What retailers need to learn from Coldplay concerts?
Experiential marketing at its best – Lessons from Coldplay concert.
Recently, I witnessed two live concerts in Dubai. (I am not a fan of live concerts but thanks to my better half who keeps me updated with city events).
First concert was of legendary Indian singer Asha Bhonsle and Sonu Nigam which witnessed a crowd of over 17,000 fans attending the concert.
Second one, was of #coldplay, whose tempo had started in month of October with online booking and thankfully, we managed to get two tickets.
Believe me, I had got calls from many friends and relatives who wanted to come to Dubai just for the concert.
Being a management student, who is keenly interested in understanding the customer’s behavior and buying patterns, below are few of my observations.
1) FOMO –
The fear of missing out is the biggest trick which triggers the dopamine in our brains and make us participate in the event wherein everyone is contesting for tickets.
Lesson– People love to buy product or services, when they see others are buying and there is hardly any chance for them to get it. This triggers the fomo effect and people were witnessed with waiting list on ticketing portal running into 1000’s..
To learn more about Conversational commerce, click here.
2) Engagement frenzy
Many retailers are working on the assumption that Technology will bring engagement into their stores… which is a myth.
Coldplay concerts proved the fact that technology is only an enhancer.
Today People live in digital connected world.
Hence, they seek an escape from this digitization to experience a LIVE concert and yet remain connected by means of sharing reels and shorts on their social media channels.
It’s not watching the concert or songs on the favorite social media app or even spotify but the thrill of experiencing the physicality of the concert, the energy driven stadium atmosphere wherein everyone is singing, dancing, experiencing the event in visceral ways.
Retailers selling sports shoes and showing the videos of the athletes on their video instore screens is certainly not “Customer engagement”.
But,
Making the customers wear that sports shoe, kicking the real football onto the wall with built-in Kinetics systems to indicate the strike rate and analysing the kicking efforts & providing tips for improving the kick is what real -life engagement means.
I have witnessed brands/retailers who have misunderstood the term “Omnichannel” retail and are spending millions on store decor just on the premise that dependence on technology would improve their customer experience.
It is not like standing in the middle of the store & a chatbot explaining the product features;
customer experience is all about educating the customer on the looks he/she can have with that garment, how that fashion accessory would increase their fashion quotient etc.
Technology is just a enabler, Retailers need to be creative to narrate a story of their brand using tech platforms.
3) Coldplay PR strategy is the key to build brand authority
Many retailers think social media marketing would suffice their brand awareness and conversions;
however, the reality is social media combined with PR tools provide customers- a Brand Voice & Brand authority.
Did you see #chris martins visit to local city’s hangouts even temple (In India)? PR is the key.
Below are the videos of both the concerts and personally I enjoyed the events and learnt a lot from Gen Z during these events.
4) Coldplay Going sustainable as your Purpose/ CSR
Even the power generated during the concert was self-sustaining, using the kinetic energy of the concert goers dancing on the rubber mats converted towards electrical power.
Brands need to find their purpose and link it towards sustainability to thrive in coming future.
