Goldstar CEO Jim McCarthy
REPORTING FROM PASADENA, CALIF. — Let’s play a game: If you could only have WiFi or a TV in your house, what would you choose? If you picked ‘TV,' drop out of the game now. How about if you could only have WiFi or a washer & dryer? Drop out if you picked ‘washer & dryer.' Now last, if you could only have WiFi or plumbing, which would you pick? If you are still in the game and would forgo plumbing for WiFi you must be a Millennial.
Jim McCarthy, CEO of Goldstar, spoke at length about Millennials, and how they are the future of live events, at the International Association of Venue Managers’ (IAVM) International Convention Centers Conference (ICCC) at the Pasadena (Calif.) Convention Center, Oct. 27.
“The long Millennial reign is here,” said McCarthy. “I realized I was no longer a member of the younger generation of adults the moment I chose a flushing toilet over Instagram.”
“It was about four years ago at a conference,” said McCarthy. “I was clearly on the upper end of the age range. There was a speaker trying to make a point that internet connectivity was really important to Millennials. When he asked the questions about whether you would choose WiFi over other things; without fail, the Millennials picked WiFi over everything else. I was in the very distinct minority that chose plumbing. It made me realize I was no longer in line with the values and habits of the younger generation.”
“This got me thinking about what is going to make Goldstar relevant in five to 10 years,” he said. According to McCarthy’s analysis, Millennials started their ascent to the top around 2006 when the Baby Boomers started dying off while the Millennial population, a group that demographers say started at the tail-end of the 70’s and goes till the mid-90’s, flourished.
“The Baby Boomers and The Millennials are the two biggest generations that we’ve ever seen,” McCarthy explained. “I’m actually a Gen-X’er, so I’m used to being ignored,” said McCarthy to laughter. “This means that the world we all know and created is being replaced by another one. The values of Baby Boomers have been the driving force of American culture since the 1950’s. But that’s over.”
“What’s coming is the replacement: Millennial values will take over as the default values and habits of our country for the next 50 years.”
“I know this for sure because demographics don’t lie,” said McCarthy. “What does this mean to us in the event industry? The cultural power of a large group coming into their prime is important to us."
McCarthy said that he could gain insight into marketing to the new generation by understanding the following: if you want to market to a six-year-old you should treat the six-year-old like a 10-year-old. “The six-year-old wants what the 10-year-old has. The opposite is true for adults,” he said.
McCarthy used the example of two recent Broadway shows, “Avenue Q” and “The Book of Mormon," that were huge hits with the Millennials. “Neither of these shows are standard Broadway fare,” explained McCarthy. “Avenue Q” has swearing puppets and “The Book of Mormon” is about war-torn Uganda, also with a lot of vulgarity. One would think that when these two shows went out on tour to regional theaters where the average age of the patrons is 50 plus, they would have bombed. But they didn’t bomb. In fact, they are big touring hits. Why? Because the Baby Boomers wanted what the Millennials had.”
“The kids wanted to be older, and you market to that,” said McCarthy. “The Baby Boomers wanted to be younger and hipper so you market to that. What do you market to the Millennials? Experiences.”
“This is a generation that values experiences more than anything else,” he said. “The biggest, healthiest generation we’ve ever seen values experiences more than anything else. It’s the prize in a cereal box for this generation. If you are in the live entertainment business, you must understand this.”
Goldstar did a survey of 3,000 Millennials and the younger the person being surveyed, the less likely they were to want to subscribe to a theater. “Millennials pick and choose,” McCarthy said. “They want to customize their experiences.”
McCarthy then drove home his message: In 1985, a ticket to a Bruce Springsteen concert cost $17.50. A CD of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born To Run” cost the same $17.50. Now flash forward 30 years. The cost of the music is zero because of streaming. The cost of a Bruce Springsteen concert ticket? It’s $65, if you can get a ticket at face value. “The cost of a ticket to a show has skyrocketed,” said McCarthy. “And we as an industry have to capitalize on that.”
McCarthy said there are three areas that everyone in the live entertainment industry needs to keep in mind. “The first is giving people something to do,” he said. He used the Signature Theater in New York City as an example. “They have movies, live music spaces, meeting spaces for business, big theaters, small theaters, cafes and bars. There’s always something going on. And they are always open. There are no showtimes. Just show up and there will be something to do.”
“Second, venues should pay attention to everything,” he said. “The experience for the new generation starts long before the curtain goes up. The whole thing is the product now. How you entertain the audience before the show matters. Good food matters. Bad coffee matters.”
“Third is participation,” said McCarthy. “You must get this generation involved. They crave connection.”
McCarthy summed up his message this way: “Be less afraid of being weird and more afraid of being boring.”
Interviewed for this story: Jim McCarthy, (626) 204-3960