Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, is the incubator for new Spectra Digital Services and training ground for Spectra Venue Management, formerly Global Spectrum.
It’s not official until June 2, but the rollout of Spectra, a division of Comcast-Spectacor, has begun, as has introduction of Spectra Digital Services under the leadership of Mike Sheehey, executive vice president.
On that date, Global Spectrum will officially be rebranded as Spectra Venue Management, headed by John Page, president. Ovations Food Services becomes Spectra Food Services and Hospitality, led by Ken Young, president; and Paciolan will be Spectra Ticketing and Fan Engagement with Dave Butler continuing as president. The new logo and trademark launch is set for June 2.
Mike Sheehey, executive vice president.
Sheehey is already out selling Digital Services, which are showcased at Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia. He is working closely with all the clients of the various Spectra divisions to introduce a turnkey solution to venue needs for connectivity (Wi-Fi); mobility; content delivery; big data and analytics; and targeted advertising.
Spectra Digital Services has partnered with Cisco for the hardware. Services will range from network design and installation to app development, content management and powerful proximity marketing capabilities. It’s a bonus if the client is in a Comcast market, Sheehey noted, so they can combine Xfinity Wi-Fi with Spectra's expertise in venue management.
Digital Services accounts for about 50 full-time app developers and support staff. Sheehey can also call on the army of Comcast technicians at Comcast Products and Services just three miles down the road. Comcast is the largest provider of WiFi networks in the country with 8 million hot spots, Sheehey noted. Cisco provides WiFi hardware to 50 percent of Major League Baseball and National Hockey League venues.
The sales push has started with National Hockey League arenas and colleges already and Sheehey expects a new client announcement within the month. Most venues want more connectivity so fans have a better experience at games and events, but it is expensive. The buildout at Wells Fargo Center is costing several million dollars.
BECOMING A BRANDED HOUSE
The rebranding of Comcast-Spectacor’s venue divisions began over a year ago, when Dave Scott became president and COO in December 2013. Scott first introduced OneComcast-Spectacor in early 2014 as a go-to market approach for the various divisions in the venue space.
A year ago, Comcast-Spectacor hired 160over90, a Philadelphia-based brand agency, to facilitate a rebranding effort.
Phil Weinberg, executive vice president, Comcast-Spectacor.
Phil Weinberg, executive VP, Comcast-Spectacor, who is helping lead the changeover to Spectra, explained “the drivers were gaining new business, upgrading existing accounts by taking on additional services where possible and interested, better customer service and back office standardization and consolidation.”
“We’ve done a bunch of things internally,” he said of the process, with “160over90 conducting several hundred interviews of employees, executives, clients and customers. They guided us through the rebranding process. We had a series of meetings over the year discussing all kinds of approaches. At the end of the day, quite recently, we settled on Spectra.”
Comcast-Spectacor has always had three basic business groups – the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, Wells Fargo Center and the venue businesses. Last year, New Era ticketing was folded into Paciolan in a first step in the consolidation process. Last month, Front Row was split between Global Spectrum and Paciolan, the latter taking in the collegiate clients for which Front Row was shopping sponsorships. In June, the process will culminate with unveiling of the new logo and official adoption of the new name.
“We’re in the rollout plan now,” Weinberg said. “This was our first announcement. We go live on June 2.”
But that’s not to say it will be a wholesale out-with-the-old and-in-with-the-new. “We’re not throwing out all the old stationary yet. We are fiscally responsible,” Weinberg said. It will take several million dollars (“the budget is still being developed”) and up to two to three years to rebrand across all the businesses.
Spectra is an integrated go-to market approach that hearkens back to the company’s roots, he said, citing Chairman Ed Snider's story of naming the original Philadelphia Spectrum in the late 60s. The Spectrum, since demolished, was named to reflect the various sorts of entertainment and sports events it would house. “The concept of Spectra is similar – able to encompass the lines of business that currently exist and lines that come up as we move forward,” Weinberg said.
Rebranding is not an easy undertaking. “The major obstacle is a willingness to part with well-entrenched brands that have acquired meaning and equity in the industry,” Weinberg said. “There is always some reluctance to move in a new direction, but we have the buy in of our leaders and 160over90. It made sense to rebrand and move forward.”
He likened it to AEG which brands its various divisions with the AEG suffix, like AEG Live, AEG Facilities, etc. “It’s not uncommon as companies grow through acquisition and organically, to have to take a look at where you’ve come to and we had become a house of brands rather than a branded house,” Weinberg said. He compared it to Google’s rebranding of acquisitions, as when it bought Waze and rebranded it Google Maps. “It’s something that’s going on in the world in which we live,” he summarized.
