Intelligent venues redefine the customer experience

Change fan and patron engagement with the next generation of personalized, contextually aware digital-user experience.

Intelligent venues deliver a superior experience

Locations across the globe—such as stadiums, museums, performing art centers, and theme parks—are set to transform themselves into super intelligent, contextually aware settings that deliver new levels of superior customer experiences and convenience for their fans and patrons.

This next generation of personalized, contextually aware digital-user experience will offer venue navigation, mobile convenience, customer loyalty engagement, and exhibit interaction—done using analytical insights into customer profiles and venue operations. Read on to find out how this can be done.

Figure 1. Intelligent venues optimize the customer experience

Uber fans of any venue will be the envy of their friends—because they are simply aware of more things than anyone else. They know the fastest route to the venue, where there are available parking spots, how to get to their seats, which is the fastest line to buy food, where to get the best deal on merchandise, the complete history of a performance or exhibit, and more. You can recognize them because they smile bigger than the rest—a smile that is driven by the ultimate user experience. One that receives a better level of service than everyone else.

But, what makes uber fans the envy of their friends? It’s the intelligence built into the venues that fuel them, which are powered by an ecosystem of intelligent venue services supporting pre-event, event, and post-event activities, offering a unique customer experience for any fan or patron who chooses to participate.

Innovation in venues is being driven by technology that merges the digital and physical world of fan and patron experiences. Emerging technologies like beacons, wearable devices, smart glasses, and location-aware and contextually aware services have an all-encompassing impact on venues, making them more intelligent, and ultimately offering a far more engaging, social fan experience.

As digital experiences continue to disrupt traditional venue-based experiences, venues must continue to innovate to entice people to gather and share experiences in person—at the venue; experiences they cannot get at home.

Continuing competition with the in-home experience is the driving force behind the emergence of intelligent venue solutions.

The speed of change is accelerating the uber fan’s journey

The key to the uber fan is mobile engagement. Creating world-class immersive experiences is the primary goal of an intelligent venue—to achieve this customer engagement is essential. This requires world-class technologies that conveniently and seamlessly combine the ease of accessibility of the mobile world with the social attraction of enjoyable venues.

The experience begins pre-event, as fans and patrons purchase tickets and travel to the venue. During the event, as they engage themselves in the event’s activities. And post-event, as fans leave the venue, journey home, and share their experiences with family, friends, and other fans.

Intelligent venues provide their own mobile applications, which ties in all elements of the customer journey.

So, let’s explore the journey of uber fans or uber patrons and understand what they might be doing, thinking, feeling, and most importantly, what they might be using to make their journey a memorable experience.

Venue navigation—from their front door to their seat

The sample journey starts with your customers driving to the venue. They are feeling the excitement and anticipation—that the day has finally arrived. But, they are concerned about traffic conditions causing them to miss the start of the event.

An intelligent venue’s mobile app delivers seamless navigation from fans’ front door steps, all the way to their seats. Starting with outdoor navigation and turn-by-turn directions from their home using GPS location and the best possible route. The mobile app helps customers quickly find parking with available spots within the parking options around the venue.

When uber fans arrive in their parking spots, they seamlessly transition over to indoor wayfinding using “bludot” navigation and beacon technology to give them step-bystep directions to their seats. They can also use wayfinding to locate other amenities at the venue, or find an exhibit quickly and easily.

Figure 2. Find your seat with indoor wayfinding—bludot navigation.

Mobile convenience from ticketless entry to in-seat ordering

As customers approach the venue entrance, the mobile app automatically uses mobile ticketing on their phones for quick and ticketless entry into the venue. Fans and patrons experience the feeling of exhilaration as they enter the venue. After weeks of waiting, their event is finally here.

Uber fans may be offered seat upgrades for purchase as they enter the venue based on loyalty, availability of seats, and their propensity to buy at this stage of the journey.

Once inside and safely in their seats for the start of the game, no need to miss a beat. Customers can simply order food and beverages directly from their seats with mobile ordering in the mobile app.

As uber fans’ food and beverage orders arrive at their seats, payment can be processed directly from their phones. Their family and friends will welcome this level of convenience and VIP treatment.

Figure 3. Customers order from their seats and never miss a beat

Relive game highlights with closest family and friends

In sports stadiums, the venue’s mobile app has access to instant replays within seconds of a game-winning touchdown or goal being scored. Customers can watch replays directly on their mobile phones from different camera angles, reviewing the action in the intensity of the moment.

