While Sleep Token fans await news of another tour from the UK rock act, Music Week is revisiting the story behind a hugely successful activation around their last global live dates.
RCA triumphed in the Music Consumer Innovation category at the Music Week Awards earlier this year for the Sleep Token/Download Festival 2025 Geo-drop Experience.
The US-signed band are famously mysterious so they would not be active themselves in the initiative, which was created by RCA in partnership with agency Certifi.
“Working on this project, it was interesting because we knew that the band weren't going to be in the centre of it, so we had to create an extended world around them,” said Edd Blower, director of audience strategy and growth, RCA. “We were given very clear creative to build on top of from [band member] Vessel and RCA Records US. We had a good understanding of the fanbase, so we knew what was going to appeal to them and fit on top of that.”
The groundbreaking initiative at Download Festival involved a series of puzzles and incorporated QR codes, augmented-reality collectibles and mobile-wallet passes.
“Certifi helped implement the tech behind the activation,” said Satvir Bhamra, digital marketing manager. “It’s the first activation of its kind to incorporate QR code technology, geo-location technology and AR technology in a live music environment.”
“We did a lot of stress-testing,” said Blower. “There were a lot of late nights with the developers, because we knew it was happening on the day, in the moment, and we couldn't have any possibilities of there being any issues. So we did very thorough testing with the team, covering every eventuality, to ensure we didn't have any issues on the day.”
The activation was later rolled out to Sleep Token’s US arena tour in support of the Even In Arcadia album, which was attended by hundreds of thousands of fans. The band’s community are drawn to the puzzle-solving and collectibles that are part of their world.
“I think this activation was very specific to the audience because of the element of gamifying, the quest, the different levels of awards as well,” said Blower. “But the tech is definitely something that we can use again and again.”
A general competition involved the chance to win special tokens, which many of the band’s fans collect.
“It falls into the collector's mindset for the fans,” said Blower. “But then the top tier prize was to get to watch the entire show from the sound desk. At Download, if you don't have a good standing position, it's a privilege to be able to see that show from that tower. So that was really special.”
Blower said RCA is looking at further activations using some of the same ideas around dedicated fan engagement.
“We're doing a lot with geo-based tech around shows and festivals to make sure that we recognise and reward fandom,” he said.
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