Caroline asked to judge FMBE Awards

We are thrilled to announce that Meshh CEO, Caroline McGuckian, has been invited to judge two categories in the Field Marketing and Brand Experience Awards 2023, the Most Immersive Event (mass consumer) category and the ​​Most Effective Roadshow or Shopping Centre Campaign.

Caroline commented, “Judging awards is not to be taken lightly, and I am honoured to have been invited to judge these very competitive categories. They are specific parts of the industry where many of our clients operate, so I was particularly interested in the innovation and creativity in this year’s entries.”

The Most Immersive Event (mass consumer) category requires entrants to show how live and integrated teams brought all relevant aspects of the brand to life for the participants who experience the live brand activity. Events entered in this category will have faced competition for consumer attention on the day or days of the event.

“The scope of work that can be entered into this category is wide, including brand experiences and sponsorship activations at festivals, family days out, holiday days and sports events. They can be large stands or entertainment at shopping centres, performances in public spaces, city centres or parks. But most important for me is the requirement to evidence how successful the activity was in meeting client expectations. Measurement is where I spend my working life, so it will be important to see how the entrants have backed up their creative submission with tangible evidence,” concluded Caroline.

Last year’s winners in this category were:

  • GOLD Backlash – Beauty Pie
  • SILVER The Circle Agency – Costa
  • BRONZE Strata Creative – Polestar
  • BRONZE We Are Collider – Waitrose

The ​​Most Effective Roadshow or Shopping Centre Campaign entrants had to show how their work has excelled under at least two of the following criteria: Quality brand representatives and training; quantity and quality of contacts made; targeting; brand awareness uplift; sampling or trial success; brand and customer feedback; extended brand reach; customer interaction and involvement; measurement of results; successful client relationship; shopper psychology; shopper engagement; customer analysis; creative use of space; best practice with venue owner; measures to cut environmental impact; coupon redemption; sales promotion participation; ROI, which is quite a challenge.

Last year’s winners in this category were:

  • GOLD REL Field Marketing – Weetabix
  • SILVER The Circle Agency – Costa
  • BRONZE Gekko – Google
  • BRONZE N2O – Tesco

For more information on the awards and to see the full Shortlist, check out the FMBE website – http://fieldmarketing.com/news/fmbe-awards-shortlist-2023-announced/

Meshh announces two new appointments

We are excited to announce the expansion of our international team, with the appointment of Joe Lapreay in the US as a business operation associate and Aakif Nazir in the UK as a product developer.

“From the initial brief to the deployment of sensors and the final report, client experience is a priority at Meshh.” said Caroline McGuckian, CEO of Meshh, “We believe that investing in people is a priority because they are fundamental to delivering an excellent service.”

Lapreay began working at our North American office in September 2023. In his role, he will support our sales and client service teams to ensure they offer the best possible experience to existing and potential clients. Additionally, he will assist the team with post-event reporting and help with deploying Meshh technology in the field.

Aakif Nazir joined our UK team in August of 2023. Prior to his role at Meshh, he worked in the software development tools field for five years. Nazir will work alongside Meshh’s lead developer to improve our behind-the-scenes tooling and reporting platform.

Caroline concluded, “I am pleased to welcome Joe and Aakif to the team. Both stood out as exceptional candidates during the hiring process, and I am confident their expertise and experience will prove invaluable to the Meshh team and our clients.” 

Meshh and Sky Nominated for FMBE Awards 2023

In exciting news to kick off Q4, we are thrilled to announce that our work with Sky has been shortlisted for the 2023 FMBE Awards in two categories: ‘Instore Marketing’ and ‘Evolving Brand Relationships’. 

Our team has been nominated for the ‘Most Effective Instore Marketing’ category thanks to our work with Sky’s commercial team. We were tasked with generating custom reports for Sky in 2022 to monitor foot traffic in physical spaces. These reports gave Sky invaluable insights into visitor behaviour, enabling them to improve performance and enhance the overall visitor experience. 

Our partnership with Sky goes back to 2019, and we are honoured to be considered for this year’s FMBE special award for Evolving Brand Relationships. It’s a great opportunity to look back on our time working together and recognise our achievements.

Caroline McGuckian, Meshh CEO, said, “This is an exciting time for us and Sky, especially so soon after our win at the Retail Systems Awards in June 2023. It’s an amazing chance for us to showcase our relationship with Sky and how it has grown over time.

“The Meshh team would like to extend our congratulations to the companies which have been shortlisted and share our gratitude to the judges at FMBE. We look forward to celebrating the industry’s achievements together in November.”


