Wolfkop Weekender: "I was very inspired to sign with FIXR because of the data and analytics"

Since the first edition was held back in 2014, Wolfkop Weekender has evolved into one of the most hotly-anticipated events of the South African summer.

Bringing a selection of international headliners from the world of underground house and techno to perform alongside a vast array of South African talent in the stunning surrounds of the Olifants River Valley, the three-day festival is now one of the nation's best-known on the global scene.

We spoke with Richard Marshall, Creative Director at Wolfkop Weekender, about his experience using FIXR for the festival's most recent edition.

How was the festival this year?

Very good! Little old Wolfkop is gone, but the festival maintains its integrity as a vibe creator throughout the whole weekend.

We haven't lost any of our down to earth, peace, love, unity and respect vibe that we've had the whole time.

That second dance floor - The River Stage - was huge, and the Forest Floor was built up like a gladiator arena, it was nuts.

But it was The Boma that stole the show this time; it was just electric. It was on fire the whole weekend.

Why did you choose to use the FIXR platform for the latest Wolfkop Weekender?

We decided to get FIXR on board for the overseas ticketing for the first time this year.

I was very inspired to sign with FIXR because of the backend data collection and analysis, and the marketing analytics we could get out of that. 

Often [with other platforms] you don't even get the ticket buyer's name; you just get an email address and a phone number, and see that the person has bought 16 tickets. That's useless to us.

So I enjoyed logging into our FIXR account and analysing sales, seeing what was going on, where tickets were being bought from, and stuff like that. 

We find that there's power in knowing that kind of stuff, but then also in targeting and advertising the festival in regions where people aren't coming.

It's not even trying to get those people to come - it's about growing our follower base worldwide so that the awareness of us spreads, as I think we might be the most European-centric South African festival.

What was your experience of using the FIXR Entry Manager for ticket scanning?

I was very happy with the integration of FIXR into the check-in process.

We have a very complex check-in system because we've got eight different tiers of tickets, and people have got addresses for their tents.

I didn't get any feedback from the doors, and that's always the first thing you'll hear if something's going wrong with the ticketing. If the flow into a party isn't working, they'll know about it.

So it's good to know that there weren't any complaints or issues at all.

How did you find the support from the FIXR team?

When it comes to the customer support, there are no complaints whatsoever.

I was bombarding [account manager] MJ with guest list email addresses up until 11pm on Saturday night and she was there; she's a little machine! She's great - very amiable, very nice to work with, very responsive.

Photos: Jonx Pillemer