1. FC Köln Fan Communication

Goals: Scaling Fan Communication Without Losing Proximity

As a Bundesliga club with a large and loyal fan base, 1. FC Köln faces high volumes of inquiries across memberships, ticketing, and merchandising. Fans expect immediate, reliable answers 24/7, especially on match days or during special releases.

The internal challenge: traditional service channels and a classic chatbot could not sustainably handle peak loads or complex topic trees. At the same time, personal fan engagement and brand-appropriate communication had to remain intact.

The strategic goal was clear: automate large parts of the customer interface through Agentic AI while maintaining quality, transparency, and escalation paths to human service. The solution needed to integrate website content, internal knowledge bases, and shop information and reliably guide fans to the right next step.

Results: AI Agent “Hennes” as Digital Service Professional

With the Agentic AI platform by LoyJoy, the club introduced the AI agent “Hennes” as a central digital touchpoint for customer service automation.

Hennes combines free-text answers with guided buttons, responds in real time, and transparently communicates his test status. He acts in multiple roles:

• Member advice on benefits, membership status, and membership fee questions
• Stadium guide with ticket phases, directions, and stadium rules
• Shopping assistant with direct links to the online shop
• Fan loyalty through FC-related language and Hennes as expert on all FC topics

The AI assistant accesses the club’s knowledge base and fc.de content, enabling case-closing responses in many scenarios. For complex or legal matters, the Chatbot intelligently routes requests to human service or WhatsApp.

The result: reduced service workload, faster response times, stronger fan engagement, and measurable lead generation via direct shop and ticket links with a scalable foundation for future process automation.

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