Category: Case studies
Home / Case studies /
11th December 2017

eFan partner with Purple to deliver exceptional WiFi at Personal Fest 2017

Fans at Telecom Personal Fest 2017 enjoyed high-speed WiFi and customized splash pages whilst watching headline bands such as Jack Johnson, Paramore, Fat Boy Slim and The Fabulous Cadillacs in Buenos Aires last month.

The event WiFi was run by Purple partners eFan, specialists in digital entertainment services for sports and music events across South America. Over 10,000 visitors logged into WiFi and engaged with interactive booths, downloaded the bespoke mobile application and liked, commented and shared social media posts.

eFan were introduced to Purple by Solution Box, an IT and telecommunications wholesaler in Argentina. Purple first worked with eFan and Cisco Meraki infrastructure to deliver WiFi and analytics software for the All Blacks versus Los Pumas Rugby World Cup 2017 match at Estadio Velez Sarsfield.

The game was such a success with a significant portion of the 30,000 visitors logging into WiFi, 67% of them through social media and branded splash pages, that eFan will be using Purple’s captive online portal in future events throughout South America, starting with Personal Fest 2017.

Commenting on the decision to partner with Purple, CEO of eFan and eFan Zone, Ariel Salvetti, said: “eFan offers a full service to events with strong, high-density WiFi, interactive digital signage, content generation, collaborating with sponsors in ‘Fan Zones’ and interactive mapping. Before Purple, thousands of visitors remained anonymous to our marketing services despite increased engagement at events.

“By partnering with Purple, the platform complements our service in every aspect of our business with the captive online portal collecting active consumer information we can use to deliver more effective campaigns and measurement,” said Salvetti.

eFan approached the event organisers at Telecom Personal with the Purple Platform as a means to identify festival-goers over the two-day long event through WiFi. Among the demographic data collected was over 10,000 email addresses, age, gender, and hometown. The top three countries users travelled from for the festival were Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, and the analytics collected via social media identified 60% were female, 40% male.

Facebook was the most popular method to log in with 60% of users using the seamless login process, 20% of users logging in via a customized short form, followed by Instagram and Twitter. With the social media authentication, Personal Fest was also able to identify the top three social interests of users were music, sports, and cinema. Each of these interests will expand into more detail in the Purple Portal to understand what festival-goers are interested in, and to customize future communications for higher engagement rates.

“What set Purple apart was their programme’s ability to complement each aspect of our business, and simplicity of the dashboard,” said Salvetti, “We are able to easily design and customize splash pages for each third-party sponsor, create segments of visitors for personalised, relevant communications and then track the performance of each campaign in real-time. It’s a real end-to-end solution for us.”

Purple seamlessly integrated with eFan’s external systems to enhance Personal Fest visitor profiles on CRM databases and micro-survey campaigns. For Personal Fest 2017, WhatsApp and Snapchat were easily added to the list of social media login journeys to complement a quick connection for visitors. eFan also commented on the e-shots, SMS features and support provided by Purple pre, during and post event.

“The e-shot and SMS campaigns were highly effective, and are definitely something we will be using across future events. Overall, the team felt very comfortable working with Purple. Their technical support team were flexible fitting in with the installation across the venue, and gave immediate responses to all queries for our third-party sponsor booths.”

CEO of Purple, Gavin Wheeldon, commented: “We’re excited to see what eFan are doing for their customers in the South America market. With such high-density crowds of engaged festival-goers it is a prime opportunity to use data gathered at the events to run personalised campaigns during, as well as after the event. It’s great to see eFan are already utilising the benefits of our Purple Platform, and we look forward to working with the team throughout 2018!”

12th October 2017

Cleveland Metroparks now has the ability to capture more in-depth customer insights than ever before thanks to Purple

Purple, the intelligent spaces company, and Cisco have helped Cleveland Metroparks to become cleverly connected, enabling visitors to access a seamless WiFi network whilst capturing valuable data about their target audiences.

