At a recent travel conference, I noticed something that was very disappointing – Broadway is missing out on significant opportunities happening in the travel industry. Here were all of these travel brands saying “we need to find new ways to make revenue and to deliver ‘value’ to our customers during a difficult economy.” I’m saying to myself, “sell your customers Broadway tickets!”. And, that’s when it hit me - what value can we truly give these travel brands customers when you consider how we currently market our shows? Take it a step further – what value can we truly give any reseller? With those questions in mind, consider that there are millions of emails sent out each week with special discount offers to Broadway shows. The sellers of these emails have no incentive to stop... the buyers of these emails will continue to get results that illustrate a demonstrable return-on-investment (it's hard to argue a media spend of $7,500 that could convert $250,000 in revenue) and consumers get to pay 40% off the ticket price. As an industry, I think it’s safe to say that Broadway is now completely and undeniably addicted to the primary theatre discount emails – it’s turned into a drug for our industry… its crack for Broadway marketers. What’s most alarming about it to me is that we are on a path to cut out the middleman in the ticket buying process all together (group sales agents, FIT sellers, etc.) by selling directly to the consumer. I’m not saying “selling directly to the consumer” is a bad thing – I’m just saying that’s what those millions of emails are both directly and indirectly doing (or going to do) and there are serious consequences to those actions that need to be explored. Nobody is saying “screw Expedia” – but we have completely pushed away the travel industry from really wanting to find ways to enhance our relationship together. In a time where travel brands are pushing 'value', why on earth would they want to offer their customers tickets to a Broadway show at full-price to receive a 10% commission when they know their customer can see a price for that same tickets for 40% cheaper on other sites? We get a ton of value from being on Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz - MUCH more than the ticket sales report show - remember, people use these sites more as guides rather than necessarily the purchasing path. We get a lot of free exposure which I can say we will be in danger of losing if we don't keep our relationship strong with travel sites. Aside from the travel industry, look at the group sales market. Nobody is saying “to hell with group sales” – but through our discounting practices we are stripping them of their value proposition to their consumer with every email we send out screaming 40% off. Their customers bought a ticket for $90 - the next day they received an email offer to see that same show for $65 (I would not want to be the one fielding that phone call). Where we used to have a limit of 8 tickets per order – most discount codes don’t really have limits below 20 anymore. I know there is other value than cost when it comes to group sales booking, but we sure as heck are making their life a lot harder by our current pricing strategy. I don’t see this as an intentional move on behalf of the industry against the group sales folks or FIT outfits – I just see it as a byproduct of the perceived gold mine that email communications has brought the Broadway industry. The loss of the middleman in the buying process would mean a big savings in paying out commissions on sales. At the same time, it would mean the outlay of additional expenditures to get to the people that those middlemen once spoke to. This leads to my biggest concern for the future of Broadway marketing (and it’s a wordy concern) - the industry is not equipped to effectively market directly to consumers with the precision necessary to make up for the lost revenue by cutting out the middleman. Furthermore, the industry is not currently equipped to maximize the opportunities with the customer relationship that will keep those consumers returning over time. Simply put, we don’t have the money, technology or manpower to go down the path we are currently heading if we expect long-term success.As I type this email, there are hundreds of thousands of emails going out for discounts on Broadway tickets with underlying strategies that had the following constraints while being developed: Lack of Comprehensive Targeting Capabilities: None of the publishers email systems allow us to really talk to consumers in the right way. What percentage of email lists will allow you to target by age, demographic, buying history, etc? It’s not a pretty percentage. Also, all of the primary discount email lists that are used I’m convinced have a ton of overlap in terms of members between each one. If they bought a ticket at one point in their recent lifetime, they are ultimately on a Telecharge or Ticketmaster email list. In short, we are using a shotgun approach and without question, are leaving boat loads of money on the table. Just ask the secondary market that is standing their scooping it up. A Flawed Tracking System in Which We Gauge Performance: Broadway has a system for tracking sales that has holes the size of China in it. Ever wonder why your discount code sales from your email blasts are no longer bell curves rather straight lines over time? Your discount codes live all over the place. Even if the main ticketing systems found ways to create 'one-off' discount codes (meaning codes that immediately expire after usage) that technology would also have to be deployed on each of the main discount email services (i.e., Playbill, etc.). Don't hold your breath for