In this webinar we bring together an esteemed panel of speakers from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games to explore how the delivery of a large scale international sporting event has:

  • Used technology in innovative ways to enhance spectator experience
  • Utilised the collection of data to help shape and maximise commercial revenue
  • Overcome issues on data collection and storage as a result of working with so many different stakeholders/third parties
  • Built and developed a global fan base whilst complying with data protection regulation.
  • Collected data safely from merchandising partners.
  • Converted IP rights into commercial opportunities
  • Maximised website conversion rates via digital channels.

Our panel for this event includes

  • Louise Dodds: Head of Event Services – Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games
  • Sarah Griffiths: Commonwealth Games Federation – Digital Delivery Programme Manager
  • Alex Balzaretti: Commonwealth Games Federation Partnerships (CGFP) - Strategy and Projects Senior Manager

Transcript

Helen Davenport: Hello everyone and welcome to our latest Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games event. A panel discussion on collecting protecting and commercialising data. Thank you very much for joining us, I am Helen Davenport a partner at Gowling WLG and I lead our cyber security and contentious data privacy work in the UK.

Today I am joined by an esteemed panel of speakers from the games, Louise Dodds Head of Event Services at Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, Sarah Griffiths from the Commonwealth Games Federation where she is Digital Delivery Programme Manager and Alex Balzaretti, Commonwealth Games Federation Partnerships Strategy and Projects Senior Manager.

Today our speakers will be discussing how the games has used technology in innovative ways to enhance spectator experience, used the collection of data to help maximise the revenue and handled issues on data collection and storage involving a number of different stakeholders and third parties.

In terms of housekeeping before we begin if you have any questions for our speakers do please put those in the Q&A box and we will aim to pick those up at the end. I also confirm that the session will be recorded and available after the event and will be circulated as well. So those details covered let's move on to our first question and our panel discussion today.

So as I touched upon we are lucky to have an esteemed panel of speakers and perhaps it would be really helpful for the audience to start by talking a bit about each of your roles and how your organisations are working together in preparation for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and even beyond. So Louise can I come to you first on that topic.

Louise Dodds: Yes certainly so hello everyone my name is Louise Dodds and I head up the events services functional area here at the OC.

So events services are responsible for championing the needs of the spectator client group in all aspects of the games planning so our primary role is to ensure that the spectators have the best possible experience on venue at the games so how we do that is by looking at their needs by anticipating what it is that will make it the best possible day. So we like to ensure that we can support operationally to venues, they can move around efficiently, that all the things that they would want to experience on venue is there and that we understand how they are going to get to the games, what they need and that we give them the best possible experience.

Helen: To you Sarah.

Sarah Griffiths: Good afternoon everybody I am Sarah Griffiths and the Digital Delivery Programme Manager at the Commonwealth Games Federation.

I joined the Federation in 2020 during the middle of Covid and I was brought on board specifically to manage the operational side of the digital transformation that has been put in place. This was deemed to be the best route for it after various strategy plans that were enacted after the last games back in 2018 when the decision was that we needed to try and avoid the big model of the games going forward to make it slightly more sustainable for future hosts.

As a consequence it was decided that across the Birmingham games we would look to develop a brand new infrastructure from a digital perspective around website and BD products that would allow us to take those products forward into future games.

So my role is very much a case of working with the OC, working with CGFP who is the venture capitalist partnership side of the business of which Alex works for to ensure that all the contracts are put in place around the procurement of these platforms are sustainable for future games, and obviously working very closely with Louise with regards to making sure that spectators get access to those digital platforms and to ensure they have best experience possible.

Helen: Thank you Sarah. Alex could you talk a bit more about what you have been doing.

Alex Balzaretti: Yes sure so hi everybody, thank you for taking time out to join us today. I think I have been on board now just under three years, but yes, I guess following the 2018 games the Commonwealth Games Federation established a new delivery model for future games which is a majority venture as Sarah referred to and that delivery model is focused on a much more economically sustainable games.

