When The Boss Has A “Great” Idea

So, your boss comes to you and has this “great idea” that will sell “lots” of tickets.  The question is will it really move tickets and is it really worth the effort?  As marketers, these are just some of the questions we have to ask ourselves everyday.  So you take the bosses idea of creating this new event.  You start thinking about.  The Who’s, What’s, Where’s, How’s and the big one, “Why”? come out.  Who are you going to market this event to?  What is the reason for doing the event and what is involved?  Where and when are you going to do the event?  How are you going to accomplish this task?  And Why are you doing the event?  At my job the marketing team and I are going through this right now.   

Many times we are asked to do something because someone gets a “brilliant” idea and  we leap into action without really thinking it through.  I am not saying that it could not be a “great” idea, but it might not be the right moment to do so.   This is why a good marketing plan is essential.  All the questions should be answered in this plan. 

Random Thoughts From The Weekend

I was in Saratoga Springs NY over the weekend.  Anybody who has been there knows that it a small, upscale town that really comes alive in the summer.  It is the home of many events including the historic Saratoga Race Track.  All along the main drag they have old fashion street lamps.  Hanging off the street lamps were pole hanger banners promoting some the events.  These banners looked very good and did not hurt the overall feel that the town prides itself on.  The events being promoted included, the polo matches, the harness track & casino, and even the opera. 

When involving radio stations in promotions, research what the on-air personalities are in to.  Find out their passions and get those involved that make sense.

Does anyone really read the advertising sticker they place right in the middle of the front page on the morning newspaper?  I find them really annoying.  If I find it annoying, am I going to buy the product?

 

Is Local Cable Access Growing Up?

A year ago, if you asked me about local cable TV access, I would have said who cares, no one ever watches it.  Well this is now an area that needs to be looked at.  Every town has its own cable access channels.  Some have more then one.  They need to fill programming 24/7.  In the old days this was a slate of graphics with bad music playing in the background.  Today, there are all kinds of stuff on it.  From local music shows, to cooking shows, to local high school sports, there is always some kind of programming on. 

I believe the sudden interest in local cable TV access might be related to the success of YouTube.  If you think about it they are similar.

I started thinking how I could market events through this media.  Running TV spots is not the right thing to do.  What if you could create a cable access show around what you are trying to promote?  It could be set up like a TV talk show or a variety show.  If you are an arena, you could have a weekly show that features a new show or event each week that you need to market. 

The cost to produce and run these shows is very minimal.  Because of the amount of programming that these access channels need, many programs are running on multiple access channels in several communities.  I am on the board of my local arts center.  We tape several events a year that are re-broadcasted on cable access in several communities. 

We had a person come into our office about a month ago.  He had created a local access show and was asking us to be a sponsor.  He had already lined up several communities that had agreed to air the program.  Each program could run dozens of times.  The cost for the sponsorship was really low. There is still not a lot good data out there on viewership but if the program runs several times over several communities, I bet it is getting some viewership. 

 

Let’s Create An Experience

Since I am on the experience / brand theme this week, let’s create a good experience for someone going to a show, game or event.

As I mentioned in my post “Its The Experience Stupid” a good experience should start long before they go the show or game.  Let’s start with the marketing of the on-sale.  I love a good promotion to kick off the on-sale.  Create the right one and you will create a good experience.  Work with your promotional partners and your sponsorship partners to create the right buzz. 

Now your customer wants to buy the ticket.  Well this needs to be an experience too.  Technology is a big help with this.  Customers and fans no longer have to stand in line for hours or listen to the busy signal of the phone when buying tickets.  We now have the internet, and mobile.  You can buy your tickets at home and print them out right away.  However, can someone explain to me why it costs more to print your ticket at home then to pick it up at the box office?  Are we not using our own printer, ink and paper?  If you pickup at the box office doesn’t that require using ticket stock and a paid employee?   I mentioned in a previous post that Tickets.com has a new product call Tickets@phone.  Buy your tickets using your mobile phone.  That’s a cool experience. 

It’s the night of the event and your customer arrives.  Can we make the parking a good experience?  I know, this is a tough one.  If the arena controls the parking then they can control the experience.   If the customer bought their ticket with the mobile phone, they could have prepaid for parking and have the parking lot attendant scan the phone.  Staffing the parking correctly will help to create a good experience.  This helps with the in and the out. 

