Less Flash More Cash?

So we find ourselves still hurting in the live entertainment business.  Our customers and fans are still not buying tickets the way we want or need them to.  What can we do about it?  I still think it’s the price point.

Even though the recession is supposedly over, we still have almost 10% of the population out of work.  80% live everyday with the fear they are next.  Our entertainment is supposed to be their stress reliever.  But the cost to go out and see us is part of the stress. 

What if someone had the balls to put out an affordable tour?  A tour that is based on volume? A tour where everyone involved cut their prices?  This would mean the artists, the production, the promoter, the staffing, the venues, the concessions, everything. 

Running a business based on volume and low frills is not new to the world.  McDonalds & Burger King are making a killing based on $1.00 double cheeseburgers.  McDonalds is also selling luxury items without the luxury. I just read today that Mickey D’s had a huge quarter because of low priced “fancy” coffee drinks and smoothies.  

When I first went to concerts, you went to hear the music.  You just wanted to see and hear your favorite band live.  You didn’t care about special effects. The one luxury you did request was decent sound.  Do all artists and shows today need expensive sets and mind blowing special effects to sell tickets? 

You don’t have to market the tour as the “no frills tour”.  Just put together a good show that customers will be interested in.  Charge no more than $20 for any seat.  Market the show in a way where the customer knows the show is fun and affordable but not a “cheap” production.  

If you want to spend some money, put it into the marketing!

Price, Price, Price

The continued buzz in the industry is the lack of ticket sales for many shows and events this summer.  The number one reason I hear from customers is PRICE!

Over the past few years, I have heard industry big shots say the customer will tell us when we have gone too far on price.  Guess what live entertainment world, they are telling us. So why are we ignoring it?

On my wall I have framed some tickets from concerts I went to when I was a teen.  I always laugh when I see the front row tickets to major concerts that were priced at $9.00 in 1981.

I have proposed this before and I bring it up again. We need a big industry pow-wow.  We need artists, managers, agents, promoters, venues, and some of our fans to get together.  We need a makeover of the industry. 

No one in this business likes to leave seats empty.  No one likes to offer discounts or fire-sales.  No one likes to paper the house.  Yet these options are becoming more common than just selling face value tickets.  If a tour goes out with a price point that the customer likes, you will fill more seats which will make up for the difference between current high prices and affordable prices.

How come the concert industry has never embraced group sales? 

It is never too late to fix our problems.  Let’s  show the customers we hear them and are ready to welcome them back with open arms and inviting ticket prices.

Let’s use this blog to start the dialogue on ticket sales.  I invite all of you to give your ideas and feedback.  We are  live event marketers.  We have great ideas and are usually never for a loss of words.  So let’s hear from you!

From A Reader

Just as I was sitting down at my computer to write today’s blog post and thinking “what am I going to write about” I received this email from an arena marketer in the Midwest.

“Hi Joe, I subscribe to your blog, read it immediately whenever it hits my inbox and often share it with co-workers.

 I have dilemma that I thought you might be able to enlist your subscribers for their thoughts on. Here lately, it seems as though our building has had a string of events that don’t sell very well (priced too high) and we have been forced to roll out last minute, fire-sale deals to move seats. One of the ways we get the word out about the deals is our social networking…Facebook and Twitter. Facebook is great for us, but we often get complaints as comments from folks who paid full price earlier. What is the industry (good PR) thought on how to respond to the Facebook comment complaints? 

I am in a position as an arena marketer to take directions from the show’s promoter (who rents our building), but this practice of pricing things too high and then putting out last minute discounts and making our early buyers mad…just irritates me. 

Any help you can provide on the Facebook question would be appreciated. Should I respond? Should I delete the comments?” 

Name Withheld By Request 

What the author of this email stated is a topic that is an ongoing issue.  This problem is not new.  It has been happening for years.  The only difference now is that our customers have more avenues to express their comments and complaints.  

To answer his last question first; I believe you should always answer every question or comment you receive from a customer.  Part of social networking is creating the dialogue. With social networking you need to take the good with the bad. 

