Grow Your Festival With New Technologies
Katie McPhee Steve Jenner Ian Forshew
Starting at 4pm GMT (12pm EDT)
UK festival scene
In 1998 there were 20 UK music festivals. There are now 400+ (Festival Awards)
UK Festival Scene
Attendance has risen from 30,000 to 3,000,000 (Mintel)
0
100
200
300
400
1998 2013
0
750000
1500000
2250000
3000000
1990’s 2013
The UK festival market is valued at £500m (PRS)
UK Festival Scene
Income to festivals has increased 20% over the past 2 years (PRS)
Ticket to Glastonbury cost £98 in 1999, £205 in 2013 (Festival Awards)
0
75
150
225
300
1999 2013
Growing your festival using new technology
Photo - GoldenPlec.com
In this webinar we will discuss
Technology
Getting to know your audience
Growing your audience
Increasing profit
Getting to know your audience
Getting to know your audience - Past
• No organiser/customer contact
• Customers’ needs weren’t met
• Lineup took priority over experience
• No chance for customers to express their views
• Growth curves were flatter
Festivals rarely sold out
Getting to know your audience - Eventbrite
In order to help you get to know your audience, Eventbrite offers Survey Monkey integration, giving you real time insights into how
your customers feel
Getting to know your audience
Full infographic available on request(CGA Strategy, Festival Awards,UK Festival Awards Market Report 2012)
Getting to know your audience - The present
Some of the new tools available:
• Ticket prices have risen above inflation, and expectations have grown with them
• Customers are in touch with organisers, and can express their desires/frustration
• Festival organisers can be reactive, creating a better experience and driving brand loyalty
• Understanding audiences better increases relevancy of sponsorship/branding
Getting to know your audience - The present
Festival marketing in future will target one person above all; The Alpha Consumer
The Alpha Consumer:
• Chooses festival• Buys tickets• Influences friends
Getting to know your audience - Future
(CGA Strategy, Festival Awards)
Growing your audience
Photo - Reuters/Cathal McNaughton
Growing your audience - Past (Pre-Internet)
Word of mouthFlyersPrint ads
Media Partnerships Diverse Lineups
Growing your audience - Pre Social Media (1999-2004)
Message Boards
Desktop Alerts
Community Portals
Growing your audience - Present
Targeted advertising and social sharing has taken us from:
TONet fishing - casting a wide net,
hoping potential customers see your advertising and are interested
in what you offer
Spearfishing - using what you know about your audience and
social tools to target people with a specific interest in what you offer
Images: The Painted One & Is This Cool
Growing your audience - Present
70% of Facebook’s 60 biggest
advertisers get an ROI on ads of 300%
(Source: http://bit.ly/MMXM0Y)
89% of the UK festival-going population regularly uses
70% of 16 and 17 year old festival-goers use Twitter
(UK Festival Awards Market Report 2012)
51% of the UK population is on
(Source: http://bit.ly/pULRBU)
67% of UK Facebook users are between 18 and 44
(Source: http://bit.ly/YPl08D)
Growing your audience - Present
Festivals are a shared experience, making social networking a natural ally. Opportunites for organisers to use social include:
Social Networks
Thinking beyond the
event - connect to the
networks of your artists
and partners
Social apps, like Bestival’s personalised lineup web app
Viral content, either made in-house or
crowdsourced
Targeted online advertising to an
audience you know is engaged
Growing your audience - Present
Festivals are a shared experience, making social networking a natural ally. Opportunites for organisers to use social include:
E-Team systems, incentivising your
audience to promote your
event in their area
Mobile - Stay connected to your
audience no matter where
they are
Growing your audience - Social Sharing
ONE TICKET SALE
3.5 5.3
5.4
How many shares to sell ONE incremental ticket?
Growing your audience - Social Sharing
(Eventbrite)
Case Studies
Photo - Independent
1. RFID and the contactless festival
Photo - IdeasByNet,com
The festival of the future will be wireless.
Intelligent Venue Solutions worked with the Barclaycard Wireless Festival 2012 to make it the first large scale outdoor European festival to integrate RFID cashless payments, access control and socially connected experiences.
Activations included:
Case Study - Intelligent Venue Solutions
This high tech festival experience sped up processes, enhanced security, increased efficiency, gave Barclaycard data on attendees and made social sharing far simpler
2. Firetext SMS
Photo - thisera.com
How do you remind attendees that your event is taking place, alert them to when their favourite band is taking the main stage and provide them with helpful tips and advice for during their time with you?
The answer is SMS. SMS is:
•Cheap•Immediate•Not dependent on 3G
Firetext offer their clients to communicate with their customers cost effectively and simply.
You can use the code EVENTBRITE to receive 20% off Firetext products for the first 3 months
Case Study - Firetext
Increasing profits
Photo - 201beats.com
More effective, targeted marketing allows you to save money on conventional advertising and know what works in real time, redirecting
funds to other parts of your business
Decreased costs
• A bigger, more loyal audience means more F&B and merchandise sales on-site
• A connected audience will buy merchandise and generate digital advertising revenue all year round
• Live video streaming is becoming a lucrative new income stream from Bloodstock to Bestival
• A festival with a well-profiled audience will be much more valuable to sponsor brands
Increasing profits - new revenue streams
Thank you!
For more info
Eventbrite UK
/EventbriteUK@BriteUK
UK Festival Awards
/FestivalAwardsLTD@Festival_Awards
Beach Break Live
/BeachBreakLive@BeachBreakLive
Top Related