Indiana Pacers, Indiana Fever Select ExactTarget to Power Email, Text Message Marketing

Teams Look to Boost Online, Onsite Communications with Basketball Fans

INDIANAPOLIS (Oct. 1, 2009) – ExactTarget , a global provider of on-demand email marketing and one-to-one marketing solutions, announced today that the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever have selected the company to power the email and text messaging marketing campaigns for the two professional basketball teams.

The teams will use ExactTarget’s Advanced Edition software to automate and streamline its email and text messaging marketing efforts with advanced communications technologies such as event-triggered emails, on-site text messaging interaction and integrations with the team’s online ticketing system.

"We are so proud to partner with ExactTarget, this remarkable Indianapolis-built company that is setting the pace for email marketing around the world," said Jim Morris, President of Pacers Sports & Entertainment. "This is the kind of relationship we really cherish."

The teams will use ExactTarget’s Application Program Interface (API) to automatically trigger an email to the fans purchasing tickets online or from one of the teams’ email newsletters. Additionally, the professional basketball teams will leverage ExactTarget’s landing page technology to power a new Web-based subscription center that will allow fans to select how they would like the teams to communicate with them - via email, text messaging or both. The technology will also automatically update the teams’ data management system, which holds its subscriber list for ExactTarget-powered messages, with any changes to a consumer’s preferences or personal information.

The two organizations plan to begin sending email marketing and text messages such as team news, personalized email offers and ticketing information to fans in October to coincide with the beginning of the Pacers 2009-10 season.

"ExactTarget’s sophisticated platform will provide the Pacers and the Fever the power to build meaningful, relevant relationships and communications with their loyal fans via email and text messaging," said Scott Dorsey, chief executive officer and co-founder of ExactTarget. "The flexibility of our platform and its ability to seamlessly integrate with clients’ existing data sources and track engagement across all one-to-one communications channels has allowed ExactTarget to emerge as the clear leader in the industry."

The news of the teams selecting ExactTarget to power their fan communications follows a similar announcement from Roadrunner Records artists Nickelback , Theory of a Deadman and Slipknot . The bands announced earlier this year their plans to harness ExactTarget’s technology to connect with fans through email and through social media. Using ExactTarget’s Social Forward ™ technology in emails to fans, the bands are able to give their followers the ability to share the contents of fan club messages directly to Facebook, Twitter and more than 40 other online networks with a single mouse click.

Source: ExactTarget