When it comes to marketing impact, packed sports stadiums have a twofold value. First, swelling crowds indicate soaring popularity, a state of affairs that is itself a powerful form of advertising – especially to television viewers. All those spectators enjoying themselves speaks volumes about the quality of the product – in this case, the intense action on the field. Every roar, clap, wacky hat, waving pennant, and noise maker adds to the favorable impression. Basically, it’s thousands of testimonials announcing themselves at once. Such a display can’t help but inspire television audiences, in effect providing a widescale sales pitch for the game in progress.
Stadium goers also serve as marketing recipients and prospective customers, taking in the various forms of advertising media distributed throughout the stadium – banners, posters, souvenirs, etc. Stadium crowds, therefore, are both sellers and potential buyers.
That has changed, most notably in the game of baseball, whose vast stadiums currently are empty due to health and safety concerns. And while the game does continue, on the field and on the television screen, the seats are numbingly silent.
To compensate for the emptiness, certain stadiums are utilizing ‘fake fans’ -- cardboard cutouts strategically deployed in ground level seats. While the cutouts fill some gaps, they don’t do much for hot dog sales. Even less for generating TV excitement. As audience advertising, the phoniness strikes out swinging in the dirt. You’re not foolin’ anyone.
Enter FOX Sports. Partnering with Spoon Animation and SMT, the broadcaster is utilizing ‘Pixotope’ software to create virtual fans, which can be digitally integrated with a sportscast and ‘placed’ in stadium seats to give the impression of a crowd.
No concerns about behavior patterns. The digi-fans can be programmed to perform all the primary spectator functions – shout, clap, stand, wave, throw beer bottles. So what if you’re ticket sales lag? You can occupy all the seats you want. What’s your pleasure? Completely full, three-quarters full, half-full. It’s all in the hands of your chosen technicians.
Fox SPORTS stresses the technology’s transparency – it’s not intended to fool any member of the TV audience. Pretty hard to do when everyone knows the stadium is empty. So, no worries there.
Currently, the technology’s sole purpose is to provide a more dynamic, satisfying experience than cardboard fill-ins. It should have no problem in that regard.
But how will the software impact brand marketers and public relations specialists who utilize crowds to create favorable impressions? Currently, this virtual experience is fresh off the shelf, untried in a real-world setting. Time will tell. No doubt, as with other VR innovations, the technology will find its niche.
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