Ticketing causes annoyance for organizer and fan again and again
Wherever there is high demand, abuse is not far away. That is why those responsible are not infrequently confronted with difficulties in implementation. This is especially the case in the live events industry. This is because event organizers and fans have to contend with counterfeit tickets, high fees charged by middlemen, and bots that dominate the buying and reselling process, displacing fans. Thousands of guests at the World Club Dome in Frankfurt, for example, had to deal with admission problems this summer due to a ticketing issue, and Fusion Festival also saw losses in the millions due to rising costs while ticket prices remained the same. In this article we explain how the organizers of Germany's most popular festivals not only save a lot of time, money and sad fans, but above all enhance the experience before, during and after the event.
Why customer loyalty is so important for festivals
As an event organizer, one factor above all is crucial for guests' loyalty to a festival: the experience. The experience begins with the arrival and admission, continues at the concerts and lasts for months after the event. That's because fans of the music like to keep the good memories in their minds even after the festival is over. For example, a study shows that on average, just under half of 2019 festivalgoers want to interact with the festival after the event to relive the experience over and over again.
The problem, however, is that the so-called after-event perks hardly exist in a long-term form. Guests throw their tickets in the trash or delete them from their smartphones and, at best, use social media as the only touchpoint to the post-event experience. But in order to offer guests an experience that will retain their loyalty over the long term, they need to be emotionalized - and not just in the form of an after-movie or discounts for upcoming events.
Enhance the customer experience with NFTs before and during the event
The increasing density of festivals and the associated competition for organizers entails two challenging aspects in particular. On the one hand, festival organizers are faced with constantly rising costs, as can be seen in the example of the Fusion Festival. On the other hand, guests' expectations of a smooth customer experience are rising enormously. The example of World Club Dome 2022 shows that despite an excellent location and a well-staffed line-up, there was a high level of dissatisfaction due to the customer experience, which in turn had a negative impact on the decision to buy a ticket next year.
One or two American festivals already offer NFTs as tickets, which not only make the entire admission process more transparent, secure and easy, but also unlock exclusive added values, such as access to secret shows or exquisite accommodations specifically at the event. The extent to which NFTs can be used as tickets and improve the customer experience has already been discussed in more detail in this article.
Fueling strategic partnerships
An important stylistic device for both keeping costs in check and enhancing the on-site customer experience is partnerships. Partnerships are nothing new and certainly not an invention created by Web3 technologies. However, existing partnerships can not only be excellently expanded with the help of the technology, but can also be fired up enormously.
For example, the beverage supplier Jägermeister in particular is represented at numerous festivals as a sponsor in order to directly address the guests of the events with impressive live concepts, drinks, merchandise, goodies or even its own DJs. For example, the brand has been active at the Splash Festival in Gräfenhainichen for years. A spectacular bar in the shape of a fire-breathing, wooden stag, which also serves as a stage, repeatedly attracts festival-goers to the beverage brand for a glass of Jägermeister. However, such sponsorships very rarely have a lasting effect these days. This is because exclusivity with Jägermeister linked to the Splash ticket, for example, is difficult to implement due to the forgeability of the tickets. However, in order to raise the bond to a brand and thus partnerships to the next level, consumers strive for emotionalization and exclusivity. Interaction in the form of likes, comments, or even through e-mail completely misses the mark, especially for the younger target group.
For example, to strengthen the partnership between Jägermeister and the Splash Festival in the long term, NFTs can be used not only as an artistic reminder of the experience or as an admission ticket. For example, in collaboration with Jägermeister, the Splash could distribute NFTs to a specific target group to give out surprise gifts, early access, backstage access, or free drinks at the Jägermeister Hirsch on site. This promotes guest loyalty to the brands, which also makes them more loyal to the brands. Since only NFT owners can enjoy these added values, the necessary exclusivity within the target group is created, which is necessary for an intensive bond with the brands. Because NFTs are digital property, the owner can be re-engaged at any time, revolutionizing customer activation. Instead of activating the customer via email address, this can be done much more effectively via the wallet address where the NFT is stored.
But in addition to the added value and exclusivity during the festival, NFTs bring with them innovative incentives for after the event in particular.
Enhance the Customer Experience with NFTs after the Event
In order to remain sustainably anchored in the minds of visitors, to emotionalize effectively, and to maintain exclusivity even after the festival, the NFT can continue to be used and regularly populated with content without major setup costs. This is because no complex interface setup is required to make exclusive added values of Splash NFT owners available to Jägermeister even after the event.
One way to do this is to integrate a token gate. In a previous article, we have already gone into detail about the functionalities, advantages and implementation possibilities of token gate technology. Nevertheless, for further understanding, it is important to mention that a token gate grants access to a website only to owners of certain NFTs.
Thus, the NFT ticket or NFT partnership serves as a key to exclusive content on the website that is denied to others. Behind such a token gate, it is natural for festivals to set up exclusive merchandise, backstage interviews, virtual live concerts, early access to the next event, or even a chat room where fans can interact with each other or even with artists. This exclusive content greatly enhances the post-event customer experience and offers far more opportunities for emotionalization.
Since NFTs are tradable, they can of course also be sold to other fans if there is no longer any interest in the exclusive content. In this case, not only the seller of the NFT earns, but also the festival organizer on a percentage basis, which is an additional source of revenue.
This exclusivity and the enhanced customer experience, not only during the event, is sometimes crucial for visitors to become fans of the brand and, in the best case, brand ambassadors and returning buyers. The feeling of belonging to what is known as the brand's inner circle and thus being valued is a benefit that can be enabled more easily than ever before with the help of NFTs and a token gate.
But fungible tokens, which can be thought of like classic loyalty points, can also be issued to visitors based on brand loyalty and interaction at the festival. The only difference with classic loyalty points, however, is that fungible tokens are based on the blockchain and can therefore actually be owned. So instead of just collecting the points, exchanging them for rewards and starting all over again, festival-goers can actually sell them and redeem them with partners. In another article, we describe exactly how a customer loyalty program can be revolutionized using fungible tokens.
We supported the entry into the Web3 world
To take the customer experience to the next level with the help of Web3 technologies, NFTs and fungible tokens, it is incredibly important to develop a suitable strategy. That's why we at minth are your innovation partner for a sustainable and successful implementation into the existing business model.
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