Free Flow Friday

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

The “What If’s” On Live Event Season Passes

I read in The Wall Street Journal this morning how Disney is about to market a new technology for on-demand.  This new technology is called “Keychest”.  With this, you will be able to pay a one time price for a movie and play it anytime you want on all your digital devices such as DVD, PC, iPod, and mobile. You will actually own the movie without physically having it.  This article made me think about the discussion and test trials of live event season passes.

The idea of season passes (beyond sports teams) for live events such as concerts is not new and has been discussed frequently over the past year.  This was a major discussion at last year’s Aspen Live Conference.  It has also been discussed in the LiveWorks Newsletter and The Lefsetz Letter.  Live Nation has been experimenting with season passes at some of its smaller venues such as House of Blues.

What if the artist or show was to offer lifetime passes?  Most major music acts have large fan bases with fan clubs. What if the artist was to offer a lifetime pass to these fans?  Would they buy them? Is it feasible?

This might work well for family shows.  What if Feld Entertainment offered a lifetime pass for all their shows?  They play at least two different shows (Ringling Bros. and Disney on Ice) in most markets every year.  How much money could Feld charge?  Would a young family buy into this program if it were a good deal for the years to come? 

What if the larger arena venues offered season passes for all their non-sporting events?  Is it really that far fetched?  They already sell suits and club seats, why not a season seat pass to see every event in a year?

Take Your Facebook Marketing Live

I am happy to report that more and more event and venue marketers are using social network sites to market their events and shows. Bravo to all of you!  For example, I am Facebook friends with the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids.  They are really great at marketing their events on Facebook. I seem to get event invites, news, or on-sale announcements from them everyday.

Most of you who use Facebook are aware that FB has a live chat feature.  This is their version of instant messaging.  It occurred to me that the Facebook live chat is an untapped marketing tool.  Those of you that are using FB as a marketing tool have gathered hundreds of friends.  Why not chat with them?  If you have a show coming in, why not use the live chat as a PR event?  Have someone from the show do a live chat with your FB friends? How about a press conference using the live chat?  Let your friends be the reporters.  What about asking your FB friends what events and shows they want to see?  This chat feature is a great opportunity to ask our customers what they think.

Attn: Boston Readers

Tonight (September 30, 2009) is Boston’s chapter of the monthly Aspen Dinner Club.  We are meeting at the Elephant and Castle in Boston’s financial district.   This dinner club was started by my brother Jim as an off shoot of the Aspen Live Conference.  This dinner club is designed for anyone in the event and entertainment industry.  The dinner club now has chapters in L.A, New York, Denver, Austin, Indy, and Boston.  If you live in any of these markets you should attend one.  If you don’t live in one of these markets, you should start your own chapter.

Thursday’s To Do List

Boston‘s first Aspen Dinner Club tonight

Tonight Boston starts its chapter of the Aspen Dinner Club. This is a get together of entertainment peeps who talk about the industry, share ideas, and network.  This multi-city club is a spin off from the Aspen Live Conference held every December in Aspen. These dinner clubs are currently running in Los Angeles, New York City, and Denver/Boulder.  If you don’t live in these cities, I encourage you to start one of these dinner clubs.  They are not only good for our industry, but I believe necessary.  When people talk to each other in person, ideas form and business gets done. 

I will blog tomorrow on how tonight’s Boston dinner club went.   If you are interested in starting a club or joining one, contact jim@theagencygroupevents.com.  I have a lot of Atlanta readers.  I think your town is perfect for starting one.

Obama marketing & arena marketing

I am meeting with Jim Delaney today to discuss our panel discussion at next week’s Event & Arena Marketing Conference.  The panel discussion will be on President Obama’s election campaign, its marketing, and applying it to our marketing efforts.  No matter how you voted, you have to admit his marketing was and continues to be genius.

Twitteriffic

I have been following on Twitter and Facebook any arena venues that I know about.  You guys are doing great.   The up tick on venue tweets is fantastic.  You are announcing shows, running contests, and even live updates from events.  Keep it up.  

I did notice some of you need more followers and/or friends.  I suggest promoting Twitter and Facebook to all your venue patrons.  Let them know at all your events.  Promote it on the message boards.  Make it front and center on your website.  Include it with any direct mail or other communication methods.  The more followers and friends you have, the better social marketing tools you will have.  If I am not currently following you on Twitter or Facebook let me know.

Mobile Ticketing Is Finally Here!

Last year at the Event & Arena Marketing Conference I was introduced to the world of mobile ticketing.  Tickets.com had a break-out session where they introduced this technology. I thought it was cool then and still think it’s cool.  Now, almost a year later both Tickets.com and Ticketmaster are finally rolling out mobile ticketing to the mainstream. 

