Innovating the Event Experience: Zicket's Triumph at AIA Carnival 2023/24

Innovating the Event Experience: Zicket's Triumph at AIA Carnival 2023/24

Jonny Chatfield

Introduction

The 2023/24 season of the AIA Carnival and UBS Presents: The World Circus marked a significant milestone for Zicket as we leveraged our expertise in ticketing, RFID technology, and digital marketing to ensure the event's resounding success. This case study highlights our challenges, the innovative solutions we implemented, and the impressive results achieved, reinforcing our position as a leading event solutions provider in Asia.

Challenges:

  • Post-COVID Event Landscape: Navigating a competitive and evolving event landscape in Hong Kong, with changing public preferences and increased competition from other events.
  • Transition from Box Office to Online: Shifting reliance from traditional box office sales to online platforms, requiring a robust and user-friendly ticketing system.
  • Enhanced Corporate Flexibility: Meeting the unique needs of corporate orders and sponsorship activations, necessitating a flexible and customisable ticketing solution.
  • Comprehensive System Integration: Ensuring seamless integration of various systems, including ticketing, RFID, and payment processing, for a smooth operational flow.
  • Real-time Support and Data Accessibility: Providing continuous support and real-time data access to the event's sales teams and organisers, enabling informed decision-making and efficient management.
The Thrills Of The AIA Carnival Returned With A Bang After It's Hiatus

Solutions
Ticketing:

  1. Increased Online Sales: Implemented a tailored online ticketing solution that significantly increased online ticket sales, with a YoY increase of +141%.
  2. Reduced Reliance on Box Office Sales: Optimised the online ticketing platform to reduce box office sales by 51%, streamlining the ticket purchasing process and cutting operational costs.
  3. Enhanced Flexibility for Corporate Orders: Provided a flexible system for corporate orders, allowing businesses to place and customise packages according to their specific needs efficiently.
  4. Continuous Sales Team Support: We ensured continuous support for sales teams, enabling real-time order placements and partner management, leading to a YoY increase in sales of +58%.
  5. Reduced Hard Stock Ticket Usage: We halved the use of hard stock tickets, saving hundreds of manhours and over $100K in consumable costs, a -54% YoY decrease.
  6. Expanded Distribution Channels: We facilitated the inclusion of a wide range of OTAs and resellers, expanding ticket sales reach and driving a +409% YoY revenue increase.

RFID Technology:

  1. System Utilisation: We seamlessly integrated all activities into a centralised platform, handling onsite activations such as drink redemption and lounge access via the RFID system, as well as the core activities of token distribution and F&B sales.
  2. Real-time Data Accessibility: Ensured that all staff members had immediate access to critical reports and live data, facilitating informed decision-making and efficient event management.

Marketing: 

  1. Paid Ads: Utilised Eventbrite Boost for targeted social ads, generating impressive results with a 52.84x ROAS for the Carnival and a 135.41x ROAS for UBS Presents: The World Circus. 
  2. Email Marketing: We conducted strategic email campaigns via Mailchimp and Eventbrite, achieving high open rates (up to 43.8%) and click rates (up to 3.4%), which directly contributed to ticket sales.

Social Media and Zicket Platform: Leveraged Zicket’s event hub and social media channels to promote the events, significantly increasing page views and user engagement.

Successes

  • Significant Increase in Online Ticket Sales: A 141% YoY increase.
  • Efficient Ticketing Operations: Reduced box office sales by 51% and hard stock ticket usage by 54%.
  • Enhanced Corporate Flexibility: Improved system flexibility for corporate orders.
  • Impressive ROAS from Marketing Campaigns: 52.84x for the Carnival and 135.41x for UBS Presents: The World Circus.
  • Expanded Reach and Revenue: A 409% YoY increase in revenue from expanded distribution channels.

Impact

The success of the 2023/24 AIA Carnival underscores the strength of Zicket’s comprehensive event solutions. Our adaptive strategies, innovative technology, and practical marketing efforts solidified Carnival’s position as a premier event in Hong Kong, attracting a diverse audience and ensuring a memorable experience for all attendees.

Looking Forward

We are excited about the future possibilities as we celebrate this season's success. The AIA Carnival's achievements have reaffirmed our solutions' effectiveness and our partnership's value. We look forward to continuing to innovate and redefine the event experience.

Conclusion

Reflecting on the 2023/24 season, it's clear that Zicket’s innovative solutions significantly contributed to the AIA Carnival’s success. From enhancing ticketing operations to leveraging RFID technology and executing effective marketing campaigns, we have demonstrated our capability to deliver exceptional results.