As of this week, highlights are definitely out. Our research from Week 1 and the beginning of Week 2 indicated that many apps (YinzCam, VenueNext, FanPic, etc.) already provide live highlights to fans in stadium seats. Additionally, analytics from these apps reveal that the highlight feature is hardly ever used: in the 49ers stadium, for example, only 1% of fans that used the stadium app ended up watching live highlights.
So, it was apparent that – considering our client’s main goal is to increase fan engagement at live sporting events – highlights were not the way to go. But what should we do instead?
During our research into the ways stadiums entertain fans at live events, we found that some stadiums send small blimps floating around the crowd. The blimps are mainly used for advertising, and will occasionally drop coupons, or, in the case of the Knick’s stadium, will take video of fans to put up on the Jumbotron (see below).
In every current arena blimp deployment, the blimp is a form of passive entertainment with the fan. The Fanfare team believes we can increase fan engagement by making an interactive blimp, which guests can actively engage with – either through their smartphones, or sensors mounted on the blimp. In this way, the blimp could act as a portable party, bringing fun straight to the fan’s seats. Thus, we’ve taken to calling this idea the “Party Blimp.”
Once the client green-lit the Party Blimp, it was time for more research. We spent most of the week investigating the different sports we might focus on for the project, the various types of blimps available on the market, and the different sensors we could mount on the blimp (which will determine the interactions we can have). We’re also working on a composition box to help us organize our ideas.
