How can the power of Panasonic work for you to get the most out of your fan engagement efforts? Find out here.
As sports fans enter arenas to cheer on their favorite franchises, engagement – not only with the teams themselves – but with their surroundings is increasingly becoming a bigger component of the experience.
Team executives and venue owners remain on the lookout for ways to elevate the fan experience, which is revolving around the creation of an immersive atmosphere that not only draws fans in, but keeps them coming back as repeat customers.
In a time when fans are looking to be constantly stimulated by what they see – not only on the field or the floor, but also by technological tools that deliver sharp video images with true-to-life color and up-to-the-minute statistics – arena operators and the teams that call those venues home want to keep audiences not only entertained, but personally engaged.
But according to multinational electronics company, Panasonic, even the highest quality video board isn’t worth much if the content being displayed isn’t providing what fans are looking for to enhance the game experience.
For fans looking for the most out of their sports and entertainment today, one thing is clear: The story and the details matter.
But the audience for content can fall into two categories. While the casual observer may be in attendance to enjoy the venue, hardcore fans often seek more out of their experience.
Franchises who are the most successful cater to both groups. Whether that means delivering enjoyable pregame and halftime entertainment or interstitial features or an abundance of real-time statistics that are blended with dynamic, responsive content for the fan who can’t get enough information, connecting with both audiences is critical.
“Understanding the fan base is key,” according to Rob Zeller, Panasonic’s senior director of sales. “What most sports franchises are doing now is trying to figure out what sports fans they want to obtain. Whether it’s a specific niche group or demographic. You have to understand which demographic you’re going after and what technology will be the best to approach that group.”
According to industry experts, even the smallest of details can make an oversized impact on the fan experience. But as the market continues to change and the number of options for the delivery of content to fans continues to expand, venue operators and owners face challenges.
While an arena’s large video board may be the main attraction when it comes to drawing fan attention, sports franchises and venue owners face another reality. Fans now have another – albeit more compact – screen at their fingertips that they are relying on more and more.
Want to engage better with your fan base while maximizing your own content production efforts? Allow Panasonic to help you here.
The modern fan experience has gone mobile, which opens up new opportunities for those charged with engaging fans during their time at sporting venues.
With the addition of a dedicated mobile app, teams are able to connect with fans before, during and after games. Through these apps, fans can receive same-day reminders, directions to the best entrance to the venue and other pregame discounts via push notifications.
In the midst of game action, fans are able to use their smartphones to interact with the venue’s main video board, whether that means answering trivia questions or even predicting the game’s final score. But the fan experience doesn’t stop there.
Thanks to the latest technologies like Panasonic’s Link Ray, fans can even be taken to specific URLs by simply pointing their smartphones at the venue’s video board. Other social media channels – such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter – can also be utilized to engage fans, who are often able to see their photos displayed prominently on arena video boards, further enhancing their experience.
In addition, teams and venue owners are able to receive instant feedback from fans about their game-day visit by directing them to a specific hashtag. By using this technology, officials are able to monitor fan reaction to their environments and allow venue workers to respond to anything from a spilled soda to an unruly fan.
While much of the technology revolves around engaging with fans, Panasonic has also become an industry leader in helping technology specialists with a stress-free option when it comes to providing the best experience to their specific audience.
Panasonic helps ensure that on-site production teams have the requisite hardware and software to drive the most mode
rn fan experiences. The right content management solution (CMS) allows production teams and content producers to customize the venue’s on-screen experience on the fly.
Perhaps most importantly, Panasonic’s team of experts provides production teams with a reliable video board partner to guarantee that a venue’s video production can become future-proofed, even as technology continues to advance.
But as technology changes, so does the future of fan engagement. At a time when fans want to feel like a part of the action as much as those on the field in front of them, the ways teams connect with their fans must also improve.
Fan engagement in the future will become even more data-driven and mobile-based than it is today, meaning that production teams must continue to think ahead as they strive to provide the best possible content.
Investing in new and improving video boards is never an easy process. But given the importance of fan retention, franchises and venue operators can’t afford to take shortcuts, especially as fans continue to find new outlets for their business.
These days, it is critical for executives looking to best serve their fans to understand exactly what they want. Once they know that and understand the best way to deliver the desired outcome, executives can move ahead knowing that their venue is one-of-kind in a vast array of arenas where there is no one-size-fits all solution for the issue of fan engagement.