any of this to happen in the short-term. Limited Access to Customer Data: Broadway shows don’t own their cash register – we rely on the ticketing systems which, from a marketer's perspective, can be cumbersome. We have limited access to our customers data in real-time. We can’t effectively put the right message in front of the right prospect with any certainty. In fairness, if you ask, the ticketing systems they will give you whatever data you want to analyze – but, this leads to my final point. Lack of Marketing Resources: Finally, and most importantly, Broadway has marketing staffs that are completely under-funded and/or non-existent. Who has the time to analyze consumer data? Who has the time to manage a customer relationship management system? I can’t see how Broadway can expect to succeed with these barriers in place. I am not claiming to have the answer on how to address this. We have a lot of shows right now that are really hurting and I too would feel really good about moving $100k in ticket sales in a discount email blast. It puts butts in seats and keeps people employed – so, preaching on my soapbox during a recession I admit is a bit inappropriate. But, sitting at that travel conference was both too concerning and disappointing not to put some thoughts to paper. I’m not saying sending out discount emails is a bad thing (hey, we are selling millions of dollars each year using them) – I’m just making the argument that, as an industry, we need multiple improvements in technology and an increase in resources to commit to the time to speak directly to consumers with the precision that is ultimately needed. I am trying to organize an event with some folks from the travel industry in July to talk about this topic and I hope many of you can join the discussion. Register for our ‘EVENTS @ Situation’ speaker series here to be notified if you want to be part of the discussion. Obviously, would love to hear any feedback you have on the topic by email. In the meantime, here is an article from May 2008 from Allegiant airlines who was able to remain profitable, sell direct to consumers and integrate in show offerings to their customers.
Read on.
I think the most confusing thing for most marketers to wrap their head around in using Twitter is that there really are so many ways to use it. The reality is you can use it for driving sales, improving customer relations, reaching new audiences – the question is what makes the most sense for your organization? I came across this great article from Mashable that highlights forty different brands using Twitter. There are some interesting travel and entertainment brands that I think you should definitely read about including Marriot, Marvel, Luxor Las Vegas, 92nd Street Y, Carnival Cruises among many others – at a minimum it should trigger some ideas for your organization. This article is from January, so it is a bit dated (which is scary that five months is considered dated!) – but here are some interesting quotes I pulled from the story. So why is JetBlue tweeting?: “Our goal would be to make ourselves available, help whenever possible, and to show that our brand is built by real people who care about our customers.” Lessons learned by Southwest Airlines: “Be honest, be real, be quick, be FUN.” On how Carnival Cruise Line promotes their Twitter account: “…it’s not in your face. Our online guests visiting carnival.com, our Facebook page or one of our blogs find links to the acct. We let word of mouth do the rest.” How Twitter is affecting the day to day at Marvel: “Well, it’s an important part of our day to day activities for Marvel.com and our staff & creators have gained more exposure.” In short, Twitter works – whether it works for your organization is a different question. It will depend how smart you use the technology, what your marketing goals are and what resources you put to it.
Click here profiles of forty different brands using Twitter!
Hype + more hype = Twitter. You hear it and see it on every news outlet and it would feel nothing short of irresponsible to not really question if Twitter is simply a byproduct of hype or if it’s really here to stay. Having spoken with the Twitter folks, I’m quite impressed with their vision and their clear success of breaking thru the clutter with a service that has piqued all of our curiosity. But aside from the hype, there is a school of thought that believes the recent Twitter wave will soon feel like the conversations we all had years back about the idea of buying real estate in Second Life – mostly hype, little reality. The following story I came across says… “According to Quantcast, 72% of Twitter visitors stop by once and don't come back. Only 1% of the Twitter audience visits daily and this group of ‘addicts’ accounts for 35% of all visits. These numbers compare unfavorably to other social networks.” The story goes on to say, “60% fail to return for a second month. This number holds true, even accounting for the websites and applications that feed into the Twitter community.” Wow. My favorite piece of data though is…”In the March 2009 Nielsen Netview, Twitter has an index of 40 against the demographic of kids 12-17, and below-average index against full-time students. The highest indexing demographic group on Twitter is Males 35-49 (167). I question the youthfulness and hipness of any media that Sarah Palin & Senator Claire McCaskill have embraced before our interns.” LOL! It’s easy to find coverage on how fabulous it is but I thought I would share the view of a few naysayers. Eventually a strategy for driving revenue will have to emerge and I think at that point we will begin to see a clearer path of where Twitter will land in our daily life.
