When the NEC decided to launch a box office brand, there were a number of key strategic challenges, not the least of which was what to call the new brand and how to position it with respect to the NEC.
To help address these issues, the naming one in particular, the Dent Consultancy ran a series of consumer workshops, which provided insights in a number of areas:
Key insights
- Learning that (and why) The Ticket Factory was a great brand name
- Identifying all the best bits offered by the likely competition
- Using frustrations and desires to compile a list of competitive differentiators
- Pinpointing the key triggers to building long term relationships with ticket buyers
- Giving clear guidance for the design brief, including images, personality and emotions
One specific piece of learning which greatly helped manage the launch of the new brand was the fact that too big a launch could cause potential ticket buyers to consider The Ticket Factory as the “new kid on the block” with only limited tickets available. Hence the tactic of allowing people to “come upon” The Ticket Factory and wonder why they hadn’t heard of it before. This obviously had a significant impact on the level of marketing spend required to launch (or not launch) the new brand.
The Ticket Factory has been highly successful and profitable for The NEC Group.