1. Digital Strategy Report
SSE Arena Belfast
John Lynn

2. Introduction
The world has moved on. In 2016 we live in a world filled with volatility, uncertainty,
change and ambiguity, thus, enabling digital disruption to become key to operating
within a digital world and delivering wider organizational objectives.
In broad realisation of the emerging era of digital prowess, Tim O’Reilly and Media
Live International conceived “Web 2.0” during a conference brainstorming session.
Dale Dougherty, web pioneer and O'Reilly VP, noted that far from having "crashed",
the web was more important than ever, with exciting new applications and sites
popping up with surprising regularity.
As we enter the web 2.0 era and live in a world filled with digital natives, digital
disruption is now more important than ever.
Marc Prensky in (2001) famously described Digital natives as young people who,
due to their digital upbringing, are adept and pervasive technology users. “Unlike
previous generations, they have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using
computers, videogames, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all the
other toys and tools of the digital age”.
Digital disruption refers to change enabled by digital technologies that occur at a
pace and magnitude that disrupt established ways of value creation, social
interactions, doing business and more generally our mind-sets.
To achieve digital disruption, you must innovate and be ahead with new disruptive
technologies that are coming in and affecting the traditional business model. In
today’s age of digital Darwinism where technology and society evolve faster than a
business can adapt this is now more common than ever.

3. Advantages and challenges of operating within a digital world
It has become much more difficult to meet expectations of consumers in the digital
age. The digital native generation expect more from companies and organisations
compared to their digital ancestors. Digital natives continually have their mobile on,
be online or be on one platform or another of social media and websites. This has
had a major impact on the growing expectations of customers and consumers.
Customer expectations are much higher now and a more personal and professional
service is expected.
Qualified and motivated staff is essential In order to work in this digital age.
Employees need to be skilled and digitally aware to work efficiently in the digital
medium. Employees are crucial in delivering a positive customer/user experience
and once you have the highly skilled staff required to be successful you must retain
them and continually train them to keep them current with the latest digital advances.
A challenge for organisations is big data. Big data is a term that describes the large
volume of data – both structured and unstructured – that inundates a business on a
day-to-day basis. It is not the amount of data that is important it is what organizations
do with the data that matters. Big data can be analyzed for insights that lead to better
decisions and strategic business moves. Big data is presenting companies with new
opportunities to learn more about their customers, enabling them not only to
personalize products and services, but also to change their product development
process to reflect what people really want.
Data comes in all types of formats – from structured, numeric data in traditional
databases to unstructured text documents, email, social media, video, audio and
financial transactions. This can help a company build online value proposition and
help promote user generated content via generating marketing insights into the
needs and wants of customers, based on the transactions, feedback, comments
(e.g. from social media posts). Dougherty (2008) states “user generated content
refers to media content created or produced by the general public rather than by paid
professionals and primarily distributed online”. This is also a method used in order to
gain earned media.

4. Big data can help a business identify key demographics to target for maximum
exposure. In addition, Big data can be used for security to detect fraudulent
behaviour before it affects your organization.
Disrupted Industry’s and Technologies
In 2016, we have many examples where industries have been digitally disrupted and
the business model has changed forever.
Airbnb has changed the accommodation industry. Airbnb is an exclusively online
marketplace for accommodation rentals that connects users with property to rent
with users looking to rent the space. Airbnb is a peer-to-peer accommodation market
place that connects hosts (vendors of rooms/accommodations) and travelers via its
website. Airbnb enables transactions between these two entities by charging a
'service fee' without directly owning any rooms by itself. Historically in order to be
successful in this industry the supplier would require a physical footprint with
associated costs. Airbnb gives vendors the opportunity to participate in the
hospitality business and generate a cash stream that would have not been open to
them previously.
Airbnb gives consumers much more choice on where to stay, how much they pay
and type of accommodation they rent. Accommodation can vary from a shared room,
an apartment, houses and exclusive rentals. This variety has proved very popular
with users enabling them to tailor their accommodation to suit their needs and
budgets. It is not only people looking for cheap alternatives but also popular with big
stars such as Kim Kardashian using the service to stay at luxury accommodation.
Unlike traditional hotels, Airbnb grows not by scaling inventory but by increasing the
hosts and travellers and matching them with each other.
There are many challenges to overcome in order to not only operate but to survive
within a digital world. History has proved that ultimately even the most successful
businesses are vulnerable. Many businesses that were once big are eventually
brought small; and many small business that once controlled their local market, were
eventually overcome by a new up-and-comer.

