Panel Report:
Arenas As Marketing Partners for Managers and Agents
Moderator
Sean Saadeh Jobing.com Arena
Michele Bernstein William Morris Agency
Jana DeGeorge ALLTEL Arena
Chip Hooper Monterey Peninsula Artists / Paradigm
Adam Kornfeld Artist Group International
Amy Morrison AEG Live
Sheri Wish Los Angeles Times

While the concert industry has always focused on raising awareness of artists and promoting events, there's one thing that arenas need to consider these days: It takes a lot more than that to fill a building.

Though the title of the panel may suggest that discussions would lean toward what venues could do to aid managers and agents in the marketing game, the topic of conversation often turned toward what buildings could do to market themselves, and how artists could aid in that process.

Adam Kornfeld from Artist Group International pointed out that buildings need to actively promote their own brands to stay afloat.

"It's not just the arena marketing the artist, but the artist certainly helping to market the arena and make it a place to go. It's really a partnership," Kornfeld said. "It's the arena helping to brand itself through the artists that are playing there."

Other panelists agreed, citing examples like the Hollywood Bowl and Madison Square Garden as venues that have benefited from actively promoting and branding themselves, in effect making the arena as much an event as the artist or sports team it has on the books.

"We all run to the Hollywood Bowl," Michele Bernstein from William Morris Agency said. "It's great food and a great setting. Any one of us could sit up there with a guitar and do 10,000 seats."

Chip Hooper of Monterey Penin-sula Artists / Paradigm agreed, saying a venue needs to be more than just four walls and a stage.

By offering patrons the various comforts that are often taken for granted such as good food, easy parking, and simply greeting them upon entrance, buildings are taking active steps in promoting their own brand.

"You want people to leave the arena and feel they had a good experience," Kornfeld said.

And promoting that experience can make all the difference in the marketing of a venue's events, which is becoming more difficult in an oversaturated media landscape.

Sheri Wish from the Los Angeles Times pointed out that traditional media is rapidly diminishing. While a publication like the Times works to actively partner with buildings, it also aims to diversify its promotions and reach more demographics through Web-focused initiatives and alterna-tive forms of advertising.

"We have an insanely well-trafficked Web site that we're using more and more in terms of advertising and promotion," Wish said. "You reach different eyeballs that way. We have a lot of opportunity. We all have other things, we just don't utilize them as we should."

Moderator Sean Saadeh said buildings should utilize assets that are right at their fingertips for marketing by running spots for upcoming events on Jumbotrons and 360-degree ribbons.

Many buildings already have sponsorships in place that can be utilized for marketing efforts.

Amy Morrison of AEG Live said those types of partnerships can work well in artist promotions, but simplicity is key. And the sponsor would have to fit the artist.

"Some buildings have great relationships with their sponsors," Morrison said. "If it works for an artist you can tie into it, and it's kind of just a plug and play. Other venues have cable deals. You just pay a flat fee and plug into it."

Other ideas presented by audience members included taking cues from the movie industry by having artists record spots for upcoming events, creating "virtual request lines" to create a dialogue with patrons and pushing buildings to focus on logo and branding efforts the same way a sports team would - to make the venue itself instantly recognizable.

But maybe the most important way an arena can market itself is through its Web site. Panelists agreed that most venues are lacking in this category.

"The lion's share of tickets are sold online, yet buildings don't update sites," Bernstein said. "If people are searching for tickets on the venue Web site and can't find a date, something's broken. Making the venue experience good starts with the Web site."

Dana Parker-McClain