Re-Imagining Pete Tong — A portfolio of our process.
By Johann Dreyer and Shane Ryan
OVERVIEW
A landmark concert took place in 2015 at The Royal Albert Hall during The Proms orchestral season. The Proms was dubbed by “by Czech conductor Jiri Belohlavek as the world’s largest and most democratic music festival” (Alberge, 2013). That was until Pete Tong & The Heritage Orchestra (PTHO) put on a show containing the combination of dance and classical music (Figure 1).
“The idea of orchestras playing dance music isn’t entirely new. The two have long been intertwined: back through classically-trained producers like Arthur Russell or ensembles like The Salsoul Orchestra who reigned during ’70s disco, to avant-garde composers like John Cage and Steve Reich in the ’60s, who experimented with getting orchestras to play minimalist repetitive rhythms that — whilst not explicitly designed to dance to — later influenced techno” (Clark, 2015).
Pete Tong has long been a stalwart of the Electronic Music scene. For over two decades he has had a massive influence over dance music, especially in the UK where he is the voice of many of Radio 1’s dance programs (Tong, 2017). Tongs unforgiving dedication and loyalty to dance music has earned the reputation as the “global ambassador of dance music” (Tong, 2017).
Our project brief was to reimagine an event using what ever tools and methods we could imagine. All members pitched their event ideas to the group and then we chose what event we wanted to work on. Johann Dreyer and Shane Ryan chose to work on Phil Eades (2017) concept “Pete Tong presents House Classics” (Figure 2).
Not long after the project stated, Eades had to opt out due to unforeseen circumstances. However, Eades did not fully stop contributing to the project, because he works for the the promoter, MJR Presents, who was promoting the Australian leg of the PTHO tour, he moved into a consulting role and assisted us in obtaining a lot of the promotional material that was used for the real event (Figure 3).
The PTHO concert provided us with an already amazing event concept where classic dance tracks were remade to be performed by a classical orchestra. The play on words and juxtapose concepts to perform electronic music with classical instrumentations was quite genius. The event engages with a diverse audience in terms of classical music lovers being exposed to classic dance music as well as electronic music fans being exposed to classical instrumentation.
The event was scheduled for a world tour with 2 stops in Australia. Below is one of the promotional posters from MJR Presents (Figure 3).
The initial scope of the project was to expand / turbo charge the pre, during and post parts of the event experience and through this, we aimed to engage potential attendees and increase ticket sales.
THE PROCESS
Use of Tools (group)
One of the challenges for this project was working in remote teams which has become commonplace in today’s world. When working like this, it is essential to improve and develop these communication skills. There are many communication, collaboration and cloud service tools currently on the market, we chose to use the ones that we were already familiar with, below is the list of tools we chose to use:
- Facebook Messenger — daily chats and check ins
We chose to use Messenger because it is familiar, user friendly and was already installed on our mobile devices. We created a private group where we were able to communicate with each other in a casual and productive way. Messenger was also good for posting links, images, video and ideas with ease.
- Google Drive — documentation and cloud storage
When working on a collaborative project where people are working remotely, you need to have excellent cloud storage solutions. As Google has a user friendly interface that we were all familiar with,it was our first choice.
- Mural — group brainstorming sessions
For brainstorming ideas in virtual environment, Mural offered the suitable interface to be able to interact in real time as a group. We occasionally combined Mural with the video conference call application Zoom.
- Zoom — Video conference calls
For group conference calls, Zoom offered the appropriate features such as the “share screen” option which was invaluable when brainstorming ideas.
- Mindomo — Mind mapping ideas and research
For collaborating on a mind map, we have employed Mindomo for its collaborative capabilities and ability to save and embed links. Research and ideas were easily displayed in a visual presentation (Figure 4).
Stage 1: Research
In the first few weeks we researched a variety methods we could use to reimagine this event. Some of the ideas that got thrown around and researched were:
1.To have the orchestral instruments made from recycled materials (Figure 5)
2. To include pop-up pre event performances like Too Many Zooz did at Union
Square (Figure 6)
3. To prototype an interactive smartphone application (Figure 7)
Out of the aforementioned ideas, we decided to pursue the interactive smartphone application and incorporate a bit of augmented reality (AR) and a game into it.