As for taking direction from promoters, I understand both sides because I have been on both sides.  Promoters do need to listen to the venue marketers who live in the market.  They are the first line in what is happening in that city.  They know if the economy is healthy or unhealthy. No one likes a fire-sale.  Besides upsetting customers, it also cheapens the show which makes the producers and artists mad. 

The writer of the email and I want to hear from other event & entertainment marketers.  This goes for both promoters and venue peeps.  Send me your comments!

Current Keys To Success: Pocketbook & Misson

Last week we discussed how we should follow retails lead going into the holiday shopping season.  If you haven’t noticed already, top retailers & brands seem to have a similar message.  As Walmart’s current tagline states: “Save money, live better”.

There is an article in today’s Adage Online about marketers selling the mission.  P&G, Unilever, and Walmart are among the brands and retailers that are pushing this marketing approach.  Today’s marketing trend is all about how your brand is helping someone.

As event & entertainment marketers you might say “how do I say that when I am only selling tickets”.  The business of selling tickets is not that different from selling a P&G product.  The one big difference is that most of our products are discretionary dollars. 

Think about what your product does for your customer.  For most of our shows and events we put smiles on people’s faces.  During this time of stress and recession, this is a really great thing. Think of our events and shows as a “mental health holiday”.  Remember what I always preach “we are the escape”.  If you don’t want to discount tickets right from the start, why not price the event or tour as ”fan friendly”. 

Emotions and price are our two most sellable tools after the event brand itself.  As you put together your marketing plans, try to incorporate these two important assets.

How About A Cash For Clunker Ticket Deal?

With all the buzz about slow summer concert sales and the hype about cash for clunkers, I have an idea for all the classic rock shows on tour.

Yesterday, I pointed out that I have a lot of old ticket stubs from concerts attended throughout the years.  I heard from many of you that you also have lots of old ticket stubs.  Why not put them to work?

If you are really an old fan of the band then you should pay less for tickets.  Prove you are a fan by cashing in your old ticket stub for a discount.  50% off would be a decent deal.  In many cases this is still good money for a ticket to see an act that was “on top” over 20 plus years ago.

Sir Paul McCartney is coming to my city this week for two shows.  According to today’s Boston Globe there are still tickets available.  Why is this happening?  Live Nation claims they released production holds.  But they have been running TV & radio spots for this show for weeks.  This is Sir Paul we are talking about playing at Fenway!  I did an non-scientific survey of my friends and most told me they were not going to the show because ticket prices were too high.  My one friend who did buy tickets still bitched about the price he paid for tickets.

This is not Live Nation’s fault on summer ticket prices.  To their credit, they are trying really hard to move tickets this summer.  Agents and managers really need to think about what they are doing.  I understand they want to get as much money for their client as possible.  But at what cost?  All this short term thinking is killing the live event business.

Will Only The Cheap Survive?

Cheap is in.  It is cool to be cheap.  If you don’t believe me check out the article in today’s Boston Globe www.boston.com in the “G” entertainment section.  There is a big article about how being cheap has become a sport.  People wear it like a badge of honor. 

You don’t have to read an article to know this is true.  Look around you.  McDonald’s is kicking ass these days.  Have you noticed more Mickey D commercials?  Starbucks is getting killed because they still charge $4.00 plus for a latte.  I have mentioned before that Wal-Mart is the new Neiman Marcus.  You don’t have to hide your face with a hat and sunglasses when you shop there now.  All of us in the event and entertainment business should learn from this new and quickly growing trend. 

I think someone should put out a “Cheap Show”.  I don’t mean a show that costs less; I mean a show about living frugal.  This would make a great consumer event.  Think about who your vendors could be. There are tons of them.  You should have no problem filling a venue with them.  Even the ones that are not cheap want to be cheap so they will buy in on this show.   Of course you need to have a cheap ticket price with some coupons in the market.  How can you be a Cheap Show and not have coupons?  You need to have seminars with cheap talkers.  The first name that comes in my head is Clark Howard.  He has made a great living talking cheap for many years.  He was way ahead of his time.  He is laughing all the way to the bank and still has every penny.  When it was cool to only buy designer underwear from a high end store, Clark was talking about the “great” deals on underwear and socks at Costco. 

