Written in collaboration with Graeme Brown

If we've learned anything about sports, music, or any type of performance over the past few years, it is that there is nothing in the world that can match experiencing an event in person. The sights, the sounds and the crowd energy generated through the shared experience of thousands of like-minded individuals can be palpable.

Can you view all fans as the exact same person?

The answer is decidedlynot. They have different devices, beliefs, languages, routes to the match, friends, social media bubbles... and the list goes on. Your fan base loves your team, but they are not one single person, they are not a monolith.

As consumers, we have grown accustomed to receiving personalized content experiences. From the Netflix algorithm, to targeted advertising, and to Amazon's product recommendations, personalization rules our everyday existence.

Every team and every venue is telling us that they are striving for "best in class fan experience". Whether through a new board initiative, or club mandate, fan experience has become the golden chalice, the must-do, the singular focus of large public venues and their clubs.

When personalization reaches the live event experience you will engage more meaningfully with your fans and create powerful opportunities for your brand partners in venue.

We have been hearing about the "Stadium of the Future" for many years now and the era of personalized stadium experiences is upon us. Custom merchandise, tailored mobile web experiences, food requirement ordering, and parking lot-to-seat bespoke experiences are must haves in 2022 and beyond. As venues have strived to make their experience a fan-friendly one, they have pushed for more custom content to be delivered to their fan bases.

It is paramount that you think about content delivery in the same way and here's why:

• The 2018 Deloitte Stadium Experience survey revealed that both rabid and casual fan types put high importance and relative dissatisfaction on experiential elements such as unique experiences related to their interest. The report concluded that "teams must look to communicate these options in a cohesive and coherent way that speaks to each fan as an individual, emphasizing the true personalization of the experience and offer that is being presented to them as part of their time in the stadium."   (Deloitte Fan Engagement Survey 2018, 1^stEdition)
  
• Subsequently, an Allied Market Research report from this year predicts that advertising spend on out-of-home media is expected to grow from$18.8 Billion USD to$58.6 billion USD by 2031 registering - a CAGR of 11.6% between 2022 and 2031. According to the report, "By end-user, the entertainment segment would manifestthe fastest CAGR of 14.9% from 2022 to 2031. Rise in demand for digital advertisement solution across the sports & entertainment industry is driving the market growth." (Allied Market Research, 2022)

Marketers continue to be flummoxed by their dwindling ability to effectively reach consumers; turning to out-of-home and captive audience segments. 

Where sports and entertainment sponsorship and out-of-home was once an occasionally worrisome part of a CMO's strategy, it is now a necessary piece to ensure meaningful engagement with consumers. Your venue can now offer carefully distributed content curated for your fans in a captive environment.

Are you maximizing this opportunity yet? You need to start by enabling your venue with the right technology to ensure all your content can be processed per screen. When you are distributing by end point -the edge -you can do more. More engagement, more targeting, more processing speed and power.

A powerful vision, realized

It is the vision we started with more than 14 years ago when StadiumVision was conceived. Now, we move forward asWipro VisionEDGEthrough an expansion of the 26-year partnership between two leading technology companies, Cisco and Wipro. Wipro VisionEDGE combines the simple, flexible, and secure network products of Cisco with the innovation-led strategy, technology and business services of Wipro.

The personalized fan experience is happening, and this is only the beginning. We encourage you to stay tuned to this space as we search for insights and continue to build the most powerful out-of-home solution in the industry.

Cheers!

Graeme Brown (Wipro)is the Executive Director for Wipro VisionEDGE. After a decade leading global go-to-market strategy for Cisco Vision, Brown was tapped to lead growth and development for Wipro VisionEDGE and the Wipro practice for dynamic digital signage in Sports, Media, & Entertainment, Transportation, and Large Public Venues.