5. This is evident with the failure of big businesses, for example Kodak. In its heyday
Kodak was huge. It employed 140,000 workers and in 1996, ranked the fourth most
valuable brand in the United States. Kodak management didn’t foresee that anyone
might want to stop using film. They failed to fully embrace digital camera technology
and subsequently found themselves filing for bankruptcy in 2012.
While it’s essential to capture your market, as it exists today, you should never
neglect what could happen in one, five, or even ten years.
Another global brand that failed to adopt to changing technologies and market
dynamics was the video rental firm Blockbuster. Fledgling company Netflix
approached Blockbuster to propose a partnership. Netflix would run Blockbuster’s
brand online and Blockbuster would promote Netflix in its stores.
Rejected by Blockbuster, Blockbuster subsequently went bankrupt in 2010 and
Netflix is now a 28 billion dollar company. Blockbuster failed to recognise shifting
consumer demands and the huge growth in digital media and on-demand rental sites
such as Netflix, Hulu and Redbox etc...
Giles (2016) states “Both Kodak and Blockbuster were once influential leaders in
their respective industries before falling prey to rapid societal change triggered by
technological innovation”. Thus innovation is evidently the key to surviving for any
business operating within the digital age that we live in which consists of many digital
natives and web 2.0 users. Advances in digital technology has forced organisations
to be innovative and become one of the biggest risk facing businesses today, a study
carried out by (Deloitte 2014) shown that 53% of companies studied believe that
emerging technology “won’t just affect their business results, but could actually
threaten their established business models”.
“Disruptive Technologies involve technology that prompts businesses to reappraise
their strategic approaches” (Chaffey and Ellis Chadwick, 2015). A modern example
of disruptive technology would be the online cloud, this works via use of computer
hardware and software resources to deliver services over the Internet or a network
and is developing at fast speed. Through cloud computing technology, customers
and businesses can access business information anywhere at any time and the key
to success would be its efficiency. Again where disruptive technology has been

6. successful would be with tech wearables. Wearable tech is the term used for
smartwatches, fitness trackers, sports watches and other connected devices in 2015.
Wearables are one of the major innovations in technology since the smartphone and
the possibilities are endless.
SWOT Analysis for the SSE Arena Belfast
SWOT is a method based on internal and external environment of the organization
analysis or a procedural or structural components analysis thereof embodied in
establishing the main strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (Nicolescu,
gen. coord., 2011, p. 54). Condurache (2016) states. “The method name comes from
the four categories of the internal environment analysis results - Strengths,
Weaknesses – and external environment - Opportunities and Threats”. This kind of
analysis acts as a way of driving your digital strategy, counteracting the natural
tendency to focus on a current problem and failure to anticipate important
developments.

