More: They Are Finally Getting It

Last week I wrote about Live Nation cutting a deal with Groupon to move tickets.  I mentioned that this kind of deal was closer to the type of marketing that family shows have been doing for years.  This week I saw another example of family show marketing for a Live Nation concert.

Here in the Boston area, we have a large furniture chain called Jordan’s.  They are no small outfit.  They are part of the Warren Buffet empire!  Everything they do is bigger than life.  They are all about mixing entertainment with selling furniture.  All of their stores are themed toward entertainment.  Some even have IMAX theaters.  Over the past several years they have teamed up with the Boston Red Sox on promotions that include the possibility of everyone who buys furniture getting it free.   Currently they are running a promotion that if you buy a mattress, you get free tickets to see Tim McGraw.  This promotion is right out of the old Feld Entertainment handbook!

I took a peek at Live Nation’s website to see how the show was selling for the summer stop here in Boston at the Comcast Center.  Thanks to LN’s new seating chart, I was able to see how many tickets were still available in each section.  The answer: thousands of tickets are still available!  This does not even include the lawn seats.

This is a good promotion for Live Nation.  They know that Jordan’s does quality promotions.  They know Jordan’s spends tons of money in advertising.  They are one of the top advertisers in the Boston market.  LN could never afford to buy the amount of TV exposure for one concert that the Jordan’s promotion is giving them. 

I’m sure that I will get feedback from old school concert promoters ripping the promotion.  They already responded to last week’s post on the Groupon deal.  They believe that customers will wait to buy tickets at a discount.  The family show biz has been offering discounts for years and customers didn’t always respond by waiting.  If the concert industry doesn’t want to discount, than lower ticket prices.

While not every deal and promotion will breed success for concert ticket sales.  My hat is off to Live Nation for at least trying!

Are They Finally Getting It?

This week Live Nation and Groupon announced a partnership to move tickets.  The deal is called GrouponLive.  This is a major breakthrough for the concert industry.  They are finally starting to get it.

How can I not like this partnership?  Anyone who reads this blog knows that I constantly preach about this stuff.  Instead of just papering the house, leaving the seat empty, or canceling a show, they are going to try and get some ticket revenue for the seat.  Don’t forget that Live Nation runs many of the venues.  Getting a customer in at a discount also means getting revenue for parking, concessions, and merch.

This matchup is closer to the marketing thinking that the live family show business has been doing for years.  The live concert industry always believed it was beneath them to offer discounts, group sales or promotions.  I still remember a certain manager of a very famous rock band giving me shit when I came up with a clever promotion to create exposure for his on-sale. His quote was “this ain’t a fuckin circus”.  He was referencing my Ringling Bros. marketing background.

As a music fan that grew up spending lots of summer nights at an outdoor amphitheater, this could help bring that summer ritual to a new audience.  When I was a teen, anyone could afford to see multiple shows at a summer shed and teens took advantage of this.  Today, kids have to save the whole summer just to see one.   Offering a GrouponLive coupon could fill those lawn seats once again.

This deal is probably a better deal for Live Nation then Groupon.  Yes, Groupon will move tickets with their 60 million subscribers, which will bring them new revenue.  For Live Nation, they get to market to 60 million subscribers and fill those empty seats. As Michael Rapino CEO of Live Nation said “finding ways to deliver the message to local email in-boxes is the way of the future.” 

I believe this is a shot in the arm that Live Nation needs save the 2011 summer season and maybe even the company.

What Does Traditional Media Have To Do?

Yesterday I received a comment for my post on Online Coupons.  She asked “how do we still make the argument for traditional advertising”? My answer; it’s all up to traditional advertising.

Working with traditional advertising today is not what it once was.  Today they are more like car salesmen.  When I first got into the live entertainment business the traditional media were our partners.  The deals we cut with TV and radio was a partnership.  It was not just a cash buy.  The deals we put together included promotional spots, trade spots, and a cash schedule. We could put together a couple of good deals with a few TV and radio stations and own the market. 

The media promotional deal needed to have teeth.  Promotions were vital to the success of the marketing campaign.  It was not unusual to get six TV promotional spots a day over four weeks. Add the trade and the cash buy and you really made a statement in the market.  Ticket buyers actually thought the media outlet brought our shows into town.

Why did this all change?  My theory is that the media decided to change from partner to just sales person. They went with the attitude that “we had to buy them”.  The big family show marketers (who had the best deals) didn’t fight back. They gave in! Concert promoters never took the time to put really good promotional deals together.  They were satisfied with a week-long 5-4-3-2-1 promotion during morning drive and spending way too much money to get it.  Bottom line is we let the traditional advertising control our marketing!

As traditional media sat back and collected our cash, our ticket sales fell, our marketing budgets stalled, and the cost of media went up.  Marketers needed to look at new ways to market.  We found that we had this new source for getting our message out called the internet and its social media outlets.  It does work.  As marketers, all we need to do is create the energy to power it. 

Can traditional advertising get us back?  They can if they want to step up into 21st century thinking.  If they just hold out their hand and ask for money in exchange for advertising, then the answer is No.  If they want to become true partners to achieve success for our events, then Yes!