Disney is Looking to Utilize Wireless Wristbands for Theme Parks Visitors

Nothing has been announced as of yet, but something tentatively known as the “Magic Band” was kind of called out right on the website of the Federal Communications Commission.

Without an official announcement it’s all speculation, but it looks like this “Magic Band” is some kind of wireless bracelet that would digitally hold your admission and ticket information. Basically you’d exchange your credit card digits for a Magic Band that would let you access the park, and maybe even charge a mickey ice cream bar right to your linked card. Again, we’re just guessing here.

The bracelets, wristbands, or whatever you want to call them look like they can be customized with your name, and of course they’ll be sporting some snazzy mickey ears. We’re kind of hopeful that they’ll be able to beam down ride reservations—like a new version of their Fastpass system—and other little theme park tidbits right to our wrists.

As of now it looks like Mickey and his friends are keeping their lips zipped when it comes to this new ticket system, but we’ll let you know when (and if) the Magic Band is released into the wild.

Source: FTC
[Photo: Disney/FCC]

Creative Ways to Get Sponsorship

There is a lot of advertising racket out in the world for people to take in these days. It can get overwhelming. There are times people might feel bombarded with messaging—the ride to and from work, the grocery store, the gym, the internet. It can jump out anytime and anywhere.

All this noise makes it difficult to stand out and get noticed. It can be challenging to spread the word, and even more challenging to invite sponsors to advertise in support of a cause, organization or event. That’s where wristbands with a message come in. Wristbands with a message provide creative ways to get sponsorship. An economical marketing tool, wristbands with a message are a fun and unobtrusive means for reaching a highly targeted audience.

If you are hosting an event in which you are seeking sponsorships to raise funds, you can sell advertising space on wristbands. There are a multitude of creative ways for sponsors to increase branding and build both awareness and customer loyalty. The first is imprinting wristbands with a message. You can include a logo or a tagline or both!

People tend to wear their wristbands for a few days after the close of an event—especially if it is comfortable and includes a cool message and design. Guests become walking, talking mini billboards. Everywhere they go, their wristband with a message is a conversation starter. If your sponsor wants to increase website traffic, you might suggest that they imprint the company website address on the wristband along with a message.

If sponsors really want to engage their target audience, the ability to imprint quick response (QR) codes might be enticing. QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes. When people use their Smart phone to snap a photo of a QR code, they are led to a wide variety of places—places that provide information, offers, or freebies for on-the-go access. Usually these offers are exclusive. Here are some examples of what your sponsor might consider offering with the help of a QR code imprinted on wristbands with a message:

·         Invitation to opt in to a newsletter to get exclusive discounts

·         Invitation to purchase a raffle ticket to win prizes

·         Link to download a playlist

Whether your sponsor chooses to imprint their website address or a QR code onto wristbands with a message, they have a prime opportunity to boost social media activity. You could work with the sponsor and hold a contest. Encourage people to “like” the sponsor’s Facebook or invite guests to follow the sponsor on Twitter. Everyone who acts on the invitation to do so during the event gets a 10% off purchase coupon. Additionally, each person is entered into a drawing. Every hour during the event a name is drawn. The winner receives an awesome prize.

Sponsors can also imprint coupons directly onto wristbands with a message. This is another great strategy that motivates people to take action. Maybe the sponsor is opening a new store. The street address could be imprinted along with “show us your wristband, get 20% off any purchase.” The store will get a lot of traffic and sales will spike. Guests may even “check in” via Facebook and share how awesome the store and the products are. Word of mouth can spread as rapidly as fire. Guests’ friends will come check out the store; friends of those friends will stop by; and so on and so on

Wristbands with a message provide sponsors with a world of possibilities to promote their organization, as well as their services or products. Imprinting a logo, design, tagline, QR codes and/or website URLs onto wristbands with a message can trigger some interesting conversations that will likely lead to a live testimonial. There is nothing better than a recommendation from someone people trust.

