Talking Tickets 13 August 2021: See You in Vegas! Broadway's Mask Mandate! The9! And, More!
Number 97
Hey There!
Happy Friday the 13th, yeah?!
Will I see you in Las Vegas next week? Let me know?
I will be getting together with folks to watch some Premier League on Sunday morning before the conference gets started. So hit me up and I’ll let you know exactly where we will be getting together.
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To the Tickets!
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1. Broadway will reopen with mask mandates:
Big Ideas:
As we’ve seen throughout the pandemic, whenever we have a fork in the road, the virus picks the one that will disrupt us the most.
Demand challenges are real. In NYC alone, 45 Broadway shows are hoping to come back this year.
Reopening isn’t recovery.
Let’s kick off this week by looking at Broadway, one of the impactful places on my career.
I’m like a lot of people, excited to get back to a show!
But 45 shows coming back this year highlights a huge challenge for live entertainment across the board: there are probably more shows and events going on sale at once than there are people that can buy tickets.
This reality highlights a topic I’ve been hammering on a lot lately, putting strategy before tactics.
This is a moment where the need to have a strategy in place is more important than ever because the Delta variant is running wild around the world causing Broadway to institute mask mandates, Jazz Fest to cancel their 2021 event, and the Sea.Hear.Now Festival to require proof of vaccination or a negative test.
How long will this period of uncertainty remain with us?
I’m going to say that if you look at history, we are still only about halfway through dealing with this pandemic and that we will have one more hump and things will likely start petering out in 2022.
That’s my best guess from historical data. I could be wrong.
What can we all do now?
First, plan.
I was early on the notion that people weren’t planning for the virus to begin with. Then, everyone rolled out like “we’ve totally been planning all along.”
My research told me that less than 10% of organizations had any internal discussions about the pandemic as late as the end of January 2020.
But in February, they were all in discussions since the first cases?!
I bring this up because don’t delude yourself into ignoring things because “it can’t happen again” or some other justification.
Come up with a plan.
Know how you are going to deal with challenges around new cases. Understand how you are going to communicate with your stakeholders. Prepare for actions that may be remote, but aren’t unlikely under the circumstances.
Second, create a solid communications plan.
One of the big failures that a lot of businesses in live entertainment dealt with over the last year or so has been a failure to effectively communicate with their customers and their audiences.
I know my neighbor came over to my back deck a few times and told me how his reps from the different DC sports organizations hadn’t touched base with him into July and August of 2020.
Did they get around to talking with him in the late summer?
I’m not sure. I just moved on to figuring out ways to continue to hang out on the deck through the fall and winter so we didn’t really bring it up.
This wasn’t uncommon. I had a lot of examples of this stuff piling up in my inbox.
So get your communications act together now.
As I talked about with Martin Gammeltoft a few weeks back, you need to reignite your customer communication plan to be able to sell tickets, but you also need to re-engage with your market because they need to know you are there, need to know how you are dealing with the ongoing challenges, and it is a way to keep yourself top of mind.
Third, be agile.
Did y’all know I’m the most widely read project management author in the world?
True fact.
I’ve been writing a column for the Project Management Institute since I finished working on the Obama re-election efforts in 2012. And, I’m consistently the most read person on the most-read project management site in the world!
My job for PMI is to bring the practical skills of project management into the world outside of tech since most PMPs are technical folks.
I bring this up because agile is a key project management concept and it really just plays out as being flexible in the tactics you use to reach the goal of success in your projects.
This matters because you are going to have be a lot more flexible in your efforts. You are going to have to see a pattern or trend emerge and take action to keep your team moving in the direction of success.
To be fair, this was always important, but more so now.
As for me, I’m going to keep an eye on Broadway because I want to go see The Boss.
2. The9’s first concert shows a new way of thinking about “product”:
Big Ideas:
The9’s first live performance reminds us that we don’t define value, the customer does.
Technology is moving so fast that we need to expand our thinking around “product”.
Price is marketing’s MVP moment and thinking about price as a reflection of value can create more opportunities.
Whenever I get a chance to chat about China, I like to say hello to my buddy, Greg Turner. He has been instrumental in teaching me about China and opening up the possibilities that the Chinese market has for folks in sports and live entertainment.
I bring that up because without realizing that Greg was listening to my podcast and finding value in it, I would have never thought that I could really add value to the Chinese market.