The AR rabbit hole
AR is being used extensively now as a promotional tool and looks like it will only get more popular. Companies like Meta are coming up with groundbreaking AR headsets that enable the user to physically interact with holographic images (Figure 8).
Researching AR introduced us to a number of futuristic products and concepts, but at the end of the day, we decided to keep things simple and utilize the current technology that people are already using. We wanted to make a train / bus poster and add a code to it so that when you scan the code and view it through your smartphone, it would start playing the most recent PTHO live concert (Figure 7).
Gaming Interaction:
Smartphone Applications and games go hand-in-hand within in today’s world. They enable the user to be apart of the event or world which enhances the experience. “It is the combination of task and play that provides an extra incentive to achieve real world outcomes” (Lane, N., Prestopnik, R.N., (2017).
As part of our pre event engagement we considered a few options but eventually identified two, one aimed at a single user leading up to the event and the second as a group interaction on their way to the event:
The first idea was a personalised game that would reward the patron with tokens so they could receive rewards on the night of the concert. This could vary from signed merchandise to meet and greets.
For the second we considered a collaboration with Uber; where we could offer patrons a discount code, encourage safe driving and then activate the experience with a in-car game whilst travelling to the concert.
Stage 2: Project Planning and Engagement
This part of the project was all about communicating our initial goals pre, during and post event. The following is a brief summary of what our project goals were at that time:
Pre Event:
- Geofilters in Snapchat for the event day within the venue (Figure 9).
2. Augmented Reality filters for Posters that include a little pop up audio visual Show (Figure 7)
3. Interactive Game: Match the musician to the instrument to win merchandise.
During Event:
We considered creating an AR application that fans could use to see “a performance stage with a virtual environment, populated with interactive elements. Spectators contribute to the visual and sonic outcome of the performance by manipulating virtual objects via their mobile phones.” (Turchet, Fischione & Barthet, 2017).
Post Event:
For the fans that are unable to attend the concert we planned to implement a VR post experience. Ambisonic recording and 360 degree cameras were to create an immersive experience of the event, similar to The Disney On Broadway[s] (2015) ‘Circle of Life’ in 360º | THE LION KING (Figure 11).
“Unlike most virtual reality captures of landscapes, sporting events or concerts, The Lion King’s 360° allows viewers to experience “Circle of Life” from the actors’ point of view and see activity otherwise invisible to an audience” (Disney On Broadway, 2015). On a desktop computer, the viewer can “click and drag” and on a mobile device the viewer can move their device to navigate to view they want (Disney On Broadway, 2015).
Stage 3: Testing — Round 1
We created a classic research questionnaire in the hope to, not only gather some information about respondents general behaviours towards events, but more specifically we wanted information on pre event behaviours, AR interaction and understanding, musical consumption/preference and commuting habits to events.
The questionnaire was shared through email links and on Facebook and we received 37 respondents.
Augmented Reality:
One of the primary aims of the research questionnaire was to determine consumers interaction with AR, their access to, and understanding of the technology.
This delivered quite interesting results with only 11.1% of respondents interacting with Filters and 30.6% never interacting. Now this could be due to the fact that most of our respondents are Gen X and they do not relate to these features as much as Millennials do, but the Gen X crowd are also the ones we are targeting with a performance of classic Rave music.
Consumer behaviour:
We were also attempting to establish how we could interact with people enroute to the event or venues. And whether their mobile devices are a viable channel for interaction via playlists or games.
Commuting to events:
71.4% of people responding that they listen to the artists/bands music in the days leading up to the event, this is obviously a great opportunity to engage with audiences pre event. With 37.8% saying they actually listen on their way to concert and 40.5% saying maybe, we could explore the en route to event experience and I believe if you offer rewards based interaction you could engage the 40.5% “Maybe’s”.