Cleveland Metroparks boasts more than 300 miles of trails, eight golf courses, eight lakefront parks and a nationally-acclaimed zoo. Public WiFi was already available across more than 23,000-acres of the site, but the team felt the system delivered a minimal return. The platform was extremely basic and captured no form of information about their thousands of guests. They sought a solution that would be easy to integrate and manage, but would also allow them to learn more about visitors.

Purple and Cisco joined forces in early 2017 to meet the organization’s core requirements. With Purple, Cleveland Metroparks can now deliver fast, free WiFi to visitors whilst simultaneously capturing data, including the WiFi users name, email address, age, interests, visitor location and frequency of visits. Purple’s location services will also allow Cleveland Metroparks to monitor the movement of guests and other behaviors, dwell times, busiest zones and where people visit on site.

Commenting on the decision to install Purple, Anthony Joy, Chief Information Officer for Cleveland Metroparks, said: “We looked at several other providers but their platforms appeared very basic, some even required custom building. With Purple, the solution integrated well with our Cisco hardware and it provides us with an in-depth insight into our visitors, which is something we’ve not really had before.”

WiFi is now accessible in a total of 20 zones and the most popular on-site venue is Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, which makes up 65% of the entire network traffic. In just under six months Cleveland Metroparks has collected 21,180 lines of customer data in the Purple portal, which is a significant benefit for the customer due to the fact they had a very limited customer database.

Anthony adds: “It has been really interesting to learn about the type of individuals that actually visit Cleveland Metroparks. The installation of Location Services will be particularly interesting as it will help us to go the extra mile with customer engagement. We’ll be able to analyse data about demographic and location to help us to determine what new educational programmes we should launch, where to place new food kiosks and where best to allocate staff members.”

The on-site marketing team has been particularly impressed with the results achieved so far and are able to export all of the demographic data for email marketing purposes. Once Purple’s location services have been activated, Cleveland Metroparks will use the analytics to identify traffic patterns, adjust hours of operation and staffing strategies going forward, thus improving business efficiency. There are also plans to utilise Purple’s Micro Surveys feature as employees currently distribute paper surveys on-site and the team wants to replace this with a digital process to make data capture easier, save valuable time and prevent human error.

Commenting on the installation of Purple at Cleveland Metroparks, Gavin Wheeldon, CEO of Purple, said: “It’s great to know that Purple was deemed the best fit for Cleveland Metroparks in terms of management and delivering detailed visitor insights. The on-site marketing team can now effectively engage with their visitors, identify key zones and attractions, obtain guest feedback and essentially grow visitor numbers and profits going forward. With some exciting plans in the pipeline, it will be interesting to see what they achieve further down the line.”

Take a look at the full Cleveland Metroparks case study here.

22nd August 2017

Purple helps to deliver WiFi to thousands of revellers at Splendour in the Grass 2017

Festival goers attending Splendour in the Grass 2017 were able to access high-speed WiFi sponsored by VISA, whilst organisers captured demographic data about attendees thanks to Purple’s WiFi and analytics solution, installed by expert providers of networking solutions for events, NetEvent.

This year’s festival attracted over 30,000 music lovers and played host to artists like The xx, Queens of the Stone Age, Haim and Royal Blood from the 21st – 23rd July. For several years the festival has offered free connectivity to attendees, but the WiFi and analytics platforms that organisers had previously implemented didn’t supply them with the quality data and insights that they desired. They wanted to gain a true overview of their paying visitors and use the analytics to determine what acts, stalls and merchandise to offer.

In the run-up to the festival, organisers of Splendour in the Grass researched a number of captive portals online but found Purple to be the most suitable fit for their forthcoming event. Prior to the launch of the three-day festival, Purple plus Ruckus and MicroTik wireless hardware were deployed by NetEvent in 2 specific areas where people could sit in bespoke booths around the WiFi access points. The free public WiFi at Splendour in the Grass 2017 was sponsored by VISA and their official branding was added to the WiFi login pages.