As we go forward with our events, shows, and sports teams, we should think about what our customers are thinking.  Are they going to pay $150 for one seat at a hockey game?  Are they going to pay 200 bucks to see a rock star they paid $10 to see in 1981?  People still want and need to be entertained.  That is never going to go away.  But right now they are looking at what it costs to be entertained. This could be good news for smaller venues and lesser named artists.  Small performing arts venues, coffee houses, and clubs usually have lesser ticket prices then their big brother arenas.  For $30 you can see an artist that puts out great music but doesn’t command your entire life savings to see him or her. 

When you market your shows and events you can be “cheap” too.  Are you doing PR on Twitter?  Are you talking about the show on Facebook? Are you writing a blog about your brand?  All of these are cheap.  In fact you can do it for free!

 

 

Can The Fans Afford Us?

This past week I read how ticket revenues were up for the past year while tickets sold were down.  This is because promoters and acts raised ticket prices.  The article started out with the impression that the live entertainment industry was not really feeling the effects of the economy.  Of course it was feeling the effects.  Tickets sold were down.  All of us in the business want to make money from tickets and sell as many tickets as possible.  Just think what overall ticket revenue would have been if they had sold more tickets in 2008?

Reading about this made me think what concert tickets used to cost when I was the prime demographic.  My wife has been framing some of my tickets from over the years.  I collect tickets.  I have kept every ticket from every single thing that I have ever been to.  Anyway, I have front row tickets from Genesis from 1982.  The price on the ticket: $9.00.  I am sure the average price of a front row ticket today is around $180.00.  Not a bad increase after 27 years.  I read that the average ticket price from 2008 was around $66.00.

The two big concert promoters Live Nation and AEG both know this could be an “interesting” year for ticket sales.  Both agree if a fan really wants to see a show, they will find the money.  But with the number of seats that have to be sold, how many “true” fans are there? It was mentioned in the article that all the high priced seats still sell.  They believe people with money still will spend it.  If this is true, then why were the high end retailers getting killed over the holiday shopping period? I mentioned a few weeks ago how I went to a NHL game and the empty seats were in the “premium priced” seats.  All the lower priced seats were full.

The promoters said they are going to look at “re-scaling the house” for ticket prices in 2009.  They may offer more “lower” priced seats while trying to maintain overall revenues.  This still means “really high” premium priced seats.  Have they not read the trends for 2009?  “Big” spending is out even for the super rich.  Wal-Mart is the new Neiman Marcus.

All of us (promoters, acts, and venues) need to look at our costs and pricing for the new year.  We need to decide do we want be status quo or do we want to keep our fans coming to our events.  If we let our fans get used to the fact that they cannot afford to see us now, they may not want to see us when they can.

I hope everyone had a great New Year.  Let’s look forward to doing it right in 2009.

Have a great weekend!

 

We Are The Fun & Happiness Business

One of the main reasons that the entertainment industry is usually the first to come out of a recession is because we are the “escape”.  I have written about this before.   So why are we not marketing this to our customers? 

With people losing their jobs everyday, tons of bad news in the media, and the weather bringing everyone down, we need fun and happiness in our lives.  Even major retailers now realize this.  Many have changed their campaigns this year to focus on fun & happiness.   TV networks report that sit com ratings are up this year.  So what are we in the “fun & happiness business” doing?  I have not seen much.  Our marketing should be geared toward the escape, the fun, the happiness and I don’t think we are doing this.  Have we learned anything from Disney?

If you market for a venue (arena, theatre, stadium) why is it fun to go there?  If you are a sports team, why is it fun to buy a ticket to watch the game (besides winning)?  If you promote concerts or family shows what makes the customer want to use you as their escape?

Advertising that just gives name, dates, and place is not going to cut it.  Where is the feel good attitude that goes with the brand?  Why do I want to spend money that I really don’t have on seeing your event? You might say that it costs too much to tell the customer all this?  My answer is: if you don’t “sell” the customer on your product you are not going to have a product.  What about your ticket prices?  Do you think the customer can really afford to see your show or event? 

