Building a brand: SpareTicket.com.au – a case study
Creating a new brand is an intensive, yet highly satisfying journey. Recently the Brio Group team had the pleasure of bringing to life SpareTicket.com.au – an online entertainment hub where Australians can buy, sell or share tickets to a whole host of events: music, theatre, sport, etc. Launched in late 2010, this relatively new brand is achieving the sort of hype any business owner can only be proud of. SpareTicket.com.au has achieved almost 1200 Facebook fans within a few months, and importantly has numerous members buying, selling and completing challenges to share tickets. In today’s blog post, I’d thought I’d share an insider’s view into the process of how we built this brand.
Background:
To create a website to buy, sell and share tickets to Australian-wide events online. Our client approached us to turn her innovative idea into reality. From sketches and strategy through to concept and creation, we enlisted each area of Brio: design, digital, advertising and PR to build a brand that had wings. Enter: SpareTicket.com.au – your ticket to adventure.
Objective:
To build a brand that has wide-spread consumer appeal in the Australian market. To create a brand concept and strategy and roll this out across every touchpoint. To consult on advertising directions and opportunities that meets client’s business plan. To offer strategic direction for online marketing opportunities to attract new audiences on a minimum advertising spend.
In meeting these objectives, it was essential to keep the core brand attributes in mind: fun, engaging and memorable. A website that is easy to use, creates happiness and connects users.
Strategic Direction:
To bring to life a brand that is hinged on happiness, we developed a concept based on a free-spirited magpie – the traditional symbol of happiness. The bird has the potential to become a mascot, an easily-identifiable icon that is SpareTicket.com.au all over: fun, lively and happy.
We wanted to build a brand that went beyond a ‘buy and sell’ website. To create market cut through we developed a ‘challenge’ option: for example, mow someone’s lawn, or be their plus one in exchange for a ticket. This angle is unique in the market, adds PR appeal and opens up the connection-building objective.
To attract the target audience and communicate in channels they’re comfortable and responsive in, we pitched a social media strategy using Facebook and Twitter. After training the client and producing content calendars and a strategy that was in line with Facebook fan engagement ads, the brand was brought to life in the social sphere – an integral part of SpareTicket.com.au’s marketing. We also integrated their Facebook presence on the website’s home page.
Results:
We successfully produced SpareTicket.com.au by its launch date: 20 December 2010. The site is easy-to-use and is equipped with functionality that allows people to seamlessly buy, sell and connect with each other. The Facebook page acheived significant growth in the first month (over 500+ fans) and we continue to monitor this new site’s buy, sell and share results.
To discover our other case studies and see how we build brands for our clients, please visit the Work page of our website.
Yours in branding,
Julia