Now the customer arrives outside the front doors of the arena.  It doesn’t matter if it is a rock show, family show, or sporting event, there is always media sponsors.  Make them part of the experience.  Have them set up outside the doors to greet the customers.  Ask them to help create an interactive experience.  This is a win-win for everyone.

The customer is now in the arena.  They are going to walk around the concourse either to find their seats or to buy merchandise and food.  This is another opportunity to create an experience.  Whatever the show or sporting event is, create a theme experience around this.  When I worked for the Atlanta Knights Hockey team in Atlanta we always tried to create a concourse experience.  One example was when we played the Las Vegas team.  We turned the concourse into a casino.  We handed our fans “Knights Bucks” as they entered the arena.  They could use this play money to play at the casino tables throughout the concourse.  If they filled out the back of the money with their personal info, they could win prizes from our sponsors.  Customer experience, data mining, and sponsor fulfillment was accomplished from this one experience. 

Now the show or game starts.  That of course is the experience that the customer paid for.  If it is a show, you have to let them control the experience.  If it is a game, you can control all things around the game.  Of course this depends on your relationship with the team.

After the show or event, create an experience during the egress.  Make sure you have personnel that are smiling and thanking the customers for coming.  Give them something on the way out.  You can always find a sponsor who wants to do this. 

 

Brand Loyalty Sells Tickets

Since my last post was on the customer experience, I thought the perfect follow-up would be on brand loyalty.  I believe they go hand in hand.  The event, sports, and entertainment business is the perfect place for building and maintaining brand loyalty. 

I have heard horror stories where a company has completely failed in  maintaining customer loyalty. Here is a example with a sports franchise.  A friend of mine had been a loyal season ticket holder of a major league team.  His tickets had been in the lower level of the arena close to the action.  The team moved into a new arena.  On opening night, he finds that his new seats are in the upper level and the seats seem very steep.  His wife is afraid of heights.  He finds the season ticket manager and explains his problem.  The manager says “no problem” and to call him the next day to fix it.  My friend calls the next day and is told they will not move his seats.  He explains again how he had always had lower level seats and his wife is scared of heights.  The season ticket manager does not help him.  When the next season renewal letters go out, my friend throws it away.  They send him another one and he throws that one away also.  They never try to call him to ask why?  He has never been to one of their games since.  Now you might be thinking (in a cold way) that the team is always sold out and doesn’t really need his business (nice attitude you have).  Well this team does need his business and their attendance numbers are on the lower end of the league.   If they don’t sell out every game, would it be that difficult to find him two seats that he would be happy with?  A little effort on the season ticket department would have gone a long way to maintaining the brand loyalty.

Build The Brand, Pass It On

There is a reason that the producers of the major family shows continue to produce shows with very large brand names:  Ringling Bros.; Disney On Ice; Sesame Street Live; Harlem Globetrotters.  People identify with these brands and know that this means a quality show.  These brands can be passed on to the next generation.

Brand loyalty should be passed to the next generation.  I just heard a bad example of losing the next generation.  This woman had been on her parent’s Sprint mobile phone plan throughout college.  She has now been out of school for a year and wanted her own Sprint plan.  They would not let her change without paying the “early termination” fee.  She did pay the fee and then went to another carrier (good for her).

The best way for a sports team to continue building  brand loyalty is to take it to the next generation.  The youth sports programs are the perfect brand building grounds.  These kids look up to the athletes.  They all hope to grow up and be the next great superstar.  This does not mean just selling group tickets to the youth leagues.  This means having an active role with the youth leagues. 

The keys to brand loyalty are: build, maintain, and build again.

It’s The Experience Stupid!

As a marketer I can mess with everything around the product but the product its self.  If it is a show, that’s the producers domain.  If it a sports team, its the owners and coaching staff that puts the talent out there.  You hope they give you a good product to sell but that is not always the case.   A sports team can have great talent but for some reason just can’t win the game.  A show can have the best of musicians and dancers but that alone doesn’t get a customer excited and it will need to be marketed. 