So all of the commercial contracting for that, I really mean anything that is revenue generating essentially so broadcast sponsorship licensing and merchandising of which I oversee are delivered by and secured by CGF Partnerships but in a tri-part arrangement with the Commonwealth Games organising committee who are responsible for significant amounts of uploads of those undertakings and deliverables within those contracts. Everything from IP, marketing, sponsorship rights etc. and for Birmingham this is working really closely in the delivery of all commercial agreements alongside the organising committee, CGFP through myself and our team and also the individual partner whoever that might be so I guess data collection, ownership, transfer and use and all of the legal requirements around that data both in the run up to and during and following games across these various relationships is being closely managed by the in-house legal team within the organising committee and obviously supported by Gowling WLG as our legal advisor.

So that is a very close co-ordination between all of our different organisations to get to the points we are going to cover off today.

Helen: Thank you Alex, and we of course between us we had some really interesting discussions in preparation for this event and one of the things we talked about in those discussions was a common theme or objective of fandom and I think it would be really interesting if you could talk about what that means in each of your roles and how therefore data is relevant to you in that context so I will come to you first Louise.

Louise: Thank you Helen, so from my perspective as the functional area we are responsible for looking after the spectator client group we look at this holistically so Birmingham 2022 is a one off event but the Commonwealth Games happens once every four years so our spectators are likely to have a degree of awareness about the Commonwealth Games itself but they do not necessarily know very much about it. They have obviously not come across Birmingham 2022 before so getting our definition of our brand and our experience of what Birmingham 2022 means to the spectators, what is the power of the Commonwealth Games brand and how we can bring that to life so we can really engage with our target group. We want to make sure the spectators have a great time and not only at the Games but with every single interaction and touch point across the entire journey from when they first hear about the games to when they purchase their ticket, their journey to the Games, on venue and then when they are back home reminiscing. As Sarah talked about the digital overlay of that it is so important for bringing that journey to life and we believe very strongly that if we can engage with these fans at every key touch point then it is so important because fans are advocates, they recommend, they talk to everyone about your event, they believe in it, they have an emotional connection and for our overriding vision with Birmingham 2022 to be the Games for everyone we need to make that emotional connection with everybody and ensure that we really are delivering something for everyone in our proposition.

Helen: Thank you Louise, I think we may have just lost a little bit near the end there but one of the things you were talking about was Sarah and the relationship from the sort of digital perspective so Sarah do you want to come in on fandom and the digital audience.

Sarah: Yes as Louise says her primary focus is very much on the spectators, the people on the ground and the people who come to visit Birmingham and, and obviously how digital plays in part of that is very key. From a CGF perspective as a governing body we have a wider remit to support our 72 CGA's and all the global fans in that remit as well so we have a double pronged attack basically of how we break down the demographic to not only be the spectators but also the global fan base. So we are very much addressing that and as mentioned around the digital strategy and there was a huge amount of research that was done in advance of that and strategy that came to life that looked at the global audience that looked at the sporting fans, that looked at those who were interested in the Commonwealth Games as an institute and those who are just interested in sport in general.

It was very clearly evidenced that we have a huge market place out there that we can engage with. There are roughly 236 million people across the Commonwealth who we know are engaged in the Commonwealth sports. We know that there is approximately 89% of those people have access to mobile phones. Of the 2.5 billion across the Commonwealth as a whole that is a relatively small proportion but certainly for us it is a fairly good bite at the cherry for the first games where we are looking at engaging with them in a slightly different way than we might have done previously.

So just going back to Louise's remits obviously we all work very closely together and to deliver exactly what is being done on the ground and trying to make sure that is replicated, amplified through our digital platforms and we use the data that is assessed around the ticket purchasing and to very much deliver the personalised experience to the fans to make those communications very key, very focused, very targeted with regards to the sports they are actually attending.

