Talking Tickets 26 November 2021
Number 112
Hi!
Happy Thanksgiving weekend from America. On New Year’s Eve 2021, Kathryn said to me, “There is no guarantee that 2021 will be better than 2020.” Boy, she was right. It has been a tough year and it is nice to see the holiday season again.
Before the end of the year, I’m going to visit NYC, Boston, Charlotte, and Atlanta. So, let me know if you are around.
Also, I may hit Richmond, VA at least once more, but that’s a totally leisure trip to get tacos and beer.
I’ve been asked to participate in a program with a company called Maven to create my pricing course. The first step is to get folks to register their interest in the course. You can register your interest by filling out this quick form and I’ll let you know when the BETA is ready to go. I explained the idea in greater detail in The Business of Value last week.
Give me the gift of sharing this year!
To the Tickets!
1. The Big Story: Ohio State Football drops their ticket prices:
Big Ideas:
Focus on behavioral drivers.
Pricing is a tangible process with a tangible outcome.
Trends that were evident before the pandemic continue to accelerate.
Ohio State dropping their ticket prices and donation requirements in some part of their stadium for the 2022 football season was a moment for a lot of folks to clarify their thinking.
Even if you know pricing and recognize that many of the habits, patterns, and decisions around pricing were likely harming the brand equity of these schools, someone resetting their pricing was a bit of a shock.
Why?
Because it is a sign that something was wrong, it needed to be addressed, and action was taken.
In most cases, these types of pricing situations are met with dumping them on the secondary market at $6, blasting out some sort of discount, or pumping up the announced attendance by distributing free tickets everywhere.
I’ve said it many times before that if you get the price wrong that’s okay, but just do your research, figure out what the right price is, and reset it.
Or, add value.
Change the perception.
Just don’t dump, discount, or distribute your way to a false number.
It harms your brand.
(Plug: you’ll learn all of this and more in my pricing course that I’m testing interest in right now. So let me know.)
This story highlights three consistent ideas that I want to emphasize once again this morning.
First, the need to look at behavioral drivers.
I think it was Zoe Scaman that told me that segmentation on age is “astrology”. Once again, you have to look at behaviors. Since 2017, students ticket buying has been declining.
How do you fix this?
Not by throwing something at the “kids”, but by looking at the behaviors that are driving these situations.
There might be overlap with other age groups and that’s okay.
No two mid-40 dads act the same. No two college freshman do either. Age is a stupid segmentation tool because it tries to take the humanity out of a decidedly humanist process.
So look at the why behind the behavior to start down the path of change.
Second, trends that were evident before the pandemic are catching steam, continuing, and disrupting the business in a way that a lot of folks aren’t ready for.
Again, 2017 is when the decline in student tickets began. You have a pandemic in there for two seasons, but 5 years is a long enough window to say, “Something is off.”
This trend of declining attendance is evident in many locations too.
You are seeing almost every club, team, venue, and organization struggle with selling their tickets right now.
For some, it is due to demand and the reality that people are still reluctant to return to events with the pandemic still a part of our lives.
For others, it is lack of staffing and an inability to get everything done.
For more, it is a lack of strategy and a desire for things to go back to “normal”.
Whatever the case may be, a blind eye to the challenges on display isn’t going to solve anything.
Finally, we have the idea of pricing.
These 20%+ price decreases are significant and I wonder where they came from.
I’m of the opinion that pricing is a tangible process with a tangible outcome. I’m also on record saying that the pricing decision is marketing’s MVP moment when you capture some of the value you’ve created for your market during the sales process.
I’m not saying that the new prices aren’t correct.
They may be. They may not be.
What I am saying is that when you make your pricing decisions, you need to follow a process that likely includes some combination of:
Post-Purchase Perception
Experimentation
Value Based Pricing
And, more.
The key to setting the right price is knowing that your price setting process is a mix of art and science. And, that your price is likely only right in the moment and not forever.
That’s what makes some of the pricing decisions very frustrating because there is often too much of a set-it-and-forget-it feel to the whole process.
So, action items for all of us to consider.
One, understand your market.
You aren’t your market. So go out and see what is driving behavior.
Two, recognize that the market has changed and that this requires you to do research.
I’m doing tons of research right now for several clients and the dominant theme is change.
If you aren’t watching what is going on, you’ll end up surprised by the world around you.
Finally, think about your price. Specifically, the perception it is setting of your events, the story it tells your customer, and whether or not it is encouraging or discouraging sales.
Here’s one thing I feel like I have to say all the time: just because you lower the price or offer something that is “cheap” it doesn’t mean that people will buy it, enjoy it, or see the underlying value.
