Old School Brain Trust

I found a group that might be the right mix to fix our live entertainment ticket woes.  It’s the first annual Ringling/Feld Entertainment marketing reunion. 

The reunion and conference is taking place the weekend of February 11th in Sarasota, FL.  I plan on attending.  How can I pass this up? The RSVP list is made up of some of the very people who helped shape the marketing of not just live family show entertainment but live entertainment period.  These are the promoters that created marketing ideas so good that problems included adding seats and additional performances. The thinking of these marketers was “there is no such thing as a bad idea”.  They were willing to try anything that might put butts in seats. Many of the promotions used today were created by people attending this reunion.

What is even more awesome about this event, it’s not just a drunk fest.  There will be actual meetings! There will be roundtable discussions on our current state of the industry and marketing. This will be a great time to put all these great minds to work.  This is a group that just doesn’t sit around.  They not only come up with ideas, they make them happen!

If you are a former Ringling/Feld promoter and want to be a part of this, let me know and I will forward you to the organizers. 

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!

PR Stunts Are Back

Well, they never went away but they are back in fashion again.  I’m not surprised in this “WOW” world we live in.

I have always been a big fan of PR stunts and events.  Maybe it’s because I grew up around them.  My dad may still be known as the king of PR events.  He made a great career of promoting something by an event that always drew media attention.  He reminded me recently of when some of his crazy stunts didn’t work.  He still got press!  PT Barnum once said “there is no such thing as bad PR”.  Even his stunt failures were still huge successes.

There is an article in today’s Wall Street Journal about brands getting into the Guinness Book of World Records.  Guinness has even created a new division to help companies accomplish this. In the 21^st century world of YouTube and viral marketing, brands want that exposure and buzz.

When I worked for Feld Entertainment in the 1980′s, they were still known for creating great PR stunts and events.  Who can forget the famous Ringling Bros. elephant manure giveaways?  When that event needed to kick it up a notch, they went one step further.  “Someone” stole the manure in one city.  This turned into national media attention.  I still remember Jay Leno talking about it.

All of us in the event & entertainment business have potential PR events and stunts all around us.  Our business is tailor made for them.  I understand that in today’s world of marketing measurement, it’s hard to account for their results but these events do sell tickets.  Many of the best events don’t cost a lot of budget.  They only require your imagination.

What’s Your Customer Interaction?

Want to know what I think could be your best marketing /advertising asset?  It’s not traditional advertising like TV, radio, or newspaper.  It’s not new marketing like social media.  Its customer/fan interactions.

There are a few examples that I always remember when it comes to personal interaction with a product.  Several years ago I took the Anheuser- Busch brewery tour while promoting a show in St. Louis.  At the end of the tour, I couldn’t wait to have a Bud or any other AB beer.  Most breweries offer these tours.  This is smart marketing.

If you have ever been to Hershey PA you know they no longer give factory tours.  However, they have created a free Epcot like interactive experience called Chocolate World.  The tour ends at the food/merchandise area.  By the end of the tour, you can’t wait to eat some chocolate.

One of the most successful Ringling Bros. engagements I ever promoted was with a customer interaction promotion.  I took some of the marketing dollars for the engagement and spent it on a menagerie.  This was an opportunity for circus goers to go “behind the scenes” and see the circus animals up close and personal.  To accomplish this, we set up a huge tent behind the arena where we produced the interactive experience.  The circus fans loved it and we broke ticket sales records that week.

Today’s customers want to feel connected to your product.  In the old days we used to market to either the masses or the classes.  Today we need personal marketing.  I know you are saying “that costs way too much”.  But does it really?  The key is for all of us to re-tool our marketing brains. Think about what you are marketing. Who are you marketing too? What interactive opportunity can you offer your customer that will make them crave you?

EAMC – Mind Your Elders

The participants of the Event & Arena Marketing Conference were in the presence of legends yesterday. 

The first full day of the conference should have put awe in all that were sitting in the general session room.  As per tradition honors were given out.  This includes the GiGi award and new inductees to the Arena Marketing Hall of Fame.  The board got it right! 

The GiGi award named after GiGi Pilhofer was given to Larry Rubin.  Larry is considered to be one of the best arena PR people ever!  He is one of those rare people who “get it”. 

