APRIL | COVER FEATURE
manager Tom Vamos agrees
that there should be strict limits
to data security, but says the
rewards of sharing location can be
worthwhile.
ery specific geo locating is
coming in. We can track people
around an event, allowing us to
target specific people in ways that
enhance the experience. A hundred
people queuing at a food stall, for
example, can get a message sent to
them, letting them know there’s a
nearer coffee bar with no ueue.”
Marketing Superstore founder
eter erwood reflects on
location tech, boldly stating
that beacon technology is dead.
“Geo-behavioural targeting via
smartphone apps is already
incredible and is only going to get
“Beacon technology
is dead,”
- Marketing Superstore’s Peter
Kerwood
26
Above: BST shows
off multiple camera
angles
better, allowing organisers and
sponsors to present the festival
goer with a fully personalised
experience giving a 360 degree
video of audience behaviour. EE
Latitude with CrowdConnected
is a great example, and they also
worked with GreenCopper.com,”
he adds.
Meanwhile, you won’t lose your
mates or your car at a festival, if
Kerwood’s crystal ball is accurate.
eal time locating on a map will
be a festival app given. You will
never lose your family, friends or
car again.”
Will this have privacy
implications? Vamos says: “You
can opt-in for push messages of
value, and on a more serious note,
should we need to evacuate, the
emergency services have a far
better idea where you are.”
“Festivals are traditionally
escapist. Apps might be useful
to network before an event, but
once on site people often want to
do their own thing. It can cause
people to be harassed by the
technology. People often just want
to see bands and not be interrupted.”
ENTER M ORAL S, ETHI C S AND THE B L OC K C HAI N
efTech’s founder imon layton says
that GD laws show that if you have a
legitimate business reason for storing
personal data then you don’t actually need a
person’s explicit consent.
This means that if you are holding a
person’s data because they attended ‘A
Festival in 2017’ then it is reasonable to safely
and securely store their data and contact
them to ask if they would like to attend ‘A
Festival in 2018’ because it’s a reasonable
assumption that if they attended last year’s
event then they may well be interested in
attending this year’s event too.
“Be careful not try to stretch it too far –
you probably shouldn’t assume that they
would also like to attend other completely
unrelated events that just happen to be
organised by you, or subscribe to a related
service you offer.
“You can take one small leap in your
assumptions – from last year’s event to this
year’s – but a second leap to an unrelated
product may be a leap too far.”
One secure solution that helps give
organisers peace of mind, and visitors’ data