform is a closed online discussion forum in which supporters answer individual questions and discuss important topics relating to their club. A Fan Platform is an innovative form of qualitative research that focuses on opinions, suggestions, areas for improvement, critical comments, and, above all, discussions among supporters to generate new ideas.

A selection of supporters is invited to participate. They can log in for a week to answer the questions that are posted online every day and respond to the statements. Because participants discuss the same theme for a longer period of time, they often arrive at different and new insights.

Key benefits of a Fan Platform:

• Individual questions do not influence other participants.
• Participants can join in from anywhere and at any time via the easy-to-use online platform.
• The client can watch live online with their own account.