The VIP experience: Ticketmaster
Challenge
Ticketmaster wanted to actively engage new audiences and drive the sale of VIP Guest experiences to their summer stable of festivals including V Festival, Creamfields, Download, Wireless, Lovebox and Latitude. They were looking for a content led solution that would build brand awareness and elevate the VIP experience brand image. It would also need to drive customers down the funnel and ultimately generate purchases and significant ROI.
Solution
We began with extensive audience research. We ran a focus group and conducted interviews with key individuals who typified our audience and target demographics. This was further indemnified through desktop research using GWI and Sysomos, as well as data we gathered from sources directly from YouGov. Solution Based off this research – and our own experience and industry expertise – we knew that this audience – and their purchasing behaviour – was generally driven by experience rather than things. This is evident when looking at the general decline in discretionary household spending and the increased demand and spending on live experiences. On top of this the modern consumer not only wants to experience life to its fullest, they also feel the need to share their experiences with their wider online networks. We knew we would need to present the VIP experience as a one of a kind, unique opportunity. We needed to make our audiences feel rather than think. With each festival having its own personality, we crafted a socially driven content strategy that would put punters in someone else’s shoes, if even for a moment, in order to inspire them and encourage them to purchase VIP experiences for the following year. At Download they’d need to feel like a Rockstar playing to adoring fans, Creamfields they’d be a world-class DJ while at Wilderness they’d lose themselves in the bohemian dream. We spent eight - exhausting - weeks on site at the various festivals documenting them in detail, working with each rights holder individually while still ensuring a premium, coherent message across the board. We worked with select influencers for each event, including a few Love Island contestants, as well as key retail partners such as Pretty Little Thing to further the narrative and generate live, onsite content that could be used across channels. We created a suite of high production videos illustrating the amazing experiences one could have as a VIP at the different festivals. All of this content was then activated through a sophisticated social media seeding strategy – with all video being served via YouTube as well. We built a number of different sub audiences which were then served different pieces of content depending both on their audience profile as well as their position in the funnel. This would drive potential customers to bespoke landing pages which we built, all designed to maximise conversions. Non converters were then added to a remarketing campaign and nurtured over time. Results where phenomenal, with ticket sales exceeding all expectations and selling out for the following year in a matter of days – a new record for the business.
Results
420% Increase in engagement for all VIP related content 2M Combined video views 6DAYS For following year tickets to sell out
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