When Technology Drives Business: Q's With LiveStyled's Adam Goodyer and Telenor Arena's Aida Rad

– Telenor Arena in Oslo, Norway
Increased sales with the help of technology

Pollstar speaks with LiveStyled CEO Adam Goodyer and Telenor Arena’s marketing coordinator Aida Rad about a business partnership that won them an Event Technology Awards in the category Best Venue Installation of 2018.

LiveStyled is a data-driven event technology company based in London, where the award ceremony took place. The award specifically recognized the technology’s application at Telenor Arena in Oslo, Norway.

Pollstar wanted to know, what made the jury pick LiveStyled out of a shortlist that also included Bleep PLC, One World Rental & HireTablets, Prio Event Management GmbH, and Sila Sveta.

It was “a combination of factors”, Goodyer said. “Within the first months of the mobile app and the technology being in place, we were seeing 30 percent of all arena revenues going through the app and the platform.”

It didn’t surprise Rad, who said: “Norway is an incredibly tech-savvy country, so there was never any doubt that an app would be an integral part of Telenor Arena. What we had to do, was look at key aspects from the arena’s operational side that could benefit from the app, whilst always having the end customer as a focus. What value could an app add for them as well as us?”

Rad said, the ability to place pre-orders via app led to shorter queues on the night of the event, and allowed management to cut staff hours as well as the cost of putting up cash registers.

– Adam Goodyer
CEO of LiveStyled

LiveStyled is a data driven business, and one of the metrics it measures is overall customer value. “It is a measurement of what people spend, i.e. their average basket size, as well as the frequency of their orders,” Goodyer explained.

“What we saw across the board is an increase on both metrics, i.e. people spend more on average, and they buy more frequently. A lot of that has to do with the decreased queueing times,” he added.

40 percent of orders placed through the app were pre-orders, which includes public transport tickets. Helping visitors find and pay for the easiest means of getting to a show is part of Telenor Arena’s offering.

“Ultimately the user experience is more pleasant with more time to enjoy the show, instead of waiting in line. We also increase conversion and loyalty through special offers, competitions and pre-sale when able. Another focus has been our partners, to activate them and allow them another platform for further exposure. An example of this was when Kygo Life had a special offer on their products only via our app, when Kygo played at the arena. Another example is when MGPjr decided to only have their show set-list and lyrics for free in the app, with the added benefit of decreasing the print of paper,” Rad said.

“We’re fundamentally looking at how technology can help drive the experience at the arena, and at the same time tangibly increase revenues not just within app, but across all digital touch points,” Goodyer added.

While the sales increase at Telenor Arena was mainly food-and-beverage driven, there’s also the ability to offer seat upgrades and other premium experiences through the app, a lot of which can be sponsor driven.

AEG’s British Summer Time In Hyde Park in London, for instance, which also uses LiveStyled technology to power its festival app, saw many of its visitors upgrade to a premium ticket.

Data gathered by LiveStyled also helps sponsors get a better picture of their customers, allowing them to target them more effectively.

Venue operators that just aren’t feeling the app craze need or are operating in markets where people just don’t care about apps need not worry. Goodyer decided to decouple all of the functionalities LiveStyled provides, and allow clients to modularly integrate different parts into their existing web environment: the data driven monetization, ticket and upgrade purchases, rewards or navigation functionalities, etc.

LiveStyled, which just opened an office in LA, doesn’t focus solely on native mobile apps, in fact, Goodyer sees most mobile apps being web-based within five years. “Having the same type of experience sitting across web or social channels is where we see the focus moving,” he said.

He is convinced that “if you’re a venue and you use LiveStyled technology, within six months it will have paid for itself, in new money and increase in spend,” and he added: “It’s what the numbers prove.”

The numbers, and the list of clients, which besides AEG includes Live Nation, the UK’s Jockey Club, the Belfast Giants and, most recently, Tottenham Hotspur. The soccer club will use LiveStyled technology to power its team app, which will also be integrated with the club’s brand new stadium, scheduled to open in early 2019.

For more on LiveStyled, read Pollstar’s 2017 interview with Adam Goodyer.