I am a huge fan of modern technology and the internet.  I am not afraid of it and never have been.  But I have noticed one big change that is not good for companies or our customers.  This is the lack of human contact.

This year I tried to use the web to purchase many of my holiday gifts.  The internet method is designed to be easy and convenient.  It is supposed to take the hassle out of traffic and malls.  Sometimes the net can be more of a hassle then wading through the malls.  What happens when something goes wrong?

How many of you have had issues with buying something online?  My guess is most. Think how you feel when it happens.  Now as marketers of event & entertainment use that feeling to make your customers experience better. 

Give your customers as easy a fix as quickly as possible.  What this could mean is getting a human to speak with them right away.  Every minute and step the customer needs to make is one step closer to losing the sale.  On the same web page where the transaction is taking place, give them a couple of options to speak to someone.  This could be with a phone number or with “live chat”. 

Last year I gave my family hockey tickets.  First I went online and looked around.  Nothing was available.  Then I went to the arena box office and spoke with a very nice ticket seller. She took the time and effort to look around and found me great seats.  She took an interest in helping the customer.  The computer cannot do this.  The technology is not there yet.

The customer experience is always your best marketing tool.  Good word of mouth and repeat business comes from a good customer experience.  Sometimes the internet cannot fix issues when they happen.  Only a pleasant human on the other end can bring comfort and joy.

There is a new service out called OptionIt and pro teams may have found a new ticket revenue source.  Click on the link and check it out for yourself.

If you are a consistently sold-out sports team or event, this is a way to bring in additional seat revenue and keep the seats full.  Here is how it works.  A customer can put an option on a seat or seat price for a sold-out event.  If the seat becomes open, they have the option to buy the seat at face value, sell their option, or just pass.  The customer of course pays for the option.  This cost is over and above the face value of the seat if it becomes available.

The first question that popped in my head is where do these “good” seats come from?  I understand that OptionIt is in partnership with the team or event but if these seats are “sold-out” how do they become available?  Yes, I know that teams and events hold seats for various things but they usually don’t hold too many if the team sells out on a regular basis. The website claims that you usually exercise your option a week or two before the event.  When do “holds” get released? 

According to their website they have signed three NFL teams, two NHL teams, and one NBA team.  They also have the SAP Open (tennis) and Strikeforce (martial arts).

Don’t get me wrong, I like this concept.  This is an interesting twist on ticket brokers and aftermarket ticketing.  Of course knowing our industry, the cynic in me wonders how many teams or shows will hold seats back just to make some additional revenue? 

As we enter the New Year it will be interesting to see where this new ticketing option goes.

Billboard getting a new owner

Nielson is selling Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek and others to the investment group E5 Global Media.  When I first heard this story yesterday AM, I thought they were closing all of these magazines.  It will be interesting in the months ahead to see what the new owners will do with these trade publications that most of us read on a regular basis.  Nielson is closing Editor & Publisher.  This makes me a little sad.  When I was a senior in college and starting to look for a job, I read E&P every week.  I remember scanning their employment section hoping one of the great newspapers in this country might hire a young college graduate. 

Aspen Live Conference

The annual Aspen Live Conference is taking place this week in Aspen.  I am looking forward to hearing reports from the conference.  The attendees at this conference seem to have a pulse on what is happening in the live event industry.  In particular, I would like to hear what they think is going to happen with the lack of tickets being sold and the trend for 2010. 

Feedback Friday

Feedback from:  ”Do You Really Know Your Business” posted December 2, 2009

I had a similar discussion with a colleague of mine while we were working the load-in for Star Wars – In Concert a couple of weeks ago-  

You see, by trade, I call myself a “promoter” – but in reality, I make the majority of my income (for now) as an IATSE stagehand.  Pulling feeder, bolting truss, unloading trucks in all weather…sure, its grueling work, but my plan isn’t to always be a stagehand. We see the Events Execs gently strolling around the arena (or stadium…or theater) in their expensive shoes and freshly pressed shirts and often wonder how completely out of touch they might be…Certainly, it’s not ALL execs–but how many LiveNation or SMG higher-ups got their positions based not on “what” they know, but “who” they know.  

And unless they’ve been in the trenches…sweating it out with the rest of us grunts…how can they possibly understand the full scope of what goes into a production?  And to take it a step further- I’m a buyer/promoter for a 400 capacity club…our ticket prices cap out around $15 for the mid-range stuff that passes through my c-market….and I *constantly* hear from ticket buyers how unhappy they are with something as small as a $2.50 service fee (which is minuscule in contract to TicketMasters outrageous fees)…so to sort-of compensate, we make sure that beers are moderately priced and that doors open when advertised and we do a few bigger shows for “no cover” throughout the year as a thank you-So yeah, man…I agree completely. Let’s see some of these suits load in a band in a small club…or wait in line at will call…or pull feeder under a stage in 95 degree August weather…   Great post.  Jersey Mike

Just like all retailers trying to make their numbers this time of year, all of us in event & entertainment marketing should be doing the same.  One way to market this time of year is to go where the people are.

