Hello!
I’ve begun the long delayed updates to my shop this week with the launch of a new service called:
- 1-Hour of “On Demand” Consulting with me.
- You set the agenda.
- We can discuss your pricing, strategy, products, marketing, or something else.
- All sessions can be recorded.
Book in with me TODAY!
To the Tickets!
I. The Guardian looks at the business of concerts:
This is comprehensive.
The Big Idea: You have to do long/short.
There are lots of headliners now, but you also have to work to cultivate the future.
In other words: strategy.
This is a word that doesn’t get used nearly enough in entertainment because it feels like everyone is focused on the short-term.
Highlights:
- New arenas throughout the UK due to spiking demand and aging buildings.
- Pricing is a concern and scaling the building to ensure accessibility is one solution.
- What happens when the big-name headliners hang it up? Who knows?
II. NASCAR’s loyalty program focuses on behavior, not spend:
I was wrong: data shows that loyalty programs aren’t as important as I’ve always thought.
The Big Idea: NASCAR started focusing on a loyalty program about 5 years ago.
The first thing they did: research.
What did they find: no one had an action-based reward program.
Why Does This Matter? Research from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute in Western Australia teaches us that loyalty programs focused on heavy buyers aren’t as effective as we often think they are.
This is because getting heavy buyers to buy more is often nearly impossible.
Focus: On “light” buyers.
- There are more of them
- Getting them to buy once over not at all is easier than getting someone from 7 to 8 purchases.
- Less wed to other alternatives in many cases.
What To Look For?
- Investment in the database: managing these programs is expensive and hard.
- Lessons learned from the programs: again, heavy buyer data is useful for research but can skew your decision-making when it comes to drawing a larger audience.
- Changes to the program: I find that these programs can easily be changed too quickly or too late. The real skill is having a strategy that you can stick to over time. Know what is signal and what is noise.
III. Christy Grantham tells me that INTIX helps fight burnout:
She also shares the importance of meeting customers where they are.
Big Idea: Get into the head of the customer.
You achieve that with:
- Talking to others.
- Talking to customers.
- Changing your environment.
These conversations were recorded at the Cover Genius booth in Seattle during INTIX.
Catching folks in the moment helped get a better understanding of the real impact of attending a conference.
One idea that Christy got into about “meeting the customer where they are” and the changing policies around “No refunds. No exchanges.” does highlight the CFAR product that Cover Genius offers.
CFAR: Cancel for Any Reason.
On the panel I led with Joe Calnan, Jo-Ann Chaim, and Kelly Monts de Oca showed us, people are taking out refund protection more than ever before.
Kelley’s example is over 45% of people are purchasing refund protection at the Playhouse Square Theatre in Ohio.
P.S. More on-location podcasts coming this year, I think. These worked out well.
IV. Is Broadway still burning out its workers:
I could have written this about any part of the entertainment or many industries.
The Big Idea: Less revenue/less attendance/worker shortage = stretching folks even more than before.
This matters because filling roles has continued to be difficult in all parts of the industry.
Why?
- Long hours
- Low pay
- No clear path to advance
- Stress
I could go on, but this is another conversation that people felt comfortable bringing to me at INTIX.
What do I do that makes people feel like they can bring up their most challenging issues or biggest concerns?
Your job: Figure out if you are burning out your workforce. If so, take actions to fix it immediately.
Don’t wait.
V. Links:
The NY Times looks at the secondary market and tickets to see Bruce Springsteen:
TicketNews made it into the NY Times…that’s pretty epic for them. I’m totally jealous.
My latest for the Project Management Institute focuses on leading through change:
The only thing certain in life is change.
MSG, Penn Station, and the history of mass transit in NYC:
This is a long, but interesting one that covers Dolan’s ownership, MSG, facial recognition, and more.
I did my first brand specific podcast with Paul Bailey this week: great stuff!
Linktree: Find everything I’m up to.
Join the ‘Talking Tickets’ Slack Group. Almost 300 people from around the world. Daily jokes, ideas, and news.
Cover Genius will be at the TPC in Birmingham in March.
You’ll be able to find out how refund protection can:
- Generate a new revenue stream that can equal over $100,000 a year in new revenue.
- Why refund protection helps guests by tickets and gives them peace of mind. 48% uptake should tell you a little bit.
- How offering these options improves customer service including a boost to the all-important NPS score. Cover Genius has a 65…better than the 43 of the newsletter!
I’ll be in NYC from 27-31 of March.