Overview
The Ottawa Senators launched a successful late-season ticketing initiative using FEVO’s Post-Transaction Code (PTC) functionality to power their Mega March BOGO (Buy One, Get One) campaign, driving ticket sales, increasing fan engagement, and protecting full-price ticket value—without the typical BOGO pitfalls.
FEVO's Post-Transaction Codes feature enables organizations to automatically send redeemable voucher or discount codes after purchase. For the Ottawa Senators, this allowed them to deliver a 100% off voucher code that could be redeemed for select price levels and games—effectively creating a seamless BOGO (Buy One, Get One) offer. Learn more about Post-Transaction Codes Here.
By pairing PTCs with strategic digital advertising and segmented email marketing, the Sens moved a large volume of inventory,generated incremental revenue during the redemption Offers process, protected yield with smart redemption rules, and increased Average Order Value (AOV).
The Challenge
The Senators typically run high-volume campaigns in February and March to drive attendance for the latter part of the season. However, they faced a few key challenges:
- Managing Available Inventory: The team needed to move unsold inventory for March and April, while avoiding dilution of full-price tickets already sold.
- Ensure Maximum Ticket Value: Traditional BOGO offers lacked flexibility and often cannibalized premium seat revenue.
To maximize effectiveness, the Senators had to build a campaign that would increase engagement, drive attendance, and create upsell opportunities — without devaluing existing ticket sales.
The Solution
To meet these objectives, the Senators built a flexible, high-performing campaign anchored by FEVO’s Post-Transaction Codes and a thoughtful media strategy.
Introducing FEVO’s Post-Transaction Codes for Flexible Redemption
The campaign’s backbone was the use of dynamic Post-Transaction Codes, which were automatically issued after purchase. These codes allowed fans to redeem for free tickets at an equal or lesser value, meaning a buyer of 100 level seats could redeem a 300 level seat — increasing fan game access while still driving incremental paid sales.
This structure enabled the Senators to:
- Cap the offer at Buy 8, Get 8, to maintain control and create urgency.
- Maintain operational flexibility by allowing codes to apply across games.
- Deliver real-time redemption codes, leading to higher redemption rates and smoother user experience.
Targeted Paid Media & Email Marketing to Drive Volume
The Senators used a comprehensive multi-channel media strategy to promote the campaign:
- Paid Media Channels: Meta, Twitter, DV360 (Google display banners), and Performance Max campaigns drove targeted awareness.
- Website Placements: The offer was featured in the Ticket Hub, Homepage Showcase, and across the Senators’ Run-of-Network placements.
- Segmented Email Campaigns:
- Feb 19: Campaign launch to a large segment.
- Feb 25: Reminder to a more targeted audience.
- Mar 10: Final push to a broader segment.
Notably, all email lists were scrubbed to exclude anyone who had previously purchased a full-price ticket to the featured games — preserving revenue integrity and avoiding discount backlash.
Driving Incremental Revenue and Fan Engagement
The Post-Transaction Codes did more than just streamline the ticket redemption process — they created a frictionless path to upsells. In each of the redemption Offers, fans were prompted with opportunities to add additional paid tickets, generating 50 extra tickets purchased and increasing overall AOV.
Results & Key Insights
The Senators’ Mega March BOGO campaign delivered across multiple fronts:
- 101% increase in GTV compared to the 2023-2024 spring campaign
- 118% increase in Ticket Purchases compared to the 2023-2024 spring campaign
- 50 additional tickets purchased through redemption Offers.
- Increased Average Order Value, driven by post-checkout upsells.
- Improved redemption rates, thanks to real-time, dynamic PTC delivery.
- Protection of full-price sales, by strategically excluding previous buyers from discount outreach.
Blueprint Takeaway for Other Teams
The success of this campaign offers a repeatable blueprint for teams looking to move inventory, protect pricing, and drive engagement:
- Control Redemptions: Use Post-Transaction Codes to manage ticket volume and increase flexibility.
- Cap Offers: Create urgency by limiting the number of redeemed tickets.
- Segmentation is Key: Target email offers to those who haven’t purchased full-price tickets.
- Multi-Channel Promotion: Combine social media ads, email, and website placements to maximize exposure.
- Upsells at Redemption: Increase revenue with upsell opportunities when fans are ready to engage.
The Ottawa Senators proved that with the right tools and strategy, even traditional offers like BOGO can be transformed into high-yield, highly efficient campaigns.
