The Challenge

Tabcorp engages with customers across digital and physical touchpoints, aiming to deliver personalized messages that create valuable and memorable experiences. To achieve this, Tabcorp collaborated with Merkle to overhaul its data environment and marketing technology stack, selecting Adobe Experience Cloud as the cornerstone of its digital transformation.

“Many companies claim they operate on a customer-first model, but at Tabcorp, it’s closer to a customer obsession,” says Raimondi. “Every employee strives to perfect the customer experience, whether it’s assisting with a bet on their favorite horse or providing the latest sports updates.”

Tabcorp recognized several key challenges hindering efficient customer communication. Delays of up to 48 hours in updating customer data made real-time personalized offers unfeasible. Additionally, a merger with Tatts Group resulted in two separate customer databases, complicating the creation of a unified customer view. To address these issues and achieve long-term personalization goals, Tabcorp chose Adobe Experience Cloud, including Adobe Campaign, Adobe Analytics, Adobe Audience Manager, Adobe Experience Manager, Adobe Target, Adobe Experience Platform, and Adobe Real-time Customer Data Platform.

Solution

Setting the Foundations for Long-term Digital Success

Tabcorp’s digital transformation journey began by identifying obstacles in customer communication. The company needed to consolidate its customer databases and streamline data updates. Adobe Experience Cloud emerged as the ideal platform, supporting all channels and areas of experience creation, from analyzing customer behavior to optimizing messaging and targeting audiences with multi-channel campaigns.

Bringing Digital to Venue Experiences

While many enjoy live sports at racetracks or pubs, digital betting has gained popularity. “Customers prefer placing bets on devices even when consuming live sports, but the digital experience was disconnected from retail,” explains Raimondi. Using Adobe Experience Cloud, Tabcorp bridged this gap. Geolocation targeting identified customers entering venues, triggering SMS or mobile push messages encouraging digital bets. This initiative led to increased app downloads, account openings, and bets placed.

Adobe Analytics provided real-time insights into customer behavior, enabling instant response with campaigns rewarding first-time digital bettors. This approach generated $50 million in incremental turnover, a 2.5x return on marketing investment, and 15% year-over-year customer growth for active digital in-venue customers.

Personal Messaging for Every Customer

Collaborating with Merkle, Tabcorp delivered over 900 campaigns connecting customers across channels via Adobe Campaign. Real-time insights from Adobe Experience Cloud improved customer journey mapping, reducing onboarding times from three weeks to 48 hours. The integration of two CRM solutions into Adobe Experience Platform created a unified customer view, facilitating personalized offers across 20+ brands.

Customizing the website and app based on customer attributes generated significant incremental turnover and enhanced user engagement. Targeted offers reached 70,000 users weekly, showcasing consistent, personalized messaging across digital platforms.

Results

Tabcorp’s partnership with Merkle and the implementation of Adobe Experience Cloud yielded impressive results:

• Achieved over $100 million in incremental turnover within a year, with 15% digital customer growth and 75% digital customer retention.
• Delivered more than 126 million customer engagements from personalized campaigns.
• The in-venue digital betting campaign generated $50 million in incremental turnover, achieving a 2.5x return on marketing investment.
• Reduced new customer onboarding time from three weeks to 48 hours.

Key Campaigns and Innovations

In-Venue Campaign

Leveraging geolocation targeting, Tabcorp engaged customers at sporting venues with personalized messages encouraging digital bets. This initiative significantly boosted app downloads, account openings, and bets placed during live events, highlighting the effectiveness of real-time engagement.

Saturday to Wednesday Campaign

Using Propensity Modeling powered by Adobe Sensei in Adobe Analytics, Tabcorp identified customers active on Saturdays and used Look-Alike Modeling to target potential mid-week bettors. This automated approach replaced manual campaign management, resulting in timely, personalized messages and increased engagement.

Custom NavBar and Targeted Offers

Merkle helped Tabcorp create personalized experiences by customizing the website and app based on customer preferences. This generated over $8.4 million in incremental turnover and reached 70,000 users weekly with targeted offers, enhancing user engagement and consistency in messaging.

Future Directions

Tabcorp continues to work with Merkle to build omnichannel experiences, implementing Adobe Experience Manager to deliver custom content across channels. This ensures consistent messaging while improving workflow efficiency.