A New Paradigm for Sports Venues: The Fan Experience

Photo via Flickr user clydeorama

If you asked any fan of any sports team to name a favorite, they’d each tell you that their team is the best. Meanwhile teams would tell you that they have the greatest fans. And they’d both be telling the truth. In their hearts, they both believe this—the connection between sports teams and fans is that deep. So, if you’re the owner or operator of a sports venue, and you want to create the type of home field advantage that maximizes fan engagement and sponsorship ROI, and that builds a sense of community, then the first of four strategies we’ve proposed (as Ron Turner previewed last week) is to take the time to get to know the fans who buy your tickets, fill your seats, and cheer (loudly!) for your team.

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Learning from Luxury

Do you have a favorite brand? One that you feel so attached to, that if it went away for some reason, you’d feel like a part of you was missing? That’s exactly the kind of emotional connection that brands strive to achieve with their customers: a relationship so strong and so loyal that it feels human.

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Hug Your Customers, Embrace Your Data and Have Fun: A Gensler Interview with Jack Mitchell

As CEO of the Mitchells Family of Stores, which is one of the country’s most respected upper end clothing store chains, Jack Mitchell and members of his third generation family--nine of his family members are actively working at the company--have created a unique business philosophy in which top-tier customer service and strong relationships with your employees are valued above all else. That may seem a bit clichéd at first, but it has helped the Mitchells build a business in which 70 percent of the transactions are conducted at regular price as opposed to at a discount.

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Renovating an iconic department store: Wilkes Bashford

As designers, we’re constantly challenged to renew, refresh and innovate. But how do you achieve newness and modernity without compromising customer expectations and disrupting brand loyalty? That’s the challenge our San Francisco design team faced on when we partnered with San Francisco’s iconic department store, Wilkes Bashford.

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Metal Wood Rocks

Maybe it's because I'm from the Pacific Northwest and often get homesick for the region’s amazing air, water and trees, but out in the world, anything that resembles trees always seems to catch my eye – even if it’s not wood at all.

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