Price doesn’t do the job of marketing.
So a bad price is often the sign of a poor strategy and bad marketing.
2. The Road to Recovery: Tottenham Hotspur loses $107M:
Big Ideas:
Lots of organizations lost a lot of money. Even if they are still bringing in significant revenues.
All of this money won’t be recouped in one season or year. It is dangerous to approach your business in this way.
Now is the time for creativity.
There have been many stories about losses, prices, and change the last few weeks. We’ve got Tottenham today and the English football clubs are good examples to use because their books are opened to the public.
I think all of the ones I have seen have shown pretty significant declines in revenue and losses across the board. So delving into any one is not my intention, but to show the universality of the challenge is more important.
In the case of recovery from the pandemic, it is important to look at this through the lens of:
Everyone lost tons of money.
Those lost revenues aren’t really going to come back and it is probably better to think in terms of sunk costs.
Creativity should drive the day.
At the bottom of this week’s note, I leave you with an ebook I put together a few years back with 101 ways to market, sell, and monetize an event.
I did it because people kept standing up at INTIX talking about how they were “limited” in the ways that they could generate revenue.
They were wrong then.
If you are thinking you are limited now, you are going to be wrong again.
What you always have to keep in mind is that change is coming and you can make the choice to embrace it or to duck and hide from it.
Look at the way an organization like the New York Philharmonic was able to have a digital revolution in weeks when the lockdowns began at the start of the pandemic. Take a gander at the way that the Australian Football League has been able to sell digital memberships around the world for years. Or, pop back to Tottenham and look at the One Hotspur Membership.
You’ll see that all of these organizations are doing something unique to drive revenues, connect with their audience, and build stronger businesses.
That’s got to continue.
Second, everyone lost a lot of money.
We have to deal with it.
The only note I would make here is that you can’t make “woe is me” a part of your marketing campaigns.
These past two years haven’t been puppies and rainbows for anyone…or, at least, not most of us.
So don’t sell a sob story.
Folks ain’t got time for that.
Third, this brings me to the big idea of losses, recovery, and creativity.
Recognizing that the future won’t look like the past, you have to be able to draw a line under what came before.
Michael Stipe has an interesting description of the before and after in his interview.
In business school terms, everything before and during the pandemic that didn’t work out or that was lost is a sunk cost.
We must draw a line under that and recognize that there may be real impacts that we need to deal with, but looking backward won’t solve tomorrow’s problems.
In the words of Peter Drucker, we have to look to the future that has already happened.
If I had to sum it up and point y’all to some actions…I’d do it like this:
First, look at what the world looks like now. Peter Drucker would say he would look out his window at the world that is happening.
Don’t get too far ahead and don’t put too much time into what has been lost. See what is happening and respond accordingly.
Second, recognize that we all have to change and create a plan for change.
Third, think of the things you can’t really do anything about or that are gone as sunk costs and for your own good, move on.
It ain’t easy, but sometimes the difficult is the easiest in the long-term.
3. How-To: Most Strategies Fail Because They Aren’t Really Strategies:
Big Ideas:
80% of CEOs don’t trust their marketing staff.
67% of businesses entered 2021 needing and wanting to grow with 55% of them having no clue where to begin.
40% of businesses say they have no strategy. In my research of the 60% that say that they do have a strategy, 80% of those folks don’t have a strategy…they have a bunch of wishes.
I will revisit this article on my blog or back here over the next weeks.
But I found this article this week and it reminded me of the whole reason I rebuilt my site, changed my focus, and took classes during the lockdowns: strategy is where it is at and most people don’t have one.
To give you a quick overview, two key questions:
Where will we compete?
How will we win?
I break down strategy as three questions:
What is the value we deliver?
Who is the buyer?
How do we reach them?
The whole deal comes down to decision making. That’s simplicistic, but it is about making decisions and taking action.
Remember my CFA model?
Choice.
Focus.
Action.
That’s what a strategy is built on.
You have to pick a destination.
You have to focus on it.
You have to take action in that destination’s direction while ignoring other things.
That’s strategy.
I have way more to say on this, but it is a holiday and I’m allowed a break as well. So we will get back to this.
But let me know what you are thinking.
4. Profile/Tech/Tools: I turn over the section to Eric Fuller and his Thanksgiving observations.
Big Ideas:
A short story from Eric Fuller called ‘The Amazing Journey’
As Eric reminds us: focus on the basics first.
People matter.
The Amazing Journey – A Thanksgiving Crescendo
By Eric Fuller
November 23, 2021
Thanksgiving shows up every year at the same time, 4 th Thursday of November. Each year it’s the trigger for me to think back on what happened during the year. Join me, will you?