The AR experience in trains and busses can definitely be explored as this is a captive audience who are normally already engaged with their mobile devices whilst travelling.
Consuming Music:
40.5% of respondents listening on Computers could be interpreted as a challenge but with 32.4% consuming music via their phone we still have a good foundation to be able to test an interactive experience enroute to the venue on the day of the performance. We could still engage the others via web based activities in the days leading up to the event.
Other Interesting findings:
The amount of people who wouldn’t normally listen to classical music, the amount of people who would be interested in going to an event like this, but at the same time not willing to pay for it.
From a “real” market research point of view this event will struggle with the current pricing system. They may have to reconsider ticket prices to reach a broader audience.
Things we could improve on:
Having more defined parameters (not open ended) for certain questions: eg How often do you listen to music. Although our current answers give us a great overall view we cannot draw quantitative results. The more problematic questions were:
- How much would you be willing to pay?
- What transport do you normally use to get to concerts?
- How often would you notice a advertising poster for an event that you already have tickets for?
We then used this information and focused on 2 main elements of our enhanced experience, AR experience pre show, and an interactive mobile game.
Stage 4: Pre Mortem Reflection
“A premortem is the hypothetical opposite of a postmortem” (Klein, 2007). The idea here was to put ourselves at the end of the project and reflect on what went right and wrong, why that happened and what we could have done to improve the project. It assisted us getting our ideas together for what would take place before, during and after the event.
During this stage we aimed to expand the experience of people coming to this event by utilising a pre event experience, through this and people sharing their experience we were hoping to engage potential attendees and increase ticket sales.
One of the challenges was to create awareness of these AR posters, as it is still fairly “new” consumer technology, few people knew or understood how it works. In our initial research 18.9% of respondents did not know what AR was, with 11.1% interacting with Filters and AR technology.
RECOMMENDATIONS FROM PRE-MORTEM:
Overall we were still quite happy with what we achieved but as always there are improvements that can be made.
AR: Create the extended teaser tracks for continuous interaction. We could also extend this by introducing the AR goggles for a experience during the event. This could be one of the prizes for interacting with the games or other promo activities.
We could also extend the event by creating a post event experience with VR and 360 sound that could encourage people to relive the experience and perhaps create a need for a second tour of shows down the line. Facebook 360 videos with immersive audio could be also be used to promote the next round of events in different cities or for when the tour returns.
GAMES: As noted we should attempt to implement another game and see if we get better results. The GUI will need to be more inviting and we should consider making it web based platform so a downloaded app is not required. Again keeping it simple is the key. These users are not gaming nuts, in fact most of them haven’t played games for a long time.
AR is the way of the future and we aim to create a platform that we can then extend to all different types of events so that we can create a amazing pre, during and post event experience. The sky’s the limit and we have our eyes firmly set on it!
Conclusion:
After reimaging the Pete Tong & The Heritage Orchestra live event, we have found that there are many technological options that can used and experimented with to enhance the event experience as a whole. Some of the technologies we have come across are currently in use by real events and others are still being developed and are on the experimental side. A key aspect of employing technology to enhance an event is to choose non-intrusive applications and devices. To improve a future event, we could combine what we implemented in this event with our new ideas for future processes and methods, this could improve interest in the event, ticket sales and take the event experience to a new level. The most accurate way to gauge how well our ideas will be received by the fans is with market testing and analysis.
Stage 5: Testing — Round 2
We refined our Research Questionnaire to focus more on consumers interaction and understanding of AR and Apps.
We still found that a lot of people did not know what Augmented Reality was, and interestingly how another 37% had not experienced the Technology.
Similar stats were received for Virtual Reality.
Because our whole project pivoted around the AR aspect we focussed on more specific questions related to this:
As a QR code will be the simplest way to engage the experience , it was quite disappointing to realise how few people were likely to engage with the QR.
Stage 6: Personal Interviews
We set out to conduct some personal interview to delve deeper into consumer behaviour and interaction with AR and particularly their interaction with our materials and games.
