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Hospitality · Proposal

DHL Stadium: every seat and screen as one media channel.

A proposed media channel for DHL Stadium: brands reach spectators through stadium screens and a free Wi-Fi portal, with seat food ordering and competitions.

  • Stadium Wi-Fi captive portal
  • QR codes
  • Stadium screens
  • Mobile web app
  • Order to seat
  • Photobooth
  • Fan park
Ways to connect
2
Mobile data for fans
Free
Details at sign-up
5
Portal features
10
A venue TV during live rugby, squeezed back beside the DHL Stadium logo on yellow, with a bar reading Scan to take part and a QR code.

QR code that opens this DHL Stadium case study on hellobrand.co.za.

DHL Stadium login screen with a cellphone number field, consent tick boxes and a Log in button.

A proposal by Hello Brand for DHL Stadium. Nothing here has run yet; the brands on the screens are examples of sponsors.

The brief

DHL Stadium hosts sports and music events. The proposal turns the stadium into a digital marketing channel: brands reach their audience through the stadium's screens and the spectators' own phones, with advertising, competitions, instant rewards and other interactions.

The audience: spectators at sports and music events at DHL Stadium and its surrounding fan park, and the brands and sponsors who want to reach them at the point of consumption.

Insight

There is no better place for brands to connect with consumers than at the point of consumption.

Where
DHL Stadium and its fan park
When
Rugby, sevens and music events
How fans join
The QR code on the seat, or the free stadium Wi-Fi
What fans get
Line-ups, food to the seat, prizes, bookings
What brands get
Screens, portal space and their own mechanics
What DHL gets
First-party data, shared with sponsors

The idea

A hand holds a phone showing a DHL QR code over red stadium seats, beside a DHL seat card: Why wait in the queues, scan the QR code for food and drinks orders delivered to your seat.

Why wait in the queues? Scan the code.

A data-free “walled garden” for the stadium. Spectators scan the DHL QR code on the back of their seat or join the free DHL Stadium Wi-Fi, register once, and land on the DHL Stadium captive portal. From there they see team line-ups, order food and drinks to their seat, enter competitions, predict scores and book future events, while brands promote themselves on the screens and in the portal. A dashboard gives DHL and its sponsors first-party data.

  • Attract, excite and acquire new customers
  • Drive retention, and re-engage fans after the match
  • Lift sales at the point of consumption
  • Generate customer data, insights and analytics
  • Build brand equity, visibility and stickiness
  • Let sponsorship fund the prizes, and earn extra revenue

On the stadium screens, and in every seat

A squeeze back puts sponsors on the screens during the game; the code on the screen and on every seat opens the portal on the spectator's own phone.

A screen during live rugby, squeezed back beside the DHL Stadium logo on yellow, with a bar reading Scan to take part and a QR code.
How a screen could look during the rugby: the game squeezed back beside DHL Stadium, with a code to scan.
DHL Stadium portal home screen: a DHL banner, a sponsor banner and tiles for teams, food menu, win, promotions, fixtures, news and profile.
The captive portal on a fan's phone.

Two ways in

  • The seatA DHL card on the back of every seat: scan the QR code for food and drinks delivered to your seat.
  • DHL Stadium login screen with a cellphone number field and consent tick boxes.
    The free Wi-FiJoin the stadium network and land on the captive portal.
  • Inside DHL Stadium: rugby players on the striped pitch below the stands and the curved roof.
    The stadium screensBrands appear around the action, and the screens point fans to the portal.

A spectator's journey, start to finish

From the seat to a prize, without leaving the seat: eight steps, all in the phone's browser and free of data costs.

Eight steps

  1. Scan the seat QR code and registerSpectators scan the QR code on the back of the seat or join the free Wi-Fi, then register with their name, number, email, age and sex. DHL Stadium login screen with a cellphone number field, consent tick boxes and a Log in button.
  2. Open the DHL Stadium portalOne home screen with tiles for teams, the food menu, competitions, promotions, fixtures, news and the member's profile. DHL Stadium portal home screen: a DHL banner, a sponsor banner and tiles for teams, food menu, win, promotions, fixtures, news and profile.
  3. Order food and drinks to the seatSpectators choose from several outlets and brands, order from more than one at a time, and the order is delivered to the seat. Food and drinks screen with outlet and brand tiles, including a food garden and a drinks garden.
  4. Predict the score and winBrands run their own mechanics inside the portal, such as predicting a score for a chance to win. Predict-the-score screen with a countdown and plus and minus buttons to set the score for each match.
  5. Answer a brand questionAnswering a brand insight question gives a chance to win or redeem a deal. Brand question screen: Answer below to redeem deal, What are your interests, with options for sport, music, travel and fashion.
  6. Play a sponsor's gameSponsors run offers in the portal, such as tapping to kick the ball through the posts for a prize, redeemed at the point of purchase. A sample sponsor's Play and Win screen: tap to kick the ball through the goal posts, with a Play now button above a beer advert.
  7. Take a branded photobooth pictureThe photobooth takes a picture with a branded frame and slogan, ready to post. Photobooth screen: two fans in a branded Share a Coke frame, with Take a picture, Retake picture and Post buttons.
  8. Redeem the prizeWinners redeem their prize, and location-based offers are redeemed at the point of purchase. Congratulations screen: a smiling woman holding a can, with a Redeem prize button.
DHL Stadium login screen with a cellphone number field, consent tick boxes and a Log in button.
Step 1 of 8

Win, predict and promote

Each sponsor runs its own mechanic inside the portal, so the brand is in the fan's hand at the moment of the match, and every entry adds to the data.