First, the primary lesson this year of the pandemic turned out to be how essential it is to maintain your friends and relationships, no matter how difficult the circumstances. Humans can endure almost anything the world throws at them, but it’s so much easier to have friends and family who can walk alongside you.
This was the year that live entertainment began sputtering back to life. Sports moved from playing in empty stadiums to full houses for big events. Concerts came back. Festivals played.
People got back out of their homes and social activity resumed. Nothing went exactly as planned, and the Delta surge reaped havoc on many plans, but still there were options where previously there had been none.
What did I learn? Pricing will remain unpredictable for the next 2 years or more as we goforward fighting both unpredictable Covid resurgences and the rising civil disorder in our increasingly polarized and lawless society. Fake news has morphed to “fake law.” This is what underpins crashing the gate at Astroworld, mob robbing Louis Vuitton stores in San Francisco and Chicago and face punching airline employees. I was at Billy Joel’s return to Madison Square Garden last month when the elderly people in my section took the opportunity during his time offstage before the encore to chant “Let’s go Brandon” with big stupid grins on their faces like they were asking for more Jell-O back at the home.
What else did I learn? The ticketing business is fractionalized, inefficient, and extremely treacherous. It’s roughly the business equivalent of golf: no one wins all the time, the game is constantly changing, and nobody pays attention to the basics. They’re all chasing the next new thing and along the way confusing the game with the more complicated process of finding a path to the desired outcome.
That said, I can’t quit this. It’s the people. I’m lucky. I get to work in all aspects of the industry. I have terrific friends and partners across this ecosystem. Almost every day I talk to the suits and the lawyers, the promoters and the artists, the fans and the people who sell to them. I know the advisors and the consultants, the accountants and the road managers. Everyone has a story.
Some tell it in writing, some with their actions and some while playing a guitar. No matter how it’s told, the story is interesting. So interesting in fact that last week I flew from California to New York just to attend an industry dinner where markets and regulators, lobbyists and ticket sellers all shared a night together building relationships and finding commonality. I also did my best to rid the world of excess Weller and surplus Cabernet.
On this, the penultimate eve of Thanksgiving I want every one of you to know just what you mean to me. I have a wonderful family at home and a fascinating family at work. Each day is made special because of what you all bring. I see 2022 quickly approaching and with it an increasing prospect of success and an overwhelming assurance of love. Join me in recognizing those who share our journey through this blinding lights and deafening sound world of extraordinary experiences. It is, as The Who once wrote, an amazing journey. Thank you everyone for the ways in which your contributions make being part of this live entertainment business better for everyone. I love you all.
5. Links and Blurbs:
Michael Stipe is present: Michael Stipe has always been an American treasure to me. When you grow up in the middle of nowhere Georgia and someone that’s a superstar comes from just down the road, you pay attention. This interview covers a lot of ground and when I’ve been in Athens over the years, I’ve run into Michael at bars, restaurants, and in his front yard. There’s also a night I hung out with him and his partner at a bar in Brooklyn, watching Peter Buck’s band play.
Morgan Wallen and dynamic pricing: I thought Morgan Wallen had been canceled and now he is on a world tour. Whatever! This situation does highlight the challenges of dynamic pricing and how the practice can make customers angry, decrease customer loyalty, and, sometimes, limit sales. On the other hand, you can be more responsive to the market, maximize revenues, and test your pricing. All this means you need a price strategy. BTW, I’ve been invited to build my pricing course through a partnership with Maven, the company that helped Scott Galloway create the Section 4 courses: register your potential interest in a course here. All we need is your name and email.
Revisit ‘101 Ways to Market, Sell, and Monetize’ your events: I flipped through this and I am likely to update this for the post-pandemic world, but these 101 ways of thinking through the marketing and selling of your experience still have some usefulness. So give it a quick look.
“Be nice to tourists”: I lived in NYC for 10 years and I would never call New Yorkers not nice. Blunt, fast moving, and other adjectives…absolutely, but the stereotype of NYers being rude is and was overhyped. But NYC does need tourists now, so whatever it takes…Am I right?
Munich cancels Opera tickets for a month: Just continues to show that the pandemic has a mind of its own. And, RB Liepzig is playing a Champions League match with no fans as well.
You can find me everywhere with my special Linktree! It is all my links!
Great podcast with Pauline Fallowell from the London Theatre Company! We talk about data, market focus, and audience building. Totally worth your time.
Check out my friends at Booking Protect! Customers have been taking up refund protection at a rate that is double what it was before the pandemic began. This is a great opportunity for you to offer more value to your customers in a way that they want while also creating a new revenue stream for your organization.