Los Angeles’s STAPLES Center has struck a partnership with LAVA, a marketing platform designed to activate real time data to create engaging experiences during live events.
STAPLES Center, Microsoft Theater and L.A. LIVE will use LAVA’s real time fan experience and analytics technology in an effort to improve the overall experience for the millions of guests attending professional sports games and high profile music and entertainment events each year.
The STAPLES Center, Microsoft Theater and L.A. LIVE teams will start by integrating LAVA as an onsite operational tool. The LAVA platform will analyze customer experience data generated by connected devices — such as ticketing scans, concessions and merchandise — and consolidate it into an intuitive dashboard. Event staff can monitor operations and improve the guest experience during an event, such as managing special offers and promotions, crowd control or adjusting internal staffing. In the near future, STAPLES Center, Microsoft Theater and L.A. LIVE will expand the LAVA technology platform into its retail, sponsorship, and concessions operations, enabling the arena to further monitor real time business performance as well as surprise guests with in the moment digital offers, such as exclusive discounts, VIP lounge access and more.
LAVA’s platform activates using digital experience passes on smartphone devices to enable real time notification and redemption for guests, as well as analytic insights for venues. STAPLES Center is the first arena in Los Angeles to adopt LAVA.
“Over the last 20 years, STAPLES Center has proudly embraced state of the art technology to further our mission of creating the finest entertainment experience imaginable. In turn, we have set new standards for the arena industry, and continue to do so with our preeminent partnership with LAVA,” said Lee Zeidman, President of STAPLES Center, Microsoft Theater and L.A. LIVE, “LAVA fills a much needed gap in the live event market: that we have never before had visibility into our guests’ experience in the moment, nor an ability to act on those insights while an event is taking place. With LAVA’s platform we are well-equipped to continue honing and perfecting our guests’ experiences in ways that were previously impossible.”
The technology stood out to the STAPLES Center, Microsoft Theater and L.A. LIVE team for many reasons, but its preference for delivering a frictionless experience, using digital experience passes on smartphones rather than native apps, was a critical factor given the multiple tenants and fan bases that visit the arena annually.
“We’ve been selective about the type of companies we work with, and we immediately realized that STAPLES Center, Microsoft Theater and L.A. LIVE have the same innovation-centric mindset when it comes to improving and perfecting the guest experience. The team was also faced with a unique challenge given the volume and diversity of its guests in part due to housing four professional sports teams, along with world-class music and entertainment events all year long,” said Wen Miao, CEO of LAVA. “We are excited to partner with STAPLES Center, Microsoft Theater and L.A. LIVE to surprise and delight fans, by creating meaningful experiences for the millions of guests that visit the arena and L.A. LIVE complex each year. This partnership means huge improvements in the way guests experience live events, both at STAPLES Center, Microsoft Theater and broadly across the industry.”
LAVA was founded by Vivek Ranadivé, the founder and former CEO of TIBCO, and Wen Miao, a former SVP and GM at TIBCO.