Link to the Personal Interview Questionnaire
We had 8 respondents:
Average age of respondents was 27. With 6 out of 8 being active in the Creative Industries.
Most respondents had a very positive response to the illustration of what the AR experience would look like. Their reaction to the QR code was not as positive. 3 out of the 8 (37%) respondents did not know how to interact with the poster.
Most respondents were also very positive about the game, but most mentioned that they would grow bored of it really quickly.
Overall with the Personal Interviews it became obvious that AR and the technology to enable this is still very foreign to the average consumer and they are not likely to naturally interact with it.
This corresponds with the data we gathered from the online Questionnaires.
Stage 7: What We Delivered
The following are mock ups of the Promotional Interactive Posters for public transport and the way in which the AR experience may happen. We also made 2 games.
Conclusion:
This Project started as a very ambitious technology utilisation experiment and research project. Currently the technological landscape is at a very exciting cross road with a lot of very interactive technology becoming quite accessible and affordable. We were able to identify early on which parts of the concert experience we were going to focus on.
The resulting question after our exploratory journey through this module was fairly simple:
Can AR successfully be used as a Marketing tool to engage consumers with a musical event?
Our research has shown that although a lot of people are excited about AR very few really understand it or have interacted with it. Other enabling technology such as QR codes are also seen as quite foreign to users.
The biggest challenge to successfully utilise this technology will be to educate consumers and create a state of normalisation of this type of interactivity.
Very few people are interested in interacting with Posters, yet when shown what the possibilities are they are very excited to see the results. This is a classic result of emerging technology and will need to be a focus point in deploying these strategies.
Overall we are very satisfied with our research results, and it indicates a clear strategy if one was to attempt to engage in this type of promotion.
References
Alberge, D. (2013). Proms fans call for a crackdown on touts as £12 seats fetch £500. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/may/19/proms-touts-seats
Audience journey Map: “Pete Tong presents House Classics” by “Phil Eades” [Image] (2017). Retrieved from https://app.mural.ly/t/saemci3729/m/saemci3729/1506810237690/bf23dd30d8286ebe5b127465efeb17129a18ec98
Augmented Stage for Participatory Performances [Image] (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.iit.it/people/dario-mazzanti
Clark, P. (2015). Dance Music Goes Classical. Retrieved from https://djmag.com/features/orchestral-manoeuvres-dark
Disney On Broadway. 2015, November 18. ‘Circle of Life’ in 360º | THE LION KING on Broadway [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T57kzGQGto
Eades, P. (2017). Audience journey Map: “Pete Tong presents House Classics” by “Phil Eades”. Retrieved from https://app.mural.ly/t/saemci3729/m/saemci3729/1506810237690/bf23dd30d8286ebe5b127465efeb17129a18ec98
Geofilters [Image] (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.snapchat.com/geofilters
Klein, G. (2007). Performing a Project Premortem. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2007/09/performing-a-project-premortem
Lane, N., Prestopnik, R.N. (2017). Diegetic Connectivity: Blending Work and Play with Storytelling in Serious Games. Retrieved from http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/3120000/3116630/p229-lane.pdf?ip=125.168.36.177&id=3116630&acc=OPEN&key=4D4702B0C3E38B35%2E4D4702B0C3E38B35%2E4D4702B0C3E38B35%2E6D218144511F3437&CFID=996202798&CFTOKEN=39493086&__acm__=1508308018_de273953f2d6b5ad8fe00aee75b1c482
Pete Tong. (2017). About | Pete Tong. Retrieved from
http://www.petetong.com/about/
Pete Tong & The Heritage Orchestra at The Proms [Image] (2015). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g4zYVG-rjM
PROJECTIONS, Episode 9: Meta 2 Augmented Reality Glasses! [Image] (2017). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cmPFsBOquk
The Lion King [Image] (2015). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T57kzGQGto
Too Many Zooz [in Union Square] [Image] (2014). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMe6Y8GDVEI
The world sends us garbage, we send back music: Favio Chavez at TEDxAmsterdam [Image] (2013). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsfOvJEdurk