Let’s Create An Experience

Since I am on the experience / brand theme this week, let’s create a good experience for someone going to a show, game or event.

As I mentioned in my post “Its The Experience Stupid” a good experience should start long before they go the show or game.  Let’s start with the marketing of the on-sale.  I love a good promotion to kick off the on-sale.  Create the right one and you will create a good experience.  Work with your promotional partners and your sponsorship partners to create the right buzz. 

Now your customer wants to buy the ticket.  Well this needs to be an experience too.  Technology is a big help with this.  Customers and fans no longer have to stand in line for hours or listen to the busy signal of the phone when buying tickets.  We now have the internet, and mobile.  You can buy your tickets at home and print them out right away.  However, can someone explain to me why it costs more to print your ticket at home then to pick it up at the box office?  Are we not using our own printer, ink and paper?  If you pickup at the box office doesn’t that require using ticket stock and a paid employee?   I mentioned in a previous post that Tickets.com has a new product call Tickets@phone.  Buy your tickets using your mobile phone.  That’s a cool experience. 

It’s the night of the event and your customer arrives.  Can we make the parking a good experience?  I know, this is a tough one.  If the arena controls the parking then they can control the experience.   If the customer bought their ticket with the mobile phone, they could have prepaid for parking and have the parking lot attendant scan the phone.  Staffing the parking correctly will help to create a good experience.  This helps with the in and the out. 

Now the customer arrives outside the front doors of the arena.  It doesn’t matter if it is a rock show, family show, or sporting event, there is always media sponsors.  Make them part of the experience.  Have them set up outside the doors to greet the customers.  Ask them to help create an interactive experience.  This is a win-win for everyone.

The customer is now in the arena.  They are going to walk around the concourse either to find their seats or to buy merchandise and food.  This is another opportunity to create an experience.  Whatever the show or sporting event is, create a theme experience around this.  When I worked for the Atlanta Knights Hockey team in Atlanta we always tried to create a concourse experience.  One example was when we played the Las Vegas team.  We turned the concourse into a casino.  We handed our fans “Knights Bucks” as they entered the arena.  They could use this play money to play at the casino tables throughout the concourse.  If they filled out the back of the money with their personal info, they could win prizes from our sponsors.  Customer experience, data mining, and sponsor fulfillment was accomplished from this one experience. 

Now the show or game starts.  That of course is the experience that the customer paid for.  If it is a show, you have to let them control the experience.  If it is a game, you can control all things around the game.  Of course this depends on your relationship with the team.

After the show or event, create an experience during the egress.  Make sure you have personnel that are smiling and thanking the customers for coming.  Give them something on the way out.  You can always find a sponsor who wants to do this. 

 

Tags: arena staffing, Atlanta Knights, experience, media partners, prepaid parking, promotional sponsors