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Eavis: "We need younger buyers"?
The BBC News reports that Glastonbury Festival organiser Michael Eavis said this year's event was noticeably short of young people because older people with faster internet access had bought up the tickets. Tickets for this year's event sold out over the internet in 1hr 45 minutes.
"The problem with the clientele at the moment is that they're becoming a bit older and a bit more clever and they've got the gear to buy the tickets as they have fast access to the ticket system and can buy more", he said.
"These people are perfectly nice and adorable, but we want the late teens because they help to make the character of the festival so it's really important to get them on board."
Is Eavis saying that he wants different customers? He seems to be saying, "Those darn old people with their crazy broadband are buying too many tickets. How can my concert be 'cool' if only old people attend?" His solution? Make tickets harder to buy. He continues,
"The ticket people aren't going to like it because it'll be a lot more difficult for them but we have to do it, it's absolutely essential," he said.
Who would've thought that old people would be the wired ones? And who would think that "they buy more" would be a bad thing?
Glastonbury
He doesn't want to this event to only be accessible to those that can afford to pay more for tickets/broadband. The summer festival market is increasingly competitive and he needs to protect his brand. If Glasto continues to attract an older crowd its vibe will change and younger customers will seek alternatives. It then loses its appeal. Meanwhile the older crowd stop coming because kids etc. get in the way of that type of activity.
I think it's an excellent example of looking at the detail of your sales process and looking to improve, rather than simply looking at the revenue chart and sold out sign and thinking all is well.