We look to try and give a really unique experience and we are an eleven day sporting event, we have a very short period of time to engage with people but we actually want to take those fans that we are working with through to the future games. We want them to embrace the Commonwealth sport movement as a real opportunity to be part of something that does happen every four years but there is also so much more that goes on between those four years. So for the first time ever we are looking to embrace that at fandom model to keep that continued engagement going with them and not just take the Birmingham supporters and support a fan base but to actually keep communicating with people up to 2026 and beyond so there is a real change in the focus of how we treat the fans and that is a key part of what we are doing.

Helen: Thank you Sarah, and for you Alex and the role really in data and driving success for you.

Alex: Yes and I think it is fair to say in the commercial area particularly licenced merchandise and products and so on it is sort of the platform and foundation to driving that success level as a clear connection between the amount of people you are able to talk to and engage with and the retail revenue that you obviously deliver at the end.

I think the more we understand about the consumers and the customers' both in the run up to, during and beyond the Games the more we can anticipate that and research that and understand that. Combined with the ability to be able to specifically target communications to different individuals at different times and at different touch points and obviously the greater the impact that has on the ability to translate the customer or the fan into a sale.

It obviously massively reduces the risk in missing revenue targets so you know in my particular space we used data to create the right styling for example around ranges, whether that is size profiling based on the expectations of the levels of individuals be they males, females, children, couples, adolescents any data that we can translate into information that helps us to curate a range that satisfies needs to the largest degree obviously is vital to the success of what we are doing.

That can be down to team preferences so some of the research data that we have got, that could be just by postcode it could be by region of where they live, it could be by the tickets that have specifically purchased and therefore we will know if there a greater degree for example of tickets sold for events where Australia is taking part. So we will use that data to help us create as many engaging touch points with those fans as is physically possible and we also determine when we put products on sale based off the data we have got.

So there may be individuals globally who are more engaged with Queen's baton relay for example and where it is going and what it is doing than maybe the actively of sport at the Game's itself. So we will produce things like limited edition pin badges that are only available at certain points, we will create products that celebrate certain things. For example the Queen's baton relay or Perry the mascot and introduce those to fans to essentially enable us to create hooks to talk with them and to engage with them that could be through emails where people have opted in and given us permission for us to contact them on that basis. It could be in the form of a competition working with other bodies such as Swim England to create a message for them to then put out to their data set to create that engagement so I think every opportunity to engage with a fan that the data can deliver to us we have absolutely optimised.

Helen: That's great and of course handling data, we have talked there about some of the opportunities but this also comes with challenges so coming to you Sarah first probably on this one given your role, could you talk to us a bit about some of the data challenges you have faced and how you have handled those.

Sarah: Thank you Helen. So data it is always going to be a little bit of a problem when you are working with three separate entities that are working together as one team so that has probably been our biggest challenge. Making sure that we have got the data agreements in place and making sure that all parties are represented when we are looking at consents and adopting everything.

Part of the Games transformation is that the Birmingham platform has been put in place first. We are very much focussing on the Games time and post Games time and then looking to make that transition of those digital platforms into the Commonwealth sport platforms which is all very well and good but of course it does mean that if somebody is signing up to create an account through a single sign up process through the website or an ad, we have got to ensure that there is that continuity for that relationship, for the ongoing support and protection of that data, otherwise we are going to have to go and ask them to re-engage, re-register, create a new account etc. which is not a great user account experience.

So little things like that whilst they sound very simple the actual process to get it all in place to make sure the right bodies are involved, the right copywriters have been aligned with the writing now notifications etc. It is a bit of a complex beast and I have to say that without the support of Gowling WLG, the OC Roper team as well as the other support that we get externally through CGF we would definitely found it challenging.

So that is just one example of how we have to try and unravel the data compliance but we have got some very robust processes in place and the OC in particular has been a great help and support to us from that perspective so we are able to get through all of our respective challenges and come out the other side and hopefully from a data perspective post Games time it will be a seamless transition.

Helen: Indeed and for those of us who perhaps are not as immersed in data as I know all of you are on this call and others of us, obviously Roper Record of Processing Act is very important as you said. Coming to you then Alex on some of the data challenges.

