Productivity & Digital Media Applied to a music festival in The Netherlands

Yvonne Klerks & Klaus HovenAcademy for Leisure

Overview

• Introduction Yvonne Klerks & Klaus Hoven• Discover NHTV Breda• Case: A Campingflight to LowLands

Paradise• Productivity at festival events• Digital media experiences• Questions & Discussion

IntroductionYvonne Klerks

• Lecturer Financial Management• 32 years• MSc in Business Administration• Employed since 2005• Specialisation Leisure Project Management• Research on productivity in the leisure

industry

klerks.y@nhtv.nl

IntroductionKlaus Hoven

• Lecturer Digital Communication• 38 years• MA in Development Studies• Employed since 2007• Specialisation Leisure Project Management• E-learning manager

hoven.k@nhtv.nl

klaushoven www.twitter.com/klaushoven

Discover NHTV Breda

• Independent higher educational institute• 5 academies: • Games & Media, Hotel & Facility, Tourism,

Urban design, Logistics & Mobility, Leisure• 11 HBO Bachelor programs

Academic bachelor Leisure Sciences Special programs ‘Duaal leren’

• Field of expertise: Imagineering & Cross Cultural Understanding

• 6.500 students , 600 employees• Website: www.nhtv.nl

LowlandsFacts and figures

• 3 day outdoor summer festival• Focus on alternative music• Music, stand-up comedy, film, visual arts,

literature and (street) theatre• Township with 55.000 inhabitants • Comfortable festival; bars and restaurants,

campsite with shower and ‘real’ toilets, supermarkets, daily newspaper, laundry etc. etc.

• Mojo Concerts & Loc7000

LowlandsFacts and figures

• Numerous partnerships• i.e. Coca Cola, Oxfam Novib, Greenpeace,

Amnesty International, Grolsch, Wrangler,Dutch radio & tv stations (3FM, VPRO)

Case Lowlandshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-qsotytML0

Case Lowlands

Arctic Monkeys

Snoop Dogg

The Prodigy

Kaiser Chiefs

Lily Allen

LowlandsEnormous festival, enormous organization

LowlandsProductivity

• How to get and keep the festival profitable?

LowlandsProductivity

• What is productivity?

• How to get productivity as high as possible?

LowlandsProductivity

• What is productivity?

• How to get productivity as high as possible?

LowlandsProductivity

• What is productivity?

Output / Input

Input = employees and investments you put in acompanyOutput = what do you get out of your input. E.g turnover and number of customers

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• Output / Input

• Productivity: always compare one thing to the other

For example• Turnover / # employees• # customers / # m2

Productivity

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OUTPUT INPUT

Productivity

LowlandsProductivity

Spending of customers

LowlandsProductivity

LowlandsProductivity

LowlandsProductivity

Podpads

LowlandsProductivity

LowlandsProductivity

LowlandsProductivity

Not only on the festival itself!

Preparty of the Festival!

February 2010

Number of customers

LowlandsProductivity

LowlandsProductivity

- Online ticket sales- Social communities- Creating an atmosphere very

enjoyable for groups- Create a comfortable festival

LowlandsProductivity

Costs of employees

LowlandsProductivity

Costs of employees

2,700 staff members

e.g. self service for visitorsVolunteers is the magic word!

LowlandsProductivity

Costs of materials

LowlandsProductivity

• Recycling/going green• Energy provider/partnerships• Outsourcing e.g. catering &

cleaning

LowlandsProductivity

Conclusion:

Focus on • Spending of customers• Number of customers• Costs of employees• Costs of materials

Leads to a higher Output / Input

Which means a higher productivity!

LowlandsProductivity

A different topic which plays an important role for

a festival like Lowlands and which contributes

indirectly to productivity is creating communities

and customer satisfaction:

The use of Digital Media!

Digital Media & LowlandsIt’s all about socialising, sharing, creation & communication

Where are we coming from?

Hommo Zappiens (W. Veen)2006

Internet use in The Netherlands

Trendbox / STIRMarco Derksen (www.upstream.nl)

Digital Economy 2009The Netherlands

Digital Economy 2009The Netherlands

Dutch people have with 6,3 hours of leisure time on an weekly day more time for themselves than the average world citizen (5,8 hour of leisure time). One fifth (19%) of this time is spent on the internet!

Functional webbrowsing:

- Searching information, comparing products (64%)- Social networking (60%)- Online payments (81%)- Market places (26%)- Online advertising (20%)

Internet use & leisure time

Digital Economy 2009The Netherlands

Internet penetration in the Netherlands is high and the consumer can be reached well online. Through broadband access and mobile internet the use and user experience is increasing.

New online user experiences emerge:From e-marketing to m-marketing & augmented reality

Conclusion

• Mojo Concerts launched a festival site• From Pre and post phase - General information - Program and news - Online ticketing - Still 5,000+ visitors every month

• Towards Backstage, Stage, Frontstage - Broaden customer festival experiences - Invite them to participate - Build sustainable customer relation

Online presenceEvery festival has it’s website

Online communityStage & Frontstage

Online communitySocial media strategy

The reasons:

• Website as popular part of the marketing mix

• Yearly visitors on previous website (placeholder new dates, nothing to click, visitors still looking for information)

• Fansites are coming up: fora with sharing pictures and videos

• Requests for Lowlands get together and after parties

• Desire to control the common touch / feeling with the festival

• Create enthousiasm, enhance experience and share energy

• Create a niche social network > LowLands as a theme for festival visitors

Online communityStage & Frontstage

Online communitySocial media strategy

Used new media:

• 5-weekly podcasts

• Google Map Mashup (where are my LowLife friends)

• My LowLife Friends

• Share photos and videos > sponsored by Grolsch

• Comment on news

• My favorites (bands in the program)

Lowlands is a brand with a community in which experiences our shared with friends.

Friends who visit Lowlands are the most important reason to buy tickets. Friends are ambassadors for the festival!

Online communityStage & Frontstage

Go mobile!Mobile marketing strategy

• Mobile payment• Track & Trace - RFID - Near field communication

• Bluetooth & SMS marketing• Mediascapes and GPS games• Augmented reality (i.e. Layar, Yelps)

Go mobile!iPhone app

Sundance FestivalIntegrated partnership strategies

Questions & Discussion

Thanks for your attention!