"One Size Fits None" might be common! But it's also unwise!
180: Drew McManus spent some time with me this week for the podcast.
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Busy week.
On holiday until the 4th so you might get a shorter newsletter next week.
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To the Tickets!
I. “One Size Fits None” is a loser:
The right question isn’t “are the arts/entertainment/sports dying?” The right question is, “Are you relevant?”
One Big Thing: Focus on your customer.
The sad reality is that too many arts organizations, sports teams, concert venues, start with the point of view of “what works for me?”
As I was listening to the replay of our conversation, it got me thinking about some bullet points for improving the marketing of arts/culture:
Research is as simple as going to Google and inserting your hypothesis to see if someone has done any research on the topic.
Know your numbers: If you have 60-70% of a “segment” that’s saturation and you need to target a different segment if you want to grow or expand your audience.
Stop throwing money at PR, Facebook ads, or anything until you know what success looks like. A lot of these solutions are built on “the way things have always been done” and not what is going to work now. Your potential customers might not be there.
“Lookalike” audiences are often BS. Alternatives matter. New customers buy differently than regular buyers.
Pricing is a terrible driver of demand. Okay, it doesn’t drive demand at all. Using price based promotions tells the market, “I don’t believe in the value of my product.”
Stop “navel gazing”. What you find valuable doesn’t matter. You aren’t the one spending your money to come to your show.
I put some more thoughts on my blog.
Follow Drew on LinkedIn if you don’t.
II. Rolling Loud cancels 2023 in NYC:
“Logistical issues” is probably code for there are too many shows and events going on.
What to Know? This year’s concert calendar is full.
Shows needed to go to market earlier. More tickets were on sale. Prices were higher. American consumer credit is high.
This means that something had to give.
Is this isolated? No.
Use the search function on any secondary site and almost any event you search for there are often thousands of seats at concerts, sports, and more.
What does this tell us?
The secondary market’s propping up of the primary market is on full display in the US.
Why has this happened?
Easy credit
Endorsed access to tickets
Unendorsed access to tickets
Speculation
Competition
Those are likely just the top 5.
Does This Matter to You? It should.
If people don’t have money to spend, they aren’t going to buy tickets.
It also means that if people are having to make choices, you have to be more thoughtful in the marketing and selling of your products.
You can’t wait for your ticket to be “hot.”
You can’t just assume that past behavior is going to predict future behavior.
You can’t just hope that what has always worked is going to continue to work.
All of these are deadly assumptions.
Strategy before tactics.
One Big Thing: When I look at baseball, the big thing I see missing is a coherent strategy:
Ambition
Targeting
Position
Why Does This Matter? Revenue is the number that is touted.
But the troubles in the RSN business, declining real attendance, declining cultural relevance, and declining ratings…all point to real challenges.
Things that don’t get fixed without a focus on strategy.
Those are considered decisions around choice:
What you will do, but more importantly what you won’t do.
Who you are attempting to reach, but what they value?
Why you over the other alternatives?
Question to consider: In your own strategy: “What Does Success Look Like?”
Start there.
IV. Drake ticket prices have people in a state:
Dynamic Pricing is a tool.
There are upsides:
Can react to demand.
Capture more of the value.
There are downsides:
Customers can get pissed.
Brand equity can be undermined.
That’s been on display with Drake’s tickets over the last week.
Consider: What are your goals?
Is maximizing the revenue the main objective?
Or, is there another goal you are hoping to achieve?
Pricing is complex.
There isn’t one right price. There is a right price for right now.
More importantly, there is the right price for your strategy.
Go Deeper: Robert Smith calls out Ticketmaster and Ticketmaster refunds some of the fees on tickets to see Cure.
V. Links:
Taylor Swift launches her tour with 44 songs and 3 hours and 10 minutes of music:
My teenage neighbor is very excited. She’s often told me that she can’t wait to see Taylor Swift in Philly in a few weeks.
I’m glad it looks like she won’t be disappointed.
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