Digital Measurement Strategy Case Study

Project Overview

The Challenge

This engagement began as a ground-up build, won through a competitive bid to take over from a previous provider. There was no existing tracking or reporting to inherit, and demand for the business does not move gradually - it spikes hard around gameday, roster changes, and postseason runs, across every University of Iowa sport.

Key challenges included:

• No existing measurement framework to build on
• Retail locations across the state and mobile gameday shops operating alongside the online store
• Demand spikes tied to a live sports calendar, not steady traffic
• Multiple stakeholder groups - athletics department, retail operations, and the online business - each needing different visibility into performance
• No baseline reporting to validate against during launch

The Approach

The initiative focused on creating a stronger connection between business objectives, digital experiences, and analytics implementation before a single tag went live.

Measurement Framework Development

Defined measurement requirements, key performance indicators, and tracking priorities around gameday sell-through, inventory accuracy, and campaign performance to create a consistent analytics foundation from launch.

Analytics Tracking Strategy

Built an approach for measuring user interactions across the storefront that could hold up under sharp, unpredictable traffic spikes rather than assume steady demand.

Data Layer Planning

Created a structured approach for capturing meaningful digital events and keeping online sales consistent with retail and gameday shop activity.

Analytics Governance

Established standards for measurement quality and documentation that could scale as the partnership grew across more sports, stores, and seasons.

The Solution

A structured digital measurement framework was created to improve analytics reliability and provide clearer visibility into how fans buy, both online and in person.

The Results

With a stronger measurement foundation in place, store and web performance have improved, gameday traffic has been handled without the site buckling under peak demand, and conversion has trended upward across departments over the course of the partnership.

• Improved consistency across online and in-store measurement
• Gameday traffic handled reliably at peak demand
• Upward conversion trends across departments
• A measurement foundation supporting ongoing email campaigns for gameday information, product drops, and student-athlete appearances

Approach & Capabilities

Analytics Implementation

Event-level tracking configured across the storefront to capture meaningful gameday and everyday interactions.

Tag Management

Structured event configuration and tracking practices to keep measurement consistent as the site evolved.

Data Architecture

Data layer planning and measurement documentation designed to scale across sports, stores, and seasons.

Reporting & Insights

Reporting built for the people who actually use it - store operations, athletics partners, and the online business alike.

Business Impact

Effective analytics begins with a strong measurement foundation. Collecting more data does not create better decisions unless the information is accurate, consistent, and aligned with how the business actually runs - in this case, a retail operation moving at the speed of college sports.

Through improved measurement strategy, stronger tracking practices, and better analytics governance, this initiative created a scalable foundation that has supported the partnership with Hawkeye Fan Shop and the University of Iowa Athletics Department since 2016.

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