Kain (l) believes timing is key when attracting customers while Tate Ross sees plenty of room for improvementTONY FLOREZ
When it comes to reaching consumers, every fan is unique, and it is up to marketers to figure out how and where to reach them, said a panel of entertainment experts yesterday at the '19 AXS Ticketing Symposium in L.A. Ticketmaster North America VP/Digital Marketing Catherine Wood said the digital component is “critical in understanding who the fan is.” Her company is making a shift in how it markets to customers. “We’re moving away from spray and pray and one size fits all,” Wood said. “Every fan journey is unique. … It includes all channels. Social listening, really deriving a pathway throughout the conversion funnel. Every fan is different. They may buy early or wait until the week before.” AEG Presents Chief Digital Officer Brooke Kain said timing is key with their consumers. “It’s less about who are they talking about than when and how are they talking,” she said. “We’re moving away from genre and affinity to, when are they talking about shows? That’s when you apply your advertising. ... We try to listen for signals on what are people talking about, when are they engaged.”
HAVE TO REMAIN NIMBLE: Sprint Center VP/Sales & Marketing Shani Tate Ross said everyone "has to get better” to improve the industry as a whole. She said, “As an industry in both sports and entertainment, we can take cues. It’s important not only on social listening, but on technology, on how we can remain nimble.” Cirque Du Soleil VP/Marketing & PR Lou D’Angeli noted his company puts on more than 3,000 events per year in Las Vegas, so it has to be unique with how it presents new shows and schedules releases. “You have to be pushing advertising when you know they’re buying,” D’Angeli said. “For us to place advertising when something is a year away, it’s pointless. We have to have impressions and be really smart with our media. It’s milestone moments for fans, which we don’t really have. Ours is when we announce new shows. We have to capture those moments and amplify them.”