For more information on the awards and to see the full Shortlist, check out the FMBE website – http://fieldmarketing.com/news/fmbe-awards-shortlist-2023-announced/

Measuring the Movement of People in Spaces Over Time: Unveiling the True Value of Data

Measuring human movement in spaces has become essential for businesses, event organisers, and urban planners in our increasingly interconnected world. Analysing how people interact with their surroundings can unlock valuable insights that drive decision-making and enhance experiences. 

But how do you get the most value from the data?

As the saying goes, “Repetition is the mother of learning”. The actual value lies not merely in measuring a snapshot in time but in embracing continuous assessment, understanding the challenges of limited data, and adopting an evolving measurement strategy.

Measuring a moment in time can provide intriguing insights and figures, but it’s crucial to recognise that understanding behaviour requires a more comprehensive approach. Taking action based on these initial measurements and then re-evaluating the results is where genuine value emerges. For example, if an event organiser measures foot traffic at a conference and identifies underutilised areas, they can optimise the space or adjust the event layout. By reassessing foot traffic after implementing changes, they can determine the effectiveness of their actions and make data-driven decisions for future events.

While gathering data from a single event or brand activation may seem practical, it can present limitations in decision-making. A sample size of 1 lacks the statistical significance needed to draw broader conclusions reliably. For instance, relying solely on the data from one live event to gauge attendee preferences may lead to misinformed assumptions. To overcome this challenge, businesses should aim for larger, diverse datasets over time to obtain a more precise and representative understanding of people’s behaviour in various contexts.

In the pursuit of effective measurement, standardisation plays a vital role. Organisations can compare data across different periods, events, or locations by establishing consistent metrics and methodologies. However, an exclusive focus on static measurements can prove detrimental. A good measurement strategy should evolve to accommodate changing behaviours, technological advancements, and societal shifts. Relying solely on isolated snapshots of data risks rendering the measurement strategy outdated and out of touch with current realities.

Embracing continuous assessment and measurement ensures organisations stay agile and responsive to the ever-changing dynamics of human behaviour in spaces.


For more information about how spatial analytics can help you make data-driven decisions for your organisation, contact us at info@meshh.com

Meshh to measure the first Pacific Airshow Gold Coast

We are excited to announce that we have been chosen by Pacific Airshow to deliver data and analytics for its first-ever airshow at Gold Coast, Australia, on 18-20 August, 2023. 


Pacific Airshow director of event operations, Sam Pearce, explained, “Pacific Air Show is all about providing high action and top quality entertainment for its attendees and even the wider local community. Using Meshh technology allows us to monitor the venues effectiveness and in turn keep building an amazing event production year on year for the Gold Coast”  


Our sensors will be deployed throughout the three-day event in 8 locations around the Surfers Paradise beachfront venue. They will measure the effectiveness of the event’s commercial and operational outputs


The sensors will be placed to gather critical metrics for the airshow organisers, sponsors and suppliers, including using traffic over time to measure the Opportunity To See (OTS) for the merchandise/partner activation areas, attendance, engagement and dwell time for the Cali Beach Club, and which gate entrants were most likely to visit the merchandise/partner zone. On a daily basis, and for the overall show, we will monitor and report on the distributed dwell time at specific locations, the movement of those entering the airshow around the show, and how far they travel within the area.

Andrew Stone, our general manager of operations, said, “Pacific Airshow, with its exciting schedule of activities, is expected to draw thousands of families to the Gold Coast for a breathtaking weekend of entertainment. Such events present a valuable opportunity for partners, brands, and suppliers to connect with their target audience. Therefore, enhancing the visitor experience as much as possible is essential.

“The power of spatial analytics lies in the depth of the data. We can report where an attendee’s device was first and last seen by the sensors, their entry and exit points, dwell time and repeat visits within one or over multiple days. This data allows organisers to spend a day with attendees, providing insight into how they engage, behaviour patterns, and how to optimise the experience for both visitors and commercial partners.”

Techniques that work and those which don’t

In today’s data-driven world, understanding human behaviour is vital to success in various industries. Companies, researchers, and policymakers strive to gain valuable insights into consumer preferences, decision-making patterns, and overall behaviour.

One of the most significant advantages lies in the ability to collect real-time data, providing an accurate snapshot of behaviour as it occurs. Unlike surveys and sampling methods that rely on memory recall or subjective self-reporting, measuring spatial analytics in this way captures real-time data, eliminating potential biases and enhancing the accuracy of results. By collecting objective insights, organisations can make data-driven decisions based on actual behaviour rather than relying on perceptions or opinions.

It also enables the collection of granular data at a level of detail that was previously unimaginable. While traditional survey methods are often limited in their ability to capture the nuances and intricacies of behaviour due to the reliance on self-reporting, spatial analytics provides a contextual understanding of behaviour, allowing for more precise identification of trends.

