Why The Theory Didn’t Work

Two years ago when we were deep into the recession, I posted a blog about how the live entertainment industry would come out of the recession first.  I was wrong!  The reason I was wrong is because of price. 

It had long been the theory that while the entertainment industry is the first to feel a recession, we are usually the first to come out of it.  The theory went on to say that when consumers are depressed, out of work, and sitting in the house doing nothing, they need an escape.  During the Great Depression the movie industry did record business. It made Hollywood into a powerhouse!  Customers only needed a nickel to escape for a few hours.

I was working in the live entertainment industry during the 80′s recession.  The theory held up in that recession as well. The reason was again price.  It didn’t cost a car payment to see a show.   Here are two examples of prices then and now:

• Concert ticket price:  1989 - $20.00 / 2011 – $100+      
• Family show ticket price: 1989 – $10.00 / 2011 – $50+ (remember, a family needs to buy more than one)

We can no longer be the escape from recession because our prices put live entertainment into the luxury category. Consumers now look to other less expensive escapes. We used to “market to the masses not the classes” as stated by the late Allen Bloom. The words are reversed today.

Hollywood made its mark by making sure everyone got the opportunity to see a movie.  All of us in live entertainment need to give everyone an opportunity to see a show.

Small Plate Events

There are two facts that we live with everyday in the live entertainment industry. Events and shows are getting bigger and we are having trouble filling the seats for them.  As the Devo song goes; “when a problem comes along, you must whip it”.

The larger and more complex our shows get, the higher the production costs.  The higher the costs, the higher the ticket price.  I am not suggesting we get rid of the big production shows, I am saying that we also need to create smaller, lower cost shows too.

When I worked for Feld Entertainment in the 1980′s and early 90′s, ticket prices were pretty reasonable for a family to attend.  We would get them in the venue and then get them to buy merchandise.  As we joked, it was the traveling toy store.  One of Allen Bloom’s famous quotes was; “We are for the masses not the classes.”  Today, ticket prices are much higher. They are running TV spots that talk about “affordable” prices but customer can’t get them because they are limited.  Or, the ticket price might start off affordable but by the time the fees are added in… I remember when we first offered “special rink side seating”.  We offered the seats at the premium price of $25 and wondered if the customer would buy.  Today, these seats are big bucks.

If I ran a venue I would look for some smaller but quality shows and events to fill in around the big shows.  Shows where you can charge a lower ticket price and fill up the seats.  If you are a producer of events, think about shows you can create that will offer excitement to a potential ticket buyer but won’t cost anyone their first born.

One of the hottest trends in the restaurant industry is small plate menu items. With small plates, customers tend to buy more of them which get’s them to often spend more than if they just ordered a full meal.  Why couldn’t we do the same in the live event industry?

If They Want It, They Will Buy It

Over the weekend I attended the Boston Wine Expo.  This annual event is always a big draw for wine lovers.  But the most interesting facts from this years event were that both days were sold out, the price/type of the wines being sampled, and the average age attending.

Yes, this event was sold out.  I am not sure how many tickets were sold each day but tickets cost $85 each.  The event was from 1:00 PM until 5:00 PM each day.  With the economic climate we are in, I think this is impressive.  As with last years event the demo of the ticket holder was younger.  I would guess the late 20′s / early 30 something crowd.  Why were they willing to drop $85 bucks for a few hours of wine tasting?  The answer is in the title of today’s post.  If they want it, they will buy it. If they see a value, they will buy it.

While I was there I hooked up with wine and social media guru Gary Vaynerchuk.  He was all decked out in his Jets football jersey.  He is a huge Jets fan so I feel bad for him today.  I understand his pain!

A very interesting fact worth discussing is the average price point of the wines being sampled.  The average bottle being offered was in the $10 – $15 range.  This has dropped since last year.  Wine producers have come to the realization they are now main stream.  They need to offer their products to the “masses not the classes”.  I remember this was a favorite line of Allen Bloom when describing the demo of Ringling Bros.  He also finished that line with “we are Chevy not Lincoln’s.  More people drive Chevy’s then Lincoln’s”.

As you produce and sell your events you should keep in mind these five important items when it comes to pricing:

1. Who is my demo?
2. Is this a product they want?
3. What will they really pay?
4. Will my customer see a value?
5. Will they buy again next time?

In With The Old And The New

I just started reading a new book by Jamie MacVicar called “The Advance Man”.  This is the story of Jamie’s life as a Regional Marketing Director (promoter) with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus back in the 1970′s.  It is a very long book (660 pages) so it will take a while to finish it.  I will give you my review of it when I do. 

I didn’t join Ringling until a decade later but I know or worked with most of the people mentioned in the book.  So far, my initial thought is that nothing changed for 20 years (1970′s - 1990′s) in that company.  This is not a bad thing.  Those 20 years were considered the “most powerful” years of live event marketing fueled by Allen Bloom and his team.

There is an old Bob Dylan line “I forgot more then you will ever know” and this book is bringing back many great promotions and advertising ideas that I had forgotten about.  It got me thinking, maybe we should bring some of that old thinking back.  Many of the promotions that were done in the 70′s and 80′s would still work today.  As I mentioned last week, the message has not changed just the way we communicate it.  Maybe there is a place for both the old and new to work together?

Just as I was writing this, I read an article in Ad Age Online about how Fox is marketing the movie Avatar.  Guess what, they are marketing the movie with both the old and the new. As we all know it’s paying off.  Sometimes we get so caught up with staying ahead of the curve that we forget about what still works.

How Much Is Too Much & How Little Is Too Little?

