Larry McDonnell of MetroTix has some follow-up thoughts for panelists John Harig of the Cincinnati Arts Association, Josh Logan of the NCAA and Jim Downey of MetroTix, after a Pacnet 18 panel on hosting exceptional events. (VN Photo)
REPORTING FROM NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. - Performing arts centers don't have Super Bowls, but they have "Hamilton."
And "Hamilton" or "The Lion King" for performing arts centers or the NCAA's Final Four or Garth Brooks for arenas, exceptionally hot properties, handled well, leave a lasting legacy for the venue business.
Preparation and follow up surrounding marquee events was a topic of discussion at Pacnet 18, the Paciolan users conference attended by more than a thousand users and vendors, held here Feb. 11-14.
Analyzing the numbers, Melissa Cunningham, senior director of marketing for Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, reported that even an established major league arena like Wells Fargo Center counted 8,325 ticket buyers for Garth Brooks who had never bought tickets before for an event in that venue and are now part of the database. "Garth had not been to our building for a long, long time," she noted.
Fortunately for arenas, Brooks adds shows until demand is met, leading to new and potentially repeat visitors. "Hamilton," on the other hand, is a case of demand exceeding supply.
But "Hamilton" also brought a new set of fans to theaters, fans who had never seen Broadway. The approach to marketing both was highly educational.
"We had so many people who didn't know what 'subscription' meant, or 'mezzanine or orchestra level,'" said Mitchell Klein of Broadway Across America. "You don't want to assume they know. Instead of intermission, tell them there will be a break. It's all about education and talking to people in plain English."
"One, we don't want them to come in and feel stupid, and, two, we don't want to assume anything. Intermission? Maybe we should call it halftime," Klein added. "Keep in mind these are people who may never have seen a theatrical event."
Cunningham agreed that there is a tendency to assume fans know, so they went out of their way with Brooks' crowd to be certain that people knew there would be magnetometers at the arena. For a big family show like Feld Entertainment's "Frozen," it was letting them know about accommodations for strollers and diaper bags. "Be overly explanatory," Cunningham suggested.
For the Final Four, Josh Logan, who oversees 90 championships for the NCAA, encourages arena and stadium managers who get those events to communicate that this is a different experience than the norm: that fans need to arrive early, there will be extra security and new perimeters and a clear-bag policy. "Communicate what is different for a marquee event," Logan encouraged.
Pacnet panelists John Harig, Mitchell Klein, Jim Downey, Melissa Cunningham and Josh Logan. (VN Photo)
Jim Downey of MetroTix, who handles ticketing for the Fabulous Fox Theater in St. Louis, said the prep for "Hamilton" started years ahead. "We were coming out of the '15-'16 Broadway season with 16,000 subscribers and were well into our '16-'17 campaign with 14,000 subscribers when 'Hamilton' was announced," Downey said. The show was coming to the Fox for the '17-'18 season, but MetroTix was able to announce it in the '16-'17 campaign. "Next thing you knew, we had 19,000 subscribers for the year before 'Hamilton.' When we go to renewals for '17-'18, all 19,000 renewed and another 13,000 season ticketholders joined. So over the course of two seasons, we went from 16,000 to 32,000 subscribers."
John Harig of the Cincinnati Arts Association has a similar tale to tell, growing subscriptions from 16,500 to 24,500 for the 2018-19 season, which includes "Hamilton."
"Hamilton creates its own excitement, its own tornado effect," Klein said. Traditional media and social media pick it up and make it a story. "We haven't done much. We're saving our money for the retention effort next year. Our mantra now is 'don't spend the money.'"
However, that creates another challenge - taking care of loyal customers and constituents who are used to being accommodated.
"The challenge we're facing right now - that we haven't quite cracked and that you will face for any exceptional sold-out event - is trying to stay loyal to people who have been loyal to us," Klein admitted. "We can't show that loyalty right now."
For instance, the Boy Scouts want tickets to "School of Rock." In any normal season for years on end, that would be accommodated. Not this sold-out season. And the media, which gives the Fox extra coverage and has benefited from big spends year after year, are not getting that money this go-round. Klein is searching for an answer to that problem.
