For much of my life, I have been in and around live entertainment, events, and sports. Which makes the future of live events something that I think about pretty regularly.
As I have sat here watching a bunch of different sports and entertainment stories take over our cultural dialogue over the past few weeks, it got me to thinking about what the future of live entertainment really is going to look like and how different or the same that is from what we are already seeing.
In thinking about this topic, I’ve come up with 3 things that will drive live entertainment going forward and, you might be surprised, but these 3 things aren’t too far from what we should be focusing on now.
People: I think it has become really easy for leagues, teams, sponsors, and other stakeholders to look at live entertainment fans and buyers as numbers on a spreadsheet. (Trust me, I’ve seen the spreadsheets and the formulas) And by looking at people in this manner, it becomes easy to treat and act towards your customers in ways that are completely the opposite of how you would want to be treated.
If you need an example, I’m looking at those of you that totally feel it is appropriate to charge fans $14 for a large Bud Light.
The fact is that our job as venues, teams, and entertainment producers is to create customers. This is true no matter what business you are in. The number one job you are dealing with is that you need to create and keep customers.
In sports, we see that TV money has been flooding teams and organizations. This has made it feel like our customers and fans are just a blob of demographics. Which if you are selling cable TV to the masses, can be true. I guess.
The only problem from the team, league, venue side is that while the TV networks and fee payers are our partners, the viewers of the games they broadcast aren’t our customers.
Why?
Because the cable networks, TV networks, and fee payers are the ones that control the customers.
Here’s a rule: The person that controls the customer wins!
This neglect of the customer isn’t just a sports problem, it permeates all the way through every form of live entertainment.
We have taken the POV that our events are measured in large demographic mobs, not in the form of millions and millions of individuals that are all going to feel something different from their experience with you, your venue, and your event.
So the first thing about the future of live entertainment is that the emphasis is going to have to be placed firmly on the people that we are serving.
This might mean following the lead of the Atlanta Falcons as they have talked about “fan first” pricing for their food and beverage options at their new stadium.
If is likely to mean being more considerate of the experience that your fans have throughout the buying and experience process by making sure that the buying of a ticket is much easier; that ingress and egress from the stadium or event is much more pleasant; it will likely mean putting fans first when you design merchandise, marketing campaigns, special events, and every other aspect of your experience.
The flip side of this can be seen in the struggles of the NFL over the last year or two:
Lower TV ratings.
Tough times getting fans to games in usually well-attending markets.
Fans that are less attached to games and teams than they are to the statistics of their fantasy football teams, which is a drag on the entire sport and unsustainable.
Stories: Somewhere along the line, live entertainment stopped having such a mythical attachment to the story.
Sure, about once or twice a year we have a compelling storyline play out in sports.
It feels exciting, absolutely.
Over the weekend, the way people were drawn to the Cubs and Indians World Series came up in several conversations I had.
But in too many cases, the stories and storylines almost feel like happenstance, not design.
The thing is that stories drive everything we do.
If you haven’t had the chance to read Seth Godin’s incredible book All Marketers Tell Stories you should stop what you are doing, as soon as you finish this post, and get a copy of the book and don’t do anything else until you finish reading it.
Stories are so powerful for a bunch of reasons, but most importantly in today’s world because they help us make sense of the information around us and the stories we tell ourselves enable us to generate the emotion necessary to take action.
Big, right?
Live entertainment and stories should go together like peanut butter and chocolate.
Every concert is a one of a kind event, even when the entire thing is scripted.
There is never going to be another game exactly like the one taking place tonight.
Even if you are going to a ballet, opera, or live theatre, there is the sense that you are only going to see this performance once.
Its all true!
Why?
Because even in the most scripted of situations, we are only going to have this one chance to experience this specific event.
How many of you have seen a show more than once? A team? A band?
I’d say that one of the big drivers of the career of a band like Pearl Jam is their ability to make each tour feel fresh and new. To make each concert an event all to its own. They have done a fantastic job of setting up a story that tells their fans, you want to see as many of our shows as possible because you are never going to see the same thing twice and, even more amazingly from a revenue generation standpoint, you are never going to get the same merchandise twice.
And, you know what…people buy it.
I’d estimate that they get 1-2x of the face value of their tickets in merchandise sales at each show. (Likely more.)
Why?
Its in the story.
How can you capture the imagination and power of a story in your venue?
Think in terms of what is special?
How unique is your event? Performance? Venue?
Can you design everything about your shows and events to reflect a story?
I’m going to let you in on a secret here.
You have no choice really.
You have to design your live entertainment in a manner that the audience you are trying to reach can fit it into their worldview and say, “This is the kind of entertainment I want to consume.”
Because if you don’t design your entertainment in this way and present it in a way that your audience can fit it into their worldview, you are never going to win.
Experiences: I think the logical conclusion of where will live entertainment go is that ultimately we are going to need to put a lot more emphasis on the experience. And, when I talk about experience I don’t mean in the cheesy way that so many venues sell their “experiences” with the discussion about the buffets, amenities, and on-site parking.
When I talk about experience, I am talking about designing something that transports and enthralls your customers.
It begins with the first touch point a prospect or fan might have with your event.
What do you want them to feel? Think? Act?
What is the logical step that they need to take?
From the point of first contact, you need to build the entire customer lifecycle like a great composer builds peaks and valleys into their composition.
Once your prospect has signaled interest, how can you manage the experience to push them towards buying?
Is each touchpoint a chance to advance the sales conversation?
Or, if they buy, how do you make the anticipation of the event something special?
Can you send teaser emails that talk about planning the event?
If you are a band, maybe rehearsal clips?
If you are a team, maybe show practice footage?
Whatever, make the person on the buying end of the relationship feel good and make them anticipate their night with you.
What about the night of the event?
How is each event going to be special?
Are you going to offer something one of a kind as the fans and buyers enter?
Can you have a pre-event party sponsored by a partner?
Can you offer a one of a kind event brochure, flyer, shirt, whatever?
What about the performance itself?
Even if you are talking baseball where there are 162 games, how can you make it unique for the fan to attend? Especially if the person isn’t a die hard baseball fan?
Most importantly, what will you do after?
How will you solidify the experience that you had and that the customer had?
How will you deepen the relationship?
Do you have a plan for follow up?
Do you have some post event surprise that you can use?
The fact is that our buyers are demanding these kinds of unique experiences more and more. This isn’t likely to change in the coming years. So if we aren’t doing it with the type of content and performances that we have, someone with lesser content will.
That is what you call a missed opportunity.
To sum it up, the future of tickets looks a lot like the present should:
As live entertainment professionals, we need to go back to the basics and use technology to help us enhance the things we should already be doing. But always focus on people, stories, and experiences.
What say you?
Am I off my rocker?