Coachella Upgrades with Apple’s iBeacon Technology

By Carolyn Heneghan

Coachella has announced that it will bring some of the latest in Apple technology to its festival attendees: iBeacon. The iBeacon is a small device that communicates with iPhones via Bluetooth to deliver proximity-based information, navigation, and notifications.

On the official Coachella app, an update on April 9^th says, “Enable On-site iBeacon notifications by enabling Location and Bluetooth!” The Coachella website more vaguely confirms iBeacon, saying, “Use Bluetooth to interact with beacons placed around the grounds.”

In short, just a couple of days before the festival, Coachella has announced that it will join other events and companies that have implemented the iBeacon technology to improve the event’s infrastructure. Success at this event could mean big things for iBeacon and Apple as it strives to promote the new technology as a viable upgrade to events and eventually day-to-day use as well.

How iBeacon Has Already Been Used

Few details have been released concerning exactly how Coachella will employ the iBeacon technology for its users, but guesses can be made based on its past uses.

This season is the first in which MLB teams and stadiums (20 in all thus far with additional installations this spring) are using the technology to engage with their fans. According to the San Francisco Giants’ Chief Information Officer Bill Schlough, who works with one of the most technologically progressive organizations in baseball, “Mobile and digital experiences are paramount to our fan experience, and they have played a role in the fact that we’ve have 246 straight sellouts.”

At the Giants’ ballpark, 19 iBeacons have been installed at all fan entry and exit points, though that number will vary at other stadiums, such as 65 reportedly installed in Dodger Stadium since there are more ways to get in and out.

In conjunction with the MLB At the Ballpark app and enabled Bluetooth on a mobile device, the iBeacons will allow fans to check-in upon entry, upload and share personal photos from ballpark visits, view team stats and watch highlights from games attended. They will also provide maps (through a recent upgrade that includes a partnership with MapQuest), concession info, video clips and the ability to upgrade their seats (MyTickets Mobile), among many other features.

Teams can use the technology to push customized notifications and relevant offers, though Schlough has not yet released any specific information about these offers for his team. All in all, the technology will allow teams to get more creative when it comes to interacting with fans during the games.

Even before the MLB adopted the technology, Apple stores had already used the technology since December of last year. Depending on which of the beacons in the store that customers are near, they will received notifications from Apple based on that specific beacon. Customers will receive in-store notifications pertaining to information about how to pick up their online orders quickly, what’s happening in the store that day, product reviews, their iPhone upgrade eligibility and how to buy accessories right from their iPhones. Released just before Christmas, this technology was especially helpful for allowing customers to more easily purchase and check out from the store.

Even before that, Macy’s used the technology in its stores. Not long after, Shopkick announced in January 2014 that it would be starting an iBeacon trial at 100 U.S.-based American Eagle stores, and in the same month, InMarket announced that it would also begin using iBeacons in more than 200 Safeway and Giant Eagle grocery stores in markets across the country. Clearly this is a new wave of technology catching on with major retailers, and its innovative uses are evolving with time.

How iBeacon Might Be Used at Coachella

So how might Coachella use the iBeacon technology at its festival over the next two weekends? Maps would be a valuable addition to the Coachella experience, particularly ones that not only share where the stages, concessions, bathrooms and so on are, but possibly even which artists are performing on which stage at any one time on the same map.

Coachella will likely enable check-in abilities so that festival attendees can know when their friends have gotten to the festival and could potentially help them find each other. The technology could also connect attendees via social media updates shared across the iBeacon network. Along with the maps and social media, interactive lineups can help attendees schedule their day and send them notifications when it’s almost time for a particular set to start as well as messages to help friends meet up at those sets as well.

As attendees pass by merch booths, any featured products or special promotions might pop up on their iPhones, enticing them to buy products. They could even complete the purchase from afar and then pick up their merch at the end of the night without carrying it around the festival.

As sets are going on or end, Coachella could upload photos and videos of the performances so attendees could see artists that they didn’t get to catch, or re-watch some of their favorite moments. Attendees could also upload their own photos and videos to share with the rest of the Coachella community.

Coachella is the next of major events/retailers who are using the iBeacon technology to increase engagement and interactivity with visitors, and it will be interesting to see how Coachella employs this technology and takes it to the next level.

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