Additionally, it offers the opportunity to integrate multiple data sources, enriching the understanding of behaviour. Researchers can identify factors influencing behaviour by combining behavioural data with demographic, environmental, and other relevant data sets. This integration enables more profound insights into spatial contexts, such as a store’s layout or a public space’s design. Organisations can use this insight to make informed decisions tailored to specific contexts and populations.

Conventional data collection methods require active participation from individuals, leading to potential biases and limited sample sizes. With the rise of anonymous collection technologies, behavioural data can be gathered without disrupting the natural flow of individuals’ actions. This unobtrusiveness leads to more accurate and unbiased data, as the data collection does not influence participants.

Spatial analytics also provides a solid foundation for predictive and prescriptive analytics, allowing organisations to anticipate future behaviour and optimise decision-making. Predictive models can be built to forecast future behaviour and guide strategic planning by analysing historical behavioural data, patterns, and trends over time. Moreover, this type of measurement can suggest optimal interventions or changes that influence behaviour positively, which is particularly valuable for urban planning, retail optimisation, event planning, and crowd management.

In a world where understanding human behaviour is crucial for success, collecting large sets of behavioural data offers a more detailed and robust approach than just traditional surveying and sampling methods. Integrating diverse data sources, employing unobtrusive data collection techniques, and doing so over time, empowers organisations to understand behaviour comprehensively. 

As we continue to advance in the era of data analytics, spatial analytics stands out as a powerful tool for unravelling complexities.

For more information about how spatial analytics can help you make data-driven decisions for your organisation, contact us at info@meshh.com. 

The Key Differences in Spatial Analytical Data Collection: Indoor Events vs. Outdoor Events

Spatial analytics has become an invaluable tool for event organisers seeking to understand visitor behaviour and improve event experiences. While the principles of data collection remain consistent, setting up spatial analytical data collection systems at indoor events, such as trade shows, and outdoor events, like festivals, present unique challenges and opportunities. This blog post will explore the key differences between these two settings, focusing on power requirements, sensor capabilities, and the ability to monitor visitor touchpoints.

Indoor venues typically provide mains power outlets, facilitating sensors that rely on continuous power supply. This allows for more sophisticated and resource-intensive data collection methods, such as high-resolution cameras or advanced tracking systems. Organisers can connect sensors directly to the mains power supply, ensuring uninterrupted operation throughout the event.

Outdoor events often lack access to reliable mains power sources, necessitating battery-powered sensors to collect spatial analytics data. Battery-powered sensors offer greater flexibility and mobility, as they can be strategically placed without power cables. However, they may have data transmission and processing capacity limitations due to power constraints.

Indoor and outdoor events differ in sensor capabilities. Indoor venues often offer fewer variables to make it easier to implement precise sensor technologies. Infrared sensors, Wi-Fi tracking, Bluetooth beacons, and Bluetooth beacons can monitor visitor movements in a confined space. This allows organisers to create a curated experience and monitor touchpoints, enabling real-time adjustments to optimise visitor flow and engagement.

On the other hand, outdoor events present unique challenges due to their open and expansive nature. Battery-powered sensors, such as GPS trackers, RFID tags, or low-power wireless networks, are often used in outdoor settings to gather data on visitor behaviour. These sensors can measure crowd density, traffic flow, and popular attractions. While the granularity of data may be lower compared to indoor events, the advantage lies in capturing visitor movements across a wider area, providing insights into popular areas, potential bottlenecks, and overall event flow.

The nature of indoor and outdoor events affects the ability to monitor visitor touchpoints throughout the event. In curated indoor settings, organisers have greater control over the visitor experience. They can implement spatial analytics techniques to monitor interactions at touchpoints such as booth visits, product demonstrations, and networking areas. This enables event organisers to assess the effectiveness of specific elements and make data-driven decisions, enhancing attendee satisfaction and engagement.

Conversely, outdoor events often offer a more fluid and unmonitored experience. Once visitors purchase tickets, they can navigate the festival grounds at their leisure. Spatial analytics techniques become essential for capturing visitor movements and interactions that would otherwise go untracked. By deploying sensors strategically across the event space, organisers can gain valuable insights into popular attractions, traffic patterns, and overall visitor behaviour. This information can be leveraged to optimise event layout, enhance crowd management, and improve the overall attendee experience.

Setting up spatial analytical data collection systems for indoor and outdoor events requires careful consideration of various factors. While indoor events offer the advantage of mains power supply and the ability to monitor curated visitor touchpoints, outdoor events demand the use of battery-powered sensors and present unique challenges in tracking visitor movements across expansive areas. By leveraging the appropriate sensor technologies and data collection methods, event organisers can gain valuable insights to optimise event experiences, improve crowd management, and make data-driven decisions.

Gain Deeper Insight into Attendee Behaviour with Meshh at AFIC 2023

Are you a festival professional looking to gain a deeper insight into your attendee’s behaviour? Or are looking for methods to evaluate the success of activations, sponsors and operations?