Retention after a "Hamilton" season has been 30 percent to 40 percent. Broadway Across America is actually already seeing better numbers than that, and Klein attributes that, in part, to targeted marketing. "If we have 16,000 new ticket buyers, we look at who looks like they just came out to see 'Hamilton' and who looks like a potential subscriber. Who's a fence sitter; who's in for the long term. We're skewing younger than in the past, so our message will be targeted for them, with a different message for our traditional subscribers. There's not much we can do financially. We're not buying gifts for 32,000 people, but we can create some experiences to make them feel part of our subscription event. Look beyond your normal way of interacting."
Noting performing arts can learn from sports, he said they will probably enhance the number of partial payment plans for this new audience.
"I think of Broadway Across America like a sports league. We do ticketing for 40-some odd markets, each like a team in its own city. We operate like a sports league, but the one thing we don't have is a Super Bowl or championship. This is as close as we will get," Klein said.
Final Four marketing can start as early as four years in advance, when cities are announced, Logan said. The NCAA has its sales base of loyal March Madness fans and works hard to accommodate them. Typically institutions market to their loyal fan base one year out and the NCAA encourages them to use the marquee event to boost season tickets sales and donations, but that stops when the teams are announced.
"We don't know who's playing, we don't know times, we just know dates and March Madness. Selection Sunday everything comes out and we have a 'Hamilton,'" Logan said. The goal is to be sold out before Selection Sunday, he added, but should there be tickets available, they start with the local team and venue.
The second phase is nationwide. "We have a warehouse where we store our customer information. We try our best to find out if they are a fan of a particular team or region, but we have a national fan base. It's a bucket list item for a lot of fans to go to a March Madness game."
Early on, panelists admitted to cashing in on marquee events by encouraging interested ticket buyers to sign up for an email list to be the first to know details.
Broadway Across America sends out "Hamil-tips," which include everything from preparing for the on sale to what to do with the tickets to discouraging buying from other than sanctioned parties. Marquee events are exceptionally democratizing, he said, noting that even a billionaire who bought fraudulent tickets playing the do-you-know-who-I-am and I-could-buy-this-theater cards was turned away at a performance of "Hamilton" in New York.
All of the panelists stressed preparation and strong partnerships in dealing with marquee events. Can the website and phone room handle the volume? Test it.
And understand all the parameters from the promoter or producer. At least 50 percent of "Hamilton" tickets have to be available to the public, not per show, but per run of shows, for instance, Klein said.
"We've never had an event that challenged the system reliability the way this does. … We had to cap our subscriptions at some point. We had challenges of managing inventory. How many additional tickets could subscribers get; how many seats on hold for house seats, which is rather large; how many seats on hold for dynamic pricing, which we knew was going to be built into the process."
Cunningham once had a promoter so concerned about brokers that he sent verbiage for a press release that declared they were "waging war on scalpers." She got the message out, but without turning it into a customer service nightmare. They did cancel tickets for those outside the buying radius or buying more than eight tickets per.
There is no on sale for the Final Four. "We have different ways for people to buy tickets, but no public on sale," Logan said. "When this year's tournament is going on, fans can apply for tickets for next year with a nonrefundable application fee."
To mollify loyal customers or last-minute buyers, there are packages available. The NCAA uses PrimeSport, which packages hospitality with tickets for a premium package, pricey but available. They also have an official ticket exchange, so a fan who can no longer attend or whose team isn't performing and won't make it, can resell his ticket. "We stay away from the traditional on sale on marquee events," Logan said, while "still giving the general public an opportunity. You do have a good chance in our random selection process. There is an opportunity for you."
Marquee events build your database, "you have new friends - pay attention to what they like and what they do," Harig said.
Downey cross-trained the general MetroTix call room staff with the Fox Theater group sales and subscriptions staff to double the manpower for the "Hamilton" sale, creating more resources and longer hours to meet customer demand
And enjoy the moment. "Big events are fun to work on," Logan said. "We're not selling tickets, we're selling experiences. I go out there when the event's going on and look at the crowd. Don't let it escape you … though I hope to see that Hamilton guy at some point."