Tampere Deck Arena announce development partnership with HappyOrNot

HappyOrNot (www.happy-or-not.com), the recognized market leader in instant data feedback management systems and Tampere Deck Arena, the modern multi-purpose sports and entertainment arena and experience center, are today announcing their partnership. Real-time Smiley Touch™ connects visitors, fans and all partners to co-create amazing Customer Service and Fan First Experience

Tampere Deck Arena—a new area that uniquely combines leisure experiences, services and housing—is currently being built in the heart of Tampere. It will be one of the largest and modern multi-purpose sports and entertainment arenas in Europe. Tampere Deck Arena partners are already using the HappyOrNot Smiley Touch™ in their Visitor Centre to get connected with stakeholders, fans, future customers, visitors and apartment owners.

“We want to build the unique Tampere Deck Arena experience together with our customers, fans, and stakeholders. This is why we placed HappyOrNot Smiley Touch to our recently opened Visitor Center. Now, people are able to leave feedback concerning the sports and entertainment ecosystem and each element of experience it consists – sports, food and beverage services, casino, hotel services and apartments. We also encourage people to share their ideas, insights, and feelings. I would say we are the first arena and entertainment ecosystem in the world co-creating experiences already 26 months prior to opening,” said Mika Sulin, Head of Partnerships, Tampere Deck Arena.

Tampere Deck Arena is also using HappyOrNot’s Reporting App, joining organizations such as the Levi’s Strauss Stadium (home of the San Francisco 49ers), Florida Panthers, and Microsoft to monitor and view analytic data continuously on mobile devices.

What’s unique with Tampere Deck Arena:

• It is not just a sports arena and venue, but an entertainment ecosystem with a hotel, casino, restaurants, bars, and 1,000 residential buildings
• The Tampere Deck Arena will be the first downtown location arena in Europe
• The arena will be the first environmentally certified arena in Europe

Co-creating experiences with customers, fans and other stakeholders – the winning concept

Customers, spectators, fans and venue visitors are no longer passive receivers of the service and value. They are clear about what they want from their stadium and event experience.

As Deloitte (2018) summarizes in their Stadium Experience survey, in order to win fans today and to keep them coming back into the future, stadiums not only need to get the basics right, beginning with the core four expectations of fans, they should elevate the experience as stadiums compete with the home experience on attributes that make up “the playing field of today.” At the same time, stadiums need to be investing in the differentiators to continue to draw new generations of fans into the future.

There are already great examples of sports teams, stadiums and entertainment centers that are seeing customers and fans as active value co-creators.

“We visited the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and 49ers home, Levi’s Stadium, in San Francisco to learn how they are using real-time customer and fan experience data. We had eye-opening discussions and tours in both places. We were really impressed by how the 49ers are using HappyOrNot data to improve fan and customer experience, optimize operations, and grow their business, and we’re confident to follow that path as well,” said Sulin.

And Sulin really knows why the focus should be on customer experience. He has been involved with many stadium and arena projects around Europe and worked with teams such as Real Madrid and Jokerit and knows also Formula 1 world. As a former ice hockey player himself and a passionate sports fan, he really knows why great fan experience is a key to a successful business. “Tampere Deck Arena will be built around two rules ´Fan first´ and ´Fan engagement´. Those are our guiding principles.”

“It is great to see how stadiums such as San Francisco 49ers Levi’s stadium, Florida Panthers BB&T Center and, now, Tampere Deck Arena, are truly leading with an example to show how real-time customer and fan experience insights are keys to success. I am positive this is only the beginning, and that in the next couple of years measuring real-time experience will be the new norm in sports and entertainment businesses,” said Ville Levaniemi, Exec.VP, New Business and Founder, HappyOrNot.

The connection between flourishing sports and entertainment business and customer and fan experience is clear. The better the experience is, the more loyal and engaged customers and fans are.

“Arenas and stadiums are currently leading the way how they use real-time customer experience data to co-create experiences and optimize operations. But it’s not only sports business that should take steps towards using real-time experience data. Companies that are in built around experiences are the next ones deploy real-time CX – the entertainment districts, amusement parks, casinos, major attractions, and hotels,” predicts Levaniemi.

For international media enquiries contact:

Nicholas Baines / Benedict Bunyard / Matthew Dunne-Miles
nicholas@deliberate-pr.com / benedict@deliberate-pr.com / matt@deliberate-pr.com
+44 (0)207 221 1540 / +44 (0)7496 597 439

About Tampere Deck Arena

Tampere Deck Arena, is a new, modern multi-purpose sports and entertainment arena and experience center in Tampere, Finland. The new Tampere Deck and Arena area will connect the east and west sides of Tampere. The area will form a new type of hybrid block with residential buildings, jobs and the largest sports and events arena in Finland, with a seating capacity of around 13,000–15,000. The local ice hockey teams Tappara and Ilves will play their home matches at the new arena starting from the 2021–2022 season. The first phase will comprise the construction of a deck on the south railway yard. The arena, a training facility, a hotel and two tower blocks will be built on the deck. The second stage includes the north deck and three tower blocks. According to estimates, the area will contain a total of around 1,000 apartments.
The Arena will also be Finland’s most modern ice hockey stadium and the first environmentally certified arena in Europe. The leading players in Finland are responsible for sports, entertainment and congresses in the Arena. The flagship of entertainment is Veikkaus casino, Lapland Hotels is responsible for the hotel business, and NoHo Partners and Hartwall are among the restaurants. In addition, Tappara and Ilves home games play an important role of the events. Lippupiste is responsible for ticket sales for all events.

Follow how Tampere Deck Arena is currently being built and coming alive, visit:
https://www.srv.fi/en/central-deck-arena/

About HappyOrNot

HappyOrNot® helps businesses improve their customer experience and employee engagement through the globally recognized Smiley feedback management system. The company, founded in 2009, has over 3,000 clients in 134 countries and 1 Million impressions collected daily. Clients include San Francisco 49ers, Florida Panthers, Microsoft, McDonald’s, London Heathrow Airport, as well as many Fortune 500 businesses in the transportation, retail, healthcare, entertainment/venue, and service industries. Headquartered in Finland, HappyOrNot has offices in the U.S. and around the globe, including a reseller network of over 110 organizations. HappyOrNot provides companies real-time, actionable analytics and insights to advance customer satisfaction, enhance operational efficiency and increase revenue.

The partnership with Tampere Deck and Arena further reinforces HappyOrNot in the sports and entertainment industry.