š South Korea: Arts Sales Up and Prices Too!
174: Louis Slices offers some good product launch lessons...
Hey There!
Happy Super Bowl weekend.
Do me a solid and share this with someone if you find it useful!
I donāt really care one way or the other, but my neighbor is throwing a partyā¦so thereās that.
Last week, I announced the dates for upcoming in-person events with tentative topics/titles.
If you didnāt get a chance to jot them down:
March 14 in DC: The Non-Profit Marketing Bootcamp
April 11 in NYC: The Customer-Centered Strategy
9-10 May in London: Pricing for Profit/Marketing the Live Experience
24 October in Sydney: Marketing in Any Market
December 5-6 in NYC: The 2024 Strategy Bootcamp
Also, Iām doing a 3 part market research webinar on April 6/13/20 about doing market research right. 3 90-minute sessions with homework in between.
Iām going to start dropping details and sign up information in the next week or so.
To the Tickets!
I. In South Korea, ticket sales and prices grow in the performing arts:
Butā¦why?
The gist: Ticket sales and prices for art performances in South Korea have grown compared to 2019. The more important question for sustainability is why?
There is no indication of the answer in the piece.
I point this out because we saw this in other markets: things opened up, demand popped, and then things settled back to a lower than ānormalā level.
My end-of-year webinar pointed out that the people that are going to sports, theatre, and events are the people going.
There isnāt a bunch of intended purchase that is untapped in tickets.
What does that tell us?
We know who our current audience is.
What would have to be true for them to continue to go as much as they go now?
Less?
More?
How do we change that dynamic?
The first three questions, you have to answer specifically about your market.
For the fourth one, you need to grow your customer base.
You do that with top-of-mind brand awareness.
These are big events that help you get into your marketās head.
You want to be there when people are deciding where they are going to go for a show, an event, or a date.
I worked on a project a few years ago and the number one issue in selling tickets was event discovery.
When I lived in NYC, I worked on Broadway for years.
I went all the time.
When I wasnāt working directly on Broadway, I probably went once because I had family in town.
Not because I didnāt like Broadway. Because it didnāt pop into my mind.
This is the battle: top-of-mind awareness.
Being mentally there when people are making a decision about a date, a night out, or a special event.
This doesnāt matter about the size of the market or the vertical, your non-customers and light customers are a bigger percentage of your market than your diehard customers.
Getting someone to buy once a year is more straightforward than getting the person that already goes nine times a year to go a tenth.
Focus on that a bit moreā¦see what happens.
II. Beyonce fans are project managers:
I love this article!
Main idea: Beyonce fans are showing Swifties how to do it with spreadsheets, teams, and, likely, a PMP or two thrown in the mix.
Beyonceās on-sale has been handled differently than Taylor Swiftās or others.
While, Jack Antonoff makes the big point: if your brand is strong enough, you can price, distribute, and do with your tickets as you want.
But, you have to do it before and not try to legislate it after the fact.
III. There are 4Ps for a reason:
I spend a lot of time on the pricing P.
One big thing: The 4Ps are:
Product
Price
Place
Promotion
When we talk tickets, often the conversation boils down to one P in isolation.
The secondary market weighs in with too much emphasis on place (distribution).
I focus on price.
Too many marketers think that all of marketing is the promotion P.
And, the product is often considered a commodity when it is the furthest thing from one.
You need to know: Your strategy is delivered through how you use your 4Ps.
Price is the best lever you can push for profitability, but if the other Ps arenāt supporting itā¦no one will buy.
Price is a terrible driver of demand.
Your promotion can be excellent, but if people canāt find your productā¦whatās the point?
Think about the waitlist for the iPhone during the holidays.
A ticket, a ticket package, or the whole experience is a product.
It isnāt a commodity. Allowing it to be defined as such in your organization is a failure.
No matter what is happening, this stuff is once in a lifetime.
Support the product with promotion, distribution, and pricing that befits this experience.
Big idea: Know your Ps and manage them like crazy.
IV. Backstreets shuts down after 43 years:
Brand management 101: you build up brand equity slowly, but you can lose it in a matter of moments.
What's the point?: At this point, Iād imagine this might be the last BIG Springsteen tour.
What does he really have to lose by cashing in?
If you care about legacy, you do want to pay attention to the comments here because Twitter is a small, vocal sample size, but Iām sure they also arenāt unusual.
Lessons for us: Brand management 101:
Who is your target? For Bruce, he was targeting folks that were going to pay.
What is your position? Bruce was everyman, but now he is pay the man. Thatās totally his right and he seems at peace with the whole thing.
What brand codes and associations are you aiming for? This is where the disconnect is coming in for a lot of fansā¦he was one thing, but now he is another after 40+ years.
Does this matter to you?
It should because you should be answering the same questions in your business.
The bigger point: make sure the answers line up with your intention and desire.
V. Links:
Seth Godin teaches Louis Grenier to launch a product with $1,000 and 90 days:
I enjoy this episode and blog.
The first part is market orientation.
The whole post is all about marketing and not being a dummy.
Read it. Reflect. Send me an idea you come up from it.
Dave Trott teaches us about creativity:
This stuck with me after a few conversations where people said to me, āDave, this ticket game is the same BS it was a decade ago.ā
Then, I saw the idea of ālooking for what is right.ā
In my thinking, Iām always looking at getting to the next level.
Where are we?
Why canāt we do more?
Sometimes, that means pointing out the good. Sometimes, that means pointing out the bad.
Either way, challenge your thinking.
John Mayer is going on tour, solo. Fans arenāt amused about the ticketing experience:
One of my favorite EMP stories is the day John Mayer came to the EMP the morning after my boss told me, āGo out and have some funā¦come in late tomorrow.ā
Anyway, who knew there was a huge demand for John Mayer?
LIV Golfās revenue āvirtually zeroā:
I should probably come back to this with a fuller analysis. But thatās pretty amazing to see in court.
Linktree: Find everything Iām up to.
Join the āTalking Ticketsā Slack Group. Almost 300 people from around the world.
Cover Genius will be at the TPC in Birmingham in March.
Youāll 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 65ā¦better than the 43 of the newsletter!
Donāt forget to mark your calendars. Iām coming to:
London
NYC
DC
Sydney
And, more this year.
Want me to come to your town?
Let me know and letās figure it out!
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