Alex: Yes I think for us in our particular space obviously generating the data in the first place is the challenge and then the raft of legal requirements and responsibilities by multiple parties involved that Sarah has just referred to obviously kicks in but you know trying to engage with an audience in order to stimulate that their desire to want to put their data in the first place and also to want any opt ins and any legal requirements that surround that as Sarah said to make sure that we could actually engage with them once that data does exist, so I think driving that activity to encourage that process and then managing the efficient use of it and the legal use of it and the responsible use of it is a huge mountain before you even then get to enjoy any of the benefits from being able to put in activity to deliver. Maximising messages in the correct way to the correct audiences in order to maximise the exposure and awareness but doing that all in a way that does not then cause irritation, so how frequently do we do it, you know am I sending team Scotland messaging to team England fans for example and is likely to cause levels of irritation and levels of un-subscriptions which is obviously what we are trying to avoid.

So I think taking care to understand what the data tells us before we then take action and that is obviously highly time consuming but once you get over that challenge you know it can then be very rewarding because, once the Commonwealth Games fan is engaged you have got what I call a keeper. You know they generally engage, they stay engaged, you know they repeat visit, they like your social posts, they tell their friends. You know so much that when we look at our conversion rates for example on the e-commerce site, you know once we have got the traffic there, the sort of conversion rates of people who are then actually putting something in their basket and check out and receive that product is probably double the industry standard of a standard e-commerce site.

So once we are generating the amount of traffic the engagement then is really quite high but for me that initial challenge is certainly generating it in the first place and then I guess that respectful, responsible and legal management of that data so that we can maximise it but absolutely in the right way.

Helen: Thank you Alex, and obviously I think Alex mentioned earlier so the things like countdown to the Games and everything you have been talking about is fascinating but obviously we are getting increasingly close to the Games and more and more excited about it so let us move to talk about how data is guiding and shaping some of that Games time planning and coming to you first Louise.

Louise: So data is incredibly important to us, the information and insights that we get from our spectators, from our customers enables us to anticipate their demands and also their actions so from an operational planning perspective we are anticipating one and a half million spectators across 15 competition venues. So that is a phenomenal size event and it is really important to understand what it is that the spectators expect that they will do so through surveys that we send out we are able to predict behaviour so for example, how long will they arrive on venue before the sports session starts, what mode are they going to take, do they want to stay in Birmingham, are they interested in extending their stay. We can understand every little piece of the jigsaw puzzle that constitutes what will give them the best possible day and then we make sure operationally that our staff are resilient, are ready to welcome that demand and interests. An example is from the spectator side of things, we send out emails to the database. We can then see how many people have opened those emails and from that email how many have then gone on to use our journey planner, what proportion are planning their travel in advance, how they are getting to venue and if we need to make any tweaks to our operation we can do. And that is really important to us, taking the insight using the insight and then responding accordingly.

Helen: thank you Louise. And this time we will come to you Alex.

Alex: I feel the word Louise used there "insight" is certainly in my area, having that data capture is one thing but being able to use it to tell us stories, to give us information, to help us make decisions so we know our venue capacities but we alos know how many people will actually be sat in those seats, we know the make-up of those people, we know their age profiles, for example, we know whereabouts in the country or the world or the local region they are coming from and we know even to the point of the average amount of tickets each person bought for each individual session and which sessions they are and what time they are at. So from that we know a huge amount, I know for example, which route they are going to walk to the gymnastics event that is at 10:30 on a Saturday because all of that has been planned in accordingly. I know therefore that they will be passing by X amount of points where they can purchase, I know those points are advertising on wayfinding so it massively helps us, I guess particularly during game time to manage footfall flow and expectations which helps us manage the amount of retail staff that we then put in place, the sort of stock that we have available. The ability to manage that stock is quite crucial because success for anybody in licensing and merchandise for events is all determined on how much you have left in the warehouse at the end of it so being able to manage and almost understand and predict what people will do, based on the insight that we have got from that data is absolutely crucial to our planning – where we put the product, what product we put where and who we service. All of this insight massively reduces our risk of not hitting particular targets which obviously is revenue that goes back into the pot to fund the Games so absolutely vital the data is at guiding us through Games time.