Commenting on the selection process, Rick Jose, Technology Manager for Splendour in the Grass, said: “Researching captive portals online is what first lead us to Purple. After using other WiFi systems for several years that lacked good reporting and were cumbersome to set up, we could see that Purple offered a much better solution. Previous captive portal systems we’ve used have required quite a sophisticated level of coding in HTML & CSS for the creation of the splash page whereas Purple’s wizard style splash template design with the plug-in social integration streamlined the process and saved us time and money.”

Over the three days, thousands of lines of customer data were captured from WiFi users at the two dedicated zones. These zones were specifically created as meeting hubs, displaying information such as maps and playing times, where patrons could stand near the WiFi towers or sit and relax in bespoke booths whilst online. The network allowed people to access the internet, connect with friends and share memories on social media, which in turn builds awareness of the festival. The data collected about festival goers includes their email address, name, age, gender, visitor location, the number of visits and even their personal interests.

Rick adds: “The data provides a good insight into our audience and helps us to better understand who they are, which in turn informs some of our decisions in planning for our next event. We’ve been very impressed with Purple, from the straightforward setup and configuration, to the detailed analytics and accessible, responsive support, the solution has proven to be the best we’ve used for this application so far.”

By using the Purple platform, the team behind Splendour in the Grass has gained a comprehensive bird’s-eye view of who people are, whether they attend the full duration of the event and how long they use the network for. In addition, the wealth of analytics captured will be used to influence and guide planning for forthcoming events, including what marketing to distribute, which artists to host and what stands to welcome on-site.

No marketing communications were sent out to festival goers during the 2017 event but there are plans to use the visitor records in the run-up to next year’s festival to promote dates, artist announcements and early bird ticket sales, which in turn could increase profits and engagement as people create more of a buzz online.

Gavin Wheeldon, CEO of Purple, comments: “Splendour in the Grass is a huge Australian music festival that plays host to an impressive line-up, so for the organisers to brand our solution as the best that they have ever used is a great honour. The Purple portal has collated a wealth of highly valuable CRM records and insights that will prove extremely useful when planning and promoting Splendour in the Grass 2018. I hope that this partnership can evolve and that the solution is rolled out again at future festivals.”

See the complete case study about Splendour in the Grass 2017 here.

7th August 2017

Popular UK wildlife parks have improved the way they interact with guests thanks to Purple

Paignton Zoo, Newquay Zoo and Living Coasts are working with Purple, the intelligent spaces company, Acronyms and Cisco Meraki to deliver connectivity to visitors whilst obtaining a wealth of data about their guests for outbound marketing.

The tourist attractions, located in the South of England, are operated by the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust and attract thousands of guests every year. The trust felt that fast, free public WiFi along with content filtering would improve the overall visitor experience as guests can share their pictures and ‘check-in’ online. With Purple, each site would also be able to capture the email addresses and demographic details for each person that accesses the public WiFi network.

Louise Smith, Marketing Manager for Paignton Zoo, said: “Purple has been very professional and easy to work with, the Wi-Fi installation was very smooth and straightforward. Free, reliable Wi-Fi has become essential and a must have for our guests, we want visitors to be able to easily share the fact that they are having a great time at our Zoo’s and Purple’s robust system copes with the high amount of guests we have on-site at any one time.”

The demographic information collected on the Purple platform includes their age, gender, interests, location, frequency of their visits and even the amount of time they spend at each venue. By having access to this type of information the marketing team can develop bespoke communications and offers to suit different ages, interests and visitor locations.

Louise adds: “All customer data is presented to us in a really easy to use, visual platform allowing us to look at and plan for future marketing campaigns.”

Since Purple went live in early 2016, almost 17,000 lines of active customer data has been collected, with Paignton Zoo proving to be the most popular site. The average user accesses the WiFi for almost an hour, with 40% of users aged 24 and under. Due to the fact that a significant proportion of these users are 18 and under, it demonstrates the need for secure content filtering which has been made available by Purple and Acronyms.

