Access All AreasWhere would we be without our trusty phones? Even at high profile events such as festivals, there are apps for attendees to stay connected at an extraordinary level, whether that is as simple as ordering a drink at a venue, or the purchase of tickets, and even merchandise.
We spoke to LiveStyled and Second Screen LDN, two app developers for events, venues and festivals, about why they think something as simple as putting features into the form of an application is so popular in the industry.
“Attendees are demanding an amazing experience every time they enter a venue,” explains Adam Goodyer, LiveStyled CEO. “With so much competition in the live event marketplace, venue owners need to look at every angle to enhance their experience whilst at the same time remaining commercially viable.”
Event apps created for this industry are constantly switching up the scene to engage new customers. “Digitally with mobile ticketing and access control, useful venue information and exclusive artist content, an app can reach anyone,” Goodyer adds.
Content at your fingertips
The growing trend of these apps has shifted the way both organisers and attendees view the benefits to waving a phone around at a live event. Although within this industry we are undoubtedly big fans of social media, especially Twitter and Instagram, this has opened a whole new perception of how this digital platform can be used in the most bene cially way possible.
“There was no dedicated social space for fans to share the buzz and excitement from live events,” says Niall Green, CEO of Second Screen, as he describes what encouraged him to build the company. “The industry is always looking at new ways to discover and learn more about the audience and collecting data through an app is one great way to achieve this. Attendees of an event will nd that an app is the most useful way to learn about instant news about an event.”
Both companies work on individually tailoring app requests to meet the client’s requirements. Both LiveStyled and Second Screen have been known to adapt applications to fit the needs of ticketing features, newsfeeds, merchandise outlets or even live streaming.
Better engagement
With the advance of technology in recent years, and thanks to Apple and the iconic iPhone, studies have suggested that custom event apps increase attendee’s engagement. After all, the uses of event apps can vary from useful purposes like the ‘Find My Tent’ app in BC Tent Finder, to help all those who may struggle to find your pop-up home on site grounds in the early hours of the morning. Or to line up announcements on a festival’s own app, such as the Great Escapes new and improved version released earlier this year.
“Apps are one part of the event technology picture and an important part because they provide the ability to learn from, and communicate with, each attendee individually,” explains Goodyer.
“Our job is to help deliver the complete connected event solution where the customer’s journey can be instantly mapped across multiple systems and our data algorithms can then help de ne how each customer should be interacted with. This will happen instantly and constantly providing both a better experience for the individual attendee and on-going commercial uplift at all stages of the journey,” Goodyer adds.
Constantly on the rise, the organisers of the live and outdoor events industry are in competition to up their game to become the leaders in innovation with tech, specifically apps.
“This is influencing the industry by creating an opportunity where these events have a clear two-way dialogue with their audience and instantly alerting their customers to new products or tickets,” says Green. “It’s now considered another platform alongside its social channels which the live event must be present.”
“The future of the tech sector is all about automation and will no doubt influence how the industry moves forward when using technology,” Green concludes.
Editor’s note: This is a web version of the feature published on the July/August issue.