Hi!
What will you dress up as this Halloween?
I’ll be hosting a pre-teen Horror Movie Night tomorrow…send whiskey?!
Update: Thanks to y’all that have taken the time to fill out the NPS survey. Currently, I’ve got a 50…down from 65 the last time I ran this.
50 is great. 65 is greater.
What I have discovered is some folks want more stats and numbers. I’ll work on that. (To be fair, I prefer that and in my client work…we use numbers and stats with context more.)
Also, a bit more about smaller and challenger brands…which I will try and answer. Look at the checklist below.
There’s still time to fill it out! Here’s an explainer.
To the Tickets!
I. The Big Story: How Does Ticketmaster Get Away With It?
Ticketmaster is getting a lot of attention lately.
The Big Idea: Consumer advocates, industry leaders, the government, and fans are all starting to raise a lot of noise about Ticketmaster’s business practices.
Frustration is high around Ticketmaster and tickets.
Examples:
Judd Legum’s piece on how we got where we are in tickets is worth a quick read.
He lays out the situation.
Why is this getting attention now?
Good question. Talking with regulators, elected officials, attorneys, and others involved in this renewed effort, I see three big things driving it:
- An overall emphasis on the power of big tech to extract “monopoly rents” from consumers.
- The destructive power anticompetitive behavior has on the economy in terms of prices, employment, and innovation.
- Tickets is an easy way to illustrate antitrust law and anticompetitive behavior in a way that battling “free” products like Facebook or Google might not be.
How does this impact you?
- Live Nation is the big dog in the industry. So whatever they do impacts everyone.
- Pay attention to competition and lack of competition. Lack of competition drives up costs, cuts wages, and makes it harder for other businesses to operate.
- Having a lack of competition makes everything we do more difficult. We can’t always control our data, marketing, pricing, or product. Keep an eye on all of these things and the challenges that you are encountering.
II. Tools: ClipperVision Offers Fans a New Way to Watch Clippers’ Basketball:
Know This: The Clippers were able to take a chance because of the expiration of their local TV deal.
What Is It? ClipperVision is the Clippers’ answer to streaming and reaching fans that are cord-cutters or cordless.
Is It Wise? The split between national, local, and streaming means that the Clippers haven’t put all of their broadcasting in one area. This is wise.
What to Watch? How many people are willing to sign up for $199 a year to watch the Clippers?
- The geographic area is big, but is the value proposition there for casual fans?
- Would there be enough diehard fans to make it a viable business?
I don’t know.
III. Concept: Discounts…
Definition: “The Crack Cocaine of Marketing”…Les Binet.
The Skinny: Discounts destroy your marketing efforts:
- Undermine your brand equity
- Reduce your profit
- Teach your customers to wait
Research shows that they also eat up sales that likely would have already happened. Or, steal sales from other locations.
As an example:
- Run a sale online, it might steal sales from walk-ups.
- Discount the 72 hours before the game, you likely eat into sales that day-of or the day before would have happened anyway.
IV. Bullets: Marketing as a Small Venue/Challenger Brand:
My working hypothesis is that 90% of the actions you take are the same, but here are a few actions that you can take that a bigger player can’t.
Big Idea: Remember, every marketing situation starts with your research. A minimum of doing an NPS survey and some secondary research.
What’s this mean?
- Branding happens with emotional connection. Don’t lose sight of emotions when you do your marketing.
- Discounts are for dummies! Don’t discount and don’t get into price wars. Focus on your value.
- A + B > 2A or 2B: H/T to Mark Ritson who taught me this formula and has worked repeatedly.
- Focus! Focus! Focus! You can be everything to everyone and you can’t do everything.
V. Links:
As a long-time New Yorker, I never went to see the show.
I don’t say that as a badge of honor but as a reflection of John Gapper’s idea that the lack of tourists helped send the phantom to its end.
On LinkedIn a few days back, a comment came in about what trends will stick from the pandemic years. The truth is that we probably won’t know for a decade or more.
One thing that seems like to stick is the more streamlined nature of musical productions.
RIP Phantom.
Arsenal rebuilds the fan experience:
I can admit when you are right, you are right.
Arsenal listened to their fans and it is paying off.
This is a case study in doing research and being customer focused.
Obviously, COYS!
Price Caps due to cost-of-living issues:
My American readers will want to move to the next one here.
For the rest of the world, finding ways to make sure that people don’t completely stop going to shows is by working to make sure that shows continue to be affordable.
Just look at “The Misery Index”:
Glastonbury raises prices, but they do it well:
3 phases to setting your price:
- The process
- The price
- The promotion
Emily Eaves does a good job of coming out, saying the price increase is due to inflation and they worked to set the price to the best of their abilities.
That’s about the best you can do.
Linktree: Find everything I’m up to.
Join the ‘Talking Tickets’ Slack Group. Almost 300 people from around the world.
Customers are buying refund protection at rates 2x higher than before the pandemic.
Offering your customers refund protection:
- Gives customers certainty in their purchase.
- Gives you a new revenue stream.
- Improves your customer service.
Great podcast conversations: Take your business to new heights by learning from the best in the business.
Recent Conversations:
- Aren Murray
- Bill Guertin
- Scott Goodacre