Indians Partner With Marketing Firm E Group To Roll Out New Customer Reward Program

The Indians have partnered with Minneapolis-based marketing firm E Group "to create a more fluid renewal benefits system that allows customers to choose what they want their benefits to be, rather than be shoehorned in to most teams' current one-size-fits-all benefits packages," according to Joel Hammond of CRAIN'S CLEVELAND BUSINESS. The team's new benefits system is "like a loyalty program: To start, the amount of points a season-ticket holder receives with a renewal depends on how long they've been a customer." Customers log on to a website "that shows them how many points they have and the options for which they can redeem their points." The selections include "far more experiential options that the team could not offer to its entire season ticket base previously." Indians Senior Communications Dir Curtis Danburg said that options "could include throwing out a first pitch, sitting with radio announcer Tom Hamilton in his booth or other on-field experiences." E Group Senior Loyalty Marketing Manger Lisa Missling said that the Indians "are the first in Major League Baseball to employ such a tactic, though E Group is working with" the NHL's Predators and Wild (CRAIN'S CLEVELAND BUSINESS, 9/10 issue).