Commenting on the customer relationship and deployment of Purple, Tom Moore, Sales and Marketing Manager at Acronyms, said: “We were thrilled to be able to deploy Purple to Paignton Zoo as it perfectly fits the requirements of the marketing department. Having a relationship with both the IT and marketing department of Paignton Zoo was crucial to make sure this implementation was a success. Since the original network was installed we have been working closely to further improve coverage of the WiFi at each location.”

Gavin Wheeldon, CEO of Purple, said: “It’s great to hear that the WiFi analytics and marketing tools that Purple provides are making a significant difference to these various UK wildlife parks. Their marketing teams can not only communicate better with their thousands of visitors but are now equipped with the key information needed to implement effective changes at each site to suit the needs and behaviours of their guests.”

Take a look at the full length case study here.

24th July 2017

Popular Scottish town sees an influx of WiFi users and a spike in Facebook engagement thanks to Purple

Purple, the intelligent spaces company, and Rapier Systems are delivering high speed WiFi and content filtering to visitors and residents of Kirkcaldy town centre. As a result, the town has seen a growth in traffic on the WiFi network and a 208% increase in social media engagement.

In early 2016, Rapier Systems reached out to Kirkcaldy 4 All, the Business Improvement District (BID) for Kirkcaldy, to convince them to implement Purple’s WiFi and analytics solution in the town centre. Public WiFi had previously been rolled out but Kirkcaldy 4 All had opted to turn it off due to a lack of return. The system was deemed unreliable, provided no form of analytics and contributed little in terms of improving visitor engagement and profits for local businesses.

Rapier Systems proved successful with its bid and in July 2016 the team overlaid Purple onto existing Ruckus wireless equipment. Since going live the solution has achieved a good level of traction, with almost 12,000 people logging on to the network. When an individual accesses the network their name, age, gender, visitor location and even frequency of visits is captured in the Purple portal.

Commenting on the Purple solution, Bill Harvey, Manager of Kirkcaldy 4 All, said: “We are delighted to be working with both Rapier Systems and Purple. We are in the process of harvesting the data that is derived from the analytics package and are using it to provide businesses with a profile of the people using the town centre.”

Users of all ages can now browse the internet, access APPs, update their social media accounts and read emails with peace of mind that no inappropriate content can be accessed thanks to Purple’s content filtering solution. 68% of WiFi users access the network via their social media accounts and the official Facebook page for Kirkcaldy has received 2,387 likes in the last year. Prior to Purple, the Facebook page received an average of 755 likes per a year, so this is a 208% increase.

The CRM data is being used to distribute communications about upcoming events and offers to Kirkcaldy visitors. A number of communications were sent out during the 2016 festive period which helped to significantly increase visitor numbers. These communications included emails about a Christmas family firework event and information about Christmas gifts, parking and dining venues.

Bill adds: “Destination 66, the company that oversees our social and digital media output, also utilises the information when designing and sending out our e-shots. From a Kirkcaldy 4 All standpoint this partnership is not only proving to be very successful but also invaluable for the businesses that we support.”

Commenting on the WiFi installation in Kirkcaldy, Gavin Wheeldon, CEO of Purple said: “I love hearing great customer success stories like Kirkcaldy. The Purple solution has transformed the towns WiFi network from something that generated little return, to something which is increasing visitor numbers, improving communications and growing social media interaction. I hope that Kirkcaldy continues to see great benefits from using the Purple platform.”

View what other results Kirkcaldy has achieved in the official case study.

12th July 2017

Free city centre WiFi is a big hit for Inverness and the Highland Council

Inverness, the largest city in the Scottish Highlands, has seen over 17,000 people access its free city centre WiFi in just 6 months following a collaboration between The Highland Council, Purple and Rapier Systems.

