It May Be News To You

EAMC names its 2010 location

In case you have not heard yet, the Event & Arena Marketing Conference announced last week the dates and location for the 2010 conference.  The lucky city is Chicago. They invade the Windy City June 9 thru 12 at the downtown Marriott.  EAMC used their new Facebook page to make the announcement. 

Power in numbers

Speaking of Facebook, if you still have not joined yet, it seems you are in the minority.  Facebook announced yesterday they now have 300 million users. Do you still think that traditional marketing and advertising is the most effective way to go?

TV ads for the 21st century

The cable companies know that just running TV spots are no longer working.  They are getting into the 21st Century with interactive ads.  There is an article in today’s Wall Street Journal that discusses this.  The article mentions that some of the issues with TV spot watching are self-inflicted.  Cable companies are pushing DVR technology with their cable boxes.  Everyone is skipping the ads.    This new interactive ad technology is similar to what you might find on a website.  During the spot, you get on-screen buttons that you can click. I believe this is the way we are going with television in general.

Pushing the youth groups

I picked up a flyer at my kids hockey rink this past weekend.  It is a flyer for Boston Bruins youth group hockey opportunities.  The flyer is a group sale piece designed for teams.  The Bruins offer is more then just tickets but a chance to “play” on the ice prior or during an intermission of a game.  The youth group also gets the on ice experience shown on the video scoreboard and DVD of the event.  The flyer posts all the home schedule dates and shows which games are already booked by other youth teams.  I am glad they did this.  It shows “urgency” and helps teams with planning.  Of course as soon as the flyer was printed, I am sure it was outdated.  But that is okay.  It is a good problem if you can fill it up.

Did You Know? – Thursday

Did you know that scout groups represent $1 million a year to just one touring family show?  Group sales peeps for all shows and events really need to go after the scouts.  I bet you could find scout interest in almost all your shows?  Just make sure you give them a patch or a pin. 

Did you know you have a better chance of getting media attention if you can spin your event to the economy?  The media loves any story about the recession (good or bad).  Make sure you have at least one story to pitch that ties your event into the recession.

Did you know Ticketmaster has a program called PaperFast?  Promoters and venues can use this service to distribute tickets (papering the house) free (except service fees) through a special code on Ticketmaster.  I discussed this back in January. I brought this up again at the conference last week. Most in the room were unaware or they didn’t want to talk about it. 

Did you know Ticketmaster has an affiliate network that is tied into social sites and the mommy blogs?  With this system they can get the word out on special offers to niche groups.  How come they didn’t offer this to me when I was promoting the Thomas and Friends Live dates?

Did you know that cable companies are always looking for On Demand content?  Why not give them a video of pre-produced show to offer free to cable customers? Use it like an infomercial.

Did you know that face to face communication is still the best way to seal a deal?

Did you know this blog celebrated its 200th post yesterday?

Cable Ads Take “Targeting” To A New Level

Back in January I wrote a post called “Marketing in 2009 is cool”. In this post I discussed the cool new ways we will be marketing our shows and events in 2009 and the future.  Today, I found a cable marketing/advertising advancement.

There is an Associated Press story today on cable companies taking a page out of online marketing.  The writer gives an example that you are watching a show on Comedy Central.  The show goes to a break and a Ford Mustang spot comes on.  Ford knows that you have been shopping for a new Mustang.  At the end of the spot a button pops up and asks if you would like more info.  If you say yes, they send you out a packet or have someone call you. 

Does this sound like science fiction?  Well, it’s real.  Several cable companies are going to “test drive” it this summer. 

As soon as I read this I thought this idea would be great for sports teams.  Think about this:  Someone watching your sports team on TV has an interest in your team, right?  Well, why not run a ticket package spot during the break.  Then have a button pop up and ask if they are interested.  If they say yes, then someone in the ticket office calls them.  You don’t get any closer to “direct ask” marketing then that. Think about the great lead list you will get.

Cable already has an advantage with targeting.  They have network choices that are targeted to one group or another.  For example women are more apt to watch Lifetime and Hallmark.  Cable companies are now going to take this “targeting” even closer.  The article said that cable companies are going to try targeting ads to demographic profiles.  For example, neighborhoods with larger youth populations might get spots for summer concerts.  While neighborhoods with high-end income levels might get spots for exotic travel.  Two different people in the same town, watching the same program, on the same cable company might see two different commercials. 

What if you saw an ad on ESPN for Thomas & Friends Live?  In the past you might say “wrong demo”.  But the reason you saw the spot was because they know you bought tickets in the past year for Sesame Street Live.   Some might think big brother is going too far.  As a marketer I am always interested in how to reach my target demo. With marketing budgets thin and TV ratings spread even thinner, this might just be a solution.