Just about every marketing plan ever created for a Broadway show put the 35 – 54 year old mom as the primary target market. Here’s a really informative article that dives into this demographic by looking at what is labeled the ‘Power Mom’ - women between the ages of 25 and 54 with at least one child and who participate regularly in online activities. These women currently represent 19.2% of the active internet population in the US and have significant online influence that continues to grow, according to a new study from Nielsen Online. Here's an excerpt from the story... Nielsen found that the group it labels Established Moms - those between ages 40 and 50 with three or more children at home - are heavy online shoppers. “Established Moms gravitate to online shopping destinations where they are likely to be receptive to highly relevant promotions to allow her to indulge herself while saving on her family’s needs,” said Jessica Hogue, research director, Nielsen Online. “However, marketers shouldn’t rule out the rising prominence of social networking sites among this cohort, which is one of the fastest growing demographics on Facebook.” Top sites visited by Newbie Moms - more recent mothers between ages 25 and 34 with one or two children in the home - include several social networking destinations. Newbie Moms are more than twice as likely as the average web user to visit Blogger, and 85% more likely to visit Facebook, Nielsen said. “For Newbie Moms social networking is literally woven into their day-to-day existence,” said Hogue. “Newbie Moms use the internet to gather information about everything from nursery décor to choosing the right pediatrician. As they navigate caring for a newborn, returning to work or managing a growing household, the internet acts as a lifeline to answer worrisome middle-of-the-night questions and to build community.” There is so much great information in this article, so be sure to read it in its entirety.
I’ve seen numerous reports that say, for the most part, we will see the same number of travelers this year in major markets (including New York City) but I’m consistently seeing data showing that consumers will be spending significantly less per vacation. Take a look at the below article – the one point that should be slightly concerning to us is that 60% of those surveyed said they are hoping to economize their leisure travel this summer by finding less expensive activities or meal options. I’m assuming a Broadway show would not fall into the category of ‘less expensive activities’. Let’s keep a close eye on this.
We have a handful of new job openings at Situation Interactive in our New York office and we invite you to pass this along to your friends and colleagues. This is an exciting time for us and we are looking to attract the best and the brightest, so if you know of anyone you think might be a good fit for one of these positions please have them follow the application direction on the links below. You can also reach out to me directly. Senior Account Executive Senior Designer Traffic Coordinator Web Developer
The heat is on for live entertainment organizations to keep pace with the ever changing consumer behavior of ticket buyers and the emergence of social media platforms is the hot topic at hand. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Vimeo – the list of new media opportunities is endless and depending on the day and the direction of the wind, many Marketing Directors I’ve been speaking with are getting pressure from their higher-ups (including Board members) to engage in one or all of these new technologies. Essentially what is happening with the rate of change in consumer behavior and the newfound sense of urgency a recession brings arts and entertainment organizations, is that many of these Marketing Directors are being forced into reactive positions and, I believe, are right now being set-up for failure beyond their control. Once you become reactive with technology, you might as well jump in a hamster wheel. You can’t expect to keep up with the speed of technology. If history has told us anything, you can guarantee the list of popular social media outlets will only expand over the next few years so treating them as checklist items will leave you in a perpetual chase. So, creating a Twitter account for the sake of creating one will only turn out to be a huge waste of time without an underlying strategy of what you are aiming to achieve. If you look closely, the one core consistency across the movement of social media outlets is the need for a sound communications strategy – both outbound and inbound. And, without question, executing a communications strategy within social media has a heavy cost (which I think is well worth it) if you expect to do it right. It’s not just money – it’s also not just time – it’s the cost of change that is associated with the fundamental core of social media that requires all facets of an organization to participate in if you expect to succeed. Organizations can’t think “Twitter strategy” or “Facebook strategy” – they must think “communications strategy” and aim to formulate how a Twitter or Facebook (or any tool for that matter) can help you advance the main goals of your communications strategy. Furthermore, a strong, comprehensive communications strategy is executed at all levels – not just on the shoulders of your marketing department. This is a fairly complex issue and I can write for hours on this topic, but for the sake of time (and your sanity) let me talk about some super-basic examples that I believe illustrate this point. For outbound communications, in a social media driven strategy, this means news announcements are no longer simply