A New Take On The Groupon Business Model
Mashable recently featured an indie film production company that used some pretty creative marketing in order to put butts in the seats to see their latest documentary – Ready, Set, Bag! Of course they used twitter and set up a channel on Blip.tv, but the thing that really impressed me was their use of Groupon to sell tickets to see their show. Starting in the Seattle market, Groupon subscribers were able to purchase tickets to the premiere through one of their daily specials. Not only did the film makers gain lots of exposure from the Groupon deal, but it also allowed the theaters to take a chance on an indie film by essentially guaranteeing a level of attendance to their show ahead of time – something that hasn’t been possible before.
This got me thinking of similar industries that could take advantage of Groupon or similar deal sites. Movies are great and you could also do the same with up-and-coming bands trying to fill a venue, newly minted authors, artists or even attendees to a local event or festival. Heck, I could even see niche Groupon-like sites taking advantage of this idea to market to music and art fans. This type of model works great for all parties involved. Venues know what to expect in terms of attendance, the producer of the product gets exposure for their work and the customers get an exclusive deal at a great price.
What other sort of ways do you think they could expand upon the Groupon model? Let me know in the comments below.
In case you were interested in the Ready, Set, Bag! documentary; I’ve attached a preview below.