If you work for a sports team you cannot control what happens on the field or the ice, but you do control the communication of the product.  Win or lose your job is to sell them.   You can also control the customer experience.  From the moment they enter the arena until they leave, their experience should be a good one.  Remember that is what they are paying for.  Even when a team loses a game, you want the fan to say “too bad they lost, but I had a great time and can’t wait to go back”.  This really goes for any product.  If the overall experience is good, then the customer will be willing to pay for it.  This is what makes Starbucks what they are.  It is not just the coffee, its the whole experience.

The marketing and advertising of the product not only has to reach your customer but it also has to be a part of the customer experience.  Your message has to inform, excite, entertain, and get them to buy.  You want the experience to start even before they arrive at the event.

As a marketer you should play a vital part in the customer experience.   If you are a good marketer, then you know your customer.  Good ownership will listen to their marketing people and give them all the right tools to make the product a success.  Ownership must also make a commitment to the customer or the fan.  They have to commit to putting out the best product possible.  They have to stay proactive and not reactive.  Don’t let them slack on doing their part to make the customers experience a positive one.  Remind them they can’t make money if the customer is not buying.

PGA Golf Event

I went to the final round of the Bank of America Championship on Sunday.  This was part of the PGA senior champions tour.  I am not a golfer myself and this was my first PGA event.  I wanted to go because as a marketer I wanted to see how they ran the event.  Also, my son and his friend are getting into the game and I thought this would be fun for them (which it was). 

The PGA has done a good job of breaking the “snooty” mold that golf can have.  This was not only a fan friendly event but a family friendly event.  They even had a family fan area with things for the kids to do.  I forgot to mention that kids 15 and under were free.   When we went into the regular fan area the first thing I noticed was the two Segways driving around.  I thought of my posting last week on Segway street marketing (see June 20th grass roots/alt marketing post).  I understand why this form of advertising works.  Those Segways really stick out in a crowd.  The Segway people were letting fans try them out.  Of course I had to try one.  They take a little getting used to but they are cool.  They had one with a golf bag attached.  They are trying to get golfers to use a Segway instead of a cart. 

Of course people come to these events to see the golfers, but these events are all about the sponsors.  From the sponsor booths to the sponsor tents, to the sponsor hospitality areas, its all sponsors.  I bet more fans were there on free sponsor tickets then people who actually paid (yours included).  At the sponsor/vendor booths they were all trying to get fans to sign up to win something (a data miners dream).  Golfers tend to have a higher income level and you could see it by the sponsors and the vendor booths.

What makes this sport fun for the fans is how close you can get to the players.  As we walked the course, we were able to stand right next to the tee box, on top of the bunkers, and at the hole.  The players are right there with you.  Name many sports where you can be that up close to the players.  As I always say, its all about the fan experience.

I left the event with a whole new appreciation for the sport and look forward to going to another golf event.  I might even try playing it and watch a little on TV.  Well maybe not watching it on TV, that’s still boring.

Put Your Unsold Tickets To Good

For those looking to fill seats that will go unsold, I have a suggestion for you.  Why don’t you do some good with them. 

I met Friday with Standford Shane and Devin Golden of cMarket.  They are part of biddingforgood.  This is a b2b2c play.  The charities sign up to participate, we provide the tickets for the bidding, and the customer bids on the event.  The charity gets the money except for the percentage that biddingforgood receives.   They can make the online auction either local or national.

Their proposal claims:

• The largest group of bidders is between 30 & 55  years of age
• 63% of the cMarket/biddingforgood bidders have household income of $120k+
• 75% female (very interesting)

The carrot that I like best was when they said I could mine the data from customers bidding on my tickets.  Not just the winners info but all the bidders of my tickets.  There is no cost to those donating the tickets.  This sounds really great.  Am I missing something?  Post a comment and let me know. 

No matter if you use these guys or another one out there, the bottom line is that cause marketing is getting hotter, there are a lot of empty seats out there, and we are looking for niche customers.  If we can marry all three then I think that is a good thing.

www.biddingforgood.com

www.cmarket.com

 

Street Teams Still Work

So just when I’m thinking that street team marketing has lost it “spark”, I pick up today’s Boston Globe and there on the front page is a story about it.  Not only a front page story but one with a color photo.  What makes this story interesting is that the street team is not handing out flyer’s for a concert, club, or some new cool clothing line but for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum here in Boston. A art museum that was founded in 1903. 