Helen: And I think what was interesting when we were speaking earlier is that there have been some surprises for you, things that perhaps you did not expect which have now changed the way that you approach some things.

Alex: Exactly yes. So you know at the start of 2021 we launched the e-commerce site. So anybody from around the world and the region and the nation can go online and purchase. And from those purchase patterns, using Louise's words, we looked at the insight from data and from there we decided on the breakdown of range that we would take to an actual live test event that happened earlier on this year. And retail to the fans that were there. And we absolutely did not see the profiles of product sales that we had seen in e-commerce world that we saw in real life. And there were people actually stood in front of the product. And a lot of that is to do with the make-up of who was there. So there were couples and families. Obviously the children have a voice of their own, it is referred to as pester power in my world. And can absolutely massively swing what you put in your basket and what you choose.

So from that particular event we learnt that we did not take enough product for the children because the e‑commerce sales suggested that it was a proportion but nowhere near as large as what we have seen. But the benefit of that and I guess test events, again it is another form of insight. And that has given us the opportunity to reassess that offer at venue to make sure we do have access to a broader range to satisfy a broader demographic. But also we have looked at storage on the basis of that so that if again, boxing for example, I am sure we will have a different purchasing profile than what we will see at the athletics. Just because of the nature of the ticket holders and their demographic. So what we can then fit into storage so we can quickly flip around the offer is also quite vital. So yes, and another one has been around programmes. So when the ballots first closed the average number of tickets people had bought for different events was much higher than what people are buying now given that they can log on online. They can go in and specifically purchase seats. Now during the ballet you do not know what you are going to get. So you generally hedge your bets and you put more in there. So if we had made the decisions on how many programmes and who we were going to target based on the back of the ballot, we would also have got that wrong. So again, I think the importance is having the ability to sense check the insight if possible. And confirm that what you are expecting to see happen, happens and if not that you have a back-up plan to move that around. So yes certainly some significant learnings even over the past six weeks that will help us in the next six weeks.

Helen: Thank you Alex. And now to your Sarah just to talk about your work in relation to games time planning.

Sarah:  Thanks Helen. I think Alex has hit the nail on head actually providing context around data is absolutely crucial. We have taken a lot of data from the Gold Coast in 2018 and we have been able to look at that and see what we want to build upon that in terms of our success levels so things like setting our KPIs for the digital platforms, ensuring that we have got more people downloading the app than we had before, more people looking at the website than we had before, more people engaging on social channels than we had before. That is a given against what is in that, raise those levels and raise those targets but fundamentally it is the context behind that that is the really important bit that is going to allow us to make significant improvements as we move forward to 2026. So with my role it is predominantly about the future, everything we put in place for games time, we want to look at how we build upon that and for the first time ever we are actually engaging with a real digital, sorry real data programme that is allowing us to look at data not just from a fan perspective or not just from an engagement perspective but from a B to B level as well, so the data programme is a repeat. Every single aspect of the delivery of the games such as how many buses will be available for athletes and who was using them, were they being used as the optimal level at the optimal time etc. and of course the villages in particular this is an area that the athletes have great fun, there is going to be five of them at this games which is significantly different from previous games, where previously it has been one village. So these five villages are going to be made available to the athletes to rest, recuperate, network, enjoy themselves, relax, etc. and there are lots of things that go on to help us put those athletes in that aspect such as workshops, jewellery making classes, silent discos, all things that will help them just prepare for their actual event and perform at their best. So looking at that data that is all very well and good but how do we know who is going to attend, how do we know who is going to actually be able to engage or is there any point putting on the silent disco. So little things like that we are able to use the digital platforms to get some heads up on numbers. We are then able to look at those numbers, look at times that they were hosted. Look at the way that we engage with people, look at the way the communications are put out and get that context behind the data that we are going to get and say 'was this viable, was it cost effective, is this something that people really appreciated and wanted' so that when we get into 2026 and future games, we plan accordingly. So every aspect of data collection does need to have some context behind it so that we can actually do some real analysis of how valuable those insights really are.