The Hall of Fame inductees included Linda Deckard, Rich Krezwick, Lynn Plage, Linc Cavalieri, and Bob Reed.  The “wow” moment came when we found out the contributions that 92 year old Linc has done for the arena business.  He invented both the glass around the hockey rink dashers and box suites.  Both were created from necessity.  The glass was because fans were losing teeth when the puck would fly through the chicken wire fence.  The box suites, because his boss (the owner of the Red Wings) was sitting near the fans and getting shit when the team was losing. Today, those suites pay for new buildings.

I know I am old when a kid of one of my early bosses is now attending the conference.  Ian Adler is an Assistant Marketing Manager with Comcast-Spectacor in Philly.  His dad Richard Adler was not only one of my bosses at Ringling Bros., he was President of the Atlanta Knights hockey team when I was there. The last time I saw Ian he was 12.

WTF Bad Business?

At the end of the conference day yesterday Jim Delaney and I walked over to the official Blackhawks store in the heart of downtown Chicago to buy some championship merch for our kids.  We got to the store at 6:30 PM.  The store closed at 6:00 PM.  Why wouldn’t this store stay open late the day after they won the Stanley Cup? The downtown area was packed with people.  We went across the street to another sports store.  They were jamed with people buying Blackhawks shirts.  The store was going through boxes of shirts.  Jim and I shook our heads and said someone was not thinking.

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?

Open Mic Friday

Happy Birthday Elvis!

Today is Elvis’s birthday.  He would have been 75.  Wow, I can’t believe he would be almost the same age as my dad.  Besides being the King of rock-n-roll, he was a real mover and shaker in live events.  Before Elvis, many acts could not even think about filling up an arena or stadium. His live tours were instrumental in the develop of marketing live events.

Who Doesn’t Love Chocolate?

As I have mentioned in the past, I believe the world of culinary live events is going to increase.  We have already seen the momentum with celebrity chefs on tour and food festivals.  This is one of the reasons I am getting into the culinary world (I also love food).  Fellow Boston marketer, Aspen Dinner Club member, and team building guru David Goldstein has launched Taste of Chocolate.  David knows that culinary is hot and anything chocolate is always popular, so he is getting into the chocolate event business.  His new venture includes chocolate tours, workshops, team building, and private events.  Will there be a chocolate festival in the future??

“The Advance Man” Update

I am still reading the book “The Advance Man” by Jamie MacVicar and I must admit it’s a very addictive read.  When is the last time you read a book and know most of the people mentioned?  I have been letting other people in our industry know about the book.  My very good friend Rob called me to say he is addicted to it too.  It brings back tons of Feld Entertainment memories.  If you ever worked for Ringling/Feld you will enjoy it.  If you didn’t work for Feld but work in the live event industry, I suggest you read it.  The people and stories mentioned in this book shaped how we market family shows and live events.  Some of the marketing ideas have been lost in time but we should re-visit them.

Have a great weekend!

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?

What Goes Into Your Marketing Plan?

When I first started in the business almost 25 years ago, my first job was with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows, Inc.  Today you know them as Feld Entertainment.  As a new Regional Marketing Director (promoter) we were taught from day one how to properly market a city for either the circus or ice show.  This included the marketing plan.

As a new promoter you learned how important the plan was.  Of course no matter how well it was written or researched it was never good enough.  If it seemed to thin to your boss, it was thrown back at you. They wanted it thick with market information.  I sometimes wondered if they really read the whole thing.  I was temped to fill the middle of the plan with blank pages.

What the exercise of writing a marketing plan did accomplish, is make you understand your market.  You learned more about the market then you would ever care to know but that is a good thing.  Useless information can come in handy sometimes.

Researching your market is the hard part.  Putting your market information and ideas down on paper is easy.  Here are some items to think about when writing your marketing plan:

• Research is more then doing a Google search.  You do need to visit the market.  How can you ever understand a market you have never been too? 
• When you are researching, it is not only okay but important to gather too much information.  You don’t have to write everything you learned into the plan.
• Lay out the draft of your plan in outline form.  It makes it easy to fill in the blanks
• Make sure you put statistical data into the plan.  This will help shape the direction.
• Put all your ideas down so you won’t forget them.
• Make sure you have a “what if” plan written into the marketing plan.
• Write the plan for yourself.

