Interview with Franco Segarra, Innovation Director at Valencia CF
A few weeks ago, we introduced the digital transformation strategy of Swansea City, and today we are honoured to share insights on how Valencia CF, alongside its Innovation Hub, is handling digital transformation through an interview we conducted with Franco Segarra, Innovation Director of the club.
We usually say that the right strategy for a successful digital transformation is not restricted to one department but to a way of doing things - What does digital transformation really mean for you at Valencia FC?
To us, digital transformation is more about transformation than it is about digital. Changing processes, mindset and lastly, digitalizing. In fact, there is no benefit in digitizing without changing the processes. Also, the core of the digital transformation should be the data. Data that empowers the organization to make better decisions (objective decisions) and know better your fans and customers.
When and how did you start thinking about digitally transforming Valencia FC? What was your main strategy to achieve it?
Valencia CF invested in digital transformation even before I joined the club.
In early 2018 the plan started to execute. It was first done to improve the customer experience by centralizing all Valencia CF services in one single place, which is our mobile application.
In the background, the organization was changing its internal processes and embracing a data-driven culture. Perhaps this is the most difficult part, and there is no secret recipe. For us, it was key to show there was value in everything we did. We were quite lean and tried to show results quickly.
How did you structure and organize the club to lead this process? Was there a specific topic on which you wanted to focus on first?
The club structure changed as there was a new team created to collect, analyze and transform processes from different departments. The first focus was logically data: getting access to the data from all the services (F&B, Ticketing, Social Media, Retail, Web/App) was key to achieving this primary goal.
Some 3rd party providers understood what we tried to accomplish and others didn't. Obviously, we stopped working with those that didn't. It is also true that tech architecture has evolved in this direction, and it is easier to find partners/providers that can do this now. But it was not easy and took a lot of time and energy.
Have you encountered (or do you still encounter) some barriers/blocking points when starting to digitally transform your organisation? If yes, what was the most challenging one?
As always, every transformation has friction. Internally it was something that Senior management saw as a strategic change, but still, there were concerns as usual from other people. As for the fans, change management is one of the topics that occupies the most time for us. We believe there are things to change, but at the same time, it is difficult to balance such a traditional club like Valencia CF with over 103 years of history and a stadium that is 99 years old.
When talking about D.T, the fan experience is almost always mentioned. And we know that you are doing a great job, especially through your various digital platforms. How important is digital to build your commercial strategies?
Marketing and Commercial departments are highly involved in transformational changes. It is more and more common for new sponsors to seek a new type of strategy consisting not only of analogue/offline assets.
The Innovation department works very closely with the Marketing and Commercial team. They, too, see digital transformation as a way to get more insights and personalized experiences for our fans. For them, it has become a valuable argument when approaching sponsors or defining new strategies. It’s important to state we work with a Data-as-a-service department that feeds intel to those departments who approach us.
It also applies at all levels of the structure, from internal communications to sports performance and data - According to you, where does the business start with digital transformation?
The first thing a business should do is believe in this change. If this is not true, you have to demonstrate the value of the change with the help of quick wins. I do not recommend huge transformational processes, but rather be leaner and show continuous improvement in small actions.
In 2020, you launched VFC Innovation Hub, how does it work? What was the reason behind it? Is this entity/program supporting you with your digital transformation?
The Valencia CF Innovation Hub is the umbrella that collects all the innovative initiatives that take place within the club, with a commitment to supporting young entrepreneurs. The city of Valencia has become the ideal place for the development of large projects, and we, as one of the most important entities in the community, want to support all those young entrepreneurs whose projects can form part of our plans for the future.
Our innovation programme aims to promote those projects that have already got underway and are in the process of growth and expansion. The main objectives of the Innovation Hub are: To support young talents in Valencia and their promising companies/startups, to be ambassadors and show commitment to Valencian companies, and to lead the club to be at the forefront of technological innovation. The club has defined 4 strategic pillar for the Innovation HUB: Medicine, Academy, Smart Stadium and Fan Engagement.
As a result, you partnered with Olocip to improve player performance analysis using AI, can you tell us a bit more about it?
With this alliance, both the VCF Academy and the first Valencia CF men's and women's teams will have access to the artificial intelligence platform, offering predictive performance analysis of the players using scientific rigour, objectivity and contextualisation adapted to the club itself. In addition, Olocip's AI solution has the unique ability to objectively rate the performance of all players on a day-to-day basis. Olocip's intelligent platform will help the club's coaching staff in their evaluations, with the aim of helping their searches and meeting their needs, becoming a tool that provides exclusive knowledge and competitive advantage.
Where do you see Valencia FC in the upcoming years regarding its digital situation? Do you already have a specific road map with upcoming plans & projects? Are there any topics you would like to investigate?
Valencia CF's plan is to keep on being bold and innovative. We want to be different and look further into solutions that help the club in all of the areas defined above (Medicine, Academy, Smart Stadium and Fan Engagement).
What pieces of advice would you like to give for football clubs or any digital manager who wants to start their digital transformation journey?
My advice will be to make sure senior management supports the plan. They are the first that need to agree and see the value. Secondly, make sure you have tangible milestones in a short time, and be very lean in the deployment (it does not make sense to wait two years to see the first milestone). Think big, but deliver every step of the way. And the 3rd advice is to build a team you trust.