Missing the thrill of attending LIVE concerts? Don’t worry, this company has a solution for you! [Monday: Marketing Marvels]
“Artist Powered. Fan Driven.”
This is the slogan of one entertainment company that focuses on producing and marketing concerts for different bands and artists.
The company’s purpose?
To maximize music lovers’ concert experience!
Any guess on what big entertainment brand this is?
It’s… Live Nation!
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American entertainment company that connects over 580 million music lovers in 46 countries all over the world.
The company is the largest producer of music concerts across the globe and has exclusive booking rights to 273 venues like:
- The Fillmore in San Francisco
- Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles
- Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam
- 3Arena in Ireland
- Royal Arena in Copenhagen
- Spark Arena in New Zealand
Live Nation also manages artists and as of 2020, the company has 110 managers providing services to over 500 musicians such as Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, etc.
Concerts
Live Nation promotes live music events, operates and manages venues, produces festivals, and creates associated content.
In 2019, USD 9.4 billion of the company’s annual revenue was generated from music events of some of the biggest names in the industry like Metallica, Ariana Grande, Bon Jovi, P!nk, Backstreet Boys, and Billie Eilish!
Aside from that, the entertainment giant also manages and earns revenue from different music festivals such as Rock in Rio, Austin City Limits, Lollapolooza, Electric Daisy Carnival, Rock Werchter, and Bonnaroo.
Ahh, the thrill and fun of going to live concerts! Do you miss that feeling?
Don’t worry! When the COVID-19 pandemic is over, you’ll be able to watch your favorite artists or bands LIVE once again.
For the meantime, while safety measures are still in place, Live Nation only conducts online concerts for artists. If you check the company’s website, you’ll see past and upcoming live streams of several music events.
Ticketing
“Live only happens once.”
Since Live Nation’s merger with the American ticket sales and distribution company Ticketmaster in 2010, it has been helping artists, venues, festivals, major sports leagues, and theater groups get millions of tickets into the hands of consumers.
According to both companies, the move allowed them to improve the live entertainment experience and drive major innovations in ticketing technology, marketing, and service.
It also increased the attendance at live events and strengthened the connection between artists and fans!
Sponsorship and Advertising
Live Nation believes music is one of the most powerful ways to connect with new audiences.
Because of this, the company consistently works with corporate clients who can help Live Nation achieve its business goals and connect directly with fans and artists.
Some of the company’s existing sponsorship programs are with:
- Adobe
- American Express
- Carlsberg
- Cisco
- Salesforce
- T-Mobile
- Uber
… to name a few.
Through these sponsorship programs, Live Nation is able to go beyond the boundaries of creativity, enhance fan experience, and move the music culture forward.
What else does Live Nation employ to maximize its marketing efforts?
Mobile optimization!
Mobile optimization is one of the cores to the entertainment giant’s business. Since November 2010, the company created an app to further drive engagement with music lovers from different countries.
According to Live Nation Labs’ General Manager, Eric Garland:
“The small screen migration is great news for Live Nation, as mobile platforms provide huge advantages in delivering fans more personalized and location-aware experiences before, during, and after shows. Music fans are increasingly mobile, using [their] phones both for finding and buying tickets, as well as engaging with [their] favorite artists and other fans.”
By revamping its app in 2013, Live Nation is able to add features that help consumers find new concerts and shows!
Taking advantage of the tech giant Apple’s iOS 7, the newly designed app integrates social media to enable Live Nation to reach more consumers across different platforms.
Personalization plays a key role in this strategy. Consumers’ Facebook “likes,” past ticket purchases, and iTunes music will be used to create personalized and curated event suggestions for them.
The app is sectioned into 3―“your shows,” “all shows,” and “nearby shows.” Each listing for an upcoming event includes a map with directions, which can also be opened via Google Maps.
Another part of Live Nation’s mobile optimization strategy is its partnership with food manufacturing company Kellogg’s in 2014.
The partnership enabled both companies to roll out the “Gift of Music” app that let consumers scan Kellogg’s boxes to unlock branded and entertainment content from 4 music artists, namely:
- Chris Daughtry
- Jesse & Coy
- Conor Maynard
- Kellie Pickler
For example: When the mobile app was pointed on the backside of a specially-marked box, an image of the 4 musicians would pop up on the screen.
