Your Price is a Signal! It Also Tells Me Your Marketing Ability!
192: 16 June 2023
Hi y’all!
July’s FREE webinar is on pricing.
Though, after the folks in the arts and opera got big mad…I should teach y’all about why picking an enemy in your marketing is something small businesses and underdogs should think about and use.
Maybe that’s for August.
To the Tickets!
I. IMGFUK…or, set the right price at the start:
I was asked in an interview if pricing is the most important P. My answer was, “Yes!”
Pricing is a signal:
It tells me whether or not your team/organization/business is a good or bad marketing team.
How can I be so confident?
Price is a signal. It tells me if you are luxury, premium, mass market, or something else.
A confused pricing plan means a confused marketing plan. If you have 20 price points, you probably also have a “strategy” that’s aimed in 20 different directions…meaning, no strategy at all.
Discounts are for dummies. And, when I see an organization discounting constantly and regularly, I know that they aren’t doing a great job of marketing.
If the price isn’t set correctly, I can usually expect to see a generic or non-existent positioning.
The framing of the price matters. In the arts, sports, and theatre…I often don’t see a frame. This is poor pricing and means that the potential buyer is framing the price in their way…which might not be favorable to you.
Why do people often get pricing wrong?
No research. You need to understand what people want, need, and value. You need this to be able to test where they are price sensitive and where they aren’t price sensitive.
The wrong research. Spending too much time with your customers means that too many people don’t understand what people are picking besides them. In almost every project I’ve worked on over the years, I’ve seen businesses making assumptions about what their customers want or what their competition is.
“I know what the customer wants.” Narcissism disguised as marketing. You don’t know what your customer wants. You are too close to the production, the event, the team, etc.
The wrong comparisons: Actually, in most cases, you are likely doing yourself a disservice if you compare yourself to the alternatives in the market. Yet, I often get the comment, “If this institution is charging X for their tickets, I can’t really go any higher than that.” The truth is you don’t know because your target market likely values things differently than you imagine.
There is no “one size fits all” solution:
Dynamic pricing helps, but like everything else it has positives and negatives.
Trying to find a price for everyone is a recipe for decision fatigue.
Too few prices isn’t most people’s problem, but if you set the wrong price…well, you might be jammed up.
My month two FREE webinar is “Set the Right F!@#$ Price: 7 Keys to Better Pricing” on July 13 at 1 PM Eastern Time.
II. The NY Times looks at the end of the Met Opera’s season:
If the Met can’t make it…?!
One Big Thing:
3/4 of the way through the article, the analysis that the contemporary operas are doing well because of the promotion is important.
Why?
You can’t assume that people just know you are putting on a show.
You can’t assume that people are just going to know that a night at the opera can be magical, moving, and transportive.
You have to do the legwork of building the brand, tooting your horn, and showing people the magic of the arts.
Marketing is the number one job of every organization…full stop.
PS. I feel like everyone can learn from Universal’s approach to Video on Demand and the traditional movie business.
PSS: As if to prove my point, TRG’s research points out that the arts organizations that were more aggressive: experimenting, getting outdoors, and trying new ways of engaging their communities were more successful in their recoveries.
III. The antitrust argument against the merger of LIV and the PGA Tour interests me:
Markets need competition for a lot of reasons including effectiveness and innovation.
More: The PGA couldn’t afford not to make the deal.
I’m curious what everyone’s take on this is. Let me know by replying.
One big thing: Resale is viewed differently outside of the United States.
Or, if you are reading this in the UK, Australia, France, New Zealand, or any of the 20+ countries where folks read this, resale is a different animal in the US.
Resale isn’t good or bad.
But it can be either.
Finding a way to balance the needs of ticket buyers, content producers, and other stakeholders is always shifting.
That’s what I was thinking as I read this.
If you keep doing things exactly the way you’ve always done them, life will pass you by.
Check out: The World Ticket Conference in Nashville in July. Typically, you’ll meet folks from around the world when you go. And, a new location this year.
V. Links:
I popped up in my mentions this week:
Talking to Rob Cressy about the fan experience. This is a topic that is more important than ever.
FC Copenhagen sets ticket sales records:
I point this out because “Go FC Copenhagen!” but I also remember when Jacob Lausen couldn’t get American sportsbiz and ticket conferences to let him speak!
Now look at what he’s doing in Denmark! Amazing work!
Interesting reading.
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