If you are looking for lots of foot traffic and eyeballs why not market inside a mall.  Even though people may have less money to spend this holiday season that doesn’t mean they are not shopping.  I live very close to a mall and I can honestly say it’s packed.  The traffic on some weekend days is so bad they divert traffic through my neighborhood.

We are in the discretionary dollar business.  We need to convince our customers to buy a ticket over buying something else.  We already know that our tickets make “great holiday gifts”.  We include that tag line in our ads.  So why not give them the option while they are shopping at the mall? 

Malls do not limit themselves to just permanent stores.  They rent kiosk space too.  Why not spend some of the marketing dollars to promote your events at a kiosk?  If you are a venue, you mostly have several events that would work.  Split the marketing dollars between the events.  The kiosk could be manned or unmanned.  Maybe you could only man it on weekends when the most traffic will go by it.  Why not set up a computer and sell tickets directly from the kiosk?  I find you have a better chance of closing the sale if you close it right away.

We all agree that traditional advertising and marketing is not working the way it used to.  Let’s continue to think outside the box and bring our shows and events directly to our customers.

You probably looked at the headline of this blog post and said “what does Tiger have to do with us in event & entertainment marketing”?  My answer is: what he did wrong. 

Yes, of course his “transgressions” were wrong and there is no excuse for them. But I am talking about his PR blunders.  I continue to be shocked and amazed how companies and people (famous & not famous) screw up the handling of the PR message.  Lawyers, managers, PR execs, and agents are always telling their clients to “keep quiet”.  I understand why they want them not to say anything.  The more someone talks, the deeper in shit they get.  However, staying quiet is all in the timing.  If you stay quiet too long you raise more red flags. 

In the case of Tiger, he and his people made this into a bigger media deal.  They did this by the handling of the situation.  The story first broke in the late morning.  The incident happened in the middle of the night.  This means several hours had passed by the time the story went public.  Why did it take so long for his team to respond?  The correct crafted statement could have really taken the wind out of the media frenzy.  Instead, they said nothing for a long time. When they did say something it was a very cryptic message that raised even more media attention.

In our business things are going to happen that require a PR crisis response.  How we handle the PR can make all the difference.  Long before a crisis rears its ugly head you should have a plan.  Work with your legal team.  Discuss “what if” scenarios with them.  The legal people are there to protect you from legal and civil courts but they don’t represent you in the court of the media or public opinion.  There needs to be a balance. Make sure you ready on both sides.

Have a great weekend!

Seth Godin had a great blog post on Monday (he always has great blog posts).  This particular one was called “Watch the Money”.  In it he asked if you really understand your customer? In other words, are you your own customer?   I would like to take this one step further.  Do you really know your business?

I totally agree with Seth.  How can you know your customers if you don’t experience it?  He gave a great example that pertains to our industry.  He asks us how can we understand our customer’s complaints about buying tickets if we never buy tickets ourselves? If you are in the industry, when is the last time you bought tickets from a ticket re-seller?

As I mentioned above, why not take this even further.  How can you really know your business if you only work in one area of the business? 

If you are an event marketer, when is the last time you worked in the box office?  Have you ever sat at the window and sold tickets? Do you know “first hand” what your customers are asking? Have you worked operations for your show or event?  Yes, there has always been the “friendly feud” between marketing and operations.  But do you really understand their side? Do they understand yours? As a marketer or PR person do you get frustrated when the artist or act doesn’t want to do the interview or the meet-n-greet?  Do you really know why?  I understand you may not get to trade places with them for a day but have you ever had a one-on-one discussion with them?  Do they understand your part of the business? 

When you put promotions together, have your really thought it through? How does it affect anyone and everyone?  You can’t really know this unless you’ve been there. 

You will never really know your business until you know your business.

This is the story of my adventure on the other side of group sales.  I was the group leader trying to book lunch for a group of kids.

Over the holiday weekend my daughter’s pee wee hockey team was in a tournament near Patriot Place.  For those outside the Boston market, this is the New England Patriots version of City Walk or Downtown Disney.  At Patriot Place they have shops, entertainment venues, and restaurants.  We all agreed this would be a great place for the kids to have lunch after their game.

The kids wanted to go to Red Robin for burgers. So a week before the event I called them.  The date of our event happened to be Black Friday.  They informed me they could not book our group because they expected a big crowd.  I received the same response from every other family restaurant also. 

I sent an email to Red Robin explaining our situation.  Guess what, they called and made it happen!  Red Robin explained to me that they don’t normally book groups or take reservations. When we got there, they were ready for us at the exact time we asked for.  The service staff was great!  They had all 35 of us feed and out in one hour.  That is very impressive with a group of 12 year old girls.  The kids were happy and the parents only have good things to say for Red Robin.  In the end, we had a good customer experience and I know they will get repeat customers from our group.

