That the live entertainment market is the most affected by the pandemic is now clear to everyone: operators and the public. First, the open-air venues and then the indoor ones have slowly reopened their doors, with more or less stringent rules, with capacities readjusted in real-time following the regulatory adjustments that the Italian government has deemed more appropriate from time to time. Among the effects generated by the long closures, the most evident and in the public eye has been the increase in ticket prices.
Ticketing and pandemic, the watchword is “ability to adapt to the context”.
While organizers are faced with a long period of lost revenue, it’s also true that the withdrawal from these types of experiences can cause audiences to spend a little more to ensure a return to live excitement. But other factors can push audiences to place more value on returning to a stadium or theatre, such as adherence to safety distances, the use of FFP2 masks or the measurement of the quick buffer at the entrance, in addition, of course, to the need to possess the Super Green pass.
The picture is therefore constantly evolving, and event organizers, in the process of issuing tickets for an event, may be faced with profoundly different situations and also with a consumer attitude sensitive to sudden changes in reality: number of contagions, restrictions imposed by the Executive, the impact of the pandemic on their pockets.
Ticketing and pandemic, Premoneo’s approach
In this context of rapid evolution, we at Premoneo suggest that those who deal with ticketing should start now, if they haven’t already done so, to work with avant-garde technology, able to manage capacity and pricing with an approach that is more like a revenue manager than a ticketing manager. And this is the evolution we propose to sports clubs, concert organizers, theatres and amusement parks. Only a platform able to collect historical data, all the external data able to impact the demand and to study in real-time the sales data, can offer to those who deal with ticketing a concrete and effective solution that can help them in the definition of the pricing strategy.
The alternative, already seen in recent months, is to respond to the pandemic with a sharp rise in price lists. With what effect? That of initially leveraging the desire of fans to return to the stadium, or fans to return to a concert, but with a longer-term effect of making the experience increasingly the preserve of the few.
Ticketing and pandemic, the 5 tips
There are at least five good reasons to do this, outlined recently by McKinsey’s “Five things to get right during the pandemic” paper.
- Make sure any pricing action is legal, ethical and community-conscious. Because a humanitarian crisis is not the time to abruptly raise prices, the backlash could be severe, especially from a reputational standpoint.
- Take a well-rounded view of customer relationships while maintaining a long-term perspective. Strengthen trust by following the evolving needs of key customers and demonstrate the ability to stand by them in the most difficult times.
- Reinforce value-centric messages. Depending on the industry and customer segment, customers’ price sensitivity can change significantly. The most effective businesses will show empathy and be able to explain how much value they provide compared to competitors.
- Adopt flexible pricing strategies. Top-performing companies will address short-term customer pain points without unnecessarily destroying long-term value. For many companies, this will mean accepting a temporary price or volume reduction.
- Establishing a dedicated multi-disciplinary team or war room can give you a long-term view to avoid panic reactions and develop clear guidelines and goals for the sales team, including pricing actions.
To learn more about Premoneo’s ticketing solution, our team is available for an informational meeting and a demo by scheduling an appointment directly from our website.