After that, users could click on an artist to view a virtual performance or access exclusive content.
The “Gift of Music” app was also integrated with the Kellogg’s Family Rewards program to let consumers earn points by scanning and typing the codes found in the boxes.
Once they collected enough points, they could use it to buy tickets to Live Nation’s concerts in 2014.
As stated by Jacqueline Peterson, Live Nation New York’s Spokeswoman:
“We know Kellogg’s consumers frequently use their phones for music and entertainment. A mobile platform is a great fit for the ‘Gift of Music’ campaign as it engages people on the device they have right in their hands.”
In the past five years, Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. has recorded revenues of:
- USD 7.2 billion in 2015
- USD 8.3 billion in 2016
- USD 9.7 billion in 2017
- USD 10.8 billion in 2018
- USD 11.5 billion in 2019
Clearly, the company’s marketing efforts and strategic partnerships with other brands enable it to establish itself as one of the leading entertainment companies in the world.
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc.’s Earning Power: Valens Research vs. As-reported numbers
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (LYV) makes for a great case study that we come back to regularly. One great reason?
The company has proven itself to be a better earning power generator than investors might think.
So, how well has LYV been growing its business in the past years?
The research doesn’t lie—nor do the results. Earning power (the blue bars) continues to show results higher on average than what traditional databases show.
The blue bars in the chart above represent LYV’s earning power (Uniform Return On Assets). LYV has seen strong profitability in recent years. Uniform ROA improved from 2%-3% levels in 2004-2005 to a peak of 21% in 2010 until 2013, except the outperformance in 2012. Thereafter, Uniform ROA started to decline until it reached 13% in 2019.
The global ROA is just 6%.
The orange bars are the company’s as-reported financial information. If you relied on these numbers, you will see a company with understated profitability. As-reported ROA (return on assets, a measure of earning power) only ranged from -0.3% to 3% in the past sixteen years. Its ROA in 2019 was only at 2%, far lower than its Uniform ROA in 2019.
That’s what you’ll see in Yahoo Finance, Google Finance, and most other databases.
The company’s stock price also performed better than the rest of the stock market over the decade, which we can see in the blue line in the chart below. Its returns have been well above the market.
The numbers show that Live Nation has been doing well and making a profit.
Part of working in a creative industry is imagining what could be and exploring possibilities.
This is one reason why the company also makes sure its employees are encouraged to DREAM BIG and stay focused on the mission of connecting artists with their fans.
Even in today’s challenges when it comes to meeting physically and conducting in-person events, Live Nation still thrives because it knows how to adapt to these changes.
It doesn’t matter if it’s 2 hours at a packed club, an entire weekend of sets at a festival, or an all-night “concert from home”―for Live Nation, these events do more than entertain. They also uplift, inspire, and create memories that last a lifetime.
Despite the changes in how music concerts and other events are done at the moment, the company assures it will continue to empower consumers through music as a way to make a difference in the world.
About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s
“Monday Marketing Marvels”
Too often, industry experts and the marketing press sing the praises of some company’s marketing strategy.
…Only for the audience to later find out that their product was a flop, or worse, that the company went bankrupt.
The true ROI in marketing can’t be separated from the business as a whole.
What good is a marketing case study if one can’t prove that the company’s efforts actually paid off?
At the end of the day, either the entire business is successful or it isn’t. And the role of marketing is always paramount to that success.
Every Monday, we publish a case study that highlights the world’s greatest marketing strategies.
However, the difference between our case studies and the numerous ones out there, is that we will always make certain that the firm really did generate and demonstrate earning power worthy of study in the first place (compliments of Valens Research’s finance group).
By looking at the true earnings of a company, we can now rely on those successful businesses to get tips and insights on what they did right.
We’ll also study the greatest marketing fails and analyze what they did wrong, or what they needed to improve on. We all make our mistakes, but better we learn from others’ mistakes—and earlier, rather than later.
Hope you found this week’s marketing marvel interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next week’s Monday Marketing Marvels!
Cheers,
Kyle Yu
Head of Marketing
Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities
Powered by Valens Research
www.valens-research.com
