Crossfield Digital

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the director of marketing for a global sports property and tournament. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Crossfield Digital?

We asked Crossfield to create an online platform that was easy to use and drove visitors to a ticket transaction page. The soccer tournament had only existed for about 2 years at that time, so we were trying to keep the tournament brand and the name at the forefront of the US in order to create a lasting impression.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Crossfield basically took the history of the tournament and came up with the best design and user flow for our site. Their homepage worked perfectly and is still in use today. About a year later, the tournament expanded into a few different territories outside of the U.S., so Crossfield had to revisit the management of and distinction between 3 different territories—Australia, Southeast Asia, and the U.S.—while still being cognitive of our earlier challenges.

Midway into our relationship, we realized that having the same tournament in different territories would be like having 3 separate Olympics in 3 countries simultaneously. It was tough trying to pay homage to all 3 evenly. From a commercial standpoint, that setup would have made it really tough to sell again. Crossfield came up with a number of ways to solve that issue. For example, they came up with a tab-based design that took users to a global homepage with 3 separate territories and clear tournaments. On the backend, they built geo-targeting homepage destinations. If U.S. visitors came to the website, they were immediately brought to the U.S. tournament’s home page. This avoided an extra step in the user flow.

We had a full-time dedicated account manager who lived and breathed our tournament’s website every day. We generally had a direct line to the president of Crossfield at the time. Each day, we also dealt with 2 relationship account managers, who had a team of developers at their disposal. The CEO would join our meetings in person, and we’d speak weekly.

About 3–6 people worked on the project each day. Throughout the lifespan of the relationship, we’ve had an “all hands on deck” approach.

How did you come to work with Crossfield Digital?

We started with a simple RFP that outlined our needs, challenges, and goals. We sourced that to 6 or 7 different companies. A colleague of ours had worked with Crossfield in the past and suggested we speak with them. Eventually, we were down to Crossfield and another company. Crossfield visited us in person, which separated them in my mind. They also were much more affordable and offered a comparable, if not superior, product. It was an easy decision for us. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Crossfield was amazing to work with and created an incredible website. Initially, the tournaments started as an unknown collection of soccer matches from both a financial and a brand-recognition standpoint. The tournament has now grown into a profitable global property that can stand on its own for sales and partner integrations. Crossfield helped us achieve that through unique incorporations of sponsors and partners into the website.

They’ve built a tool that can generate millions of impressions over a tournament’s lifespan. They also found a way to make the ticket sales process at each tournament game seamless and more accessible. Crossfield began the process with us and has continued to improve it.

How did Crossfield Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

The whole process was organized, seamless, and professional. I never had to wait for more than a couple of minutes for a direct response. They were always forthright about timing, bandwidth, and capabilities. They did a great job of managing our expectations and the process, which helped us be honest with our partners and clients. Everything was done in a reasonable timeframe, and we had no repeated issues.

My point of contact was split between 2 people—Ben [former President, Crossfield Digital] and later Roy [Project Manager, Crossfield Digital]. They handled multiple requests day in and day out. Bed really helped build the relationship. When he left, he passed us on to their CEOs and another lead. However, our project manager was really the person who kept everybody organized and dealt with incoming requests and edits. He stood out as a major strength of the whole relationship.

What distinguishes Crossfield Digital from other providers?

They have outstanding project management and client servicing methods. As a former client, I know that they get multiple requests from people all day. We were a small company, so everybody knew how to contact Roy. For everything related to marketing, sponsorship, or client services, Roy never complained and kept everybody organized.

Crossfield does a great job of making us feel like their only client. There are no unanswered emails, and every question is addressed within minutes. If something can’t be done immediately, they’re clear and know how to manage our expectations.

Is there anything Crossfield Digital could have improved or done differently?

They’re getting to a point where they could probably use more bandwidth for their backend development. That would help them answer requests even faster and more efficiently. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We here at Red Bull Global Rallycross operate a touring motorsports series with 12 races across North America. I do anything involving commercial partnerships or revenue.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Crossfield Digital?

