Kick-off at 19.04 CET – the new Bayer 04 website

Black and Red supporters will be able to discover more news, background stories and entertainment at Bayer 04. Large photos and new picture formats such as full screen slider carousels and lightbox galleries plus exciting video input means "we are making the Bayer 04 world even more exciting," said Jochen A.Rotthaus, director of marketing and communications. "Our modern content management system enables us to constantly update the home page." The site will change considerably on matchdays. In future there will be a non-match, a pre-match and a match mode with appropriate content and individual appearance.

"According to the motto matchdays are fun days we will, in future, adapt the mode of our new website to the matchday. When our Werkself run onto the pitch the new live coverage is intended to give all our fans and users the feeling of being right up close to the action," added Rotthaus, who is certainly impressed by the functionality of the new online presence: "Thanks to the responsive capabilities of the system, our fans can enjoy bayer04.de to the full with out losing technical quality regardless of which device they are using."

NOW IN THREE LANGUAGES

Quality entertainment, up-to-date information and improved functionality on the one hand. On the other, an outstanding approach to service maximised once again at bayer04.de. The multilingual options on the site reflect the club's international strategy. In addition to German and English, the site will now also be available in Spanish.

Integration OF SoCial MEDIA

Another important innovation is the integration of social media that will immediately enjoy a suitably larger presence. For example, in the shape of social hubs, a collection of posts on the most popular channels such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The social hubs, on the home page as well as the players’ pages and integrated into the fan area, will enable fans to have an overview of the most current and coolest posts about Bayer 04 in real time on all digital channels. That is one of many innovative features, media and data sources that work together in the background to ensure the website is permanently and automatically updated in terms of content.

All Features in ONE App

During the comprehensive work on the new online presence, the club's apps were also put under the microscope. In future there will be just one Bayer 04 app. It combines all previous features: Anybody unable to be at the stadium on a matchday can follow the action up close with the live text commentary as the Werkself play. An additional service is a push notification with a goal alert without a time delay.
Bayer 04 have placed great value on navigating the new website. It is based on a form of the so-called atomic design that structures individual pages in vertically organised sections and elements. In turn, that enables flexible management of functional areas in the background. Additional pages can be produced quicker and more easily. That means a significant reduction in ‘click depth’.

 This ensures the user can get where he or she wants to be quicker and without delays or dead ends. The hamburger menu provides greater overview with all relevant menu points drawn together. The next stage will see a complete revamp of the online shop in terms of technology and content.

Black and red through and through

In designing an individual digital world, Bayer 04 took a conscious decision to use existing graphic elements of its corporate design. Jochen A. Rotthaus: "It was important to us to have a constant and clearly recognisable black and red feeling. We want to make Bayer 04 come alive – with our own very personal note."

In order to make the atmosphere at the BayArena spill over digitally from the pitch to the fans, Bayer 04 Leverkusen are now using the Microsoft cloud platform Azure. With the flexible and scalable services, fans worldwide can use all mobile devices to get information in real time on Bayer 04 games, participate in club life and also, at times of peak demand, for example with top matches, enjoy an optimum, digital football experience. With the high security standards based on Microsoft's worldwide applicable Trusting Cloud principles, the club has a cloud environment that meets the requirements of a modern Bundesliga club.

"Our aim is to support the people responsible at Bayer 04 with our technology to successfully drive through their digital transformation, be on the front foot for actively designing the future of football and building a closer relationship with their fans," said Klaus Eberle, Partner Development Manager and Sport Business Lead at Microsoft Germany.
Information for all fans and users:  The new website is a dynamic medium for our supporters. In the event of errors or if you need assistance with a service, please email us at info@bayer04.de