Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai connects with VIPs

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With the rapid increase of smartphones and mobile internet consumption, digital is playing an integral role in connecting fans. As a result, venues need to adapt their marketing communication to a more tech-savvy consumer base.

This is especially true in Asia, particularly China, where venues are facing a unique digital ecosystem in which mobile apps such as Facebook and Twitter are not relevant.

 

One venue that has caught onto this trend, is the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, an arena regarded as an architectural icon and one of, if not the most famous arenas in China.

 

• In 2013 alone, it boasted over 641,000 customers and 148 shows, including big names like Metallica, the Rolling Stones and Taylor Swift.

 

Mercedes-Benz arena, with the help of the agency Curiosity China, leverages an all-new marketing and CRM concept based on the messaging app WeChat. The idea of the campaign is to create a premium customer experience before, during, and after the shows, increasing daily communication between fans and sponsors. This is achieved through the company’s strong focus on the business-to-consumer (B2C) department, boasting numerous important features including:

 

• Creation of a bilingual English-Chinese navigation menu, with weekly updated content.
• A calendar with information on upcoming shows.
• Arena Location LBS (location-based service), and customer service.
• An internal WiFi system allowing thousands of customers to go online when at the arena, as well as a WeChat check-in option allowing customers to collect loyalty points regarding their location or the shops, restaurants, and shows they attend and spend money at.

 

“The digitalisation of large-scale arenas is the future of our industry. Mercedes-Benz Arena is committed to enhancing the event experience for fans and bringing more value to our sponsors, and development of the WeChat platform through partnership with Curiosity China is a major step in the right direction,” said Michael Enoch, the general manager of Mercedes-Benz Arena.

 

In addition to a deeper understanding of the China digital ecosystem, Mercedes-Benz Arena’s top management is turning a social media platform (WeChat) into a true revenue channel. Sponsors will utilize their marketing expenses more efficiently by targeting the exact type of customer they want (VIPs, young listeners, rock music, or classical music). This in turn makes sponsorship more attractive, since companies are able to know the specific groups of fans they can target.

 

Source: Jing Daily