NeoMedia Technologies, Inc (NEOM)

[ifitlooks]

Skidata,

Birmingham, April 11, 2005
Media first at Villa Park for new mobile ticketing trial

Journalists attending the Aston Villa v West Bromwich Albion match on April 10th were the first to take part in a new sytem trial that could radically re-define the way football clubs communicate with their fans.

Aston Villa, working with specialist access provider APT SkiData and mobile content transaction specialist SmartMachine, successfully completed a pilot whereby the media received their ‘tickets’ in the form of a two-dimensional (2D) barcode sent within an SMS message directly to their mobiles (providing details of where they were sitting, kick-off time etc). As they approached the entry to the Press Centre, they opened the message on their mobile and presented it to a reader that ‘scanned’ the barcode to grant access, and welcomed them into the ground. Villa management was then able to communicate subsequently with each ticket-holder as they entered.

Dave Money (Ticket Office Manager, Aston Villa)


“The trial went as well as we expected,” explains Claire Walton, Press Officer at Aston Villa. “The journalists seemed to be both intrigued and excited by the idea, and several of them had positive comment. We have a clear objective to further improve communications with our fans, and using mobile phone technology is potentially a good way of achieving this.”

As well as the media, the technology was also trialled at the Directors’ entrance, where fixed reading devices were used to scan each barcode. 2D barcodes were used because they can store more data, and are more reliable (ie less prone to reader error). They are also secure in that they cannot be forwarded and used by others.

Mobile 2-D barcode ticket


“The clever integration of having a ‘phone act as a ticket to access a ground will be revolutionary to many but gives Clubs virtually limitless possibilities for the future, especially from a CRM perspective,” adds APT SkiData’s Renier Steyn.

“The Club knows, from the information gathered as the fans come through the turnstiles, which matches their fans come to and when, at what time etc. This means they are able to get a better profile of each individual fan, and can potentially tailor a whole range of services to them.”

The technology from APT SkiData is already widely recognised as best-in-class on the Continent, and has been specified for [all] of the football grounds being used as part of the World Cup 2006 in Germany. Clubs using APT SkiData systems in the UK include West Bromwich Albion, Blackburn Rovers and Leeds United.

APT SkiData was appointed to conduct the trial working with Aston Villa’s specialist marketing consultants - Sports Alliance. Aston Villa was one of the 12 founder members of the Football League in 1888, and can trace its history back to its first game in 1874.

http://www.skidata.com/en/company/news/APT_Villa_M-Ticketing.asp