TicketsNow^™ Blog

Last night I was reflecting upon how exciting and unique special live entertainment events are, and the great opportunity these events hold for the resale market and our industry. Whether it is a “farewell” concert, sports championship or even a family event, there is a select number of these each year that can truly drive great consumer demand. One year ago, we were connecting consumers with a very high demand family event, Hannah Montana. Last week marked one of the highpoints of the year for tennis fans, the U.S. Open. This year’s Open is the single highest demand event and will be the most attended event in the history of tennis. It is also the first time that the USTA has committed to embracing the resale market, partnering with TicketsNow to provide onsite ticket resale for this milestone multi-day event.

Despite what has appeared in some industry press, so far, the event has been a success – for brokers who have responded to the unbelievable demand by tirelessly delivering their tickets and most importantly, for the fans who have gotten access to see the best and brightest talent in the sport.

It should be noted, however, there have been issues with ticket delivery – principally during the early days of the Open tournament. However, we are proud to say that we have lived up to our 100% guarantee and fulfilled every ticket order.

Our collective success is dependent upon making sure we get our consumers their tickets 100% of the time and ensuring we make every transaction a seamless, simple and positive experience. This should be an important mutual goal for us as we work together to grow our industry. Looking ahead we see many more high demand consumer events on the horizon, be it the World Series, the holiday theater season and the Super Bowl, all of which are right around the corner. Let’s make sure every event is a special one!

Thank you for letting me share my thoughts with you and if you have any of your own you wish to share or have questions, I would love to hear them.

- Cheryl

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I attended the National Association of Ticket Brokers (NATB) convention last weekend in Las Vegas, where I talked with many individual brokers and participated in a panel discussion on the future of the resale market.

In addition to the highly constructive feedback – which I greatly appreciate and expect from our partners – I was struck by how much has changed within the industry in just the last year or so. The explosion of the resale market has lead to rapid changes. As we learn to adapt and thrive in this new world, I know from personal experience that the best way to achieve success is to build on the solid foundation of our business and the relationships we have with our broker partners.

What continues to be critical is the role brokers play in driving the industry’s success. Our partnerships with each of you are making the difference where it matters most: delivering seamless service for consumers. As I have said again and again, regardless of the advances in technology, the value brokers provide for consumers is paramount.

There continues to be opportunities to educate our current consumers – and potential consumers – on the unique dynamics and rewards that are part of the resale market. Helping consumers understand how the forces of supply and demand impact the resale market will, we think, help the market to grow as it becomes more transparent and better understood by the average consumer.
Finally, on the TicketsNow front, we are continuing to refine and improve our point of sale technology to increase efficiency, create better customer experiences, and build “better economics” for brokers. We look forward to working with you on this.

As always, I’m interested to hear your thoughts. Feel free to share them in the comments section.

CR

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With the eyes of the sports world focused on New York earlier this month during the baseball All-Star Game, TicketsNow’s street team roamed the Big Apple to encourage New York residents and visitors to show us their “brag dance.”

The “brag dance” is featured in our new radio advertising campaign and is a humorous take on the moves our customers make when they get great seats from TicketsNow.  On July 11-15, our street team invited everyone to dance along with our oversized TicketsNow ticket as we handed out brochures and gift cards.  Our presence in New York was a great way to build the TicketsNow brand and make thousands of potential customers aware of the wealth of offerings available on our site.

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The new relationship between TicketsNow and Ticketmaster has made the first half of 2008 a very exciting and rewarding time for our company. Since Ticketmaster first began driving customers to TicketsNow.com, many new customers have visited our site looking for great deals on great events. As we turn to the second half of 2008, there’s more excitement coming with the formal introduction of Sell Your Tickets on TicketsNow.

Since our beginnings, our inventory has come exclusively from the broker community. With nine out of 10 brokers who sell their tickets over the Internet already listing their tickets with TicketsNow, there aren’t many ways we can expand our inventory through brokers. So the best way to grow our inventory is to turn to consumers and offer them the opportunity to sell their tickets through our new Sell Your Tickets on TicketsNow feature.

Does the decision to give consumers the ability to sell their tickets on TicketsNow dramatically change who we are? Yes and no. On the surface this looks like a significant shift in our business model, and there’s no doubt it’s a major addition to our services. But if you look at the reasons we’re adding this option to our services, you’ll see it is a logical fit with our core values. Our goal is to provide customers with the most choices and the safety and security of guaranteed access to big time events. Adding peer-to-peer tickets gives us a great way to increase those choices.

The other benefit is exposure for our brand. We expect to attract additional first-time customers through the opportunity to sell their tickets on TicketsNow. If a consumer comes to TicketsNow.com to sell their tickets, there’s a good chance they’ll browse our inventory to purchase tickets for themselves. In a traffic-oriented business, the more customers we drive to our site, the better we’ll be.

