TM’s Mobile App Is Close But No Cigar

So I downloaded and tried the new Ticketmaster app for BlackBerry.  It does work.  In fact it might run faster then its computer, internet cousin.  The problem is that this 21st century ticketing tool is missing a very key ingredient. Why have a mobile ticketing device if you can’t finish the job. 

As with Ticketmaster.com you have four choices for receiving your tickets; 1) you can print at home, 2) have them mailed, 3) pick them up at a TM outlet, or 4) pick them up at the box office.  

A mobile device is just that, a mobile device.  You can take it with you.   So why can’t you use the BlackBerry as your mobile ticket?  The technology is there.  Other ticket companies such as Tickets.com are already using it.  Why can’t you purchase your Ticketmaster tickets with the phone, and then bring that phone to the event where the ticket taker scans the mobile device?  All Ticketmaster venues are going to scanners.  Why can’t they send a QR code (barcode) to the mobile device like they do for the print at home option? 

Make this mobile technology able to complete the ticketing process from start to finish and you will have one cool app.

Live event marketing question of the week?

Should venue marketers pass the 15% media discounts to the shows or should the venue get to keep it?  Look forward to your comments on this one.

Have a great weekend?

 

Marketing In 2009 Is Cool!

As a marketer and advertiser I think 2009 is going to be cool.  You might be saying; is he still drunk from New Years?  No, I really do think the new year is going to ring in new ways to market and we have a great opportunity to be a part of it.  With the New Year and a tanking economy we need to have a new way of thinking.  We are going to see  new ways to market our shows and events.  All the technology is here for us to play with.

Digital marketing is going to increase this year.  As more people go to social networks, websites, blogs, etc… to receive their information, we as marketers will follow. As you start marketing in these areas I ask two things of you; 1) be creative; 2) don’t get caught up in advertising that does not work such as banner ads.  You dictate how to market your product not the sales reps selling you ads.

You know how in sci-fi and cartoon movies they have outdoor signs that talk, well its for real now.  You will see this type of out-of-home advertising rise in 2009.  Not only can it talk to you but it has technology that can tell if you are male or female, black or white, etc…  With this technology you can market directly to your demo. 

A friend of mine walked around our New Years Eve party showing everyone the bar code app he has on his mobile phone.  He said it came with the phone.  With his phone, he scanned the bar code on a bottle of wine.  His phone then mapped out where he could buy the bottle of wine and which store had the best price.  This technology is call QR codes.  I wrote about QR codes back in November http://joelewi.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/qr-codes-with-mobile-marketing/.  Take this technology to our business.  How about putting old marketing with new marketing?  Go back to fliers and posters to market shows except put bar codes on them.  This way a customer could scan the code, see where to buy tickets, and even get a discount. 

I could go on and on with all the new ways of marketing we have before us.  As marketers, we can be creative again.  We have the opportunity to show the bean counters that we are worth something.  I am psyched for 2009, are you?

 

QR Codes With Mobile Marketing

I am really into non-traditional marketing.  The technology we have today is amazing and we need to get behind it in a big way.  There is a technology out there for our mobile phones called QR (Quick Response) codes. 

This technology has been around for a few years in Japan and England.  You know what bar codes are.  Well, QR codes are matrix, two-dimensional codes that you can place on anything.  You use your mobile device to take a picture of it.  The software in your phone (free and downloadable) reads the code and gives you the info.   The information can be whatever you want. 

While doing my research on this I saw that some marketing people don’t think consumers in the U.S. will use this.  They claim that what works in Japan does not always work in the States.  My answer to them: create the will and demand.  If you give the user a fun, interactive marketing tool that has a reward at the end they will use it.  I see this working great with your non-traditional marketing plan.  If your event target market is for a young “hip” consumer this type of marketing could be a very cool experience.  I believe that some marketers are afraid of new forms of marketing.  Marketing in the 21st century is all about looking at trends and being ahead of the curve.

Northwest Airlines did a marketing campaign in Japan using the new QR codes with a combo of mobile and outdoor marketing.  They placed posters, flyers, and even a giant billboard with the QR code on it.  If the consumer took a picture of the code with their cell phone, it would send them directly to a Northwest Airlines website designed for the campaign.

I have been thinking about this form of marketing and I have some great QR mobile marketing campaign ideas that I would love to share. If you are interested, then get me your contact info and we can talk.

 

More Mobile Marketing

As I mentioned in a past posting, I have pages of notes from the Event & Arena Marketing Conference.  While there,  I went to a presentation by tickets.com.  They have a new service called tickets@phone.  This is a take off on tickets@home.  What’s cool about this is that you now have a mobile ticket that you can access anywhere.  Here is how it works.  You buy your ticket with your mobile phone.  The screen will display a bar code for the show or event.  You bring your phone to the venue.  The ticket taker then scans the bar code & your in.  If you want, you can add $$ beyond the cost of the ticket and the same bar code can be used to pay for parking and/or concessions.  Of course the venue or promoter, etc.. can capture the data that can be used to market to the customer later.  Don’t you love the 21st century?

“Don’t let technology control your efforts.  Make your efforts control the technology”.

 SAD WEEKEND:  I just heard from my friend Candi Rawlins that Jon Henderson died.  Jon was a friend, former business partner, and all around great guy.  I mention him because even though his first passion was music, he was a great marketer who really understood event marketing.  When we worked together in Atlanta,  he was always coming up with ideas and loved to see them work.  He had the “Big C” for many years.  When he first found out in 1999, doctors told him he may not make it.  His passion for life kept him going for nine more years.  He will truly be missed.

Very sorry to hear about Tim Russert. I really enjoyed his insights and style of journalism.  You could think of him as a “marketer in the arena of politics”.   My Sunday mornings will never be the same.