The Highland Council sought a WiFi solution that would allow them to identify who visits the city and gain a way of effectively communicating with people. Having limited visibility of visitors prohibited them from making effective, strategic changes to the city’s facilities, stores, events and promotions.

At the end of last year Rapier Systems, specialists in wireless networks and systems, installed Purple’s WiFi and analytics platform and Ruckus equipment at the city’s famous Victorian Market plus other popular streets in the centre. Since installation, the network has received almost 17,000 users, with the majority of individuals using the network for 1 hour or more.

With Purple, the council can identify exactly where visitors are from, with the top three visitor locations including Inverness, Aberdeen and Glasgow. Through identifying where people are from they can ensure that any events hosted in Inverness don’t clash with other happenings in cities where visitors often travel from.

As well as visitor location, Purple reports also highlight the city’s most popular age group, gender and when people last visited, which can be useful for marketing and to help plan for the city’s future. Data about visitors will also be shared with stakeholders, groups, business and stakeholders to make more informed decisions which may have an effect on the city and surrounding areas.

Within the last few months presence analytics have also been activated in the city centre, which enables the council to gain a deeper understanding of their visitors. With presence reports, the team can identify exactly how long people stay for on average, the split between repeat and new visitors and the most popular time of day for people to visit. This information is extremely useful for the council, especially when monitoring the popularity of events being hosted in Inverness city centre.

Due to the success of this roll out the Highland Council has recently agreed to roll out Phase 2 of its city centre WiFi Project after a very impressive pilot. Phase 3 aims to take the project model out to towns throughout the highlands using the existing model created from the pilot and main roll out. This project is seen as an important part of the digital upscaling of the Highlands region.

Commenting on the Inverness WiFi roll out, Gavin Wheeldon, CEO of Purple, said: “I’m delighted to hear that the Highland Council has been pleased with the pilot of Purple’s solution by Rapier Networks in the city of Inverness. Metropolises around the world are starting to offer free connectivity and becoming smarter so it makes me proud to know that Purple is proving pivotal in the evolution of Inverness and the Highlands region as a whole.”

See how Inverness is benefiting from the Purple solution in our full case study.

27th June 2017

Bond location shakes up its WiFi offering by partnering with Purple and Unico Data AG

Purple, the intelligent spaces company, today announced its collaboration with Unico Data AG as part of a guest WiFi and analytics deployment at various locations on the cableway and mountaintop of Schilthorn, Switzerland.

The famous Swiss peak can be reached by boarding the longest aerial cableway in the Alps and offers panoramic views of over 200 peaks. The summit is also home to Piz Gloria, the world’s first revolving mountaintop restaurant, which was also a James Bond film location in ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’.

Purple’s cloud based platform was installed at five cable car stations, Piz Gloria and the other restaurants on Schilthorn and Allmendhubel. The solution adheres to the customer’s core requirements as it complies with regulations around data security and allows them to gather more information about their visitors.

Prior to the launch of the WiFi, a fully branded splash page was developed featuring imagery, logos and a weather widget. This splash page appears when people want to access the network and allows users to log in via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or a short form.

Using Zyxel hardware, Purple was officially activated back in January 2017 and the team has already seen thousands of visitors access the WiFi.

In just six months the network has received a significant amount of visitor traction, with almost 18,000 people logging in. 51% of individuals choose to do so via their social media profiles, with Facebook proving to be the most popular platform.

Commenting on the value of the WiFi to visitors, Alan Ramsay, Sales Manager at Schilthorn Cableway, said: “We receive many comments about how great it is to have high speed WiFi at 3000 metres above sea level. In terms of the level of users, we aren’t surprised by this figure as we knew connectivity would be popular at a major tourist location like Schilthorn.”

Visitors typically use the WiFi to upload pictures, post on social media sites and easily communicate with friends and family worldwide.

When customers access the network, they are prompted to ‘like’ the official Facebook page for Schilthorn-Piz Gloria. Since implementing the solution, the Facebook page has received an additional 2,522 likes which is a 28% increase on the total figure before using Purple.

