Talking Tickets 19 March 2021: Big Bash! Me & ESPN! Footie! West End! And, More!
Year 2 Number 24
Hey Friends!
I’ve been talking about ideas that I think are foundational in marketing and strategy this year. One of them is NPS scores. I’m running my quarterly survey right now to track mine.
As I have been working on finding ways to share the idea and teach folks why it is so important, I found out that Eventellect actually tracks their NPS score and achieved a 77. (Spoiler: that’s amazing! Mine was only 53 in the last survey which is exceptional!)
So we have put together a worksheet so you can run your own survey! Reply to this email and I will send you a copy.
Happy Hour tonight at 5 PM Eastern!
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To the Tickets!
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1. What will the post-Covid ticket world look like?
Look at me, I’ve now been called an “expert” by ESPN and “the King of Tickets” on the BBC!
So much winning!
Tisha Thompson spent months talking to folks from around the world of tickets about what the future of tickets and sports business might look like and she laid it out. There are a lot of guesses here, even mine, because we really won’t know for sure what anything really means until we get back to normal.
To be fair, I’m not sure we are even at the point where we can think about recovery in terms that are comparable to a recession yet.
But there are three things I’m looking at that are guiding my thinking right now:
Where prices are for things. As I mentioned last week, I got my first vaccine shot last week and will have my second the first week of April. So I looked at rooms in the vicinity of my family’s house in Georgia. The prices for the days I was planning on going were 5.5-6x where they were in 2019. How quickly does this type of pricing burn through goodwill or people’s willingness to pay?
Behavior.
What does this point to?
A need to revisit your strategy unless your strategy is to throw open the doors, shouting “we are here to take your money”, and dealing with the fallout at the end of that period.
In other words, the magic bullet theory.
Let’s look at this like the magic bullet might not work quickly:
First, we have demand generation.
The ratings are a problem because most of the awareness that teams have depended on has been driven by their TV partners.
We could probably make a pretty compelling argument that before the pandemic, the awareness numbers of teams were strong, recall of specific games might be pretty good, but there was often a tremendous disconnect between knowing that there was a game and actually buying a ticket in many markets.
Solving the demand challenge comes back to the basics of your business school marketing class:
Research the market
Segment based on behavior
Target the juiciest segments
Position against your competition
Use your strategy to drive your marketing mix
The advantage that sports teams have in the marketing mix is substantial compared to other businesses because they are in business with broadcasters. And, TV is still a tremendous driver of eyeballs.
The disconnect often comes in turning this attention or awareness into actions that drive people to come out to games.
The big idea here is that demand doesn’t happen by accident.
You have to have a good basis in strategy first thinking. A focus on value and delivering value consistently in a manner that makes the customer feel like they are receiving more value than they could hope for. And, you have to look at how people behave so you can target effectively.
Second, pricing.
In my conversations, pricing is one of the biggest hurdles people are dealing with.
The problem is that in too many instances people are making pricing decisions based on guesses, assumptions, or bad data.
I’ll pitch the three conversations on the podcast with Derek Palmer and Sean Kelly to y’all again. The most recent one with Sean is really great because he did an actual test case during the pandemic to highlight the discrepancy between your “gut feeling” and the customer’s reality.
Pricing matters because it is one of the most important marketing decisions you are going to make.
Why?
Because price is the point where you capture some of the value you create for your customers.
In too many businesses before the pandemic, the price-setting process fell from the sky out of a product-oriented mindset.
To refresh, a product-oriented business thinks that the job of marketing is to educate the customer.
In product-oriented businesses, you often see folks make pricing decisions based on a cost-plus basis or some spreadsheet formula about how much people in the organization want to grow in the next year.
All of this is BS.
You set your prices using the Pricing Thermometer, using three numbers:
COGS (Cost of Goods and Services)
The Perceived Value
The True Economic Value
The closer the perceived value and the real value get tell me how good you are at marketing.
This requires Market Orientation, research, and strategy.
Finally, customer behaviors need to be at the top of mind.
I’ve said it 100x at this point, so what is one more time: segment based on behavior not some other arbitrary form of segmentation.
Full stop.
Why?
Because what people do is more important than what they say they will do.
There have been tons of studies that tell you that folks are raring to get back to events and live shows, but those surveys are meaningless because they don’t tell us what people were doing before the pandemic and they don’t reflect what people are doing once the pandemic ends.
Here’s an example:
“Dave, would you like to eat more ice cream?”
“Why, yes! A great ice cream cone is amazing!”
I’ve had one ice cream cone this year. My actions don’t relate to the idea that I want to eat more ice cream or that I’d love more ice cream.
I’m not limited in my ability to get more ice cream. There are a minimum of 3 great ice cream shops within a 10-minute drive of my house.
