Event Guidance, a market leader in consumer behavior analytics, has launched two products that provide actionable data on what event marketing companies could only previously assume: who's really looking at what.
The technology allows experiential marketers to establish a value-per-view for their events, and use the data to make real-time adjustments and accurately measure return on investment.
"We are bringing the ability to make true, data-driven decisions on the value of experiential events — from display spaces at major indoor venues, to outdoor tent events, to mobile retail trucks," said Kurt Sabin, Event Guidance's Director of Business Development.
Event Guidance's Proximity Trace™ and Proximity Frame™ systems place WIFI nodes at events to anonymously monitor attendee smart phones, gathering a continuous stream of data on the number of people that pass by, approach, and move through an event — and in what ways — without ever knowing personal identities.
The software analyzes the data with live dashboards providing more than 20 sets of metrics that clients can share with decision-makers worldwide and use to make on-the-fly adjustments to their booth, display, or exhibit.
"Brand awareness is among the top desired outcomes for experiential events, and there are many ways to gauge that," Sabin said. "However, conventional analytic tools are either subjective, based on perception or comparisons, or they require attendee buy-in or 'opt-in'.
"In other words, the attendee has to choose to download an event-specific app — and download rates are scant — wear an RFID tag, or agree to answer a survey. All of this can limit data gathering.
"Our technology requires no opt-in. It's real behavior data that captures how people actually engage brands at events."
Proximity Trace™ places a single WIFI — or guidance — node at the center of a display, then monitors the movement of attendees radially around it. Data can be recorded on passers by, visitors, dwell times, return visitors, and more. Placing guidance nodes at several displays allows comparing their relative popularity.
Proximity Frame™ uses a geo-fence — or matrix of guidance nodes – placed throughout an event space to provide even greater location accuracy. The system allows a deeper dive into attendee behaviors, including which side of a display a visitor is located, attendee heat maps determining the popularity of specific spaces at specific times down to seconds, and more.
Event Guidance has teamed with some of the leading experiential marketing companies in the world, including George P. Johnson of Auburn Hills, Mich. While specific clients are confidential to the relationship, George P. Johnson has used Event Guidance technology at some of the largest touring events in the nation during the past year.
"We provide quick set-ups, quick calibrations and immediate analytics," said Sabin. "The data is new to the event industry, and our execution is the difference maker. It's drawing the attention of industry leaders such as GPJ."
Event Guidance is a featured speaker at the 2015 EVENTtech Conference November 2-4, 2015 in Las Vegas, sponsored by Event Marketer. Sabin will present on "Defining Consumer Trends Through Behavioral Analytics."
About Event Guidance
Event Guidance is a subsidiary of Graphic Resource Group, Inc., based in Troy, Mich. GRG has served leading experiential marketing companies for nearly 30 years, and is known for understanding and responding to the needs and vision of the events industry. For more information visit EventGuidance.com.