I just didn’t know enough about it.
But I was wrong.
For one thing, I can learn a lot about the world by looking to China like I discussed with Zoe Scaman. She’s another of my go-to people to figure out how to use ideas that are emerging from China.
Second, I can add value because I can look at the way things are done in China and Asia and bring them to the other markets I’ve historically worked in.
So this brings me back to The9.
This story is wild because there is so much stuffed into this example of their virtual concert, but the really awesome thing is the way that they used Extend Reality (XR) to create this virtual world that the women of The9 could react to in real-time and that gave the performers an experience that they were willing to gush about.
In reading through the piece, the things I latched onto were how a relatively new band could draw tens of thousands of folks to their virtual performance and that the ticket prices they were able to charge were significant ($21-$61). And, that even in a virtual setting, the value to the customer was so much that they could upsell a number of different items.
What should we take from a story like this?
Number one, remember that we don’t define value, the customer does.
This is one of my go-to marketing philosophies that I teach folks, but the first step in getting out of your own way is to recognize that your opinion doesn’t matter. The only opinion for what is valuable or not comes from the customer.
They define value, we don’t.
You may or may not like a virtual concert, but if your fans are willing to pay and the performer is willing to perform…what can you do but shrug and give people what they want?
Market Orientation in a nutshell. (Fun fact, I found out that this is another idea that came from the mind of Peter Drucker. H/T to Mark Ritson for this nugget.)
Second, this highlights the need to really dig into product thinking.
I think last week I reminded y’all about the notion that your product consists of three levels:
The core benefit
The actual product
The augmented product
This is all augmented product all the time from the use of XR, to the meet-and-greets virtually, and on it goes.
Keep this in mind because as I said above, the customer defines value, we don’t. So recognizing that enables us to offer an entirely different mix of value within the product offering, virtual and in-person, virtual or physical, or some combination of all kinds of things.
The key is to expand your thinking about what the product really is.
A good example of this in the world of sports is the Cityzens program. And, I’d be really interested to see what shows such as The Lion King, Wicked, or Harry Potter could do with this idea.
Finally, remember that pricing is marketing’s MVP moment.
Check out the conversation I had with Sean Kelly where he showed us that our idea about what people will pay for a virtual event can lead to us missing out on money.
How?
Because in Sean’s example, the people that were buying tickets to virtual performances were putting their value attachment onto the value of the performance, not being there.
Remember, the first rule is that the customer defines value…not us.
The second rule, the augmented product is key in the modern world because your customer defines value in a number of different ways.
The third rule, pricing is marketing’s MVP moment because that’s when you capture some of the value that you’ve created for your customers.
Pricing demands research. It also demands Market Orientation. And, it really demands that you take a page from Frozen and “let it go” because your assumptions are probably wrong.
For my clients, the first step I’m going to take is to get people to take a step back and look at their research with a fresh set of eyes because we might be missing what folks define as valuable by trying to define value for them.
That’s a bad idea.
But…again we have to “let it go.”
3. “No Drip Pricing” is the call from NYU’s Max Sarinsky:
Big Ideas:
Keep this idea in mind, pricing is marketing’s MVP moment. It is where you capture some of the value you’ve created for your customers.
Drip pricing was always going to be a problem as soon as real antitrust enforcement came into play because it can look like “bait and switch”. It works, but just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should or that you will always be able to do something.
Poor pricing is a sign of poor strategy, period.
This is an idea that we come back to over and over again because pricing is the moment when you capture some of the value you’ve created for your audience. And, pricing gimmicks have been a way for a lot of businesses to hide the real cost of doing business with them, across industries, not just in tickets.
The first idea here is that drip pricing can seem like a form of deception.
This is true.
You offer a ticket for $15 and add $7.50 to the ticket for a total of $22.50. That’s a big difference in pricing.
For folks that aren’t in the world of tickets, there probably doesn’t seem like a reasonable justification for this practice either. Leading folks to feel decieved and, probably, duped.
That feeling of duplicity can have a cost.
The second idea here is that regulation for deception, consumer harm, and other bad actions is likely going to get much closer scrutiny.
That includes things that we might feel are just normal now, like drip pricing.
A name that pops up here that is one I’ve mentioned a few times lately is the name of the FTC’s Chair, Lina Khan.