But I don’t eat the ice cream more often because I prefer to avoid sugars and grains, even though I fully intend to eat more ice cream.
This is why you have to look at behaviors and drive demand and marketing decisions based on behavior, not wishful thinking and good intentions.
The psychological concept here is one of the primary reasons that the way that customers have been incentivized to buy at the last minute is so bad for your business. Because life gets in the way.
Then all of a sudden, instead of going to the concert or theatre, you end up at home watching re-runs of Dave Chappelle on Netflix because you didn’t get a babysitter or your partner had a business trip.
Focus on behavior. Understand how people are acting and offer incentives to encourage the kind of behavior you want to see happen.
To recap:
Awareness doesn’t happen by accident. Strategy before tactics.
Pricing requires research. And, if you are bad at pricing, it likely symbolizes a deficiency in your marketing efforts.
Focus on behaviors, not words.
2. The Big Bash League could open itself up to investors from India for new growth opportunities:
I’ve been thinking about growth opportunities, branding, and what sports business will look like post-pandemic for the past week since several people have sent me this listing for the CRO position of Tepper Sports.
But, maybe, now I want to be CEO of the Big Bash League!
Sign me up!
Can I be based out of Sydney? Angela, do you know any good real estate agents?
Okay, Melbourne?! Amy and Maggie Maiden…what neighborhood should I live in?
All the jokes out of the way, let’s talk about what all of this conversation around the BBL means. I’ll point to three ideas this morning.
First, growing this version of the game.
Two, building the BBL brand.
Three, the need to get their strategy right.
Let’s start at the end since I preach strategy before tactics at all opportunities.
In growing the BBL, especially with outside investment, you have to be able to answer the most important strategic questions of:
Where will we compete?
How will we win?
The challenge when you are bringing in new partners comes down to fit. Do they have the same vision for the future you do? Are they good team players? Do they have core competencies that you need or that build upon ones you already have?
There is a huge opportunity to turn the Big Bash League into a global brand like the Champions League, La Liga, or the Premier League because during the last International Cricket Cup, 10% of the world’s population tuned in at some point and the cumulative audience was 1.6 billion people.
This means that the awareness for cricket is there.
We just have to get the brand of the BBL in line with the awareness.
This matters because the BBL is relatively new. And, traditionalists might consider the BBL to be slightly more innovative than the Indian Premier League.
As far as the experience of going to a game goes, the BBL has the best experiential aspects of any major cricket league.
And, in general, the marketing and partnerships around the BBL have been top shelf including better kits than other leagues, tie-ins with major brands, and a format that makes it easier for fans to follow along.
Combing the right strategy with a strong brand will open up a lot of opportunities to grow.
India is a huge market for cricket and their business community sees the benefits of investing in sports partnerships. But going a step beyond India, the BBL and an expansion of business opportunities could open the door to many other countries and places that would benefit the Australian sports market, but the Australian trade ambitions as well.
The expansion of the BBL and creating new opportunities could be a way to strengthen trade partnerships with the United Kingdom, South Africa, and the UAE…to name just a few!
To swing this back around to the global audience that this note reaches, we can all see lessons here that apply to our organizations.
First, we all need to get our strategy right.
I saw a Twitter thread this morning talking about people not having an awareness that things are on-sale. That’s a marketing problem that is right out of not having an effective strategy.
Here the most important thing to remember is that you aren’t your market. Just because you like something or you think something is obvious, that means absolutely nothing.
One of my marketing professors, Mark Ritson, talks about “the humility of marketing” and how the big thing you have to recognize is that the answer to any question starts with the answer, “I don’t know.”
For all of us now, we have to recognize we don’t have the answers, but we can find them with the right mindset and a focus on doing some research.
Second, your brand is important.
I share two stories where I’m mentioned this week because…screw it, it is my newsletter. But also because during the pandemic, I’ve been focused on growing my brand, adding value, and creating more ways for people to have positive brand associations with me.
As we head out of the pandemic, it is important to keep my working definition of a brand in mind. As a refresh, I tell y’all to think of your brand as the accumulation of the good and bad experiences someone has with your business.
You want to keep a keen eye on building up those positive experiences and neutering the negative as quickly as possible.
Finally, growth opportunities.
There are always opportunities.
This is something I’ve chatted about with a lot of my folks lately. I tell everyone, “I don’t know what the opportunities will look like, but I know they will be there.”
The thing about opportunity creation is that you have to be open to doing things differently than you did in the past.
As an example, a team I’ve been working with for a while was struck by the pandemic and couldn’t do their annual travel with suite holders and STH’s. They had to shift on the fly and a statistic I shared with them helped them see the opportunity in doing things differently.