Alan adds: “Free WiFi is a standard offering these days in the tourism industry, by enabling visitors to access social media and post about their experience it helps us to advertise Schilthorn through various social platforms. WiFi also provides our international clients with a way of keeping in touch with home and friends, which in turn improves the customer experience.”

Gavin Wheeldon, Purple’s CEO comments: “I love hearing about the weird and wonderful sites that Purple has been deployed at. As a James Bond location which is also home to one of the world’s longest cable cars and the world’s first revolving mountaintop restaurant, it is no surprise that visitors flock to Schilthorn and that thousands are using the WiFi. It gives me great pleasure to know that our solution is helping to improve the visitor experience and increasing social engagement.”

30th May 2017

Cinema chain delivers blockbuster WiFi and customer engagement thanks to Purple, Disney and Vision-Inside AG

Purple, the intelligent spaces company, has collaborated with Vision-Inside AG and Disney, to provide KITAG Cinemas with WiFi and customer insights.

KITAG Cinemas is the largest movie theatre operator in German speaking Switzerland, with over 17,000 seats at 85 venues. Since Purple’s installation in late 2016, the collaboration has seen improved outbound marketing and social media engagement.

AWARD WINNING ENGAGEMENT:

The cinemas marketing team has identified that their Facebook page has seen a 25% increase in the quantity of ‘likes’ since the solution was activated and over 18,000 page impressions.

CURTAIN RAISING CUSTOMER DATA:

Almost 5,000 lines of active customer data has been captured in the portal and user feedback has been very positive, especially from those who have downloaded their cinema tickets over the WiFi.

OSCAR WORTHY MARKETING:

The chain has learned that the majority of users are aged 18 years and younger and this insight allows their marketing team to tailor the login screen, website redirect page and email campaigns to feature content that is more suited to their core demographic.

All data captured by Purple is frequently exported and used to distribute KITAG Cinemas weekly newsletter plus email updates about special events, offers on refreshments and discounted tickets to increase ROI.

THE BACKGROUND:

In late 2016, Purple’s WiFi and analytics solution, plus Zyxel hardware, was installed at Emmenbrücke cinema by Vision-Inside AG to help improve the visitor experience. Users can now access free guest WiFi, sponsored by Disney, via a form of social media whilst KITAG Cinemas collects detailed demographic data about each customer to improve their external marketing.

Due to Disney sponsoring the WiFi, their content features at each stage of the customer login journey, improving brand awareness and encouraging customers to engage with Disney’s latest films, news and competitions.

The WiFi splash page has also helped KITAG Cinemas promote and increase downloads of their new multilingual APP that launched in February 2017, which allows users to purchase tickets, check screening times and learn about the latest releases and trailers.

Cédric Riwar, Owner of Vision-Inside AG, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with KITAG Cinemas. We appreciated their trust when recommending Purple’s solution and we are looking forward to working with KITAG Cinemas at additional venues across Switzerland.”

Commenting on Purple’s partnership with KITAG Cinemas, Gavin Wheeldon, CEO of Purple, said: “It’s great to hear that KITAG Cinemas is already reaping the rewards from utilising Purple’s WiFi analytics. In just six months the business has been able to benefit from third party sponsorship, capture thousands of CRM records, modify their marketing to meet customer demand and increase interaction with their social media pages.”

Take a look at the full KITAG Cinemas case study to see what return they obtained from using Purple.

11th April 2017

Eldan Hotel gets 218% more TripAdvisor reviews by using Purple

Purple, the intelligent spaces company, has enabled the Eldan Hotel to collect 218% more guest reviews on TripAdvisor following the installation of its WiFi and analytics solution by Certified Purple Partner, Boot Net Ltd.