One thing that doesn’t change is our 100% Unconditional Guarantee, for buyers and now, sellers. For the sellers we ensure that they’ll never be contacted by a prospective buyer- only TicketsNow- and that we’ll guarantee prompt delivery of their payment once a transaction is complete.

We’re obviously very excited to see how customers respond to Sell Your Tickets on TicketsNow. The initial results during the soft launch have been positive, and we expect that to continue. I’m interested to hear what you think about the impact this will have on our business and the industry. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.

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There’s Tickets… and Then There’s TicketsNow. That’s the theme of the marketing campaign we launched on May 19 in six U.S. cities – Tampa, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Philadelphia, Denver and Minneapolis. The ad campaign includes radio and online display advertising, and is being run in select markets to test different promotional concepts around a main theme: TicketsNow is your guaranteed connection to all of the fun and excitement of live music, theater, and sports.

Our key objectives are to increase brand awareness and recognition, differentiate TicketsNow, and increase both traffic and sales. We are taking TicketsNow to the next level to grow our business and become a trusted nameplate in the marketplace. The ads feature everything from the “brag dance” – the moves our customers make when they get great seats from TicketsNow – to “Ticket Monkey,” a character featured in our radio spots that is the ultimate ticket enthusiast with more excitement than can be contained even within the recording studio! (Look out, you might see Ticket Monkey at some of our upcoming events!)

The ad campaign is another step showing our dedication to building the overall ticketing marketplace by raising awareness of the opportunities our customers have to create great memories through live events. As we expand on our marketing later this year, you can bet that you’ll see and hear our presence across the country in a unique way that only a brand like TicketsNow can deliver.

The ads, created by our ad agency Doner, were unveiled at the Fireside Chat in Las Vegas on May 13. What do you think? If you’ve seen the ads, post a comment here and let us know your thoughts.

The radio spots are embedded below.

 

 TicketsNow Radio Ad #1 [0:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 TicketsNow Radio Ad #1 [0:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Welcome to the new TicketsNow Blog. As I shared with many of you at our meeting in Las Vegas on May 13, this blog is designed to create opportunities for open dialogue among brokers and many others with an interest in the live entertainment industry, while keeping the general public informed on the issues shaping our world. We are all committed to advancing the event ticketing industry and growing our businesses, and we believe this blog is a dynamic way to assist in achieving our goals.

Soon we will be adding to this site a webcast of our recent “Fireside Chat” in Vegas. My hope is that this meeting video will give you a better overview of our relationship with Ticketmaster. We want to keep you informed on what this relationship will mean as it continues to evolve, and this blog will be a place where the conversation that started in Las Vegas can continue.

Additionally, this blog will serve as a platform to share ideas and provide input, and as an indispensable source for the latest industry news.

I look forward to your contributions and comments.

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More than 100 ticket brokers gathered in Las Vegas on May 13 to meet with TicketsNow CEO Cheryl Rosner and Ticketmaster CEO Sean Moriarty. The meeting was the first open forum of its kind where brokers could discuss questions stemming from Ticketmaster’s February acquisition of TicketsNow.
The session opened with a presentation from Forrester Research that provided a snapshot of the growing electronic ticket resale market. According to Forrester, the market is expected to grow by 50 percent over the next four years, from $3 billion to $4.5 billion.

Rosner then provided an overview of TicketsNow’s marketing plans and the implications of the new relationship with Ticketmaster. She emphasized TicketsNow’s commitment to having the most inventory online and creating high Web traffic for the benefit of brokers. Rosner stated that the Ticketmaster acquisition will spark increased referrals to TicketsNow and several brokers noted they have already seen these benefits. Rosner also unveiled several new marketing initiatives for the company, including a pair of radio ads and a new blog.

Moriarty took the stage to explain Ticketmaster’s strategic vision and approach to the overall ticket marketplace. He emphasized Ticketmaster’s commitment to provide service to the broker community as another client, just as the company has been committed to its venue, promoter, artist, league, and team clients over its 32-year history. He clarified that Ticketmaster does not typically control the ticket inventory in either the primary or resale segments, nor does it set prices or determine supply, but instead serves as a conduit for those kinds of decisions made by its various clients. Moriarty said he sees tremendous growth potential from the new opportunity to direct Ticketmaster consumers to a trusted resale option.

Following his opening remarks, Moriarty took questions from NATB chief legal counsel Gary Adler, and then more than an hour’s worth of questions from brokers. Throughout the spirited dialogue, Moriarty reinforced that Ticketmaster would work diligently to continue to create increased opportunities for live entertainment event growth. Moriarty stressed that Ticketmaster will continue to be an advocate for the resale market.

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