You should also know that Patriot Place management was very understanding and tried to help us too.  They get it. They want groups coming to their place. They also tried contacting a few restaurants for us.

Here is what I don’t understand.  Why would any organization turn down guaranteed business if they have the capacity?  All of these restaurants had no idea how much business they would get on Black Friday.  In fact the weather was really bad that day with heavy rain and chilly.  This was predicted.  Patriot Place is an outdoor area with indoor shops. As we walked around the area we saw how low the attendance was due to the weather.  If you can book a group, does it not help you when the walk-up customers stay away?  Is it not better to know what you have versus not knowing?  Why are some people still afraid of group sales?

People are doing more talking then ever before.  You can thank the internet and cell phones for this.  They are not just talking with their mouths.  They are writing, blogging, and social networking.  These words and conversations are what is influencing decisions and moving product. 

As event and entertainment marketers we should not only use these marketing methods, we should also listen and read what they are saying.  A lot of our marketing decisions can be made based on what our customers tell us.  So often we forget to listen to our customers.  It reminds me of the Verizon fios TV commercial where the cable guy asks “why are we listening to customers, seems dumb”.  Customers tell us everything we need to know to be successful.  So many times we just tell them what they want and need.

One the best and cheapest marketing methods: strike up a conversation.  This is really easy to do.  You know who your target market is, so go to them.  On the internet find out where they hang.  What social sites do they use?  What blogs do they read?  Read what they are saying.  Ask them questions. Don’t be scared of the negative.  Use this for positive change.  

You don’t have to use just the internet.  Meet them live, face to face.  Go where your customers are.  This could be at your venue.  Instead of walking around with a clip board, invite them to a table or booth.  Give them a gift for their honest conversation.  We are always doing contests with text messaging at events.  Why not have them text you their opinions? If you market a sports team, why not go to youth sports games? Talk to the kids.  They are your future.

I am a firm believer in having a finger on the pulse of our customers.  Two way talk will do the trick.

Unless you have been living in the woods with no form of communication, you most likely know what movie came out today.  I take that back, you probably do know because some werewolf is doing PR in the woods.

The release of “New Moon” is a perfect example of building hype.  Not only did they do a great job of building hype, they built hype on top of hype.  You cannot not turn on your TV without seeing something about this movie.  They are the talk of the social network sites.  They have made the stars of the movie into a screaming frenzy not seen since the Beatles came to America.

The movie has not received rave reviews.  But who cares?  If you have the right product with the right PR and hype, you can overcome anything. Do you think all those teenage girls care about reviews?  As event & entertainment marketers we can learn from the marketing of this movie.

The amount of PR this movie is getting is mind blowing.  If you handle PR in your market, you should be taking notes.  If you hire, pay, or budget PR in the live event business you should take notice.  Hollywood spends money on PR!  For some reason we dread spending money on PR in the live event business.

They have had the stars of the movie anywhere and everywhere.  They had hundreds of screaming girls at my local mall this week.  The mall management was smart and did the event in the new part of the mall.  This is an area with high price stores and no customers.  I bet that is most amount of people that part of the mall has ever seen.

We need this kind of hype filled live events for our venues.  I don’t see why we can’t. 

Have a great weekend!

In the past I have been accused of always picking on Ticketmaster when it comes to ticketing issues.  This is not true at all.  I am an equal opportunity offender.  If an issue rears its ugly head, I believe we as an industry should bring it up and discuss it.  Today’s blog post is not about Ticketmaster.  Today I am picking on a ticket broker. 

Unless you live in the Boston market, you may not have heard about the ticket fiasco between Ace Tickets and New Kids on the Block.  The New Kids are doing a fundraiser at the Boston House of Blues for Toys for Tots.  Proceeds from ticket sales are going to the charity.  Somehow Ace has lots of tickets selling on their website for as much as $300 per ticket.  The actual cost of the tickets is $60 each. Donnie Wahlberg from the band announced his disgust that ticket brokers were scooping up all the tickets for a fundraiser.  Ace released an apology and said they would give their profits from the sale of tickets to the charity.  Ace claimed they didn’t know it was a fundraiser.

Here are my questions:

1. How did Ace not know this was a fundraiser?  If you are going to be in the ticket selling business, don’t you need to know what you are selling?
2. How did Ace get the tickets in the first place?  I thought Live Nation and Ticketmaster (not picking on TM) have technology in place to prevent this from happening? If so, who gave Ace the tickets? Was it the venue, band, promoter, etc…?
3. Once Ace realized their mistake, why didn’t they give back all the unsold seats?

As an industry, we need to stop all this crap and start marketing and selling tickets in a correct way so that our customers will want to buy our seats. The blame is industry wide.  This goes from the agents & managers, to the acts, promoters, venues, and ticket agencies. Our customers are starting to look at us as not a legit business. We are better then all this. We are not the Wild Wild West.