“In the future, if we acquire a brand it would become Spectra,” Weinberg said. “That’s the goal, though we look at everything individually.”
NO MORE PACNET?
While Paciolan becomes Spectra Ticketing and Fan Engagement, it is still selling “the product we call Paciolan,” said Butler, saying they are currently using Paciolan 7 and rolling out Paciolan 8, the next generation. Change is inherent in technology, so the new umbrella business name, Spectra, is somewhat easier to accept.
“Our services don’t change, we’re just expanding,” Butler said. He recalled a conversation with Phil Wang at UC Irvine, a Paciolan client, who noted they already deal with Paciolan, Front Row and Global Spectrum, and are looking forward to hearing more about Spectra’s suite of business solutions.
Spectra Ticketing and Fan Engagement grew by 15 staff when part of Front Row was folded into Paciolan, most of them embedded at the client college accounts. For instance, James Madison University has two full-time Front Row/Paciolan/Spectra reps to build revenue streams. “We support their ticketing from here in Irvine,” he said of Spectra ticketing headquarters in Southern California. When New Era became part of Paciolan, about 65 personnel made the transition, all still working out of the Exton, Pa., offices under VP Steve Geib.
No changes to headquarters or staff reductions are anticipated due to the rebranding, according to everyone interviewed.
PACnet, the annual user conference produced by Paciolan and showcased each year in Venues Today, will change, however. A new name has not been selected, according to Craig Ricks, marketing director for Spectra Ticketing, but it will be SPECTRAnet '16 or some version of that.
For Spectra Ticketing, Spectra Digital Services is an exciting new offer as most venues need and desire better WiFi. Butler is out there introducing the new division to Paciolan clients.
“We will keep operating as we have, with ticketing and fan engagement as the drivers, but we’ll have new shirts, new hats,” Butler said. And a “stronger company as one unified team."
Spectra Ticketing and Fan Engagement will make it’s big industry splash at the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics convention in Orlando, Fla., June 11-19.
The remainder of the Front Row staff was absorbed by Spectra Venue Management. Page noted the sponsorship and marketing company was always part of Global Spectrum, and now it is formal. It is a venue management service, except in the collegiate world, where it is ticketing.
Page sees the introduction of Spectra as a natural evolution which puts an end to some understandable confusion about the scope of Comcast-Spectacor venue services. “The one area we changed is business development,” Page said. “Todd Glickman will spearhead business development for Global Spectrum and Ovations.” Glickman will work out of the centralized office, but answer to both Page and Ken Young.
“It does not impact our people,” Young confirmed. “We already are one brand, working together in marketing and sales.” From a client point of view, it merely clarifies the services Spectra can bring to the table.
Young's priority is still food services and “Everything Fresh” is still the signature for the company formerly known as Ovations. Ovations came into the Comcast-Spectacor fold through acquisition, as did Global Spectrum and Paciolan. “We haven’t rested on our laurels all these years,” Young said. “We’ve always tried new things.”
Spectra Food Services and Hospitality will continue to be headquartered in Lutz, Fla. Spectra will work toward common accountability with all the companies, changing to the same software and evolving the systems and processes. “We have been together but separate,” Young admitted. “We will do some marketing together. That’s already started.”
Ovations’ big reveal will become obvious as Spectra tackles marketing and visibility at the International Association of Venue Managers VenueConnect in Baltimore Aug. 1-4. New uniforms, new email addresses, new business cards and letterhead will follow.
Like his co-division heads, Young was very excited about the potential for Spectra Digital Services. Technology is a big part of doing business for all divisions. “You can’t stand still,” Young said. “We are increasing services, not decreasing them.”
Brand changes have to be phased in, he added. From what he’s seen in the past, there will be a phase of Ovations Food Services dba Spectra Food Services and Hospitality.
Already, Kristen Thompson, Ovations marketer, Paciolan’s Ricks and Bob Schwartz of Global Spectrum have been meeting two or three times a week on marketing the divisions as one company. And, yes, there will soon be one Spectra newsletter rather than three, Young said. It is a process.
“The venue management and hospitality business is much broader than 25 years ago with many more avenues of services. We look to be a shop for all of our customers’ needs,” Weinberg said.
Interviewed for this story: Phil Weinberg, (215) 952-5217; Mike Sheehey, (215) 952-5265; Ken Young, (813) 948-6900; Dave Butler, (949) 823-1636; John Page, (215) 389-9558