If you run a venue, what is your customer experience like? Will customers walk away with good word of mouth about the venue?  How can you promote the fun and excitement that your venue provides? Have you promoted the “ease” of getting to your venue or parking when they get there?  What are your concession prices?  Can your customer get a decent deal on food?  I went to a sporting event this week.  I spent $100 on concessions for two adults and two kids.  Do you think that customers will continue to spend that kind of money on arena food?  Will it make them think twice before purchasing a ticket for the next event at your venue?

We have an opportunity to step up and show the world that we do care.  We are the standard bearers for fun and happiness.  We have a great story to tell about our products.  Buying a ticket for our events is the escape.  Now all you have to do is tell them why.

Have a great weekend!

Are You A Good Deal?

Wal-Mart announced that they had a very good October and they forecast a good holiday shopping season.  With the economy going to hell and everyone forecasting doom & gloom Wal-Mart is optimistic.  Why, because as I have mentioned in previous posts, people are still going to shop for the holiday season.  They just are not going to spend as much.  They are going where the deals are.  We should look at this model and work it into our plans.

Event and entertainment ticket prices have gone through the roof over the past few years.  The argument could be made that the price of everything associated with the event has gone up.  This is true, but don’t you think that greed factors in also? Also, let’s face it, customers were willing to drop that kind of cash but I bet “times, they are a changing”.

This might be the time that we should put together events that people can afford.  Does a concert ticket really need to be $100 plus?  Hey, if you can still get it then you should go for it.  But I believe these shows are few and with the current state of the economy it will become even fewer. We need to remember that our events come from discretionary dollars.  Food, housing and utilities are going to paid first out of the budget.

All of us in marketing need to market to changes.  If the economy is going south, which they have been talking about now for a year, then we should be planning for this. 

Tweeter is a high end TV & home entertainment store.  They are known for having good stuff and quality installation.  The problem is that customers have a lot more choices today.  They can buy most of the same TV’s and other product at the other chains that are charging less.  Best Buy offers installation.  The end result is that Tweeter did not tweak its plan to fit the economy or competition and now they are going out of business.  I am not asking to cheapen the product.  Customers and fans don’t want crap.  They want quality and a good deal. 

 The company I used to work for did not plan.  They kept thinking that they could cut the product quality, cut the customer experience, cut the marketing budget so deep that the message did not get out, and expand into new markets at the same time.  The result, they are out of business too. 

What about a promotion around the economy.  The Lake Placid Hotel is offering its guests a deal based on the stock market.  What ever the market is at the end of the week, then that is what the room rate is.  For example, if the market is 8600.  Then the rate for the following week is $86.00 per night.

It is not too late to do something now.  Take a look at your market.  What can we offer our customers that will drive them to the product? Ask yourself, “is my product a good deal?  Is it affordable?  Will my customers buy it”?  Don’t let ego or greed get in the way.  I think it is better to have seats filled then to have empty seats, don’t you?

 

I Paid To See A Show!

I recently went to see Coldplay.  I had not been to a big arena concert as a patron for a long time.  I went because my teenage son wanted to go to his first concert. 

It has been a long time since I paid to go see a show.  Remember, I work in the business.  I don’t pay to see shows but my son really wanted to see it.  What a shock at the prices.  Tickets were $100 and up (face value) to see the show.  I have concert tickets from when I was a teen that were $10 and they were front row seats.  Concert shirts are now $35.  Then you have to buy the food.  I had my son and his friend with me.  Think what damage two teenage boys at the arena concession stands are going to do to the wallet.

By the way, the show was great.  The sound and lights were very good.  The band had two opening acts.  The first one was the local band Luxury.  Coldplay had an online contest where the fans could vote for a local band to open.  Coldplay picked the final winner.  I think this was a pretty cool marketing contest.  The winning band must have been pumped.  I am sure they have always dreamed of playing on the big stage with big sound in their home town arena.

The second opening act was the national act Santogold.  I think they are a pretty cool act with a very unique sound.  The problem was that the music didn’t go with the complete show.  I bet this was an example of agents looking for some place for the act to go.  Don’t they understand that while the act needs exposure it needs the right exposure with the right audience.  The Coldplay crowd was not the right fit. 

The overall good news is that my son enjoyed his first show and wants to see another show soon.  So does Dad.