Helen:  Thank you Sarah. As we close on that question it's really interesting, from the athletes' perspective. We have touched a number of times in the webinar about spectator engagement and I just want to come back to that and perhaps drilldown in a bit more detail and so Louise could you talk in more detail perhaps about some of the initiatives that you have been working on to engage spectators in the games?

Louise:  Yes, I would love to so from a spectator engagement perspective we begin by looking at each of the competition venues and where we need to get the spectators from and to and on their journey we look at every single touch point that we have to interact with them say that where they get their tickets checked, where they meet the security and have their bags searched, where they come into the venue the wayfinding, how they navigate through the concession areas into the bowl and so then we have what we call an experience wheel, so we look at the timings then, so counting down from the sports session starts and each touch point and then that gives us our areas in which we can engage. So there is four main ways that we look to engage with the spectators. So first and foremost the Commonwealth Games are about sport so it is really important that we help inspire the spectators about the sport, we want to build atmosphere so they can cheer the athletes on to those gold winning medal performances, we want to inform them so that when they take their seats they understand the basic rules, they understand the calibre of the athletes. So that is our kind of first strategy, very much building hype and informing around the sport. Our second thing, these are the most inclusive games so it is really important, have we done everything we can to engage from a sustainability point of view, have we got something for families for young people, for old people, for people that need extra support. So we have initiatives called our family rest area so the events services team have a space on every competition venue, that if a breastfeeding mother needs to take some time out or a child is getting very upset and they need a quiet place that they can recoup. We have an area which has sensory provision and privacy so that we can offer those services, We look at each of our touch points and then consider what are the potential pain points so what could cause frustrations so for people with young, young children competition sessions are quite long so how do you keep them engaged, how do you stop them reaching for the parents phones so we designed an initiative called Perry's Activity Book which will be available for our younger ticket holders where they will get some pencils and this booklet and they will be able to fill it out in their seats so something they can do by themselves or together with their parents and it is all about bringing to life the games values and part of this includes a trail so we have five Perry points around the venue that their children can go to get their books stamped and then on completing all five stamps they are then able to go to Alex's Mega Store in Centenary Square and take their completed booklet. So it is very much turning anything that could be a potential pain point into a positive experience and finally our fourth area is very much operationally using that spectator experience and engagement to help mitigate any potential risks so on a very basic level if we have got an access ramp and we need to make it look tidy at the sides. So to inform them and really bring that to life. We have worked with Alison Hammond to record our pedestrians meaning audio so she in her brilliant Brummie accent will give us the operational instructions by bringing to life the personality of the games so rather than that being a risk that people take too long to get through security checks she is helping guide it. So those are our four big things, keeping sport central, making sure we have got something for everyone, mitigating the pain points and the operational risks to deliver the best games for everyone.

Helen: Thanks Louise. Alex obviously Louise mentioned the last issue we come to you on this question.

Helen: And just a bit following on from what Alex has said there Sarah in terms of digital and working with third parties.