The four-star hotel in Jerusalem is working with Purple and Boot Net Ltd. to offer a fast, free guest WiFi solution, detailed analytics and Purple’s new TripAdvisor connector, which encourages guests to write reviews. Boot Net Ltd overlaid Purple onto Ruckus hardware across the five story boutique property in January 2017, and connectivity is now available in all 76 guest rooms and public areas.

Owners of the Eldan Hotel knew they needed to offer a free connectivity solution but they also wanted to see a return from their investment. Above all, they were keen to start acquiring more guest reviews as they didn’t previously have a method of reminding people to review their stay via email due to staff time constraints, size of the hotel estate and lack of client data.

Robby Leon, CEO & Founder of Boot Net Ltd, installed Purple at the Eldan Hotel and said: “Boutique hotels are a great market for Purple as they often have minimal overheads and limited time to collate customer data and distribute emails to guests. With Purple, businesses like the Eldan Hotel can get data collected automatically from those accessing the WiFi and messages are automatically sent to ask for reviews. I know that the TripAdvisor connector was the key feature that won the deal with the Eldan Hotel and it will be a big hit with other clients in the hospitality sector.”

So far, the feedback from guests has been positive and thanks to the TripAdvisor connector, which went live in February 2017, they are now leaving more reviews than ever before. When you compare the number of reviews collected in January to February there is a 218% increase, evidencing the value of the TripAdvisor connector for those businesses in the hospitality sector.

The hotel’s free guest WiFi is now a service that is openly promoted on the company’s website and travel sites. In just the first month of use, the hotel saw almost 1000 people log into the WiFi, with the number of users increasing by up to 50% week on week. The average guest accessed the WiFi for over 5 hours per a day, highlighting that guests use their mobiles or laptops for 22% of their stay.

CRM data is now captured from every individual who logs into the WiFi and it is exported into the hotel’s existing customer database. The business is looking to distribute e-shots to encourage more repeat, direct bookings as they currently receive a high percentage of reservations through external OTAs. As a whole, the hotel is now more equipped to deliver personalised, targeted marketing campaigns as they can now can identify where their guests are from and their language.

Gavin Wheeldon, CEO of Purple, comments: “It is fantastic to see that the Eldan Hotel has achieved such significant results in such a short space of time. Not only have they launched a free guest WiFi solution, but they’ve massively increased their TripAdvisor reviews and are now equipped with an array of tools to make their marketing campaigns much more targeted and relevant. If this is what the hotel has in achieved in just one month then I can’t wait to see what they’ll achieve by the end of the year.”

Find out how the hotel increased the quantity of TripAdvisor reviews by 218%.

28th March 2017

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital treats patients to free WiFi

Purple, the intelligent spaces company, has installed its WiFi and analytics solution at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and it has proved to be a big hit with patients both young and old.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn NHS Trust is an acute hospital serving the communities of West Norfolk, South Lincolnshire and East Cambridgeshire. Before last summer, the hospital only had WiFi access in a privately-operated coffee shop at the front of the site, which meant there was no connectivity in any of their wards or waiting rooms.

As part of its programme to improve patient experience across the Trust, they began to consider what WiFi solution would work best for its patients. They recognised that a secure, free connectivity solution was particularly essential in their Roxburgh Children’s Centre, as young patients and their parents like to be able to stream videos and access interactive websites during their stay.

In just over 2 weeks, Purple’s guest WiFi was live using existing Cisco equipment and accessible to patients via a dedicated splash page where they can login via a simple form. In the first full month of WiFi access, a total of 5,847 people logged into the service and in January 2017 this figure had increased by almost 10%.

Michael West, Head of ICT at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The feedback that we have received from patients about the WiFi has been very positive, the weekly KPI’s that we receive from Purple’s portal prove that the offering is well used.”

To date, the hospital’s free guest WiFi has been very popular, with almost 23,000 visitors accessing the solution since it was installed. Purple’s analytics also demonstrated that 42% of people accessing the WiFi are aged 45 and over, with almost 20% of this group aged 65+.