The article talks about the fact that people were more willing to take a flyer about a museum then for the same stuff handed out everyday.  In the world of crowded street flyering, they stand out.  The museum has made an effort to attract a younger audience.  They even promoted some “after hours” events to attract young professionals. 

What came to mind while reading this article is that a street marketing campaign is getting publicity.  It is like a campaign within a campaign.  I mentioned in yesterday’s post on grass roots / alternative marketing about a street team that was getting publicity.

The article also mentions how the museum has been using other non-traditional marketing including podcasts, blogs and a Flickr site.  Wow, a “stuffy” old museum trying new stuff!  I am impressed!

The bottom line is: the Gardner Museum knows it has to find new audiences and they are not afraid to try something different.  As we all know, that’s the way to go.

 

EAMC -Grass Roots / Alt Marketing

While at the Event & Arena Marketing Conference, I went to a discussion on grass roots and alternative advertising.  The speakers were Mark Gianturco and Scott Becker from Neoterics.  They are an agency that specializes in this type of marketing.

Their big street marketing concept involves the use of Segways.  The thought process is that as they roll down the sidewalk they will attract attention.  Makes perfect sense.  Now deck out the Segway with an advertising message and give the person driving the Segway flyers or samples and you got yourself a great rolling marketing tool. 

Other street advertising that was discussed included bike taxi’s and wrapped vehicles.  My thought is that these are not as effective anymore because people ignore them.  You have to keep ideas fresh.  People tune things out very quickly.

 The guys from Neoterics discussed street decals.  They showed some examples of 3D decals.  They were pretty cool.  They noted that these have a strong visual appeal and strong word of mouth.  From the slides they showed us I would agree.  The coolest example was the decal at the bottom of the stairs.  While you look from the top of the stairs, you see a person laying on the floor at the bottom.  It was made to look as if she fell down the stairs.  That will get your attention!

They have come up with a new way to use street teams.  They made them look like “big” fans of the team or band and had them drive all around town creating “excitement”.  In one example they showed how this street team received TV coverage for a “bunch of fans” driving all around town.

Other forms of alternative advertising included illumination on the sides of buildings with logos or  artwork.  The TD Banknorth Garden was doing this during the NBA Championships and was shown several times on TV.  Mobile billboards can be very boring.  But they showed an example that I liked.  They took a mobile billboard with the background that actually matched the exact location.  Then they placed something “crazy” on the board they made it look like a tornado was coming right at you.  The visual was cool. 

Hockey Team Idea:  Place a huge block of ice with a hockey stick frozen into it.  Run a contest where the person who can pull out the stick will win a 10 game package.  This is a take off on the story “The Sword in the Stone”.  This would make a great radio promotion.  I suggest setting this up somewhere with maximum visibility.

 

Attack Of The Bean Counters

Marketing departments always seem to have an on going battle with CFO’s and accounting.  With the current economic status, this can even be a bigger battle.  I understand that everyone has to do belt tightening however, we must never lose sight that we still have to do business.  The bean counters always want to look at what is being spent on advertising.  They see money going out but not always the “instant” ROI.  If there is any time when marketing is highly important it is during these tougher times. 

We are in the discretionary dollar business.  Even in the best of times these dollars are pulled in many directions.   This is why it is so important to get your show or event the most exposure possible.  You may not have a lot of competition but you do for the $$. 

Here in Boston, we have a Dunkin Donuts on every corner.  Everyone is “addicted” to the coffee.  So why do they continue the spend tons of money in the market place? 

Six Flags has a campaign this year that reflects the current state of our economy.  Their parks are geographically located to draw from many markets.  With the current price of fuel, they have a problem.  Their current promotion is that everyone pays the kid price.  Basically, they lowered the price.  Still, they haven’t slowed down on the advertising.  They are running a lot of TV to promote this.   This could be a make or break year for them.

Don’t get me wrong.  You may not have a choice but to cut back on $$ but that is where the marketer in you comes in.  Add “low budget” items to your plan (the bean counters like this).  Non-traditional marketing is one area to include.  The goal is to create maximum exposure. 

Remind the bean counters of three things: 1) You still need to tell the customers about the event.  2) You may have to try even harder to get the business.  3) Don’t hurt the customers experience so they will return.