distributed as press releases – they are adapted to also include a distribution path to the social media outlets you have opted to participate in. You have 140 or so characters to deliver this announcement via a tweet, Facebook status update or text alert. This requires a process in your organization to closely coordinate press and public relations initiatives directly with those handling you ongoing marketing strategy. You get out of social media what you put in to it – so, if you are operating a Twitter, Facebook and MySpace presence, you can see the challenges of creating and distributing timely, relevant content and how the internal coordination and process of understanding this is paramount. I can tell you first-hand that nothing angers your core customers/fans more than when they read a major news announcement or receive a special discount offer from your brand from a random website or newspaper rather than hearing it directly from you first. Those committing to you (by giving their contact information or ‘friending’ you) means they expect you to commit to them that they are part of your inner-circle, not just the general public. This sounds easier said than done – but, if an organization can wrap their hands around this and build a process that creates and distributes content this way, they are essentially building the framework for long-term success in the social media space no matter who the major players are. For inbound communications, there is another critical issue that many organizations we have worked with have fallen victim to. In a social media driven strategy, organizations must also understand the ongoing dialogue with consumers in real-time has no boundaries – questions about customer service, issues with their ticket buying experience, questions about cast member performance schedules – these questions will be asked and your organization will have the responsibility to listen and act, quickly. Social media is all about ‘the now’ – it’s about community and conversation and you need to be prepared to have a process in place where you can respond effectively. And, from what we’ve learned, this means a process that incorporates all departments and a commitment by all that they will need to be prepared to support. In short, if you ask – they will tell. And if you’re not prepared to respond in a meaningful way, you should seriously consider avoiding taking an active role in social media and play the role of the lurker until you’re ready to commit. Both of the major points illustrated above about the changes of outbound and inbound communication come with a heavy cost. In fact, I think the cost is ultimately so heavy that I believe marketing plans will begin (and have begun) to go through one of the single biggest transitions of our time – a transition that makes the marketing plan a new found responsibility for all facets of the organization to truly participate in. Your Marketing Director (and marketing team) can’t do this all themselves. In fact, I can say with confidence, that they need more resources to take advantage of the opportunities that social media can bring. Questions like, “What’s your organizations policy for bootleg video on YouTube?” or “What’s your policy for fans using your logo on their Facebook page?” or “What’s your stance on how acceptable consumer criticism is in your MySpace comments?” are just a sample of issues that need to be addressed company-wide and come with all kinds of costs, time and resources along with collaboration across disciplines (i.e., legal, press, management, etc.) Your marketing team will bring the social media strategy to the table and they can lead the charge but, at the same time, they are destined for failure if their internal resources continue to get cut and if they don’t have the full support and buy-in from the entire organization to contribute to this new way of doing business. A commitment of transparency, customer service and the investment in funding the existence of your brand in new communities where consumers will make a public mark (both good and bad) on your brand are the realities that social media brings to your brand. These are big changes in how brands are marketed and I think there needs to be a very honest conversation at all organizations on how and when they prepared to tackle this new way of marketing head-on. There is a lot more to this topic that I can ramble on for hours about – I’m more than happy to extend this conversation onward, so email me if you have a bone to pick with me over this topic. :)
Here's a great rant on the topic that even Seth Godin chimed in on (scroll down to the comments section after you read it).
With all of the recent changes in the newspaper industry, a new question is being asked as many begin to expand their presence online – does a print edition drive significant online readership? Last month, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer shuttered its print edition to move exclusively online. A little over a month after this change, it’s now being reported that SeattlePI.com (the official site for the former newspaper) experienced a 23% drop in website traffic while 75% of the top 30 online editions of newspapers saw double-digit upticks in traffic. Does this mean that the print edition was having that much influence on web traffic? If so, you can bet your bottom dollar that the other print publications exploring moving to a digital-only format had better readjust their website traffic projections upon making such a move. Our friends at the NY Times continue to lead the pack and were up 7% from last year at this time. For what it’s worth – we still are yet to see a strong connection between print and online.
