I Paid To See A Show!

I recently went to see Coldplay.  I had not been to a big arena concert as a patron for a long time.  I went because my teenage son wanted to go to his first concert. 

It has been a long time since I paid to go see a show.  Remember, I work in the business.  I don’t pay to see shows but my son really wanted to see it.  What a shock at the prices.  Tickets were $100 and up (face value) to see the show.  I have concert tickets from when I was a teen that were $10 and they were front row seats.  Concert shirts are now $35.  Then you have to buy the food.  I had my son and his friend with me.  Think what damage two teenage boys at the arena concession stands are going to do to the wallet.

By the way, the show was great.  The sound and lights were very good.  The band had two opening acts.  The first one was the local band Luxury.  Coldplay had an online contest where the fans could vote for a local band to open.  Coldplay picked the final winner.  I think this was a pretty cool marketing contest.  The winning band must have been pumped.  I am sure they have always dreamed of playing on the big stage with big sound in their home town arena.

The second opening act was the national act Santogold.  I think they are a pretty cool act with a very unique sound.  The problem was that the music didn’t go with the complete show.  I bet this was an example of agents looking for some place for the act to go.  Don’t they understand that while the act needs exposure it needs the right exposure with the right audience.  The Coldplay crowd was not the right fit. 

The overall good news is that my son enjoyed his first show and wants to see another show soon.  So does Dad.

The Ultimate Event Is Now Playing

I could not have a event & entertainment marketing blog without mentioning the Olympics.  It is the ultimate event.  The worldwide buzz that surrounds the Olympics is every marketers dream.  There is not one media source that doesn’t talk about the event anywhere in the world. 

 I was involved in two Olympic Games.  The Lake Placid winter games and the Atlanta summer games.  The marketing for these events is well planned. But anyone that has been involved will tell you that even with all the planning, the marketing takes on a life of it own. 

Of course you have Olympic sponsors.  They get certain marketing rights that they pay very big $$$ for.  Then you have the on-site ambush marketers.  Their job is to set up shop in the Olympic city and not only get as much exposure as possible but to make the public think they are a sponsor.  When I was working with Coke on their Olympic project, they had Coke employees walking everyday through the streets of Atlanta just to make sure Pepsi was not ambushing.  Even though Reebok was the official shoe of the Atlanta games, Nike rented a entire parking garage and turned it into a marketing event. 

China has been able to control a lot during the games so far.  The media seems to be going a long with this.  Of course not everything is kept secret.  The current examples include the digital enhanced fireworks and the cute little lip-syncing girl.  I also saw a picture of fake store fronts placed in front of the normal run down store fronts on some of the city streets. 

I am sure the ambush marketers are having a harder time in Beijing but I bet they are finding a way.