Building Partnership Deals and Discounts for Music Festival Ticketing.

The growth in music festival ticketing partnerships is helping to keep ticket prices competitive and generate earlier sales. If implemented well this strategy can be a great way to generate incremental revenue, reach new customers and discover new sponsors. What are the popular ticketing deals being done and how do organisers create and implement these schemes.

Partnership deals can help festival organisers to maintain their ticket prices while adding value or providing discounts funded by a commercial partner. This ensures that the organising entity does not have to fund any discounted tickets themselves, but it relies on the partner being able to demonstrate a measurable benefit from the relationship. It's not always about making a festival ticket cheaper but making it easier to sell.

Ticket Pricing, Economics and Partner Contracts.
Festival organisers have been facing ever increasing costs to run their events which has impacted on ticket prices making them more expensive for festival-goers who themselves have been experiencing cost of living increases. By constantly discounting prices festival-goers start to delay purchase knowing that prices will probably be discounted in the future which can affect ticket price credibility. A strategic partnership can help to position the ticket price in a different way by linking discounts or benefits to that partner. The contracts between festival organisers and commercial partners can get complex and needs clearly defined terms. This can include details of any VAT obligations, the financial nature of any deal, the marketing obligations of each party along with measurement and settlement processes.

Strategy for Ticket Price Reduction and Increased Benefit.
The nature of any partner deal can vary depending on what can be created and typically is either a funded discount in exchange for marketing coverage or goods and services offered when a ticket is purchased. Links with local tourism agencies and accommodation or transport providers can help provide an overall package at a reduced price against purchasing separately. A newer development has been the involvement of financial services companies who are looking to recruit new customers. The pitch usually involves signing up for a credit card and using that card to purchase a ticket in exchange for a discount or festival merchandise. In these relationships the commercial partners will provide email promotions to their own customers along with social media promotions and advertising. In exchange the organisers provide promotional online content plus partner branding and advertising on site and hospitality opportunities. This partnership should result in a mutual marketing process that results in increased sales and revenue for both parties.

Popular Partnership Deals.
Packaged deals that incorporate an overall discount funded by the partner are common with accommodation and transport providers but can be expanded to include local restaurants, bars and other local businesses. Emerging commercial partner deals are coming from financial services, telecoms providers and other related music or media content businesses who are often looking to recruit new subscribers. An added value packaged deal can also be attractive because it does not always mean a discounted price but offers something with a high perceived value which can include VIP upgrades, access to local attractions, priority parking and transport or accommodation upgrades, for example. It can be worthwhile for organisers to approach local business associations to pool together and create a deal where evidence of expenditure at participating businesses of a given value entitles the festival-goer to an on-site discount.

Data Tracking and Reporting.
In any agreement with a commercial partner, it is essential to ensure that data is accurately lodged and reported on. At commencement of any relationship both parties should agree how deals, discounts and rewards are tracked which usually requires the creation of unique discount codes, tracking URLs and QR codes, for example. This ensures that any festival-goer taking advantage of a deal is accurately tracked to enable the calculation of cost per acquisition and return on marketing spend. Metrics commonly measured can include the number of tickets sold, gross revenue earned, net revenue, discount cost, marketing exposure and new customers generated, for example. Both parties are looking for an accurate picture of the net incremental revenue as a result of the partnership arrangement.

Financial Settlement.
It is not unusual for some partnership deals involving festival tickets to be quite complex so a documented process flow of any final financial settlement should be agreed in advance. In most cases the settlement will be made after the event when accurate data can be fully analysed. A normal period for settlement would be 30 days after the event finishes and a fully documented process in advance helps to avoid any disputes.

For festival organisers planning their next event using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, site planning, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

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