7. Table 1- SWOT Analysis
Strengths Weakness Opportunities Threats
• Northern Ireland’s
largest indoor
auditoria. Max
capacity 11000.
• Home of the
successfulBelfast
Giants Ice hockey
team.
• Tw o exhibition spaces
to accommodate small
and large exhibitions.
• First Arena to release
an App. 37,000
dow nloads to date.
• There already is an
existing customer
base.
• Accessto
Ticketmaster
customer database to
easier target key
demographics for
events and
promotions.
• Other attractions. The
Pavilion w ith its manty
restaurants and
entertainment venues.
W5 Science Park. All
located w ithin the
complex.
• Location. Located in
the beautifulhistorical
Titanic quarter of
Belfast.
• Transport. Short
w alking distance from
Belfast City centre.
Translink NI metro
services stopping
directly outside the
arena. NI Railw ay
station 5 min w alk
fromarena.
• There is a small team
in the department, just
Clara and Laura w hich
can make bigger tasks
more difficult to
manage.
• Only 90,000 follow ers
froma population of
1.81 million in
Northern Ireland.
• Small budget set for
the department can
limit ideas and
opportunities.
• Event cancellations
damaging brand
image and adversely
affecting customer
relations.(One
Direction incident
resulted in a large
amount of customer
dissatisfaction and
anger)
• Traffic congestion.
Long delays and local
disruption caused by
large amounts of cars
transporting people to
events. Limited car
parking spaces.
• 77% of population
of N.I are on social
media. [1] (Mintel
2016)
• Therefore, it is
imperative to make
full usage of the
internet. The
Internet has
become a highly
personalized
information space
in w hich
consumers can
tailor their media
exposure to their
specific needs and
desires (Liang, Lai,
and Ku 2006).
• Cross-selling
• Brexit. The decline
in the value of
sterling w ill
increase cross-
border traffic and
w illspecifically help
us gain a
competitive
advantage on the
3arean Dublin.
• Creating more
socialnetw orks to
communicate to
both current and
new customers.
Know n as Digital
Acquisition and w ill
help increase user
generated content
and deliver a
higher online value
proposition.
• Forming mutually
beneficial
partnerships with
other businesses.
Increased
exposure and
association w ith
renow ned brands.
For example the
Heineken Lounge
hospitality suite.
• Community
involvement. The
community is your
marketplace.
• Brexit. Currency
fluctuations and volatility
can affect future business
and cost planning.
• Customer choice (Price
and product).
• Alternative venues. In
Belfast, the Waterfront
Hall and the Ulster Hall
have both been recently
refurbished. Custom
House Square and
Mandela Hall are grow ing
in popularity. The 3Arena
Dublin attracts marquee
acts.
• Negative feedback. E.G.
Trip advisor – Bad
review scan damage
business and this is w hy
w e must take care of our
online reputation. This is
know n as online
reputation management.
• Alw ays the possibility of
other venues having a
more successful,
innovative or creative
approach to digital
strategies.
• Complacency. This can
be the silent business
killer. Never take
customers or partnership
business and loyalty for
granted. Other
businesses are working
hard to prise your
customers aw ay.

8. The digital tools used for customer acquisition
The SSE arena offers various digital tools for customer acquisition. The main tool on
offer would be the free downloadable application. They also use SMS for marketing
events, travel information, promotions and general information. Free high-speed
wireless broadband is also available within the arena.
The SSE Arena App, Belfast is the UK’s first interactive Arena APP.
The App interacts with its customers and shows proficient use of web 2.0. By using,
the app customers can stay up to date with upcoming events, book and upgrade
tickets, buy and search for merchandise and avail of special food and beverage
offers that are available to app customers only. Also during live events app users
have the chance to fast track their food and beverages, ordering from their seats in
the Arena via the App and collecting items from App-only collection points. The
customer can earn rewards that can be redeemed on food, drinks and merchandise.
This helps the arena have a much more personalized approach to customer service
and makes the customer journey that bit more personal, comfortable and enjoyable.
Using the App, customers can gain full access to the Belfast Giants ice hockey team,
with in-app Man of the Match voting and discover upcoming events and activities in
the W5 Science & Activity Centre. This is a great method of cross selling. Whilst
talking with Sarah Scott from Belfast Live, Clara Killen, Digital Marketing &
Development Manager at the SSE Arena, Belfast said, "we see the Arena App as a
remote control for customers wanting to get the most out of their live entertainment
experience, whether searching for events from their sofas or ordering refreshments
from their Arena seats”. Not only has the app improved the customer journey but
also the app has improved efficiency and opened many other doors and
opportunities for the SSE arena. Being the only arena in the UK to offer this
interactive App experience gives the SSE Arena a competitive advantage over
competitors. The arena also has an online presence across four different social
media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Now in 2016 it
is imperative that businesses are active on social media and continually fighting for
brand image and brand awareness. Clearly, a strong digital presence is integral to
Hosting charitable
events and
discounted events.

