“The New Path Forward for Fan Engagement by Staying at Home”
tingtech broadcast rewards to incentivize consumer engagement while producing high quality customer data. They directly reward consumers via a secure blockchain wallet on mobile devices. Media Partners receive higher consumer engagement and verifiable data on customer preferences, habits, and purchasing.
Globally, live events have been outright cancelled for 2020, or postponed to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, tingtech has found a solution for remote fan engagement giving displaced consumers a sense of security and community.
Conversation with tingtech’s Co-Founder and CEO, Jim Mohen
AV: Tell me about the evolution of tingtech and the opportunity to use Blockchain in the Media Sector?
JM:
tingtech was formed by bringing together our sound transmission experts working on Amazon Alexa solutions, and our Blockchain developers creating secure crypto payment gateways. By combining sound and blockchain, we were able to develop unique IP to send crypto rewards over the airways and keep them completely secure on a user's phone. Combining the power of broadcasting to mass audiences with a very intimate connection through a phone, we can do things never previously possible in terms of sending valuable rewards, collecting meaningful data, and eliminating interference of external “bad actors”.
One of our advisors, Dan Sanchez, a Lionsgate board member offered the opportunity to pilot the technology with a Lionsgate movie trailer for Midway in November 2019. The initial idea was to use sound signals embedded in a movie to generate rewards on a user's phone. Eventually, this evolved to streaming over TVs, mobile devices, and live events.
AV: How does tingtech’s reward mechanism work with specific use cases in: Movie Trailers, Video Gaming / E-sports, and attending Live Sporting Events? And how does Cross Rewards work on the Blockchain Platform?
JM:
Our first use case was the pilot at Lionsgate headquarters in Santa Monica. Atom Ticketing participated by white labelling our phone app to collect Lionsgate reward coins on their app during the Lionsgate Midway trailer. As part of the pilot, Media Bloq broadcast a “Lionsgate” crypto coin to attendees phones in the theatre. Coins could them be redeemed for popcorn, movie tickets, tee-shirts, etc.
The basic formula is to send rewards in the form of ultra-sonic sound signals embedded in media files straight to a consumer's phone app. For example, a fan watching a soccer match on TV @home can collect a crypto coin every team their team scores a goal. The coin automatically lands in the phone app if the fan is watching the event. The phone app allows fans to generate a QR code to redeem rewards through partner web links or at any store that accepts the coin.
In the gaming world, players are rewarded through sound transmissions to a blockchain wallet for reaching new plateaus within the game and continuing to reach higher levels. Coins can be redeemed in many ways including purchases of digital collectibles unique to the platform, or experiential rewards including access to champion players.
tingtech also offers a Rewards Exchange to use reward coins on other member platforms. For example, a gaming reward coin can be redeemed for a 1-month subscription to a TV streaming service.
AV: How does tingtech’s Media partners monetize the data collected from consumers preferences, habits, and purchasing from redeeming rewards from their mobile devices?
JM: One of our key strengths is helping clients monetize their audience in ways never previously possible. Typically our clients have large audiences but underutilize their large social media followings, and allow intermediaries like Facebook, Google, and Twitter to earn advertising revenue that should go directly to our partners and their audiences.
We monetize several areas for our partners:
- Higher fees from advertisers thru better data attribution. Rewarding fans generates amazing detailed information on the target audience not previously available to advertisers.
- Transaction fees on rewards processed similar to the way Visa and it’s banking affiliates collect fees on transaction processing.
- By engaging fans directly, our partners develop a deep understanding of their customer habits and preferences for better targeted marketing, data sharing with affiliate programs, and promotions.
As an example, think of a sports franchise giving away tee shirts at a game. Today, a tee shirt gun shoots at a fan, sometimes point blank (sorry Mr. Met) and very few people catch it. There’s not much upside and fans at home don’t participate. tingtech instead transmits a token thru sound directly to your phone that acts as a virtual lottery. Everyone in attendance at the stadium or watching at home has a chance to win. We also offer an easy redemption thru a QR code on their phone. All Fans in all locations get a chance to catch the tee-shirt, and the team gets serious insight on fans in attendance and at home.
AV: You have seen an acceleration of interest for remote fan engagement from your Media Partners from the Covid-19 pandemic over the past six weeks- how will this help both Media Partners and consumers?
JM:
Remote fan engagement is more important than ever and will likely stay that way for the foreseeable future. All our partners are seeing their home audience numbers move steadily higher while struggling to replace lost gate revenue.
Live events will continue as UFC and NASCAR have shown with no fans in attendance. The main challenge is to engage fans remotely while figuring out how to replace the revenue lost at the gate. tingtech is helping our partners rebalance how they monetize their existing platform through broadcast rewards, better advertiser feedback, survey insights on customer preferences, etc. We receive real time direct feedback while fans earn rewards for their time and attention.
AV: Besides the Media Space, where do you see new verticals using remote fan engagement can be beneficial?
JM: Ultimately we’re targeting any business or organization that has a need to engage customers, members or fans. We started the business expecting to focus on media, sports and entertainment due to their large audiences, but realized there are many groups that have large communities of supporters including religious groups, political organizations, educational institutions, local and national governments, just to name a few.
As we continue to grow, tingtech will look to expand or replace existing forms of consumer engagement in casinos, airlines, food, hotels, auto, government and any and every vertical with a need for repeat customers.