Found Something Better, True Cost of Inflation, YOLO Tickets: My Talk with Eric Fuller.
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Eric Fuller asks me about customer behavior:
The full podcast conversation is available here.
Some of the ideas that we covered:
The severity of value destruction that is happening in tickets right now.
This reminds me of an upcoming ‘The Business of Fun’ conversation with Stephen Cook where we talk about the idea that the top tier events/bands are doing fine, but even just below that people are struggling.
We talk about inflation and the cost of things.
The top line number might be 2-3% which might be the number economists aim for, but essentials are still seeing much higher inflation.
Eric points out my big idea of “the person in the seat”.
The financialization of the ticket business has led people to fall in love with the numbers on the spreadsheet.
But when you see a show that has 3 or 4,000 seats on the secondary market, you realize that isn’t a “sold out” show. That’s a show propped up by the secondary market.
FSB: Found Something Better
We know FOMO. But FSB is more common now. People have options and if you don’t lock in the sale early, people will find something else to do.
I teach you about the idea of real attendance as the metric of health.
Real attendance = % of tickets sold x % of tickets scanned
I’ve seen instances of 30% or less in some places.
We talk about the power of place.
Eric thinks places like the Sphere signal something new. But I point out that with places such as Wrigley Field, Madison Square Garden, Fenway Park, and others that we are just realizing the importance of place once again.
The ultimate point I narrow in on is the need for cooperation.
I don’t believe that the secondary market is good or bad…it just is. If you work on the primary side, you need to make the secondary market work for you. The tools exist for you to be much more strategic with the secondary market now.
Or, to eliminate it if you want to.
Let me know what you think of the article and the conversation.
And, make sure you sign up for a chance to win the BEM course and a consultation with me!
DW
PS: Do me a favor and share today’s post with someone who can benefit from this conversation between me and Eric!