The stat was that something like 80% of people had played some form of video game during the pandemic. On top of that, we also saw that folks were gravitating to esports and video games because of their social element in more than 50% of cases.
To highlight that technology can connect you, they put together a package that included a VR headset and a viewing package to watch games all season on their headset.
I’ll tell you that I went in and downloaded the MLB App and stood in the batting cage with Ichiro…that was really freakin’ cool. (We can talk about my love of baseball and how to get the game of baseball growing again later. Let’s just say that if being CEO of the Big Bash League doesn’t pan out…baseball, call me!)
I found out y’all like it when I share my own photos and experiences. Here’s a freakin’ cool one, sitting on the dirt right behind the plate for the Yankees and Red Sox.
All of this means that opportunities come by knowing your customer, building experiences where they think fondly of you and have a good time, and you get your strategy right.
As Heather Burns tweeted out this morning:
This applies to everything, not just digital.
P.S. I got into cricket because my good friend, Tom, who is from Singapore, told me that after I took a deep dive on soccer that cricket should be next because you sit outside and drink beer in the sun! I was sold. Which is one of the reasons baseball is so awesome!
3. Making Their Mark teaches us a great lesson on branding and reaching new audiences:
Heavy sports, heavy Australia today!
So it goes!
As I’m writing this, I’ve got one episode to go. But I love it!
In general, y’all know I’m a fan of the Australian Football League and since speaking at their Fan Day in 2019, I’ve become a bigger fan.
Even more, I got a thrill this week when my son’s math teacher said that all the kids in his class needed to pick an AFL side to support this season as part of the class.
Cormac said, “I’m going with the Demons and I already have the top!”
So this show on Amazon Prime is amazing to me. I now know that I would love to be the Ruckman if I were playing.
This is a great example of brand building for the AFL.
Remember, your brand is just the accumulation of all impressions positive and negative.
In Making Their Mark, the AFL can use the good and bad to leave a very positive series of impressions on their audience.
One review I read highlighted that the big theme that came across during the series was community.
And, I dig it.
That was the lesson I shared when I gave the keynote address at Fan Day when I talked about “Fans For Life”.
The reality is that sports and teams have the power to pull communities together and to create shared bonds that are bigger than anything else.
When I was chatting with some folks in Australia, one of the points of pride that people mentioned was how they felt like sports and the AFL were a positive force during the pandemic to highlight issues around racism, aboriginal rights, and community safety.
It is all there in the show including the ugliness that Eddie Betts has to deal with and the joy and pride he creates for the aboriginal community.
(Now I just have to figure out how to order a “Free the Flag” t-shirt.)
This is great because it really highlights a concept that Ted Leonsis brought up this week when discussing NFTs and the Total Addressable Audience.
I still think you have to follow the process of STP for each market, but from a brand-building perspective, TAM matters.
And, it is good to see folks talking about this.
Because as we have more technologies and ways to connect with fans, the ability to connect with them in a way that is meaningful, actionable, and profitable will increase.
The most important thing for the AFL here is the way that a show on Amazon Prime will drive top-of-mind awareness.
This is powerful because in Australia, footie is huge!
In the rest of the world, people may have heard of the game and may know it is violent or that it is different, but that is where their conversation begins and ends.
This show will help solve that problem in a controlled manner that puts the game in its best possible light.
Awareness matters because if you are visiting Australia, you might decide you want to see the footie. You also will likely come away from the show with a better impression of the country and its people, making you more likely to visit Australia.
Wrapped together, this documentary is a big win for the AFL.
It builds the brand, at home and around the world.
It helps the league and their teams find growth in new markets. My boy is already asking me to get a subscription to all of the games.
And, it drives top of funnel awareness for the AFL, the country, and the different regions.
A real win!
In a lot of ways, a bigger branding homerun than even the Tottenham Hotspur version was for the Spurs.
I’ve noticed a few stories this week about the year that has passed with reflections on what has been a challenging year for everyone, no more than the theatres that have shut down with very little guidance on when things can really return to normal.
A lot of people never moved past the initial trauma and a lot of people did. I’ve been saying this from the start, we are unlikely to understand the full psychological costs of the pandemic until we are a bit further down the road.
But one very hopeful sign is the announcement that Shakespeare in the Park will be returning this year!
Who was right about things? Who was wrong about things? Who knows? Eric Fuller does a nice write-up about the folks he thought were right this year. (I’m on the list, but I’ll have to talk with Eric because I could have been called an expert in Forbes and ESPN in the same week! I could have called up all those teachers that told me I’d never be anything and say, “Look at me now!”)
Back to the story, we are looking at a few things here.
First, the difference between reopening and recovery.
Reopening is a big night. No doubt about it.
But it isn’t the end of the line, but another starting point.
It is like when the vaccines were announced…celebration time, yes. End of the war, no!
