In addition to making great ticketing software, we love to bring ticket sales inspiration ideas to your attention. The hot new trend of the so-called movie "Super Ticket" can easily be adapted to your event for all the same reasons the film industry uses them - higher profits.
Ticket Sales Inspiration - The "Super Ticket"
Although highly specialized, going to see a summer blockbuster movie is, technically, an act of attending an event. Moviegoers make plans, buy tickets and then convey to their friends what they thought (sound familiar?). Just recently, the local movie theater has upped it ticket selling game using the new “super ticket.”
A Super Ticket is a combination of an early access ticket, concessions (food & drink) and products all wrapped up in a premium, preferential treatment experience. Film industry stalwarts Paramount Pictures and Warner Brothers are credited with inventing the Super Ticket. The Super Ticket includes early screening in 3D at select theaters and a digital download of the film once it hits retail. For this summer’s ‘World War Z’ a Super Ticket included popcorn, a limited edition movie poster, in addition to early theater screening and coupon for a future purchase of the DVD.
As one would expect, the Super Ticket comes with a Super Price - between $20 to $50 each.
The business rationale behind the Super Ticket is to make the in-person movie theater experience so highly sought after that it peels people off of the living room couch and away from alternatives like NetFlix. Craig Skinner recently wrote of this quandary facing the film industry:
There’s a lot of uncertainty in Hollywood right now about the home entertainment market and it’s supposedly causing a lot of hesitation about green-lighting projects because the home revenue figures are now so much harder to calculate. This new experiment seems like it could have potential benefit for both the studios and the consumer.
Causing people to attend ticketed events is a universal goal of all venue owners, so the ticket sales inspiration of the Super Ticket should be seriously considered.
Secret Sauce: Pre-sales, Products & Coupons
The modular component parts of the Super Ticket are items dispersed over a timeline - before, during, and possibly most important of all, after (more on that later). The big film studios spent millions of dollars researching this timeline of events that occur during the end-to-end experience. Since the studios have done all the heavy lifting, you can adapt there methods to your event , but for a tiny fraction of the cost (and effort).
By stripping away the movie theater specific vernacular of the Super Ticket replacing it with familiar terms every venue owner and event manager understands, the result is ticketing strategy that can be used for any event.
Early access
All the movie Super Tickets give the buyer early access to the film (event). In the traditional event industry this is known as a ticket pre-sale. Much has been written of the benefits of sophisticated pre-sale practices. The film industry has obviously learned something from the concert industry by always making early access part of the Super Ticket. A traditional event ticket pre-sale lets some - not all - get early access to an event and is sometimes part of a B2B agreement, like the very exclusive pre-sale arrangement Ticketmaster has with American Express.
Early access is more sought after for certain types of events than others, but the appeal of being given special treatment is universal. You may think your event type doesn't stand to benefit from offering early access, but the rabid rock concert attendee isn't the only demographic. Parents with small children appreciate being catered to just as much as the teenage concertgoer. Offer early access lets parent plan well in advance to give them the most amount of choice. The humble (but very successful) pumpkin patch or corn maze can partner with the local daycare center and offer the daycare center’s customer early access, or even an entire special day of fun.
Products with tickets
The Paramount Pictures and Warner Brothers Super Tickets include movie posters and 3D glasses (products) as well as popcorn (food concession). Taken out of the context of film, the products and food & drink concessions are very common aspects of just about every type of event. The Super Ticket you craft for your event can include a product, like a souvenir t-shirt or program, either as a "freebie" or as a paid up-sell. Your soon-to-be new customer already has their credit card in hand to buy tickets, so there is no more convenient time to politely offer additional items for sale.
Offering up products in conjunction with tickets need not be a big overhead expenditure for you to manage. Partner with like-minded vendors or fellow business owners to get their products in front of your ticket buyers is a very healthy business practice. Since it is common to require a physical address to buy tickets (even when print-at-Home tickets are in use) that it all your partner needs to send a product out after a purchase. That souvenir t-shirt can be worn to the event instead of being issued during the event. It is up to you to decide what products are a good fit for your event, but be mindful of context and avoid offering just anything old thing you can get wholesale.
Coupons codes
In the overall timeline of an events experience the last segment, after an event is over, is seldom thought of as a much of a revenue generator for the venue. But notice that the movie theater Super Ticket also includes a coupon to get the DVD of the film. In order to redeem the post event premium, the moviegoer has to visit a special website and enter a coupon code. The act of coupon redemption requires a home address and email, which is then used to no only send the DVD, but is added to the company mailing list. The mailing list is used to market future events and offer even more Super Ticket purchase opportunities.
Create & Sell Your Own "Super Ticket" with ThunderTix
ThunderTix can help you create and sell your very own "super ticket" no matter what type or size of event you have. Our technology has been powering ticket pre-sales for some of the largest events in the country, and with our popular features you can sell products with tickets and generate coupons too.
Super tickets are just one way of tailoring a ThunderTix account to best suit your online ticketing software needs. To learn more about how ThunderTix can help you sell more tickets and lower your overhead costs, just give us a call or fill out the form below!