Case studies

A Tale of Two Sponsors at Lollapalooza

Discover how two major sponsors at Lollapalooza leveraged Exposure Analytics to measure and optimize audience engagement, revealing key insights into event activation success
People at a Lollapalooza concert

Sponsors are a crucial part of the financial success of festivals. In return they want a good return on their investment and maximum benefit from the footfall at an event. Our easy-to-install technology gave the 2014 Lollapalooza Festival organisers detailed, fascinating comparisons into how different sponsors’ activations performed. The data offers a powerful tool for organisers to plan future events and, crucially, attract and retain high-value financial partners for the future.

The Challenge

In today’s digital world we are used to being able to follow consumers around the internet, track their behaviour and learn about their likes and dislikes. But how can we access similar information at a physical event?

Ticket sales tell us how many people attended an event. Counter clickers reveal roughly how many people passed by or stopped at certain locations. But how can we really tell if an activation was successful, what percentage of ticket holders saw a sponsor’s information, and how many of them actively engaged with their stall?

The Solution

Exposure Analytics’s platform provides you with the detailed data you need to convince sponsors their investment is worthwhile.

We can tell you the footfall at a particular location at a festival or event, how many of those people stopped, and for how long. Our sensors pick up anyone with the WiFi enabled on their phone or other smart device – often around 90% of attendees. We break down the data in five minute segments, hour by hour, day by day to give you a complete picture of the event. We can compare and contrast sponsors at the same event to understand what worked or didn’t.

The Data

Of the roughly 75000 people at Lollapalooza, 31109 festival goers with a WiFi enabled device passed the Samsung activation. Of those, more than two-thirds, 25127, engaged and stopped to find out more. The average dwell time of those who stopped was nearly 9 minutes.

We can easily monitor the conversion rate of festival goers and how it varied over the two days of the analysis.

At times the conversion rate of passers-by was as high as 50%. The detailed data allows organisers and sponsors to look at how welcoming their activation was, how they drew people in, and what they were offering at various times. It also offers an insight into how best to attract and keep people at their activation in future.

Thanks to this data, organisers can be confident that a large percentage of attendees went past the Samsung area, and that those who stopped had a good experience and spent time engaged with the sponsor.

The Data – Red Bull

Red Bull’s activation had a slightly higher footfall to Samsung’s; 40349 passing visitors with a WiFi engage device. However the number of engaged people was much lower, 12354, representing an average conversion rate of 30%. Like Samsung, conversion rates varied over the two days of analysis.

Red Bull did however benefit from a long dwell time; those who stopped spent, on average, more than 20 minutes at the activation.

For future events, Red Bull can use this information to determine whether they want to do more to attract passers-by to stop and engage, confident that once people are captured they can hold their attention for a long time.

The Results

We can clearly see that two sponsors at the same festival, with access to the same footfall, had very different experiences. Both had good visitor numbers in their areas, but Samsung converted a much higher proportion to engaged dwellers. Red Bull in contrast had fewer visitors engage but those who did stop stayed for a longer period of time.

The Future

The data captured at Lollapalooza gives organisers confidence that their sponsors’ activations were well placed to benefit from heavy footfall. Sponsors can review their data and insights captured to plan their future activations. Offering free WiFi and other incentives encourages people to sign in via email or social networking profiles allows you to capture demographic data and contact details to continue a relationship with those who attended and engaged at an event. We are happy to work with you and your sponsors, sharing our experience and ideas, to maximise the value of your event.

The Cost

Very competitive. We have priced the platform to compare favourably with hiring counter clickers. Let us know the details of your event or festival and we can discuss your options with you. Can you afford not to involve us?

75000 Attended Lollapalooza 2019
50% Top conversion rate at the Samsung stand
30% Top conversion rate at the Red Bull stand