In this episode of Tame the Mobile Beast, Tom Butta is joined by Pietro Lambert, Vice President of Product Management at OneFootball, to talk about how the platform is delivering a unified fan experience to its 100M+ users.

Throughout their conversation, Tom & Pietro cover the strategies OneFootball utilizes in creating a seamless and engaging fan experience across both web and mobile. Pietro highlights the evolution of the platform from a basic score app to the robust digital ecosystem it is today. Their goal? To be the one stop shop for anything a football fan needs, from merch and tickets to highlights and news stories.

A key part of Pietro’s approach to staying close to OneFootball’s user base is what he calls “Breakfast Club,” his daily routine where he and the team review user feedback from real reviews. This live engagement not only helps his team quickly identify and address user issues, but also serves a more holistic purpose by truly connecting the team with their users.

The discussion also touches on the importance of having a clear mission and aligning the entire organization behind it. Rather than prescribing solutions and building a “Feature Factory,” Pietro empowers his team to tackle the right problems, encouraging innovation and accountability. This approach ensures OneFootball stays ahead in delivering standout fan experiences.

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Guest Quote

"If you are close to the user and really understand what they want, you really create something that is meaningful for them. And they come back because you are delivering against that promise." – Pietro Lambert

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Time Stamps

00:53 Meet Pietro Lambert from OneFootball

01:06 OneFootball’s Goals

02:02 The Beast of the Week: Disjointed Fan Experience

03:13 Creating a seamless user experience

04:45 Building a one-stop shop for football fans

08:03 Engaging users with native experiences

14:38 Driving user engagement with notifications

17:30 Understanding and engaging your user base

19:56 Balancing user needs and business goals

21:29 Importance of a clear mission

25:50 Tracking metrics and user engagement

30:00 Community moderation and user interaction

31:14 Empowering the product team

33:43 Rapid Fire Questions

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Links

• Connect with Pietro Lambert on LinkedIn
• Check out OneFootball
• Connect with Tom Butta on LinkedIn
• Check out the Airship Website

In this episode of Tame the Mobile Beast, Tom Butta discusses customer confidence and present-mindedness with Shama Hyder, CEO of Zen Media. Their conversation touches on a multitude of topics including how customer expectations continually rise due to leading brands, how organizations need to balance future planning with current opportunities, and the importance of strong leadership between agencies and internal teams.

Shama Hyder kicks off the conversation by sharing the exciting news of Zen Media's acquisition of Sevans PR, marking a significant expansion on the West Coast. As a seasoned agency leader, Shama highlights the importance of strong leadership and cohesive teamwork between agencies and internal teams. She advocates for creating unique, co-created experiences that resonate with clients seeking innovative solutions.

With current customer expectations skyrocketing, Tom & Shama emphasize that all brands need to step it up, regardless of the industry they’re operating in. It doesn’t matter if your direct competitors are behind you because leading brands such as Apple, Amazon, and Uber are the ones setting the standards.

Shama views herself as a “now-ist” and explains that organizations are too often focused on innovations years away when they should be implementing today’s technology to beat their competitors. She shares her insights on harnessing AI to streamline workflows, but only after laying a solid foundation.

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Guest Quote

"Customer confidence is something that in the past was given, and then you had to lose it. And now it starts almost at zero or negative, and you have to prove that you have confidence and you are trustworthy." – Shama Hyder

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Time Stamps

00:46 Meet Shama Hyder and Zen Media

01:19 Zen Media's recent acquisition

02:30 Beast of the Week: Customer Confidence

04:06 The importance of perception and experience

07:37 Trust and transparency in branding

13:28 The role of technology and data

16:54 Balancing now and next in strategy

20:06 Insights on leadership and agency collaboration

25:54 The mobile consumer and future trends

29:07 Rapid Fire Questions

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Links

• Connect with Shama Hyder on LinkedIn
• Check out Zen Media
• Connect with Tom Butta on LinkedIn
• Check out the Airship Website

In this episode of Tame the Mobile Beast, Tom Butta is joined by Joel Holland, CEO of Harvest Hosts, a membership program that offers RVers unique places to overnight camp across the United States and Canada. Joel shares what inspired him to enter the space, what strategies he has leveraged to grow the community, and key lessons he has had on his entrepreneurial journey.

Harvest Hosts was originally founded by Don and Kim Greene in 2010, and once Joel discovered the service, he saw the opportunity to supercharge a loyal customer base with user-friendly technology and expanded locations. So in 2018, he purchased Harvest Hosts and got to work.

Fast forward to today, Joel and the team have grown the platform to over 9,000 unique locations with over 260,000 members. The conversation explores the keys to this continued success, including a large emphasis on consistently across platforms, which he Joel terms “web-app parity.” Through this strategy, friction and mental burden have been reduced to make booking a stay as simple as possible.

As the episode continues, Joel shares valuable lessons he’s gained throughout his entrepreneurial journey. He underscores the benefits of acquiring and scaling businesses with proven product-market fit, the necessity of strategic advertising, and the importance of building a strong team. Looking to the future, Joel outlines plans to expand Harvest Hosts' appeal without compromising its unique offerings by incorporating more community-driven features.

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Guest Quote

"Our users really didn't appreciate the disjointed experience. And we're always trying to make things easier, not harder. And so web-app parity was the easiest way to take the mental load off the user.” – Joel Holland

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Time Stamps

00:46 Meet Joel Holland, CEO of Harvest Hosts

01:39 The rise of adventuring and RV travel

04:45 Harvest Hosts: unique overnight experiences

10:15 Web and app parity for seamless experience

13:34 Joel Holland's journey to Harvest Hosts

18:08 Navigating outsider perspectives

18:28 Effective survey methods

19:01 In-app feedback strategies

21:40 Success stories and growth

22:46 Marketing and advertising insights

24:39 Referral programs and influencers

27:32 Lessons from a CEO

31:26 Rapid fire questions

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Links

• Connect with Joel Holland on LinkedIn
• Check out Harvest Hosts
• Connect with Tom Butta on LinkedIn
• Check out the Airship Website