10 Key Takeaways from Situation Thought Leadership Event “5 Conversations That Can’t Wait”
Earlier this month Situation hosted a thought leadership event in our new office space called 5 Conversations That Can’t Wait. In our industry, we can all get caught up in the urgency of daily tasks – putting out fires and tending to squeaky wheels. It’s easy to get so stuck in the day-to-day that we forget to hold space to talk and think about the big picture. 5 Conversations That Can’t Wait was an effort to make space for curiosity and collaborative discussion among Situation staff, clients, partners, and subject matter experts. Here are our 10 takeaways from those conversations.
1. Even when it feels like eating your vegetables, we need to talk about cybersecurity. As a digitally-focused agency, we get asked about Cybersecurity a lot.?
“We've noticed that cybersecurity threats tend to go from industry to industry. You have probably heard a lot about them in the public school system. And local governments. And then terribly, hospitals. And in the last year and a half, it really feels like the live events industry is in the news in ways that we don't like around cyber threats and cyber crime. So that's why this just really is not a conversation that can wait any longer.”
2. Everyone at your organization is responsible for cyber security. Folks at every level need to take responsibility for security. Anyone can be a target of an attack, and once attacked, everyone is impacted.
“It's very important for multiple functions in the organization to focus on this. It's not just IT. It's not just C-Suite. It's not just legal. It's not just HR or marketing. It's everybody. They need to be working together in order to prevent an incident, and if an incident does occur, to have a coordinated response. Risks and liability can come from many different sources.”?
3. In order to create a secure organization, you have to create a culture where employees feel empowered to speak up. It’s not about if it will happen, it’s when. In order to be prepared for the “when,” all employees need to have the proper training to identify cyber threats. As cyber threats become more sophisticated and harder to detect, every organization needs to have a culture of transparency and respect when it comes to reporting potential threats.?
“I think we need to de-stigmatize if somebody clicks on something they shouldn't, because it is going to happen to the best of us. And I think one of the things that we need to say about our teams, yes, we have to drive home the importance and have those conversations about people that don't take the training, but I think we absolutely have to say, if it happens, it is not your fault.”?
4. NYC tourism took a hit during the pandemic, but projections show that our recovery is going strong. Domestic tourism in 2022 was 89% of the 2019 pre-pandemic benchmark. NYC tourism will make a full recovery by 2024.
“Let me assure you that travel and tourism in New York… is alive and well and thriving.”
5. The pandemic fundamentally changed the way people interact with live events. Consumers care about flexibility more than ever after living through a pandemic that canceled live events and required putting social plans on hold. Additionally, consumers are more interested now in making purchases that will support their personal health and well-being.?
“What's interesting then going [from 2020] to 2021 when things reopened, and it was all about intentional choices. We didn't go back to behave how we did in 2019 or before. [Consumers] feel much more empowered and enabled to make choices, rather than defaulting to what they've always done in the past.”?
6. The consideration window has expanded significantly since the pandemic. Google is seeing an increase in searches with the phrase “worth it.” People are spending more time deciding if their purchase is worth it before converting.
“We had a case study that showed very quickly that if you extend your marketing window by two weeks and go from the typical five to seven weeks, we actually saw 20 to 30% increase in actual ticket[s] sold. Right now it's even more important because yeah, it's the consideration stage…. I talk about winning share of mind first, share of time, second. And then share of wallet. So again, shifting the communication strategy. Don't start with price point and buy now. Make somebody aware of what's going on.”
7. Consumers are willing to pay a premium for a one-of-a-kind, eventized, or VIP experience. Participating in an important cultural moment that places them within a curated community of like-minded individuals is worth a higher cost of entry.?
“Quick example… San Antonio Spurs. The third lowest attended NBA team, two weeks ago, broke the all-time record for the attendance during regular season. Now how do you reconcile the two, right? It makes no sense. Regular games are regular games, the team's not very good. People think they're boring, it's not worth it. On their 50th anniversary, they set up a game at Alamodome and they made it an event, they made it a festival. People deemed that worth it and 68,000 people showed up, versus the average attendance of 15,500. I think that's a great example of “what's worth it” might mean.”
8. Theater-going audiences are skewing younger now than before the pandemic. Audiences for theater and live events have changed since the pandemic, skewing younger and with more first time ticket buyers. This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for the industry to reorient toward new audiences.?
“...in performing arts, something like 50% of the 60 plus audience have churned, they're not coming back. And then actually the average age of a theatergoer is much younger. It's a huge opportunity for this industry. This industry talked forever about the need to get younger. And right now the younger audience is the one that's coming back. Do we have the right content? Do we have the right infrastructure? Do we have the right marketing strategies? I think those are the questions…worth having. But there's definitely an opportunity.
9. Shows need to think about audience development early. Most shows are in development for several years before they land on Broadway. It is important to start the audience development process early in the life of the show.
“As you're developing a show, really think about who the audience is and how you're going to reach them. From the very, very, very, very beginning.”
10. Inviting new audiences requires clear communication that fosters accessibility. In order to make live entertainment accessible, from classical music to Broadway, we’ve got to go the extra mile to communicate with traditionally excluded audiences. This includes using culturally relevant canvasses, explicitly stating that this live entertainment event is for them, and dispelling myths about high costs or other barriers of entry.?
“A lot of times people don't think they're welcome, or they don't think it's for them. One of my investors for Topdog doesn't live here and just happened to be visiting and seeing the show and was on the train. And he was next to three young guys, and he overheard them say, 'I didn't know Broadway could be like that.' Or 'I didn't know Broadway was for me.' So I think first and foremost, just showing different audiences that Broadway is for them. That it's accessible. And that it could be fun.”