The End Of An Era In Buffalo

This week the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium (The Aud) was torn down.  Can’t believe I am saying this but I am a little sad.

The Aud was really the venue where I got my big start.  Good things and bad things happened in that building.  For a long time, I had the record of doing more Feld Entertainment shows in that building then anyone else. 

There was a time when I hated that building. I used to say it was the Disneyland for rats and roaches.  The first time I promoted a show in the building the ushers/ticket sellers union tried to scare me.  They had a little stuffed troll hanging in the corner of their office.  They said he was the last Ringling promoter who tried to f**k with them.

Anyone who has done a show in that building will never forget the ramps.  The only way you could load a show into the building was from the basement.  This required moving everything up long twisted ramps.  Try doing that with circus wagons.  It required two forklifts per wagon.  Those ramps are the reason I screwed up and became the victim of one of the cruelest Ringling practical jokes of all time.  It is known today as the “murder joke”. 

With all the bad stuff that has happened in that building, I remember good stuff too.  The people of Buffalo and Western NY always come first.  My wife and I had our first home in Western NY.  We saw some great hockey in that building.  There is something special about watching hockey in an old hockey building.  Even though the building was old and dirty the fans would still dress up to go see a Sabers game. I will never forget the Tux and Pucks games.  It was always an event.

The Buffalo News has posted a video tribute of The Aud which is really good.  Check it out.

http://video.buffalonews.com/player/?id=257

IAAM In Boston

The International Association of Assembly Managers (IAAM) is currently hosting its 84th annual conference and trade show in Boston.  It actually started on Friday and ends Tuesday. 

This morning I attended the trade show. If you are in operations or food & beverage for a venue, then it’s like being in a candy shop.  The rest of us marketing people walk around to network and see who we know.

Today was the last morning of the trade show, the attendance was pretty light.  My understanding is that the conference is down this year.  Of course no one should be surprised by that.  As I walked around, I did hear a few exhibitors complaining about the smaller attendance. 

As I mentioned, everyone likes the trade show to walk around and mingle.  I was no exception.  When I first got to the convention I met up with my mentor David Rosenwasser.  David started in this business back in the 1970′s with Ringling Bros.  Today David is the Director of the Greater Saint Charles CVB.  David has been a very dear friend over the years. 

I saw Frank and Sally Roach at the University of South Carolina booth.  Frank is the senior lecturer at the schools Department of Sport and Entertainment Management.  Frank is running the Sport Entertainment & Venues Tomorrow (SEVT) conference November 11 – 13 in Columbia SC. Check it out at www.SEVT.org.

Went by the Ticket Alternative booth to say hi to Iain Bluett.  Iain and I have become Twitter friends so it was great to actually meet him outside the digital world.

Ran into Amy Latimer from the TD Garden hanging around the silent auction area for the IAAM Foundation.  Hope she won something.

While I was at the silent auction I also saw Sherry Powell.  I have known Sherry & Bill since I started in the business.  Speaking of the Powell family, the last time I saw their son Cory he was a little kid running around summer meetings at Feld Entertainment.  I saw Cory at the trade show and found out he is about to graduate from Frank Roach’s program at University of South Carolina. He is looking for his first job.  He gave me a flash drive with his resume and other info on it. Very clever idea!  If anyone is looking for a young, smart, event & entrainment marketing person ready to learn and take on our crazy business email him at corywp@gmail.com.

I ran into Brandon Lucas from Carbonhouse.  He was walking around checking everything out just like me.  He was there to get face time with venue managers about their digital needs. 

I stopped by the Global Spectrum booth to see who I knew and saw Joe Flanagan.  I first met Joe when he was at the Hartford Civic Center.  Today he is the Assistant GM at the MassMutual Center in Springfield MA.

I understand that conferences in general are having a tough year.  However, I still believe they are necessary for any industry.  Networking and meeting in person once or twice a year with others in your industry not only keeps you relevant but also re-charges the batteries.