Yesterday I wrote about a charity spin on aftermarket ticket sales.  I discussed how I liked the model from Tickets-for-Charity.  In the last sentence I mentioned that I hope artists will keep some “normal” priced tickets available for the regular on-sale.  This one sentence prompted a comment from one of my readers.  He/she asked what is “normal”? Shouldn’t an artist charge whatever he/she wants?  Let the market decide when it’s too much.  I agree with this anonymous reader.  I was not thinking about what the artist charges when I wrote the sentence, but I agree.

What I was thinking was how few tickets are offered for general sale by artists, sports teams, and other major events.  Today, when a concert or playoff game goes on sale to the general public, so many tickets are already gone.  At the same time, every aftermarket ticket vendor has plenty of tickets for the event. 

Of course there have always been tickets held back.  The act/team has holds. The promoter has holds . The venue has holds.  I don’t think anyone in general has a problem with this.  The problem today is the extreme amount of tickets that are gone or not available when the show/game goes on sale. 

Sure, many events have pre-sales and season ticket offers that snag a lot of seats.  Offering these types of sales is a good business decision.  However, so few seats seem to be available today on the regular “on-sale” I sometimes wonder why have an on-sale?  If you do, why make a big deal about it?  If you only have a few seats to sell, just put them up for sale.  Why run radio promotions counting down to the on-sale?

The point I am making is there needs to be a balance.  Artists need to take care of the fan clubs.  Sports teams need to take care of season ticket holders.  Venues need to take care of sponsors.  Just don’t forget the average fan or customer.  I will never forget the quote from Allen Bloom “more people drive Chevy’s & Ford’s then drive Cadillac’s & Lincoln’s”.

Boston added to Aspen Dinner Club

I am happy to announce that we have added Boston to the Aspen Dinner Club.  This is a spin-off of the Aspen Live Conference. This once a month group gets together to talk about the live event industry, network, eat some pizza, and have a few beverages.  The first monthly Boston date is this Thursday, June 4^th 6:00 PM at: Stone Hearth Pizza, 1782 Mass Ave, Cambridge MA 02140.  I invite all my Boston readers to attend.

Where Has All The Passion Gone?

Now that I am traveling throughout the country promoting shows and events again, I am seeing good marketing, bad marketing, but not great marketing.

I started in this business almost 25 years ago.  At that time I had the privilege of being trained by and working for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows.  You know them today as Feld Entertainment.  The men and women I worked with were known as “the best”.  Our leader was Allen Bloom.  He was and is still considered the “Godfather” of event & entertainment marketing.  Many of the concepts used today in live event marketing were his ideas.  If Allen were alive today, I am sure he would be in awe of all the new and exciting non-traditional marketing opportunities that we have at our disposal.  I am also sure he would be shaking his head at how today’s marketers don’t seem to have passion.

Why has live event marketing just become a media buying service?  That is not marketing.  Why does it seem that some event marketers just go through the motions? I don’t know about you but I don’t think giving away “family four packs” is out of the box thinking.  And when a radio station does this “so called” promotion they never get all key info correct.  Is it so hard to say the Name, Dates, and Place of the show or event?

Here is what we need from today’s live event & entertainment marketers:

1) We need marketers who can think outside the box. 

2) We need marketers who are able to adapt to marketing in the 21st century. 

3) We need marketers who fight for promotions. 

4) We need marketers who are more then just media buyers. 

5) We need marketers who give a shit!

If today’s live event marketing people have the passion for marketing then this will make the difference.  I mean real passion.  I call it that “certain something”.  You cannot learn it.  You either have it or you don’t.  Allen Bloom had it.  He always looked for other people who had it too.  He used to say “I never said I hired Harvard grads or choir boys”.  He hired people with passion. That is why his guys & gals were known as the best.   We need more of that marketing passion back in our business if we truly want success.

Do I See A Light At The End Of The Tunnel?

Call me an optimist but I think there may be a light at the end of the tunnel for us in the event and entertainment business.  I have written several times that entertainment is the first to feel a recession but we are the first to come out of it.

In yesterday’s Los Angeles Times there was an article on the movie box office numbers for January.  Guess what?  They had their first Billion dollar January.  That’s right, in the middle of a recession Hollywood did great!  Yes, they had some big movies out there but they broke the revenue record for January.  One recession related reason for this success is what I am always referring to as the “escape”.  All of us in the event, sports, and entertainment industry are the escape.  People are sick of doing nothing.  They are sick of staying home.  Here in the Northeast it has already been a very long, cold, snowy, unemployment winter.  People are looking for something to enjoy.  Movies are still affordable compared to other out of home entertainment so they get the break first.  But all of us in the “live” business can start reaping the rewards too. 

If you are a family show, parents need to do “something” with the kids.  Give them a good product at a family friendly price and they will come. Allen Bloom (who must of us consider the “godfather” of event marketing) had a quote at Ringling Bros.  The line was:  “We are for the masses not the classes”.

If you are a sports team, the same goes for you.  Take a hard, close look at your ticket prices.  Can your fans afford to go?  Do they have a choice?  Of course they have a choice. Do you want them to sit at home and watch it on TV?  Those empty seats won’t look to good on TV.

If you are in the concert business do you really have to charge $100 plus for a ticket?  I already can hear the promoters saying it’s the agents & managers fault.  If this is true, then agents and managers out there, do you want your client’s fans to see them now or do you want to sit and wait?

Right now we have a great opportunity to step up our game.  Please always remember that the ticket business is the consumer’s discretionary dollar.  Put out a product that the event & entertainment consumer wants to see and can afford.  We can and should be the recession “escape”.