Brizi, home of the BriziCam, has developed technology that allows fans to control a robotic camera that swivels to find them.
It is a fascinating time to be a sports marketer. Technological advances over the last decade have provided fans with seemingly unlimited access to their favorite players/teams right from the comfort of their couch, forcing sports marketers to push the boundaries of creativity to engage those who spectate in-venue.
Some teams are easier to sell due to their success and likability (Do the Golden State Warriors even need a sales staff at this point?), while others are pouring resources into better understanding their fans’ age and interests with the intentions of activating more targeted sponsorships.
Teams (and sponsors for that matter) are jockeying for a fan’s attention with the vaunted second screen of a smart phone. Rather than trying to divert attention away from a smart phone — a more difficult task as the years fly by — teams are starting to shift to an ethos of: How do we seamlessly insert ourselves onto that second screen?
It is undeniable that fans at sporting events are going to be increasingly engaging with their phones as time goes on, and it will be key for sports marketers to view that as an opportunity rather than a threat. Attending a sporting event still holds a special social gravitas, and attendees are quick to gloat about and share their experience on the multiple social channels that they privy.
Organizations should leverage this thirst for sharing by simultaneously integrating both their brand and their sponsor’s brands into a fan’s social content. Paving a pathway for fans to engage with each brand instead of an Instagram post of Susie and her new dog is certainly a challenge, but not impossible to accomplish.
Just ask the people of Brizi, a company that is seeking to revolutionize the way sport organizations “ignite excitement and monetize fan content.”
Brizi, home of the BriziCam, has developed technology that allows fans to control a robotic camera that swivels to find them, capturing photo memories that represent the closest thing to re-living the experience itself. Last April, Brizi worked closely with the Portland Trail Blazers over five postseason games. The results were 8,000 snapped photos, engagement with over 1.1 million users socially, and BriziCams are back at the Moda Center for these playoffs and available to all fans for the foreseeable future.
We caught up with Brizi’s Director of Marketing Stefan Kollenberg to dive further into the capabilities of their technology and the company’s aspirations going forward.
O: Describe your technology to the casual fan.
S: Brizi ignites excitement at sports venues. We provide the thrill of taking control over a robotic camera that swivels to find you, capturing photo memories that represent the closest thing to re-living the experience itself. Our proprietary fan-controlled cameras has captivated users from 79 different countries, across over 3,200 hours of usage time. In this case, the Trail Blazers have sold sponsorship to Toyota, and they are building the Toyota brand into every single photo that the fans share from the game.
O: How are fans able to interact with/control the camera? What does that process look like?
S: The user experience is very simple for the fan. They go to ripcityfancam.com, punch in their seat number and then a live feed appears on their phone. They can pan and zoom on the live feed for the perfect aerial angle, press the button… and it says 3..2..1.. “look up and wave!”
O: Are fans able to swipe through different filters/brand overlays, or do companies pay for exclusivity?
S: The fans can choose from all types of fun overlays once they take their photo. In this case Toyota is the exclusive partner, but for other events it is possible that there are multiple partners involved either simultaneously in different overlays, or it changes from game-to-game, or even quarter-to-quarter. The branding opportunities offer a ton of flexibility and creative elements.
O: How do fans share the photos taken?
S: Once the fan snaps their photo it appears on the screen of their phone, where they choose their overlay. From that point they can choose what social platform they want to share it on and it connects them instantly. Teams love that the sharing process is so seamless, as it eliminates the typical barriers that are normally present when trying to entice fans to share their experience on social media.
Another valuable part of this sharing process is that it asks fans to opt in to sharing their social data with us, which we then provide to the team for the personalized marketing campaigns describe next.
O: What type of technology can the BriziCam system be integrated with?
S: BriziCams are not just a stand-alone technology, it ingrains itself within the entire campaign to deliver on sponsor objectives. Some creative applications include:
• After sharing, redirect to an offer or call-to-action webpage designed by the brand sponsor, driving in-the-moment audience conversions
• Imbedded promotions in official app and Wi-Fi landing page
• Utilizing geotargeted beacon and in-app push notifications
• The BriziCam system collects seat-specific fan identity profiles for everyone who shares their experience on social media. This data can be used for:
o Cross referencing to season-ticket holders based on the seat number, and identifying ticket upsell opportunities, based off insights on how people are sharing their season tickets over time
o Personalized marketing campaigns afterwards, sending users an email (confirmed attendees, instead of just someone who bought the tickets) with the photo they took alongside a personalized offer for tickets/merchandise/etc.
o Building custom Facebook and Twitter audiences to remarket to them post-event with promotional offers
O: What is the vision for the BriziCam system going forward?
S: There are a lot of different opportunities for expanding the product. We are exploring video, facial recognition, Snapchat-like A/R lenses and more. When considering future markets, we are open to exploring avenues outside sports such as events, tourist attractions, and theme parks. Essentially anywhere that people have an experience they want to capture and share with friends, BriziCams can be used.
Brizi’s technology and vision present an interesting sneak peek into where the arena experience is heading. The way in which sponsors interact with consumers will continue to evolve, and Brizi’s ability to seamlessly marry social content, branding, and lucrative information for teams to utilize sets them up to be an industry leader.
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