Figure 4. Uber customers access instant replays seconds after they occur

The euphoria of these moments is best shared with friends and family who are also having the same experience. Now, customers can find friends and colleagues who are also at the event using location-sharing services that connect Facebook friends.

The venue’s fan base begins to grow as fans and patrons share the highlights of their experiences across their entire social network.

New fans will emerge, inspired by the experience of uber fans and the power of social media. Those new fans will one day become your next generation of uber fans.

Customer engagement with proximity-based marketing

Uber fans who use the venue’s mobile app have opted into a customer loyalty program that gives comprehensive insight into their customer profiles.

At the peak of customers’ journeys, with their team coming from behind to win on the last play of the game, they pass by a merchant store within the venue. A feeling of patriotic pride for their team has heightened their propensity to buy.

Using real-time customer analytics, you know that uber fans are supporters of the winning team, and their team defied the odds and won the game on the last play of the day. You also know that an uber fan (or customer) is walking toward a merchant store. Using this level of situational awareness and understanding of context, you can deliver a very personalized discount offer for that customer to enter the store and purchase the team’s spirit wear.

The mobile app interacts with beacons placed throughout the venue to deliver proximity marketing based on an understanding of customers’ locations throughout the venue. Proximity marketing and real-time customer analytics enable delivery of a very personalized, contextually aware digital-user experience to your uber fans. Uber fans receive personalized, contextually aware loyalty and discount offers with proximity marketing using beacons.

As uber fans enter merchant stores, facial recognition can be used to welcome them to the store, congratulate them on their team’s victory, and present them with an offer too good to refuse.

Figure 5. Fans receive personalized, target offers based on their location

Venue operations centers use advanced analytics to optimize the user experience

Venue operations also receive a tremendous amount of insight. Detailed location analytics help venue operators understand the movement of customers throughout their venues.

For example, museums and art galleries can understand how much time patrons spend at any particular exhibit, which exhibits are the most popular, and more importantly, which exhibits need improvement to enhance customers’ experiences.

Figure 6. Advanced analytics optimize the customer experience

Exhibits come to life; enhance the patron experience

Patrons of a museum, art gallery, or executive briefing center can enhance their knowledge of exhibits and artifacts throughout the venue experience. Patrons experience that sense of nostalgia as they view rich digital content informing them of the significance and history of the exhibit.

Figure 7. Exhibits come to life with rich digital content

Using tablets, mobile phones, and smart glass technologies, self-guided tours of any venue and the exhibits it contains can be delivered. Beacon technology can direct patrons to a specific exhibit with step-by-step directions, then launch digital content and augmented reality solutions, bringing an exhibit to life and displaying detailed information that patrons would have otherwise never known. This overlay of content will truly immerse patrons on a whole new level.

Patrons can even view subtitles and closed captions for movies and videos in multiple languages to enhance their experience. And, patrons of performing arts centers can watch a live performance of an Italian opera using smart glass technology to read closed captions (subtitles) in their preferred language. Now, they never have to take their eyes off the performance to understand what is going on.

Digital technology enables a whole new world of personalized, contextually aware digital-user experiences for fans and patrons.

Intelligent venues are built on a foundation of contextually aware services

Mobility, and being connected, is simply a way of life for anyone born in the new millennium. As we engage customers of all generations with new digital user experiences, they instantly become uber fans and uber patrons that others look up to.

Intelligent venues are digital enterprises that deliver contextually aware experiences that change the way your organization engages with its customers and turns more meaningful interactions into revenue opportunities. In addition, digitizing your business processes and delivering the right information, to the right device, at the right time, will make your employees more productive in their day-to-day activities, operations more streamlined and efficient, and reduce operational expenses.

Consider using smart devices, wearables, and sensor technology to reimagine the next generation of intelligent venue solutions that deliver a holistic digital user experience—it’s a must.

Throughout the uber fan and uber patron customer journey, a comprehensive suite of contextual services has been identified to engage with each customer and make venue operations more effective.

Figure 8. Intelligent venues—contextually aware services

Make your venue an intelligent one

To continue growing your fan base, you must create a truly unique customer experience. The experience is everything, and it begins and ends with the fans and patrons.

Intelligent venues are implementing next-generation contextually aware digital user experiences to provide a new level of service that elevates fans and patrons to uber fans and uber patrons.

As in-home experiences become richer and more vibrant, venues must compete for the loyalty of customers by using the latest in digital technologies that customers expect.

Make DXC Technology your transformation partner of choice. Use the experience we have gained helping venues across the globe transform.