Sarah: Yes, so obviously with the digital platforms and bearing in mind we are, well it is no different from any other games but the procurement of these third parties suppliers to help and support us we are looking to have them on board for a significant period of time going forward so that is great, We are building relationships for the long term on this journey so it is not just about delivering the here and now it is about how we are all going to grow together and how we are going to keep going, keep ourselves at the forefront of leading edge technology to be innovative, to keep driving the opportunities for both the fans and the athletes as well. It is always key for us as part of that digital transformation to create an athlete centred on a digital platform so that is very much at the forefront of our minds. So we are working with some innovative technology companies who are specialists in sport some of which are specialists in major events and entertainment and as a consequence we are really able to take some of the brilliant basics and make them technical. With that in mind we also have some key products that we are looking to deliver that are very new, very innovative, we are looking to be resourceful and much more viable so something that may have previously been delivered from a cable perspective we are now looking to deliver it from a digital perspective. The village app that we mentioned earlier that actually is replacing the village guides that were printed documentation that were handed out to all the athletes previously. The idea there is it will be much more sustainable, it is something that we are able to deliver digitally so allows us to enhance that these digital experience for athletes. With the innovation side we are actually implementing a digital asset management solution which in itself is not particularly innovative but the way we are engaging with it or the touch points of all the people that are going to be utilising it again is growing literally day by day. So the Federations they are all going to be utilising it for the downloading of video files to do their video analysis at the end of each session. We have got stakeholders and sponsors who are all happy to be able to have access to content that is going to be produced on a daily basis. We have got this huge interaction with it. We are actually delivering the TV app that I also mentioned earlier that is going to be live streaming into venues so that if you are at the rugby you can actually watch hockey for instance or you can watch table tennis so we are providing greater opportunities because of the digital technology that we are looking to push out but also because we are working with some incredibly innovative companies who want to challenge and want to look to do things very differently going forward.

Helen: Thank you Sarah. And the last topic I just wanted us to touch on really and I am certainly not wanting to wish Birmingham 2022 away as it is obviously coming up but looking to the future in Victoria 2026 I think this is a question for you Sarah and Alex given your roles. So just touching on the Commonwealth Games moving to a longer term sustainable model and data being a key part of that just by way of closing comments. Sarah, sorry, can we come back to you first on that one.

Sarah: Yes. The Federation is working closely with the host to look at all the innovations that we have been putting in place and again, we are going through that data programme to really drilldown as to what has been successful, what can we do better, what can we take forward and what can be done. We are looking at the good and the bad and all our partners. With the broadcasters, we have actually put in place a programme for them to do all this clipping on a daily basis. We will be looking at the actual return on investment of that respective team, the people that they have got in place, the training that would have had to undertaken and the value that we are going to get from those clips so anybody and everybody whose is able to engage amplify that content, get that share of voice on the social media channels. Is it actually delivering the value of the cost of being able to get those clips out. Should we be focusing on getting less clips out that are more targeted in future for instance. So that is all going to come into play when we actually take stock and do our data analysis at the end of the games. Everybody thinks that as the curtain comes down on August 8 that that will be it but sadly we will all be sitting here pouring through the data and making some key decisions for what we do in 2026.

Helen: Thank you Sarah. Well that was a great summing up. I will offer you the opportunity Alex if there is anything you did want to add to what Sarah said otherwise I shall move onto a couple of comments and then closing.

Alex: No. I think that anything I would add is in relation to how we now use this data for decisions around Victoria 2026. The OC has a lot more data obviously that they are involved in than just the data that we at but one of those has been around team for example so we have recently sat down and looked at the intellectual property that has been registered, why it has been registered against what classes, how much that cost, any infringements how we manage all of that. I am already taking those learnings in fact I have a meeting tomorrow morning with Victoria on exactly that subject to enhance and make sure that we can sort of take the benefits. Gowling WLG has supported the organising committee on in that space and enhanced that particular piece for the next games so that is the only piece I would add to what Sarah said really other than data was paramount to every decision we are making and will continue to do for the future games to come.

Helen: And indeed and I think it is just important to say that I am conscious of time so I will leave any sort of questions possibly to be followed up on but in terms of just an observation we have talked very much and focused on the collection of data for fan marketing purposes really today and touched on the athletes a bit but I just wanted to emphasise it is obviously such a small section of the story for you all at the organising committee and the Commonwealth Games Federation. It's been a fascinating and interesting topic of discussion and I am conscious you are handling an awful lot as well. So it just remains for me to thank Louise, Alex and Sarah very much for their time and insightful discussion today, really, really enjoyed it. Thank you, of course, to all of you for joining us today I hope you found it interesting. Our next event is a leadership and resilience event on 12 July 2022 that is going to be in person at our 4 More, London offices from 6:00pm to 8:00pm, If you can make that please do sign up if you have not already a link will come round in the follow up materials but thank you all very much and I hope you have a good rest of the day.

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