Not only do wristbands with a message encourage word-of-mouth advertising, which is the most effective form of advertising, but also, the cost of these wristbands is minimal. When you get sponsors to purchase advertising space and promote their message on wristbands, you will not only cover the minimal expense, but will likely make a profit. You can also encourage sponsors to team up with other business for co-sponsorship. That will save them money, yet benefit all three organizations! There really is no way to lose with wristbands with a message. This effective marketing tool is fun and effective!

Wristbands Make High-Demand Ticket Sales Fair for Everyone

If you have a favorite sports team or an entertainer that you have been anxiously awaiting to see perform live, you can understand the excitement of purchasing tickets when you’re finally given the opportunity. When a sports team or entertainer is popular enough, tickets can be hard to come by. People will stand in line for a painstaking number of hours at a chance to get a ticket. Some people may even set up camp and snuggle up in sleeping bags overnight. They make a pre-event out of purchasing tickets for a main event!

As exciting as this may be for some folks, it’s not for most and causes a couple of concerns. The first concern is safety. The second concern is that people who do not have an inordinate amount of time to stand in line are taken out of the running to get tickets from the get-go.

Pre-ticket sales wristbands even out the playing field for everyone who wants to purchase event tickets. Additionally, they help ticketing vendors and venues to help prevent any possible pandemonium that could break out as excitement about the event builds. Pre-ticket sales wristbands bring order to what could otherwise be a chaotic process.

Pre-ticket sales wristbands are imprinted with a number and have a pull-off tab, which is imprinted with the same number as the wristband itself. Whether for a high-demand sporting event or live concert, the sale process that accompanies pre-ticket sales wristbands is efficient and fair. Following is a sample of how that process might work to ensure all enthusiasts are given an equal opportunity to purchase tickets:

·         People are allowed to begin forming a line for pre-wristband distribution two hours before the tickets go on sale. For instance, if tickets go on sale at 10:00 a.m., then people can start standing in line beginning at 8:00 a.m. that same morning.

·         Upon showing proof of payment ability, one nontransferable pre-ticket sales wristband is placed around each person’s wrist.

·         A distribution cut-off time is set about an hour after it starts. So, if pre-ticket sales wristbands started being distributed at 8:00 a.m., then the cut-off time might be 9:00 a.m.

·         Half an hour after the cut-off of pre-sales wristbands distribution, a random drawing takes place. Each person with a pre-sales wristband on their wrist has one entry in the random drawing.

·         The person who is wearing the pre-sales wristband with the number that corresponds to the number on the tab that was randomly drawn gets the first spot in line.

·         The person wearing the pre-sales wristband with the number that immediately succeeds the randomly selected number is next in line. All remaining participants fall in line sequentially—all the way through the person wearing the highest numbered pre-sales wristband. From that point, the line continues with the lowest numbered pre-sales wristband up to the randomly selected number.

RFID Wristbands is being scanned for crowd control entrance and VIP validation

To increase efficiency and alleviate overcrowding in line, one rule that ticket vendors or venues might want to enforce is that only people wearing a pre-sales wristband can stand in line. Any pals that are tagging along should step away from the line.

There are other processes that can be implemented. It depends on the type of event and the number of tickets available. It might be necessary to use the process described above, but add a few waves to it. Maybe the first 100 people in line are in the first random drawing; the next hundred people are in a second random drawing, and so on. Since it is unknown how many tickets each person might purchase—even if there is a limit—not everyone wearing a pre-sales wristband would be guaranteed the opportunity to purchase tickets.

One fun and effective way to bump up sales with pre-ticket sales wristbands is to hold a contest. Some professional baseball clubs have put this system to use already:

·         Make a large number (let’s say 8,000) of pre-sales wristbands available on a first come, first served basis during specified hours on a specific day or two—for example, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. on a Saturday and Sunday.

·         Team up with a local radio station and have winners of a random drawing using the numbered tabs from the matching numbered pre-sales wristbands announced during a broadcast as well as on the team’s website.

·         All the winners get first dibs at purchasing tickets before open selling begins.

Pre-sales wristbands add efficiency and fairness to the process of selling high-demand tickets.

Source: www.wristbands.com – Direct Custom Wristbands Manufacturer in USA