Following the news of festival cancellations in the UK \u2013 most recently Leighton Live and Fife\u2019s Breakout Festival \u2013 festival and events marketing agency Mustard Media senior strategist Rory Palmer-Rowe has said that the events industry needs to concentrate on its branding, so that people are more likely to buy into why event organisers do what they do, rather than solely what they do.<\/p>\n
Leighton Live in Lancashire was cancelled due to the spirally costs of hosting a mass event, while Breakout Festival in Fife, Scotland, was cancelled due to low ticket sales.<\/p>\n
But why aren\u2019t tickets selling?<\/p>\n
Palmer-Rowe said: \u201cAfter two years of empty dance floors we predicted that people would be tripping over themselves to buy tickets to events across the globe. Those promoters that were lucky enough to weather the storm, were buoyed on by thoughts of a less crowded market. How wrong we all were.\u201d<\/p>\n
The International Music Summit\u2019s latest business report says that festival tickets are currently selling at 176% of 2019 levels. However, using the UK as an example, with the cost-of-living crisis, there has been difficulty in holding events \u2013\u00a0 as shown by the cancellations of Leighton Live and Breakout Festival.<\/p>\n
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Image: Rory Palmer-Rowe, senior strategist, Mustard Media\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Outlook Festival, which is set to make its UK debut, also recently announced that it would be offering discounted tickets<\/a> for those that could not afford the full price of a ticket, due to the current economic climate.<\/p>\n Palmer-Rowe said: \u201cThe Adeles and Ed Sheerans of this world have continued to sell out but for events on the rungs below, it\u2019s been a hard slog. Throw into the mix the recent cost-of-living hikes and it\u2019s a little grim out there.<\/p>\n \u201cEvents that were seemingly \u2018sold out\u2019 thanks to payment plans have now found themselves with a mountain left to climb, as people happily default on these plans. Forced to choose between keeping the lights on at home versus three days dancing in a field.\u201d<\/p>\n To perhaps provide an uplift to ticketing sales, Palmer-Rowe said that past strategies no longer make sense from a \u201csociological standpoint\u201d and that branding is \u201cthe only game left in town\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cBrands create a sense of \u2018self\u2019,\u201d said Palmer-Rowe. \u201cBy choosing to buy into a particular brand, people reaffirm both their own and their tribe\u2019s perception about their desired identity. In short, the brands we choose send a message about who we are, and often more importantly, who we are not.\u201d<\/p>\n