KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Custom branding creates a familiar experience, easing concerns about biometric technology like Wicket’s facial authentication.
- Consistent technology across venues boosts user adoption of facial authentication.
- Custom-branded AI platforms offer improved brand consistency, new sponsorship opportunities, and valuable data insights.
Sports venues are many things, but visually cohesive isn’t usually one of them. They’re outfitted with the disparate logos and colors of every sponsor with skin in the game. Suffice it to say, fans’ eyes meet an explosion of color everywhere they look. It’s not often that sponsors or vendors utilize the team’s branding and put their own in the background of the experience. Call it a missed opportunity, because custom-branded products may help venues better engage fans, make sales, and deliver a more successful experience overall.
Wicket is one of the rare vendors who goes the extra mile to custom-brand its product offering. They offer a facial authentication system that enables enrolled users to link a selfie to their ticketing information and preferred payment method in advance. Then, their face can be instantly scanned at checkout as well as used as a biometric token for any access point that’s equipped with the technology.
What sets Wicket apart is not just its advanced software capabilities, but its focus on creating a seamless, branded experience for sports fans. In this article, we’ll explore how the combination of custom branding and the magic of AI technology can result in high-caliber fan engagement.
Why Custom Branding Makes a Difference
Many stadiums have already adopted Wicket’s facial authentication solutions. That said, the use of biometric data, despite Wicket’s ethical and consent-based parameters, can be a source of apprehension for would-be users. Venues can overcome that hesitation with the strategic use of their own branding.
Wicket’s custom branding can be fully tailored to align with a team’s visual identity, incorporating team colors, imagery, and messaging. This customization extends to animated GIFs and layered background elements, allowing for a truly immersive branded experience.
When fans encounter an entry or payment system that reflects their team’s identity, it creates an immediate connection and sets a positive tone for each of these critical touchpoints. It’s not just about getting into the venue or paying quickly; it’s about feeling part of the team’s ecosystem with every interaction.
The Importance of Consistency and Familiarity
One of the key advantages of custom-branded solutions is the balance they strike between uniqueness and familiarity. While each implementation is branded specifically for the team or venue, the underlying technology remains consistent. This means that fans who have used Wicket’s system at one venue can easily adapt to using it at another, even if the branding is different.
For instance, a fan who uses facial authentication to buy a beverage at an LAFC match at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles will experience the same underlying system when entering through the Delta Fly-Through lanes at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, albeit with different branding. This consistency across venues reduces the learning curve for fans and can help to increase overall adoption rates.
More Benefits for Sports Venues
For sports venues, the value of these customizable platforms extends far beyond mere aesthetics:
Enhanced Brand Consistency
Every touchpoint, including entry systems and payment platforms, reinforces the team’s brand identity. This consistency creates a more immersive experience for fans, strengthening their connection to the team.
New Sponsorship Opportunities
Wicket’s products all come with configurable branding and are perfectly situated for sponsor activations. For instance, express entry lanes can be co-branded with a relevant sponsor, offering unique visibility and integration opportunities.
Data-Driven Insights
These systems can provide helpful data on fan behavior and preferences, all within a branded ecosystem. This information can be used to refine marketing strategies and improve overall fan engagement.
Seamless Integration
Custom-branded solutions allow for a smoother integration with existing team platforms. For example, select customers have already taken the power of Wicket’s software and embedded it within their own in-house technology through utilization of developer-friendly SDK’s, allowing them to benefit from the use of Wicket products while maintaining full control over the entire user experience.
Real-World Applications and Benefits
Dozens of sports organizations have already embraced custom-branded software solutions from Wicket, demonstrating their effectiveness:
- Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home to the Atlanta Falcons, branded their express entry lanes as “Delta Fly-Through Lanes,” creating a seamless integration of team, venue, and sponsor branding. This allowed the team to offer a unique, high-visibility sponsorship opportunity that enhanced rather than detracted from the fan experience.
- The New York Mets took ownership of their offering with Wicket, calling it the “Mets Entry Express,” further emphasizing the team-specific nature of the technology.
- The Cleveland Browns implemented “Express Access” branding , putting the benefit of use at the forefront while simultaneously including a marquee sponsor, Verizon, into the experience.
These implementations showcase how custom branding can transform potentially intimidating technology into a fan-friendly, team-specific amenity.
How Teams and Venues Can Market Custom Branded Technology like Wicket
To maximize the benefits of innovative, custom-branded solutions like Wicket’s multi-faceted facial authentication system, venues could consider the following marketing strategies:
- Educational Campaigns: Launch informative campaigns that highlight the ease of use, benefits, and data privacy stance of the new technology, emphasizing how it integrates with the team’s existing brand and fan-first values.
- Exclusive Perks: Offer special discounts or experiences for early adopters of the facial authentication system by tying the technology to existing team-specific rewards programs that could reward fans for their participation.
- Player Partnerships: Collaborate with team athletes or local celebrities to demonstrate and promote the technology, showcasing how it enhances the game-day experience.
- Social Media Integration: Encourage fans to share their experiences with the technology on social platforms, creating organic buzz and leveraging team-specific hashtags.
- On-site Enrollment: Set up staffed enrollment stations that allow fans to easily enroll on-site and experience the technology themselves in a matter of seconds.
Leveraging Custom Branding of Sports Technology
By embracing Wicket and marketing it effectively to fans, sports venues can create a more cohesive, engaging, and profitable fan experience. The key lies in seamlessly blending this cutting-edge technology with strong brand identity, turning every aspect of the venue into an opportunity for fan connection and sponsor engagement. To learn more about incorporating Wicket into your fan experience, click here.