She’s a real deal reformer and any company that has limited competition, hurt consumers, or been a bad actor should be on the watch because she seems determined to really take action.
But enough with the analysis.
How can we approach this?
First, let’s think of value once more.
Drip pricing is really a sign that there isn’t enough value created for the customer, but using deception folks can capture sales due to the momentum of the sales process.
Many people would say, no one is forcing you to buy.
But, again, just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should or that it is right.
Back to the value point, the key here is that if you were creating enough value and focused on elevating the value of your product or service, drip pricing wouldn’t be necessary. Because the value you were buying would be much more evident.
Second, this is a communications problem as well.
At heart, this communications challenge leads to a branding issue because it detracts from the brand of the show and the platform making the sale, leading to more price sensitivity, less customer loyalty, and higher customer acquisition costs.
How?
If you don’t feel like the platform or organization you are doing business with is a good faith actor, you aren’t going to seek them out or do business with them no matter what.
In my days on the secondary market, I had a book of business where folks would call me up, ask for what they needed, and just buy. They weren’t price shopping because there was tangible and intangible value in working with me that made the price or a couple of bucks one way or the other irrelevant.
Even now, no one comes to me price shopping for consulting, coaching, or workshops.
That’s because the value is inherent meaning that folks pay the price, trust the brand, and aren’t price sensitive.
Going further, because of all this work, both in tickets and in consulting, I have customer loyalty.
To write this, I would say that my average customer over the years has worked with me for around 4 years or more in some form. Sometimes folks move on to other jobs, bringing me along with them, or we move in different directions.
But, on the whole, that’s pretty good loyalty.
And, that leads me to lower customer acquisition costs.
In regards to drip pricing, if you have to win the same customer over every time you want them to make a sale, how much is that costing you?
A lot, I bet.
This is why I advocate controlling your customer through lists, loyalty programs, and other things you control.
What is this newsletter, The Business of Fun, or The Business of Value but a way for me to own my audience? To know y’all and to be able to offer y’all better value, free and fee.
The same idea is on display here with the drip pricing concept.
All of this leads up to the idea that has been getting into everything lately, put your strategy first and don’t touch a tactic without a strategy.
What is a strategy but a series of choices?
You need to know what you want your business to become.
You must know where you are going to compete.
You have to know why folks are going to pick you over other businesses.
And, you have to know how you are going to take action to achieve these things.
Simple, but to repeat myself, poor pricing is often a sign of a poor strategy.
4. The AFL sets a record for memberships!
Big Ideas:
Memberships are a great way to drive connections with your fans.
These kinds of membership programs aren’t limited to just sports because the AFL membership model is really another take on the Pearl Jam fan club which was modeled after the Grateful Dead’s fan club.
Make it simple to buy.
Love the AFL!
Giving a keynote on “Fans For Life” was a true highlight of all the work I did on Side A of my career.
After the pandemic being Side B!
So I’m happy to get the chance to highlight the work that the AFL has been able to do during the pandemic because they’ve taken a tough situation and managed to turn the whole thing into a big positive with a record number of memberships.
As I was sitting down to write this and thinking through how to present this in an actionable way, I was reminded of a conversation I had about membership models with an executive a few weeks back and I decided to put together 7 keys to a successful membership program:
Emotionally connect it to the fan: The way that the AFL positions a lot of their messaging about memberships is that it is a key way to support the club, no matter if you attend the footie or not. This is key because a fan’s connection to the club doesn’t know boundaries and giving fans a way to support the squad is a key hook.
Offer real value: I have been signing my son up for the One Hotspur membership since we started following Spurs a few years back and the value that they give you in your membership is real, tangible and intangible. Including the contests, gifts, and the birthday card…it is real and we haven’t even taken advantage of the benefits that accrue when we are in London yet.
Make it simple to buy: If you go through the AFL’s membership, you’ll see that it takes you three clicks to get to the checkout page. It isn’t active right now because they are preparing for the new season, but I followed all the way to the conclusion to see how simple it is. But this is almost an impulse buy. We talk about removing friction, yeah…it works.
Keep members informed about impact: I did a few fundraising projects in 2020 because folks were looking to plug budget holes, had time to start new programs, or were doing things that they always wanted to do. In looking at the research data, the key thing that came back was that the reason folks stopped giving or stopped participating in a membership program, gift program, or funding campaign was because they didn’t know about their impact and they felt like an ATM. Don’t do that.
