Industry: Surf Apparel & Accessories
Events: US Open of Surfing, Hurley Pro, Australian Open of Surfing
Attendees: 1 million+
The Company
To most people, Hurley is one of the first names in beach culture. Their long history of surfboards, surf-ready clothing and embodiment of the California casual lifestyle through art, music, skate, and fashion has earned them respect from executives to surfers, and everyone in between.
As with many other youth-targeted brands, Hurley has jumped into social media head first. This year, the company created a social media game called Score Card to use at events including the US Open of Surfing, Hurley Pro, the Australian Open of Surfing as well as tie-ins at Hurley retail stores and local establishments near events. The game encourages participant “Check-Ins” at locations tied to player’s Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare accounts. Players had a randomized chance to win hats, glasses, or bags at each kiosk, and if they checked into all 10 stations they were entered into grand prize drawings.
Industry: Surf Apparel & Accessories
Events: US Open of Surfing, Hurley Pro, Australian Open of Surfing
Attendees: 1 million+
The Challenge
The contest leveraged heavily on the Hurley brand, so with a huge volume of participants and a truckload of giveaways, Hurley wanted everyone to enjoy the Score Card game and go home happy. The contest goal was to have participants Check-In at all ten stations, awarding prizes to only the first Check-In at each location by each participant each day.
The reader solution in the kiosk had to allow for fast and easy Hurley worked with Serialio.com to integrate a wireless RFID solution into their existing game application, identifying participants at kiosks using touchpad technology and contactless card readers from RF IDeas.Check-Ins, to keep lines short and the game moving along. Once the player checked in at the kiosk, they would instantly find out if they won a prize through the display on the kiosk monitor. With so many people, and so much activity, there wasn’t room for downtime due to technological flukes. Hurley had to put their faith into every kiosk functioning just as they had envisioned, in making the first Score Card game a success.
The Results
The first event, US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach, CA was the largest action sports event in the world, with 1 million visitors over 9 days on the beach. A steady stream of players lined up from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. each day to participate. A key learning for the game came from the kiosks themselves, which were not built to their original design specifications to allow for optimal read distance; however, the kiosks since then have been modified to improve readability. The Hurley team was thrilled to learn that hundreds of thousands of scans were performed by the readers at the event. “the Score Card games couldn’t have gone better! We were able to effectively engage a large number of participants, link the real world of Surfing with the social media world, and most importantly, offer everyone a great Hurley experience.”
With the solution being provided by Serialio.com powered by RF IDeas readers, Hurley’s need for a secure, measurable, wearable, and fun solution was achieved. On the Serialio.com side, that meant using an Apple iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard and charging the iPad in the field while connecting RF IDeas readers via WiSnap™ Wi-Fi dongles. On the RF IDeas side, it meant the proven reliability of their contactless smart card readers. The game worked well and is being played at other events including the Hurley Pro in San Clemente, CA, which involves local retail shops around town, as well as locations on the beach. The team at Hurley depended on Serialio.com and their solutions utilizing RF IDeas’ readers for the successful launch of their game.