Come see us at the Australian Festival Industry Conference (AFIC) on August 30, 2023, at Luna Park, Sydney. Our general manager, Andrew Stone, will be presenting at the AFIC New Product Showcase. In this 1 hour segment, Andrew will demonstrate Meshh’s intelligent data capture technology; showing delegates how passive data collection can be utilised to improve understanding of attendee behaviour at festival and event spaces.

AFIC invites festival producers, directors and managers to learn, share and network through its in-depth conference program, trade show and networking events. Throughout the 2 day event, delegates are able to connect with their industry peers and build connections with suppliers.

The full event program, speaker list and tickers are currently available on the AFIC website – https://australianfestivalconference.com.au/ 

See you at AFIC 2023!

Adding Value to Experiential Marketing with Spatial Analytics

In the fast-paced world of experiential marketing and brand activations, deploying spatial analytics can appear daunting. During the bustling season of back-to-back events, experiential agency teams find themselves fully immersed in delivering captivating activations with little time for anything amidst living out of hotels and constant travel; data collection often takes a backseat.

However, there is a solution that allows agencies to deploy a measurement system effortlessly, providing accurate and valuable insights. Meshh sensors offer a simple plug-and-play solution that can be easily activated by anyone familiar with turning on a mobile phone.

The demanding nature of managing event programmes leaves little room for complicated technical installations. However, with Meshh sensors, deploying anonymised wifi tracking becomes straightforward. Placing and turning the sensors on is easy, and agency personnel can quickly activate the sensors without the need for technical expertise or dedicated technicians. This plug-and-play approach allows agencies to seamlessly integrate data collection into their activations without adding unnecessary complexity.

Meshh sensors not only simplify deployment but also streamline the data collection process. By effortlessly capturing key metrics, such as visits, dwell times, and engagement levels, the sensors provide accurate insights into the performance of brand activations and promotions. Once the data is collected, Meshh analyses and presents the results to the agency. Meshh also provides a custom dashboard for clients to see the results building and final results in real time. Using a custom dashboard eliminates the need for extensive manual data analysis or interpretation.

Meshh sensors add significant value for clients and agencies. The data collected provides concrete evidence of an activation’s impact and effectiveness. Clients can gain insights into audience behaviour, engagement levels, and overall performance, enabling them to make informed decisions about future marketing strategies. For agencies, the ability to present accurate measurement results strengthens their credibility and enhances their ability to showcase the value of their activations to clients.

Even if the event season is already in full swing, there is always time to integrate spatial analytics into brand activations. By leveraging the plug-and-play nature of these sensors, agencies can effortlessly collect valuable data, empowering them to measure their activations’ impact accurately.
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to enhance your activations with effortless spatial analytics – to find out more, email Meshh at info@meshh.com.

Dentsu appoints Meshh to undertake analytics for third NIVEA Sun tour

We are thrilled to announce that creative communications agency dentsu has chosen
Meshh, to deliver the data and analytics for the 14-date NIVEA Sun and Cancer Research UK
summer tour for the third year. The tour will reach 13 locations in the UK, including several
Race for Life events and conclude at the Victorious Festival, Portsmouth, on 25-27 August.

Monica Marcjanek, client director at dentsu, said, “We have benefitted using Meshh on the
NIVEA Sun x Cancer Research UK Sun Safety Tour for the third year running. This enables us
to really understand our visitors’ behaviours within our activation space and brand
experiences, allowing us to gain valuable insight such as footfall, engagement, dwell time
and impact helping us to gain a clearer picture of the visitor’s journey. Obtaining this data as
well as the learnings on what works well and what doesn’t enable us to improve our strategic
thinking, approach and optimisation going forward.”

This will be the third incarnation of the tour at which we have supplied sensors; the dentsu
personnel have been trained in their operation, placement for optimum results, and how to
start and end each recording period. The sensors will measure footfall and consumer
engagement throughout the tour, which we will analyse and evaluate for actionable insights
based on three years of accumulated data. This will allow dentsu, Cancer Research, and
NIVEA to quantify and compare the campaign’s success using reliable, credible information.

Meshh CEO, Caroline McGuckian, commented, “Collecting data at multiple events over a
number of years provides a rich set of data from which strong conclusions on dwell time,
engagement and repeat visitors can be made. An added bonus is that we have trained the
dentsu personnel to deploy and manage the sensors, which means that we can focus on our
area of expertise – analysing the patterns in the data and reporting meaningful results and
recommendations.”


“The roadshow has attended a mixture of events each year at varying locations, all of which
provide a wide sample of data from which conclusions can be drawn, from the location with
an event to the type of event. Mapping this onto previous results years helps identify trends
and the impact of marketing messages around skin protection,” concludes McGuckian.