Clear communications: I didn’t always notice this, but the memberships that I have on a global level all send me pretty consistent communications. Some of it is about the matches, some of it about contests, some merchandise, some sponsor stuff, and on it goes. The key is that the communications are clear and consistent, making me feel a part of something larger.
Unique stuff: A cool thing about the AFL’s membership program if you are an American is that you can get access to all of the footie matches! You don’t have any other way to watch everything in the States right now. For Tottenham, we get a unique gift package for the boy every year at the start of the season. And, y’all remember the package that the Red Sox sent out to their premium members this year when they weren’t able to take their annual trip? Give folks unique stuff!
Express thanks: Duh! But, yeah! The release at the top is about the fans and how grateful the AFL is to have them. PSG, City, and Tottenham do something similar. You have to offer genuine thanks to folks for supporting you.
Honestly, there are some technical things that add to stuff like auto-reminders and exit interviews that can boost your membership even more, but those are stuff we talk about a lot anyway.
I dig these membership programs because I think they are a real key to creating fans for life and some version of them can work no matter what organization you are in. Just think about the Sonics program I still talk about when I lived in Seattle and owned tickets to the Pearl Jam fan club. They are all forms of membership programs and they bring you closer to your fans…and they make you a boatload of money when done well.
5. Come to Ticket Summit! Because the Delta can put everything at risk again:
Big Ideas:
Don’t be silly, get your vaccine. Collective action is required to be a part of civil society.
The Delta variant is causing trouble already.
Come to Vegas and see me and Eric and everyone else at Ticket Summit.
I’m back in Forbes and on Eric Fuller’s podcast to preview Ticket Summit, the ALSD, and the ECHL in Vegas.
We got a bit into a discussion about vaccines, the delta variant, and living in a civil society.
To be clear, vaccines are a safe and effective way to ensure that we put this pandemic behind us, keep people healthy, and stop our businesses from being harmed any further.
If you haven’t, go get a vaccine.
We also touched on what the next few months or years of tickets could look like with some ideas and predictions.
A short hand list of the ideas I’d be focusing on:
Reopening isn’t recovery: Demand is up and down. We are also seeing price sensitivity come back after things opened super hot. So you are going to need a plan.
Pricing is marketing’s MVP moment: Getting your price right now is even more important than ever because if you lose people due to being too aggressive with your price now, you may not get them back. On the flip side, the data shows that at the top end of the market you can push a bit more. What does that mean? Be conscious of pricing based on the segment you are focusing on, not just some random number on a spreadsheet.
Customer buying patterns have changed and that’s something to pay attention to: In the podcast, I talk about the example from Booking Protect. I have new numbers. In the spring, refund protection uptake peaked at almost 75%. That’s a WTF number! Now the number has settled down at around 1/3 of guests buying refund protection. That’s a huge change. I’ve talked with teams in Major League Baseball that tell me their sales environment has flipped because of the change in business entertainment, meaning B2B sales aren’t happening, but the B2B buyers are buying tickets on the weekend for friends and family. Again, changing habits. Not all of them will stay, but keep an eye on this.
I can go on about this stuff all day long. There are some really interesting stats that are showing up now.
We will cover some during the Ticket Summit panel. I’ll feed some to Ken Troupe for the ALSD. And, if you find me at the pool, I’ll try to have some interesting ones there as well.
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I wrote up some new ideas to think through pricing and profitability on Thursday and I was quoted in the press about Messi going to PSG.
Guess what? The uptake on refund protection has doubled since before the pandemic, meaning people are looking for certainty as they purchase tickets and plan in a Delta variant world. Talk to my buddies at Booking Protect and find out how you can offer refund protection to give your guests the reassurance that they need in an uncertain time.
Did you read the stuff above about communications? If you haven’t been communicating with your audience, now is the best time to start. So hook up with Activity Stream and find out how the Activate email marketing platform can help you reconnect with your customers.
Research! Research! Research! That’s been a mantra of mine for months now. That’s why I’ve teamed up with Eventellect to create a worksheet to show you to use Net Promoter Score to survey your audience, find out how you are doing, and learn how to offer more value. Send me an email and I will hook you up!