Attending a sporting event or listening to music by your favorite artist is no longer a passive activity thanks to technology. Today, entertainment is more interactive than ever. Mobile devices and smartphones have made fan engagement a crucial aspect of building an audience, whether it’s for a sport’s team or musician. With location-based tools, beacon-enabled offers and data collection, engaging with an audience using technology is the future of entertainment.
This is especially true with sports and music, where engagement has been limited. In the past, there were two options: either attend a sporting event or concert or stay home and watch or listen to one. We are reaching a point where those options are merging to create an interactive experience for the mobile user.
Sports stadiums and arenas increase technology
In the past, we went to a sporting event and watched the actual game as we sat in our seats. Nowadays, we can still do that but now we can use our mobile device to check out different angles of the play, order food and even pay for our tickets using a mobile wallet. Newer stadiums and arenas are now built with a focus on fan experience, which includes technology.
Technology enabled fans to watch games on television in the first place. And now, teams are depending on technology to bring people back into the actual stands. As attendance drops off for younger generations, technology is hopefully what will lure them back into seats. These fans would prefer to watch the game from multiple screens and even immerse themselves in it with virtual reality. Teams are responding by offering this and more to make the overall game experience one that you definitely can’t get at home in front of the television.
Bringing music closer to fans
Similar to sports, your interaction with music was limited in the past. If you wanted to hear music, you went to a concert, saw one on television or you downloaded it and listened to it on your own. Now, singer-songwriter, Beatie Wolfe, is revolutionizing the way we engage with music. She’s a British artist, who is fascinated by using technology to bring her music closer to her fans.
In fact, her first release in 2013 came out as an iPhone app. But that wasn’t the only innovative part as Wolfe was able to appear as a 3-D version of herself to fans through a special case with mirrors. For her latest album, Wolfe has made it available to fans in alternative way to the traditional CD or digital download. A high-tech business card that can be read by a smartphone with Near Field Communication (NFC) allows fans to have access to the album.
By finding ways to engage with music and sports fans through technology, marketers are seeing the potential to transform an ordinary entertainment experience into something extraordinary. They also realize this is the way to capture younger generations who have grown up using mobile devices and smartphones. So as fans evolve, marketers realize that their tactics to reach and keep those fans engaged must also change to better incorporate technology and the data that comes with it.
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