Published on the 07/03/2017 | Written by Newsdesk
Kiwi tech set to revolutionise live event ticket sales…
What do you do when you lose $20,000 on a live event? Start a business which boosts ticket sales to all live events. That’s how Jared Kristensen and Jason MacLulich spotted an opportunity in the market to establish Audience Republic, a company which since 2015 has provided a platform that leverages social media to get more people to buy a ticket.
Kristensen, a former concert and music promoter said in a statement that the ‘light bulb moment’ came when he didn’t sell enough tickets to one of his events. “The simple fact is that more than 85 percent of events don’t sell out. And with the live events sector being worth $100 billion globally, it’s a huge opportunity.”
He’s now the CE of the company, which has raised $525,000 in seed investment. It provides a software-as-a-service platform which is accessed by event organisers to drive sales to existing ticketing providers, such as Ticketek, Ticketmaster or Eventbrite.
The company said that already, more than $2 million worth of ticket sales have been delivered to organisers across New Zealand and Australia, boosting ticket sales for Electric Gardens, Pitch Festival, Days Like This and Rhythm & Vines.
Audience Republic said its campaigns leverage social media and rewards – such as access to exclusive tickets, discounts, and prizes – to gamify the process of a ticket-buyer inviting friends to purchase tickets too.
The more friends a user refers who buy tickets, and the more social follows they complete, the more points the user gets and the better chance they have to get rewarded. Through the process, event organisers collect data to learn more about the people who buy tickets to their event
Platforms supported include Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Spotify and SoundCloud.
On average, Audience Republic said it has delivered a 76 per cent uplift in pre-sale registrations for events, with 203 per cent being its record – achieved through the virility of social shares.
And Kristensen said the data collected is invaluable: “[Using it] promoters will be able to meet the people behind their ticket sales. We deliver insights like their highest spending, most loyal, and most influential customers. And at a broader level, we provide insights around age, gender and location, as well as interests, preferences and music listening history.”
As a former promoter, he said a key insight is that if people know their friends are attending an event, they are 10 times more likely to buy a ticket. “And that’s the foundation our platform is built on: leveraging the power of small groups.”
He added that he realised that while the industry was getting much more sophisticated in ticketing, lighting, audio and everything else, marketing was lagging. “While there were lots of great ticketing platforms, what struck me was that there wasn’t a dedicated product to help with event marketing. That’s where Audience Republic comes in.”
The company has global ambitions and intends to position itself for events including music, sport, conferences and theatre.
Kristensen’s co-founder MacLulich was a former CTO of GoCatch and founder of The Medic, a secure video conferencing service for doctors, which was acquired in 2016. The company is based in Sydney.