  • Predict-the-score screen with a countdown and score buttons for each match.
    1. Predict a scoreAnd win.
  • Brand question screen asking about the fan's interests.
    2. Answer a questionTo redeem a deal.
  • Photobooth screen with two fans in a branded frame.
    3. Strike a poseIn a branded frame.
  • Congratulations screen with a Redeem prize button.
    4. RedeemOn the spot.

Promotional offers

Brands promote specials and discounts, with location-based redemption at the point of purchase for instant gratification. The mechanics can be games, a selfie with the brand, or a reveal-your-prize code.

The photobooth

Step 1: take a picture of yourself with the brand. Step 2: post it with the frame and slogan, for example for a chance to win a year's supply of a soft drink. Branded frames and hashtag slogans run live at events, and security pre-approves every picture before it is shared to social media.

Every mechanic, in detail

Five building blocks, from the first scan to the next booking.

Getting connected2 ways

Spectators open a data-free stadium platform, a “walled garden”, either by scanning the DHL QR code on the back of their seat or by joining the free DHL Stadium Wi-Fi. They are sent to the stadium's captive portal, where they register once with their name, number, email, age and sex.

DHL Stadium login screen with consent tick boxes.
The DHL Stadium captive portal10 features

One home screen. The DHL banner works as the home button, and the day's main event sponsor sits below it. Team tiles can link to the Stormers' own website for line-ups, player profiles and videos; the same tile shows the artist line-up at a concert, or the teams at a sevens tournament.

  • Team line-ups, upcoming fixtures and events
  • Food and drinks menu, and online payment
  • Win and competitions, and predict a score
  • Promotions and mobile engagement for brands
  • Bookings, the photobooth and a news video playlist
DHL Stadium portal home screen with its tiles.
Order to your seat

To order at a sports or music event, spectators scan the QR code on the back of their seat, open the DHL Stadium garden and tap Food & Drinks Menu. They choose from several quick-service restaurants and brands and can place orders from more than one at a time. Orders are delivered to the seat, and every delivery doubles as advertising for DHL, and an opportunity for students to earn extra money delivering.

Food and drinks screen with outlet and brand tiles.
Predict, answer and win

Predict-a-score and win opportunities run per round, with a countdown to kick-off. Other brand mechanics include answering a brand insight question for a chance to win, and promotional offers redeemed at the point of purchase. Every answer is first-party insight for the brand.

Booking future events

The portal books tickets for future sports and music events at the stadium, such as rugby sevens and concerts: a sought-after category for brands to connect with their consumers directly at the point of consumption.

Beyond the seat: the fan park

A great opportunity for brands to connect with fans at the surrounding fan park.

Outside the stadium, the fan park gives brands another place to meet fans, with branded screens, lounges and promotions linked to the same portal, so a fan who enters a competition in the park is the same verified member who orders to their seat inside.

A branded fan park beside the stadium, with red lounge seating, a big screen and branded gazebos.
A fan park visualisation with a sample sponsor

What we proposed, and how it would be measured

This is a proposal, so there are no results yet. First-party data would be available to DHL and its sponsors on a live dashboard.

  • Demographics

    • Age, gender, day of the week and time of day

  • Insights

    • Consumer questions and answers for rewards

  • Sales

    • Sales through the campaign period
Sample dashboard screens: campaign sales before, during and after, and demographics by age, gender, day of the week and time of day.
Sample dashboard screens, not results

Sales before, during and after a campaign, and who the fans are by age, gender, day and time, so each sponsor can see what its time on the screens and in the portal did.

DHL Stadium dashboard

What it will report

8 weeks · sample

Example dashboard Sample data, not campaign results. This was a proposal, so there are no results. Everything tagged Sample is made up to show how the dashboard works, and is replaced by real figures once they are reported.

  • Sample

    18,640

    Demographics by age, gender, day and time

  • Sample

    31,275

    Consumer insight answers

  • Sample

    R1,441,312

    Sales through the campaign period

Demographics

  • Sample

    18,640

    Demographics by age, gender, day and time

    Spectators who registered on the portal with name, number, email, age and sex

  • Sample

    62%

    Registered by seat QR code

    Joined from the code on the back of the seat; the rest from the free Wi-Fi

Registrations, by age
Registrations, by gender
  • Men 54%
  • Women 46%
Registrations, by time of day

Insights

  • Sample

    31,275

    Consumer insight answers

    Consumer questions answered for a chance to win or redeem a deal

  • Sample

    64%

    Spectators who answered

    Registered spectators who answered at least one brand question

Consumer insight answers a week
Answers, by question type
Answer rate

of registered spectators answered a brand question

Sales

  • Sample

    R1,441,312

    Sales through the campaign period

    Food and drinks ordered to the seat through the portal

  • Sample

    9,872

    Seat orders

    Orders delivered to the seat, from one or more outlets at a time

  • Sample

    R146

    Average order

    Order value, excl. VAT

Seat-order sales, week by week (running total)
A sponsor's product sales a week: before, during and after

Rand values excl. VAT. Figures tagged Sample are for illustration only: not results from this or any campaign.

No better place than DHL Stadium.

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