Michael adds: “The user demographics have proved particularly interesting. Our main demographic at the hospital is elderly patients and in initial discussions about WiFi many people believed that this age category wouldn’t use the service. However, this has not been the case as many of our older patients use it. This information is useful to justify the usage amongst our largest demographic.”

The marketing team at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital eventually plan to roll out communications to the large database of emails that have been collected by Purple’s WiFi and analytics solution. The content will range from a simple reminder for visitors to wash their hands and control infection whilst on site, to information about winter flu vaccinations for elderly patients post visit.

Commenting on the collaboration with the hospital, Gavin Wheeldon, CEO of Purple said: “We’re proud to be working with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kings Lynn and it’s great to see that the guest WiFi has received a good reception from patients. The Trust now has a wealth of CRM data available to them, which means the marketing communications should reach a wide and relevant audience.”

Read the full ROI case study to find out how the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn connected patients and obtained over 23,000 CRM records.

6th March 2017

Purple and Smarter WiFi reach new heights at renowned ski and climbing centres

Purple, the intelligent spaces company, has revealed that the Ice Factor, Snow Factor and Bar Varia are collecting four times more CRM data following the installation of its solution by Smarter WiFi.

The Scottish attractions draw visitors from far and wide as the Ice Factor is home to the world’s biggest indoor climbing walls and the Snow Factor has the UK’s longest indoor real snow slope. With guest WiFi already on offer, the group sought an improved method of capturing visitor details so they could effectively distribute campaigns about events, promotions and news to the right people.

By using Purple, brands that want to engage with visitors and understand the use of their physical spaces can deliver a guest WiFi solution that generates real-time analytics and marketing. Through the process of creating ‘Intelligent Spaces’, Purple can help venues and businesses to learn more about their location and customer base, and help them to take action.

Lynn Aitchison, Group Marketing Manager at the Ice Factor, Snow Factor and Bar Varia, said: “We did previously have a guest WiFi solution in place but the only way that we captured email addresses was through direct bookings. However, this meant that for large groups we would only capture data about the individual that actually placed the booking. We needed a tactical way of capturing data about as many of our visitors as possible.”

The group trialled Purple for a month in June 2016 and saw a 61% increase in the number of people joining the WiFi week on week, plus a surge in Facebook likes. Due to the results obtained, the group signed a contract with Purple and Smarter WiFi to deploy the solution and TP-Link hardware at every venue, with WiFi even installed at the summit of the 168-meter downhill slope at the Snow Factor.

Over the last six months, 14,000 visitors have logged into the WiFi through a unique splash page, improving both brand recognition and ease of access. These details have been exported and uploaded into their own email marketing platform, with the group now collecting almost four times more CRM data than when they only collected email addresses from direct bookings.

Lynn comments: “The solution delivered by Purple and Smarter WiFi is now key to our data capture strategy. We have experienced a considerable increase in our email marketing database each month since the installation of Purple.”

The amount of people logging into the WiFi over the last six months has increased by 164%, with 2,863 people accessing the service in January 2017. With average visitor numbers totalling 10,000 each month, it shows that over a quarter of visitors seek WiFi at the leisure venues, with 62% logging in whilst drinking and dining at Bar Varia, the adjoining bar to the slope at the Snow Factor.

Communications are regularly sent out to those who have visited the family attractions and the platform is proving particularly useful when notifying people about special events. Email results have improved since using Purple, with over a quarter of all recipients now opening emails, highlighting that Purple equips businesses to collect a better quality and quantity of data.

Gavin Wheeldon, CEO of Purple, said: “The results from the Ice Factor, Snow Factor and Bar Varia speak for themselves. Purple’s solution is proving invaluable to the group as thousands of their visitors are accessing the efficient WiFi service every month while the team collect more CRM data than ever before. This case demonstrates how Purple can be used in all sectors, including leisure, and that great outcomes can be easily achieved.”

Read the full ROI case study to find out how the Snow Factor, Ice Factor and Bar Varia collected 14,000 CRM records.