anita zatori, ph.d. –emily suiter: festival experience design: …€¦ · • experience design...

AnitaZatori,Ph.D.– EmilySuiter:

FESTIVALEXPERIENCEDESIGN:THECASEOFTHERADFORDHIGHLANDERSFESTIVAL

ABOUTFESTIVAL• TakesplaceinRadford,Virginiaforthepast23years• Afamilyfriendlyeventthathassomethingtoofferforeveryone.• SeveralScottishclansattendthefestivaltocelebratetheirheritage• Providesauthenticexperiences:e.g.Highlandergames• Otherprogramelementsincludemusicanddanceevents,

sheepherding,andauthenticfoodandmerchandisevendors.

Q1:HOWTOPROVIDEANENGAGINGFESTIVALEXPERIENCE?• Variousattendeesegmentslookfordifferenttypesoffestivalexperiences.However,thecore

natureofengagingexperiencesisratherhomogenous.• Itisproposedthatthoseexperienceofferscapableto(A)attract,(B)entertain,(C)educate,(D)

interact,and(E)activatearetheonestrulyengagingforallofthefestivalattendees(Figure1).• Theexperiencedesignatthispointhastobetranslatedintodifferentprogramofferstoaddress

theheterogenousinterestoftheattendeesegments.

Q2:WHATTYPEOFFESTIVALEXPERIENCESAREINDEMAND?• Thethreevisitorsegments:students,locals,andtourists• Theobservationsaimedtoinvestigatethestrengthsandweaknessesofthe

festivalbothfromorganizationalandexperientialperspectives.Thesurveyfindingstogetherwiththeobservationswereutilizedintheexperiencedesign.

METHODOLOGY• TheoreticalconceptualizationwasappliedtoanswerQ1.• Quantitativeandqualitativedatawascollectedviaon-sitetoanswerQ2.• Surveydata(n=104)andobservations(19observers)servedasmarketintelligenceatdeveloping

successfulvisitorexperiencesfortheupcomingyear.• ToanswerQ3brainstormingwasconductedtogeneratecreativeideasfortheexperiencedesign

ofthe2019festival.

INTRODUCTION• Designingsuccessful,engagingand

memorableexperienceshasbeenafocaltopicinour‘experienceage’.

• Although,manyofthesmallandmediumsizeplayersoftheeventsectorhavebeenstilljustfamiliarizingwiththeconcept.

• Thepaper’sgoalistodiscusstheapplicationoftheexperiencedesignonafestivalthroughacasestudy.

• TheorganizersoftheRadfordHighlandersFestivalreachedouttotheauthorstohelpthemenhancethefestivalexperience.

• Theauthorshavecooperatedwiththeorganizerstoapplytheexperiencedesignapproachinfestivalplanningandorganization.

CONCEPTUALFINDINGS:THREE-STEPEXPERIENCEDESIGNAPPROACH

• Q1:Whatvalueoffersdoweneedtoprovideforanengaging,high-impactfestivalexperience?Whattypeofexperienceswouldwelikeco-createwiththeattendees(toaddressthevalueoffers)?

• Q2:Whattypeofeventexperiencesdoourattendeesegmentsfindattractiveandexciting?• Q3:Whatprogramscanweoffertodeliverthedesiredexperiences?

AttendeeSegments

•Students•Locals•Tourists

AttendeeMotivation

•Havefun(36%)•Scot-Irishculture

(32%)•Timewithfamily&

friends(29%)

MostPopularPrograms

•HighlandGames(38%)

•Vendors(33%)•Food(30%)

LITERATUREONEXPERIENCEDESIGN• Eventhoughfewpaperstouchupontheaspectofeventexperience

design(Ballantyneetal.,2014;Orefice,2018),thereisalackofmorein-depthdiscussionswhichwoulddepictthesuccessfulapplicationoftheexperiencedesigntechniqueinfestivalorganization.

• Experiencedesignisadisciplinethatdevelopsholisticexperiencesinclusiveofallusersacrossallaspectsofservice,productorevent.Itprovidesawayfororganizationstodesignavaluablecustomerexperience.

• Theaimofexperiencedesignistodesigneffortlesscustomerjourneys.Incontextoffestivals,theattendeeexperienceandtheattendeesexperiencejourneyareinthefocusofthedesignprocess.

CONCLUSION• Thenoveltyofthepaperisgivenbythedetailed

discussionofthepracticalapplicationofexperiencedesignapproachincaseofafestival.

• Theauthorsconceptualizetheexperiencedesignapproachincontextoffestivalsandproposeathree-stepprocesstoolforfestivalexperiencedesign.

• Alimitationofthestudyisthatitdoesnotexaminethecustomerjourneyfromthebeginninguntiltheend,butitfocusesoninvestigatingtheon-siteexperienceandondesigningtheprogramandexperienceoffersasanextstep.

Figure1:Festivalexperiential

valueoffer dimensionsREFERENCES

• Ballantyne,J.,Ballantyne,R.,&Packer,J.(2014).Designingandmanagingmusicfestivalexperiencestoenhanceattendees’psychologicalandsocialbenefits.Musicae Scientiae,65-83.https://doi.org/10.1177/1029864913511845

• Orefice,C.(2018).Designingforevents– anewperspectiveoneventdesign,InternationalJournalofEventandFestivalManagement,Vol.9No.1,pp.20-33.https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEFM-09-2017-0051

DepartmentofRecreation,ParkandTourism