Starting sometime this month Ticketmaster will start offering tickets via an app for BlackBerry devices.  I signed up yesterday for email updates of the service and when it will be available.  I am still not sure exactly what the service will be able to do or not do.  Details seem to be scarce.  I hope that it not only lets you buy the tickets via the cell phone but places a barcode on the phone so you can scan your phone when you enter the venue.  To just purchase tickets with your mobile device and still need tickets mailed or printed on a printer is not exciting or new.  That would be the same as buying online.  I wait for the big roll-out.  You know I will tell you what I think when it’s released.

Tickets.com is rolling out their technology around the start of Major League Baseball.  The roll-out begins with 13 MLB teams.  Their technology will let you buy tickets via the cell and place the ticket barcode on the phone for scanning.  MLB needs to get some credit on this.  The old school sport is going 21st century.  This is a positive step forward for sports and entertainment.

Aspen Dinner Club

As you may be aware my brother Jim has started the Aspen Dinner Club.  This monthly “get together” is a spin-off of the Aspen Live Conference.  The goal of this dinner club is for all of us live event peeps to hang out, have a bite to eat, mingle, and brainstorm about marketing of our live events.  What started in L.A. has now spread to NYC, Indy, and Austin.  More cities are still forming and should go online in the next few months.  They meet the first Thursday of the month, so tomorrow April 2nd is the next date.  If you are in any of the fore-mentioned cities and want to go, check out Jim’s blog for details at http://liveworksnews.wordpress.com. Also contact him if you want to start one in your city.  I am trying to help start one here in Boston.  We hope to have it up and running by next month.

 

It’s A Package Deal

Throughout the year a venue will try to book as many events as possible.  Some are multiple events such as sports teams, theatrical, and family shows.  Some of these events create packages to help with repeat attendance.  Sports teams of course are best at this with season tickets and multiple game packages.  But what if a venue was to create a package that included events from different areas?

A typical venue today tries to fill the calendar with 300 plus event days a year.  A dark day in a venue is a day of no revenue.  Not every event is going to fill the house.  Not every member of the community is going to attend an event.  This means working to create repeat business. I believe venues and promoters should look at packaging.

If you are Live Nation or AEG you have plenty of events throughout the year that you could package.  Why not put together a package that includes one really “big” show or event with other shows that will need “some help”?  How about one package price for a concert series?  The arts community has done this for years.  At the Aspen Live conference this past December they discussed a season pass idea for concerts and other live events.

If you are a venue why not offer “the complete family package”?  This would be a package that includes something for all members of the family.  You could include a sports event, concert, and family show in the package.  If you really wanted to create a family friendly package you also include concession items.

I am curious to know what your thoughts are with this idea.  Maybe some of you are already doing this.  Creating ideas and discussion will help all of us sell more tickets and keep us all employed.  Please let me know so I can share.  We are all one package in the ticket selling world.

 

Reward Your Customers

There are lessons we can all learn from this past holiday shopping season.  Some are lessons on what not to do and some are good ideas of what to do.  While all these deep, deep discounts are good for the customer, this is very bad news for most retailers. Wal-Mart has made a great business model around low prices and will continue to rise above the ruins.  Other traditional “higher end” retailers have not.  How are they going to make it in 2009?  You know they have to raise the price of the items back up to their “normal”.

One idea that has worked for retailers is loyalty / reward programs.  Many grocery store, pharmacy, and big box retail chains use these.  Why couldn’t the live event business try it?  If you are an arena think about what you could do with this program.  After you have signed up your customers (great data mining) you allow them to use the card to not only build up points but to reward them every time they use it.  Think about where they could use the card.  They could use it at the ticket booth, at the website, at the concession stands, at the merchandise stands, at your arena sponsors, etc…  If you are a concert promoter, why not offer a program for all “your” shows that you will promote. 

To keep them using the card, give them something every time they use it.  It could be a discount or something exclusive.  Also, every time they use the card they build up points that could be cashed in for something “great”.  How about a trip to Europe to see their favorite band in concert?

My brother Jim Lewi runs the Aspen Live Conference every December. Every year at the conference they come up with at least one idea to work on that might help the concert industry.  This year they discussed the idea of a “season pass”.  Why not offer your customers a chance to see many live events for one price?  Sports teams offer their fans this program, why not a pass for other events at the arena?  I am sure someone is saying “that would be a nightmare dealing with all the different promoters”.  Would it really be a big problem?  First off, you kind of deal with this “problem” now with all the suite seats and other premium seating you offer.  Second, how many different promoters are there?  Third, we have to come up with new ways to keep our customers coming back.  I think it is worth try don’t you?

The point I am trying to make is that we should make 2009 the year of “The Customer”. We should focus all our efforts maintaining the customers or fans that we have and build new ones.

Happy, Happy!

I am not surprised that the number one movie over the past holiday weekend was Marley & Me and Bedtime Stories was number two.  If you look at the other films that were released this past week, they are not what you would call fun “feel good” films.  I am not putting them down.  But they are serious dramas.  As I have mentioned several times, people are looking for entertainment to be an escape.  Between the holiday period and the economy, this is what people want.  People want happy, happy!