9. the business strategy and customer acquisition as demonstrated by the already high
number of followers on the various social media platforms.
Competitor Analysis
For competitor analysis, I will focus on two main competitors. The 3Arena Dublin and
the Mandela Hall Belfast.
I will present a detail analysis on how each venue presents themselves on social
media and the digital tools utilized by each for customer acquisition.
Reasons why the 3Arena are competitors
The 3Arena is the largest indoor concert venue in Ireland with a capacity of 14,500
standing, 9500 seated.
It is the fifth busiest arena in the world with ticket sales of 670,000 in 2011
(Hazelbrookhouse.ie).
The arena is located in Dublin the capital city of Ireland with an urban population of
527,612 as of 2011. Google.co.uk. (2016). The 3arena Dublin constantly attracts
globally popular acts, Beyoncé in 2014, U2 in 2015 and Adele in 2016. Forthcoming
acts include a sold out event for Drake in 2017. The arena has also won the ‘Hot
Press live music venue of the year’ 2012, 2013 & 2015 respectively. They also utilize
Web 2.0. Dougherty (2008) states “Web 2.0 technologies has enabled the efficient
creation and distribution of user-generated content (UGC), resulting in vast changes
in the online media landscape”.

10. The 3arenas social media presence and digital tools used for customer
acquisition;
Table 2
Facebook
• 80,000+ likes
• Average rating of 4.4/5 rating from over
5,000 users with 1000s of reviews -
Allows customers to view non-biased
reviews on the arena and its facilities.
• Video Marketing - Sharing and uploading
of recent performances such as concerts
and sporting events to help broaden
customer reach and advertise the arena
to potential new business.
• Creating of events and inviting people on
Facebook to like and share therefore
connecting with potential new customers.
• Contests and prize giveaways from
headline acts get users interacting
directly with the company. (UGC)
• Build brand loyalty by being active and
responsive to customers by engaging
with them.
Twitter
• 39.2k followers (3Arena Twitter page)
• Uses a private members club giving
exclusive access to limited customers
creating a VIP experience – This gives
them an edge over competitors who do
not have such luxurious offers
• They post and retweet about the most
recent and popular acts creating a larger
marketing channel.
• User generated content is promoted via
retweets and posts allowing customers to
interact and review the arena for other
users to see – This gives a non-biased
review of the arena and its facilities.
• Build brand loyalty by being active and
responsive to customers by engaging
with them.

11. Reasons why the Mandela Hall are competitors
Mandela Hall is one of Belfast's premier music venues and hosts some of the biggest
live acts that visit the city. The venue hosts dozens of concerts, club nights, comedy
shows and other events each year. Capacity is 1,000 (Mandelahall.com). Hosts a
hugely popular event ‘Shine’ annually since the early 2000s. The Mandela hall also
hosts another major music event known as ‘Twitch’ successfully run for the past 8
years. It is one of the longest running, dance music events in Belfast. These hugely
popular events bring in quality house, techno, disco and beyond, featuring the best
of local and international DJ’s. Mandela hall is part of the bars and entertainment
venue of the Queens University of Belfast. They make use of Web 2.0 via methods
such as live tweeting, website, Facebook and Instagram.
The Mandela halls social media presence and digital tools used for customer
acquisition;
The Mandela Hall has their own website where they do the majority of their digital
work. The website details event information, performers, type of music, ticketing
information etc. They also have a live Facebook and twitter feed where you can
follow Mandela Hall and what is trending at the venue. They offer subscription to
their mailing list, informing people of events and happenings at the venue. Currently
the SSE does not have this medium. The Mandela also allows its audience to
personally interact by letting up and coming acts to book a place to perform live at
the venue. The website provided gives you a choice to find out what is happening
with live gigs, comedy shows and in what venue. Mandela Hall is 1 of 5 venues
inside the historic QUB building.
On social media they have 22,728 likes on their Facebook page with nearly 25,000
people having checked in at the venue and a 4.4 rating. It has 500+ reviews which
allows their audience to actively engaged with the site. Song and Zinkhan (2008)
states that “Consumers generally like interactivity, and their perceptions of
interactivity usually lead to positive responses”. The event’s section regularly keeps