We wanted a single platform to address multiple sectors of clientele. Our challenges include providing instant communications to race teams on-site, fans on-site at our events, and fans watching at home on our NBC broadcasts. We needed an app that could serve all of these needs and operate in a streamlined, and simple manner.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built the entire app from scratch on Android and iOS and integrated with our timing and scoring that we do at our events. The app provides news, live data, event information and maps, social media integration, and tickets to fans, sponsors and racing teams. We already had an online ticketing option, so they integrated that into the app. They looked at the existing things we already had and put it in an app format. We did some design, but they did the vast majority of it. We did the marketing for the app.

How did you come to work with Crossfield Digital?

We work with a company called FanVision, and they’re part of that group of companies. When FanVision found out we were looking for someone to build an app, they introduced us to Crossfield. We spoke with four or five other companies that had ideas for our project but it wasn’t really making the app better.

How much have you invested with Crossfield Digital?

We’ve invested between $50,000 and $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We’re getting good feedback from people about the app. The solution allows us to communicate to three key groups of stakeholders in a streamlined manner using one platform. It allows for quick updates, which is important for scheduling, weather, and competition updates. The integration of the event information, the race team guide, series news, and live timing and scoring makes it easier for a variety of users to take an interest in the series.

How did Crossfield Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re always fast, responsive and proactive.

What did you find most impressive about Crossfield Digital?

They were solution-based. Crossfield knew what we were trying to accomplish and didn’t try to push things on us we didn’t need.

Are there any areas Crossfield Digital could improve?

No. We’ll keep using them and recommending them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of product at DRAFT, which is a daily fantasy sports mobile app that allows users to complete NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL fantasy drafts for money. We're a 10-person company in New York City targeting the DFS [daily fantasy sports] industry as well as the 75 million US fantasy sports players. I also oversee our iOS, Android, and web products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Crossfield Digital?

We had just sold an old company and were pursuing this new fantasy sports app. We needed the entire app built from scratch and didn’t have any iOS engineers. The business challenge was to get a first version of the app submitted and running so that we could get people playing our game. Our goals with Crossfield were more time-and-feature-based as we wanted the app within 6 months or so in order to be able to prove that there was interest in the app during NFL season.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Crossfield Digital designed and developed the entire frontend of the whole app, managing the entire process and helping with its release. They also worked with our backend engineer to help better understand the client and server interactions.

What is the team dynamic?

We worked with a product manager, 2 iOS engineers, and a designer; we also had a backend engineer consulting on the project. We worked every day together in the same office; we would either go to theirs or they would come to ours, although the team size stayed the same. We worked mainly with the product manager, but we worked pretty closely with everybody on the team.

How did you come to work with Crossfield Digital?

Our CEO reached out to at least 3 companies. Crossfield had already built a sports mobile game, so it made the most sense to go with them — we played the game and enjoyed it. We were one of their first customers and they were able to provide all of the resources we needed and develop the app from scratch.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted 8 months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Crossfield delivered a fully functional app 2 months before our hard deadline and continued to work with us to release improved versions. The first version of the app was very successful and allowed us to raise funding; it was the first building block to being able to have a successful business.

The app has gone from what they built to something that’s at the top of the charts in sports and is bringing in millions of dollars. It’s now a little different than the version they built, but they helped kick-start something that is now a really popular app. A lot of the work that they did is still in the app, though. Without Crossfield Digital helping us build that first version, none of this would have happened. That’s why we were so happy working with them.

How did Crossfield Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great and the app was delivered on time. They assisted with the submission process and helped us understand the situations that we needed to be prepared for around iOS approval and payment systems as well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were great at communicating how parts of the application were designed and built. There were also times that they advised changes to the specifications that turned out to be much better.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At one point, their developers were in France and that made it difficult to interact with our API developer because of a slight time difference. They did eventually come to the U.S. during the work, so they kind of fixed that. Communication got a little bit frustrating.