And, over the next year or two, we are going to have to keep a consistent focus on getting things back to sustainability.
What does sustained demand mean?
First, getting the basics together.
This means understanding your market, positioning yourself properly, and having a strategy that delivers results.
Second, it means being able to drive demand year-round not just at Christmas and not just on a special occasion, but consistently.
One area that this can play out is in the area of opening up opportunities to find and develop new markets.
In the before times, I often gave a talk about change.
Change doesn’t take courage, change is often thrust on us…see the last 12 months.
What change does require is the willingness to engage in the process and to work to create the kind of change you want to see in the world.
In the area of theatre, the arts, and much of live entertainment, the need to cultivate new audiences has been a theme and on display a lot over the last few years.
You see people taking actions as the NHL did with using Snoop Dogg in commercials to explain hockey. Or, the NFL when they were focusing on putting a playoff game on Nickelodeon.
The scary thing about the pandemic is that ratings have been falling across the board, people haven’t been able to go to games and concerts in any normal matter in a lot of places for a year, and we don’t have a playbook for recovery from a pandemic.
On the flip side, the great thing is that this is a great chance to throw out the things that might not have been working before the pandemic. This is a great chance to ask who you want your customers to be going forward and take action on making that happen.
5. Concerts! Concerts! Concerts! With a few caveats!:
I try to keep a well-rounded newsletter here since my last product survey said that keeping it balanced and going around the world for sources made the newsletter more valuable…I’ll continue to push for variety and expansiveness.
BTW, fill out this quarter’s 3 question survey!
The last I looked, the United States was getting almost 3 million shots in arms every day now. And, around the world, things are picking up as more vaccines have been authorized for emergency use.
This is a good sign because, without some sort of holistic herd immunity, it will be tough to get concerts and festivals fully back until 2022.
We are in March, the timeline makes sense because it is very difficult to roll out a big tour that quickly in the best of situations. There are tons of moving parts and if some states, territories, or countries are open and others aren’t, it inhibits the launch of events.
Though I do wonder about the possibility of some big standalone events like Wrigley’s concert series being feasible if you have been vaccinated.
As concerts begin to emerge and come together, I find myself wondering if I’ll see London this summer for the Hyde Park concert series? But I also think about will so many folks rush into the market to try and capture opportunities ASAP that the market stalls out due to overcrowding.
It is possible and the smart companies and performers will take the time to make sure that they aren’t rushing out in a manner that sets them up to fail.
I’m also thinking about the nature of the product.
To refresh, when I speak of product, I’m talking about all the factors that go into a product:
The core benefit
The actual product
The augmented product
In thinking through the concerts I’ve loved the most over the years, the place and the story around it mean as much to me as anything else.
Here’s an example:
I went to Fenway to see Pearl Jam in 2018 on Labor Day weekend. (This might even be the next to last show they’ve played since that was the last tour they went on before the pandemic.)
But sure it is a Pearl Jam concert, amazing! That’s the actual product.
The benefit, I had a great time!
The augmented product is where the magic happens here:
I bought my ticket on Friday before the show because the band released tickets through their fan club.
I ended up spending the weekend with my friend and his son and some new friends in Boston.
We hung out with Sean and some folks from the Red Sox.
I got to try the Trillium Beers for the first time.
I went to a super awesome bar and restaurant and hung out watching football with my friends.
On and on.
That’s the augmented product.
As we escape the pandemic, everyone is going to have to pay attention to this stuff.
It matters.
Just like it mattered that I could see the first show at The Anthem with the Foo Fighters!
Just like it was more than a game to be able to go to the Bloody Sock game at old Yankee Stadium.
Or, checking off the box that I could say I went to Wembley to see Spurs and Chelsea. The game, concert, or show is one thing.
The whole thing means more.
That’s why it is a good time to reset the relationships you have with your fans and customers. To help them maximize their benefit, creating more opportunities for you.
Don’t put the ends before the means as we re-open. Or, ever, really, for that matter.
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I’m still in DC, but get my second dose of Moderna on April 6th and I’m already thinking about going to Red Sox and Orioles on the 8th.
Check out my website with my blog and more!
Visit my friends at Booking Protect! Refund protection, giving customers more flexibility in their purchases, and peace of mind are all top of mind topics right now. Cat, Simon, Cath, and the team are the OGs at helping you give your customers world-class service, refund protection, and new revenue streams.
Martin tells me that Activity Stream is about two weeks away from launching a data-driven email tool that will be all the rage. Data is something we are all trying to build a better relationship with, so give the Activity Stream site a visit and check out the AI-driven Activity Stream tool. Before the pandemic, we talked about how the platform turned data insights into magic, and having a better understanding of your customers is going to be even more important after the pandemic.