12. its users up to date with the latest events along with a ‘tickets’ option with the facility
to purchase tickets online.
There is also an ‘interested’ button to click on for each event, notifying a person’s
Facebook friends that you are possibly attending, creating engagement and
awareness of Mandela Hall. There is also the option for users to add themselves to
the ‘guest list’ – faster entry and discounted admission, offering good online value
proposition. They also run competitions for every event to win prizes such as tickets,
VIP, guest list etc. This can be done by liking, sharing, commenting or tagging
friends under their post this will help promote not only the event but also the location.
As a result, you will find user generated content and this will drive traffic and
awareness to their page.
Managing the digital customer experience
The way we do business has changed. While organisations understand the need to
transform to digital, business leaders are struggling with how to make it a core part of
their business. Managing the digital customer experience for an organisation used to
be relatively easy with website, email, and newsletter alongside offline channels.
Now in 2016, the digital customer experience is much more complex with the
combination of digital touchpoints. An organisation will now have many digital
customer facing touchpoints, for example, desktop website, mobile optimised site,
mobile app and company pages on social media. Most companies seek to have a
presence on all of the most popular social media sites and it is imperative to manage
your digital presence correctly.
“An organisations total digital experience includes an organisations presence on
different platforms including desktop website, mobile site and apps, ads on gaming
platforms and digital e-commerce sites. The quality of a digital experience is based
on the combination of rational and emotional factors of using a company’s online
services that influences customer’s perceptions of a brand online”. (Chaffey and
Ellis-Chadwick, 2016: 356).
It is important for organisations to understand not only the factors that determine
service quality and customer satisfaction, but also loyalty, Chaffey and Ellis

13. Chadwick (2016) state loyalty factors include correct delivery of order, price, ease of
use and customer support as important. An effective digital customer experience is
dependent on many variables such as careful planning and execution of a digital
strategy which is important in order to avoid the need for extensive re-working at
later stages which could be detrimental to a digital strategy. Positive experiences in
terms of convenience, service delivery and website security have been found to
increase customer satisfaction (Szymanski and Hise, 2000).
Recommendations for the SSE Arena Belfast
Two recommendations for the SSE arena will be the multimedia mobile application
Snapchat and the possibility of going into potentially mutually beneficial partnership
with TreatTicket. Below I will justify and show how the recommendations for
Snapchat and TreatTicket could work and why the SSE arena should consider each
option.
Snapchat- 1st Recommendation
Snapchat gives your customers a look what goes on behind the scenes at your
company. Buyers like feeling they know the story behind your company and it helps
them to connect. Competitions and promotion codes. Users sending snapchat videos
of them singing songs from their favorite artists/band to be entered into a draw to win
free tickets to watch them perform at the arena. They can be spontaneous, inventive
and wacky as possible! This can help improve the customer’s digital experience and
offer online value proposition. This is a fun, creative and different way to get current
and new customers involved. Make it fun and your brand is sure to grow. Snapchat
is a great way of promoting events.
Bayer Joseph Et Al (2016) argues “users compared Snapchat to face-to-face
interaction and reported attending to Snapchat content more closely than archived
content, which may contribute to increased emotional rewards”.
Snapchat is a great too for event marketing. Create a buzz before you release an act
or event. A teaser or a teaser ad campaign through snapchat could generate high
level of excitement among your potential customers. Take the audience behind the
scenes show them what is happening in the SSE, how the stage has been built, the

14. lighting, the performers arriving or chatting about the event, show them merchandise
on sale and float the images and videos on Snapchat.
Encourage your users to come up with creative captions for the images and videos;
this way, you can engage with your audience on a more personal and intimate level.
The SSE could send staff to go out on the streets and talk to event goers to capture
the atmosphere and excitement surrounding events and use snapchat to promote
this.
TreatTicket- 2nd Recommendation
TreatTicket is a ‘group buying’ website that uses collective buying power to negotiate
discounts on experiences and products.
They have over 230,000 subscribers across the UK with national deals across 31
cities. (Walker, 2013). Treat Ticket and SSE Arena could create a partnership which
would allow for discounted tickets for shows in the SSE Arena to be sold through the
TreatTicket website.
TreatTicket is an innovative, high-growth digital business that is targeting aggressive
growth. The company's app and website is designed to direct consumers to the best
local offers in real-time and connect local businesses directly with active local mobile
shoppers. This would provide the SSE Arena with greater access to a larger
customer base and increase its digital presence.
This is a great low cost, low risk opportunity that would increase awareness of
identity online and therefore will enable the digital strategy department of the SSE to
extend reach and build affiliations.

15. Reference List
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 Marc Prensky, Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1, ON THE HORIZON, Oct. 2001, at
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