The live-event ticket market is a dreary, one-way street. Vendor sells ticket; fan gets ticket; fan attends event. End of story. But when attention spans are down, ticket prices are up, and consumer demand is driven by immersive experience, the old Black-and-White-Barcode.pdf isn’t going to cut it.

Ticket Stub / PDF to Interactive Collectible

BLOCKv technology is transforming the live-event ticketing market. The vAtom viewer app gives event attendees access to a digital passport containing event-related objects. Each object represents a different interactive experience or opportunity. Think treasure hunts; access to exclusive tracks; live-chats with artists before and after shows; chats with other attendees; discounts on future shows and post-event content memorabilia. What used to be a simple PDF ticket is now transformed into an interactive, multidimensional keepsake.

In February, as you may have read, we partnered with Grammy-nominated DJ Sasha to bring vAtoms to his fanbase. Together, we launched an augmented reality contest during Sasha’s Retracted:Live show in London. Contest winners had the chance to meet Sasha in person and attend his rehearsal. On the heels of this partnership, Sasha enlisted our help to elevate the event experience at the Winter Music Conference (WMC) in Miami, FL for his “Last Night on Earth” Sunset Cruise.

Here’s what happened:

Sasha tweeted to his fanbase that he dropped 20 free tickets around Miami. Fans could claim them by downloading the vAtom viewer app and picking up the vAtoms through Augmented Reality. Fans who had already purchased their tickets received an email with a link to their ticket vAtom “passports”.

Instead of a boring old PDF, the passport gave them access to digital objects.

Each object represented a unique experience. The branding and logos were customized to the Sasha experience. Tapping the yellow sun gave users access to an exclusive Sasha track. Tapping the question mark led to Sasha’s question: “what would you do with your last night on earth?” This was especially exciting for attendees, representing a chance to win a trip to Ibiza. The creativity of the responses was extraordinary. Sasha and the team will be announcing the best response and the winner of the trip to Ibiza in mid-April.

Passports also included a “tribe talk vAtom” which gave fans the chance to chat with Sasha personally and with the rest of the attendants, creating a true sense of community.

After the show, Sasha uploaded a video of the event and sent memories in another vAtom as a keepsake for everyone who attended.

The result was an ongoing connection from artist to fan, brand to consumer. The ticket, in effect, became a digital collectable for fans to experience.

Participants in the Augmented Treasure Hunt came from all over the world. The winners (two women pictured in the group below) kept track of the vAtoms as soon as they heard of the contest. At an opportune time, they skipped class, found the tickets and ended up partying with Sasha on the boat for free.

Overall, WMC was a stunning experience. Sasha spun well into the night as the crowd danced and the sun set on Miami. While fans could have walked away with the memory of a great show, the vAtoms left them something far greater.

With vAtoms built on the BLOCKv platform, artists and fans can now have a dialogue with each other, before, during and after the event. Herein lies a two-way street, a relationship, and exclusive content to keep forever.