Q-dance is the leading harder styles event organization in the world, based in Amsterdam. They create and host events such as Defqon.1 and Qlimax.
The biggest festival in their portfolio is Defqon.1 with 500 artists playing on 13 stages and 250.000 attendees in four days.
At Defqon.1 2024 the most “dediqated” members were offered a digital extension of their Defqon.1 identity with The Path - an exclusive mobile loyalty program available in the Q-dance app.
With The Path they could:
“We have a very distinguished relationship with our visitors. People identify with our brand to the point where they proudly wear our merchandise. You see people with Defqon.1 tattoos, throwing Defqon.1 parties, joining Defqon.1 Facebook groups, and participating in Defqon.1 subreddits.
Everything we do is about the tribe—the community. Our theme for this year was the Power of the Tribe.
I felt that the loyalty program would be an ideal solution to give back to those who have been to the festival multiple times and build our legacy with us.”
Koen van Santen
Head of Digital at Q-dance
Q-dance is known for designing excellent festival experiences. During the Defqon.1 festival they follow the 0 screens policy so that the Warriors (festival-goers who can handle the four days hardstyle dancing) can fully immerse in the atmosphere of the event.
The mobile app is designed to be your festival companion with relevant content to help you navigate the festival and personalize your experience.
“We want to create a balance where the app is there for you when you need it but it should not be the focal point of your experience.”
Koen van Santen
Head of Digital at Q-dance
The team needed to understand the audience better. The key was to identify the most valuable customers: most loyal festival-goers, fans who could become brand ambassadors and co-create the festival. Build the legacy together.
Offer relevant content to provide online support and enhancement for the festival experience in an organic and seamlessly integrated way.
Design touchpoints the whole year round to engage the Warriors in between the festivals.
“We see a lot of opportunities: we presented our program to brand prospects and brand partners (e.g. Red Bull, Bar-le-Duc) and they responded very positively to our personalized offering and the possibility to co-create quests with partners.”
Koen van Santen
Head of Digital at Q-dance
The Path - an exclusive mobile loyalty program available in the Q-dance app serving as a digital extension of members’ Defqon.1 identity.
“The loyalty program helped us identify who our most valuable customers are. Before, we didn’t have an integrated platform.
Now, we can see who the most valuable customers are. We can see the difference between segments of our audience: newcomers vs. veteran warriors.
The program helped us communicate better and interact with the audience in a more relevant way.
A loyalty program can influence everything. It’s basically glue. If anything, these XP points are like an overarching currency, incentivizing people to buy tickets earlier, upgrade their travel options, but also motivate them to preferred actions such as entering in panels, surveys and helping out tribe members.
This loyalty program is a way to engage our customers with our brand year-round. To create year-round touchpoints like monthly raffles where participants can win meet-and-greets or merchandise packs.
We can create quests for basic engagement, like opening and reading an email with information about an event, such as the lineup. This way, we can design touchpoints for months before and after the festival.”
Koen van Santen
Head of Digital at Q-dance
