Gracie Gold at Skate America
I have taken some time off, dear reader, for a trip to Chicago in order to attend Skate America with my family. This was a special birthday present for my mom so she could attend with her two daughters.
My sister splurged on the VIP package, which sounded spectacular when she booked. However, the VIP treatment was severely lacking. Aside from the amazing seats (yes, we were spotted on television), there wasn’t anything else amazing about the VIP benefits.
The benefits of the VIP package were the special seats, tickets for free water each day, and a VIP Lounge which included views to the arena, its own food service and a private bathroom, and a pin.
Well, the water tickets were only good if you went downstairs to an area that was not easily accessible (far from the rest of the food). The VIP Lounge was all the way on the other side of the arena. The food service was the same as the typical arena food, and they didn’t even have fries at the location, “You have to go next door for the fries.” The view to the arena was only good if you stood by the windows since the chairs were for extra special VIPers and for the ADA. We ended up not using the bathrooms since they were not convenient when we needed to go (all the way around the arena from our seats).
One of the benefits I would have liked would have been getting the announced freebies automatically. They were handing out a free bag and a free skating magazine. We had to hunt for the booth (again, farther around the arena), and they were out of magazines.
So, VIP was a bust, aside from the seats. The seats of course were the best part, but we wouldn’t have considered a package deal if we had known that the “special benefits” weren’t so special.
How about your membership and subscription packages? Are your benefits truly special or are they simply half-thought add on’s to the better seats? Could the benefits be a reason why people are not stepping up to become a member or subscriber?
If you are going to offer special benefits to create a spectacular package for your audiences, it is best to make sure the benefits are amazing. The benefits need to be above what everyone else gets, what the audiences want, and executed in an accessible manner. Otherwise, you are creating audiences that do not appreciate being given the run around the arena after being promised the VIP treatment.
Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,
Shoshana
Shoshana Fanizza
Chief Audience Builder
