A new partnership between DP World Tour and People, a global creative agency specialising in major sporting event experiences, culminated in the transformation of the Fan Zone at this year’s Genesis Scottish Open.
In a bid to elevate the fan experience, strengthen relationships with existing fans, and attract a more diverse audience to the game, DP World Tour invited People (whose work includes the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2024 Red Bull Soapbox Race) to create a more connected, interactive and inclusive environment for fans attending the 2024 event.
At the centre of the efforts is a new Fan Zone experience, which opened to visitors on Wednesday 11 July. Offering action and entertainment – with a mini-golf course featuring local landmarks, free golf lessons, a gaming arcade, as well as a main stage curated by local festival Fringe by The Sea, with DJs including Edith Bowman – the attraction welcomed tens of thousands of visitors over the weekend.
Rory O’Donovan,Partner at People comments: “DP World Tour challenged us to create a more exciting Fan Zone experience, that would provide opportunities for people to interact with golf in new and inspiring ways. We set out to design compelling experiences to connect with younger, more diverse audiences, as well as enhancing the experience for existing fans.”
“Audiences have increasingly high expectations of fan experiences across golf, other sports, culture and entertainment. Golf fans may attend events because of their love of the sport, but less engaged audiences have lots of other choices for a day out with family or friends. Fan Zones are an opportunity to introduce new audiences to golf – and bring existing fans closer to the sport they love.”
“We considered how to bring to life the game play and wider culture of golf in ways that felt authentic to the sport. With the support and encouragement of a brilliant client team, we set out to design experiences that could bring people together, activate imaginations, and create memorable moments – and observing the reactions from audiences over the past week or so, we believe we truly delivered on that.”
Max Holder, Championship Manager at DP World Tour, adds: “Maintaining a strong relationship with our existing fans remains a key priority and it’s important we don’t alienate an audience that wants to focus on watching the action around the course.”
“But it’s essential that we attract new audiences too, and we believed we could create a more enticing proposition for all attendees by combining a world-class competition offer around the course, with a more exciting and interactive experience in the Fan Zone.”
“Initial feedback suggests this year’s Fan Zone is unlike anything our audiences at the Genesis Scottish Open have seen before. We believe our focus on exploring ways to improve our fan experience is working. This was a huge opportunity for us to reach new audiences and as you can see from the pictures – we’re creating new fans for life!”
