Summary
TWT Group GmbH, a leading digital agency with offices in Düsseldorf, Cologne, Bergisch Gladbach, and Heidelberg, serves clients across Austria, Germany, and Switzerland in industries such as Retail & Commerce, Financial Services, Pharma & Health Tech, Logistics & Transport, and Sports. With over 20 years of experience and a team of about 300 analytics professionals, the company delivers innovative data and analytics solutions that accelerate digital transformation.
TWT Group is renowned for its customer service and commitment to data privacy and compliance. In 2020, they partnered with Usercentrics, a privacy solutions leader, to deliver compliance-focused content management technology. Under the leadership of Florian Schimpe, Director of Data & Analytics, the Group combines data insights with rigorous privacy protection, advancing a privacy-first digital strategy.
Challenge
TWT Group identified a major challenge with one of its key clients, TSG Hoffenheim, a top German football club competing in the Bundesliga. As with many sports organizations, TSG Hoffenheim faces the complex task of navigating data protection laws like the GDPR. The club collects vast amounts of data from fans, players, and partners, making compliance crucial.
Prior to partnering with TWT Group, TSG Hoffenheim had yet to unlock the full potential of their digital strategies. They had implemented the Usercentrics Consent Management Platform across 4 domains, but acceptance rates remained low at around 50%, below the industry benchmark. The challenge was to ensure compliance while improving consent rates, which would help the club grow its digital presence and maintain fan trust.
Goals
Easy Implementation and Comprehensive Functionality
TWT Group needed to ensure the seamless integration of Usercentrics CMP across TSG Hoffenheim’s four websites. The solution had to be fully customizable to match the club’s branding and manage all data collection services effectively.
Flexible and User-Friendly Configuration
A key objective was to enable both technical and non-technical staff to implement and configure the CMP easily. The platform needed to be scalable and adaptable to evolving privacy regulations and digital technologies, reducing the burden on TSG Hoffenheim’s internal teams.
Strong Support
Ongoing collaboration and strong customer support were essential to address privacy concerns promptly. TWT Group needed a reliable partner in Usercentrics to provide responsive service, ensuring that any issues would be resolved quickly.
Regulatory Compliance and Trust
Finally, TWT Group aimed to ensure TSG Hoffenheim’s compliance with GDPR and other privacy regulations. Protecting user data was vital to reducing legal risk and maintaining fan trust while collecting the data necessary for marketing and personalized experiences.
Making It Work Together
Customized Integration for Enhanced Engagement
TWT Group worked closely with TSG Hoffenheim to implement Usercentrics CMP across their four websites. According to Florian Schimpe, “Usercentrics is the best tool on the market. Their solutions are reliable and aligned with our vision for excellence.” The integration was efficient, taking less than an hour and causing minimal disruption to the club’s digital platforms. By customizing the consent banners to match TSG Hoffenheim’s branding, TWT Group ensured a consistent user experience that maintained fan trust and respected privacy preferences.
Optimizing Consent Rates and User Interaction
To maximize fan engagement while ensuring compliance, TWT Group implemented a privacy-first approach. This included requiring visitors to make privacy choices before accessing the website, which enabled A/B testing to improve user interaction. The results were immediate: within the first few weeks of implementation, TSG Hoffenheim saw a 22% increase in consented use of fan data. These improvements were driven by continuous optimization of consent management strategies, leveraging privacy KPIs that focused not just on compliance, but also on business outcomes such as fan loyalty and conversion rates.
Proactive Privacy Practices for Long-Term Success
To ensure sustained success, TWT Group established a proactive privacy review process with TSG Hoffenheim, conducting regular privacy checks to stay ahead of evolving regulations. Usercentrics’ pre-defined legal templates and granular analytics tools facilitated this process, ensuring full regulatory compliance. The partnership not only protected fan data but also allowed TSG Hoffenheim to stay at the forefront of digital innovation in sports.
Florian Schimpe highlighted the dual benefits of this collaboration: “Our clients, including TSG Hoffenheim, now feel secure knowing they are fully compliant with GDPR. This sense of security has reduced the risk of non-compliance and significantly increased trust in our services.”
Strong Collaboration and Continuous Support
TWT Group’s collaboration with Usercentrics has been central to their success. Schimpe praised the partnership: “It’s been the best collaboration we’ve had with a partner. Usercentrics’ team, especially Ana and Franz, have been incredibly reliable and quick to provide support. Their high-performance solutions and exceptional customer service have allowed us to meet all of our goals.”
This strategic partnership has contributed to a 25% year-over-year growth in TWT Group’s Data & Analytics department, underscoring the value of their collaboration with Usercentrics.
