A concert-goer scans her wristband for entry to an event.
Who doesn’t love a good live event? Concerts. Ball Games. County Fairs. They’re all fun, but the part that really puts the magic in live events for me is the sense of collective identity that emerges from these experiences. Some call it “team spirit”, others call it “community”. Whatever it is, it’s probably a safe bet that we’ve all felt it when we were in a group of people sharing in a common purpose at one point or another.
Marketers and psychologists have only recently started understanding this realm of the human experience, but now through RFID technology the whole ball game is changing – or, perhaps evolving.
RFID wristbands are secure, fast and highly interactive.
Music festivals have already taken to RFID technology to reduce ticket fraud and gather unique insights into audience members. An RFID chip is not a special edition Pringle. It’s a small transmitter that is water resistant, durable and functions as a key to access profile information on that particular wristband. By creating different scan points throughout a venue artists, vendors and sponsors can directly engage the crowd.
The Coachella Music and Arts Festival, which boasts about 80,000 attendees, uses scan points set at stages so that fans can add songs to a Spotify playlist to replicate their unique listening experience. About 30,000 ticketholders linked the wristband with their Facebook profile too. But Coachella isn’t the only one. Bonnoroo and Bamboozled used its RFID wristbands to offer discounts on merchandise, set lists and free music. Perhaps the folks at the TomorrowLand Festival in Boom, Belgium introduced the most impressive use case. As a pioneer of envelope pushing in the events industry TomorrowLand funded wristbands that allow funds to be banked and spent throughout the festival. In addition to eliminating the need for cash, a wallet or those pesky fee-driven ATMs, casual acquaintances at TomorrowLand can easily be promoted to Facebook friend status with a fist bump.
Yeah, with a dang fist bump.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn262Z0IyA4
One company, Intellitix, is behind much of these large festival uses of RFID. The company website claims that Intellitix “allows brands, artists and promoters to connect directly with the audience on and beyond the festival site. For brands in particular, it presents innovative and direct ways to reach new customers, while the technology generates interest itself.” At least part of the benefit for a live event to upgrade to this kind of technology is the PR alone. Providing smoother point of sale systems, faster security checkpoints and increased interactivity are all ways those who create live events can make them richer, more memorable experiences with lasting emotional connections.
Today, most of the youth that attend festivals hold onto their wristbands as trophies. Proof of adventures and memories of good times with friends. Some even choose to wear it for weeks after the event in remembrance.
Experiences like this one with Cage the Elephant become etched in memory and honored by the keepsake wristband that was there through it all.
Further innovations with RFID are likely coming soon. Many of these events are already a walk through Wonderland. But, given the potential of RFID technology one almost has to ask “how deep does the rabbit hole go?” What other ways can RFID contribute to the experience at Live Events?
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