We have so much data floating around our office at the end of a quarter, I’m like a kid on Christmas morning (yes, I realize I’m a complete nerd). Each quarter, we do a deep dive analysis into survey data of Broadway ticket buyers and it gives us a moment to step back and better understand the changing consumer behavior of those we are marketing to. We break out the data by age group, experience in attending theatre, geography, etc. – but, for the sake of this article, I want to share with you some top line data we received about the core audience many theatre marketers are going after, the 45-54 year old. This past quarter, we had approximately 1,500 participants and about 450 of them were in the 45-54 year old age segment. These surveys were all completed online but it’s important to note that people who purchased by phone also do get the email survey in their confirmation. For fun, let’s create a character called Ethel (which I know my friend Debbi likes to call her) who will represent this age segment. This is what Ethel had to tell us… - I am most likely to see a show with my partner (29.6%). I am also used to bringing along children (21.8%) – by far the most likely across all age groups to do so. I am typically least likely out of all age groups to bring a group of friends (12.1%). - I have most likely seen 2-4 shows this past year (42.5%) or even less than that (0-1 shows at 21.3%). - I am most likely to buy online (77.8%) but still not averse to ordering by phone (12.9%) - “Interest in the story or music” is my primary motivator in buying tickets (35.7%) and I am more likely to care about reviews than my younger counterparts. - I am most likely to pay $101 - $135 per ticket (41.1%) but I do get those discount offers you send via email that allow me to purchase between $51 - $75 per ticket (27.4%). I am least likely across all age groups to buy in-between at the $76 - $100 price point which may reinforce the point that my seat location is important. - I am most likely not to buy any merchandise (35.4%) but if I had to, I would take the cast recording (33.6%), a T-shirt (23.8%) or the souvenir book (21.2%). - I am not interested in many of the special incentives currently being offered (30.3%) but if I was interested, I’d select a parking discount (15.4%) or a restaurant discount (14%). - I do use my mobile phone to text message (69.7%) and do often take pictures with it (46.6%). - I am not likely to be part of a social networking website (38.2%) but when I do use one it’s far and away Facebook (86.4%).- I’m also most likely across all age groups to use LinkedIn (20.1%). How well are you talking to Ethel? I will try and do these breakdowns more often across different age groups as I personally actually find them interesting to do.
Here’s an interesting article that dives into a variety of topics of how and why people use Twitter. I can say that from our internal agency survey to over 1,500 theatergoers last quarter, usage of Twitter has seen a 100% increase from Q4 2008 to Q1 2009 with 11% of respondents saying they are now using Twitter which falls in-line with reports I’ve seen as the national average of the general public. So, yes, there’s a lot of hype around Twitter but I’m beginning to come around to the basic fact that a lot of it is well founded. Before I go further with this story, I know that despite its popularity there are many marketers that still don’t really understand Twitter – so, I would encourage you to visit here for a good primer on how it’s used. I would also encourage you to connect with us at @situationonbway – it’ll give you real-time information about Broadway while allowing you to get comfortable using Twitter. The following research report dives into Twitter use by looking at 425 active users and one of the key issues it aimed to tackle was the “why tweet?” question. According to the study from Pew Internet and American Life Project… “Interestingly, there is does not appear to be one standout reason why people use Twitter, the research found. Rather, there are a variety of economic, learning and social motivations. When tweeters were asked to rate the reasons why they participate, on a scale from 1 to 5 (with 1=strongly disagree and 5=strongly agree), MarketingProfs calculated the following averages for each of the responses: - “I find it exciting to learn new things from people”: Average score 4.65 - “I value getting information in a timely manner”: Average score 4.58 - “I like to be connected to lots of people”: Average score 3.91 - “I want to generate new business”: Average score 3.70 - “I find it gratifying to have people follow me”: Average score 3.64 The findings show that the highest number of respondents are motivated by learning new things and getting information in a timely manner.” Not really surprising to me but it reinforces the importance of the timeliness of publishing content. Another interesting point discussed on usage relates to Twitter etiquette – are egos bruised if Tweets go unanswered? Here was the response from the study… “Tweeters do not necessarily feel badly when nobody answers their tweets, the study found. When asked how strongly they agree with the statement “I feel bad when I tweet something and nobody responds,” the average response among Twitter users (2.41) implies people aren’t too troubled by a lack of response. Moreover, less than 2% say they strongly agree with the statement, and nearly 32% disagree. The remaining two-thirds are roughly equally divided among “mildly disagree,” “neither agree nor disagree,” and “mildly agree:” For what it’s worth, I posted the following tweet to my 64 followers a few weeks ago – “Do any of my 64 followers actually use Twitter regularly? Hit me with a reply ASAP?” To date, I’ve received 11 responses. Maybe I’m boring… or maybe they’re not really using it... or, maybe that’s how many will actually see my posts daily with the hundreds of other tweets they are getting. Not sure – but it helped put some of it in context for me. There are a few more important points in the study that talk about tweeting etiquette, egos and more at the link below. Enjoy.
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