leadership in global community.
Yusuke Sawa (SIIS'09) on August 31st, 2009
Whether to do or not to do, that’s the difference, I guessed.
Today, we visited Brown Paper Tickets which provided quality ticketing service for ticket sellers and buyers with the smallest service fees in the Industry. With their service, ticket sellers can use a lot of useful services (for example, 24/7 internet and phone orders, sales tracking etc.) with cheaper expenses, and buyers can buy the tickets cheaper and have access to a toll-free number 24 hours a day to support.
The company had been generated by the question “why are tickets so expensive ?”. And it grew a Not-Just-For-Profit (not non-profit) company to repair the ticketing industry which a few giant companies dominated the market. To reconnect the relationship between ticket seller, buyer, community and other stakeholders, people of BPT kept the principley Not- Just-For-Profit – Ethics, Community, Individual, Environment are important as equally as Profit.
Though there may be a difference between U.S. and Japan, I didn’t have any doubts about the price of tickets in my life till today, so that’s the first point I felt great.
The second was still more important – to do practically. When BPT was born, the huge giants dominated the ticketing industry. In conservative perspective, there’s few possibility to compete them. But they have started, sustained till today, and fix the industry gradually !
For the repair of the industry, BPT must face the giants directly in the future. What will happen then ? There’s no clear answer but I guess people will be able to choose the way at that time. That’s “Fair”.
BPT calls themselves as “fair-trade” ticketing company. I guess it is true.
Tags: SIIS, Site Visit, Triones, Yusuke Sawa
3 Comments to “Site Visit #2 : Brown Paper Tickets ~ Fix the industry”
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Tsuyoshi Takahara (SIIS’09) Says:
Hi Yusuke,
You did great job! Thank you for great feedback. I saw somehow a severeness or a contradiction of their business when Steve said that other companies don’t like BPT because usually they don’t like doing business with less profit. That is true. To face with giant competitors, they need ton of fund but they don’t simply seeks profit.
I think that is one of big issue of all of social enterprises. To make a large-scale change, their character is not good because their priority is probably not profit.
Tsuyoshi
Naoki Kasahara iLEAP staff Says:
Hi Yusuke,
When we think of structure of marketing, there are three kinds of layers in the consumer pyramid, which are innovator, early adopter and follower. What they have faced and what they are trying to challenge are to notify their awareness to “right people” who are regarded as innovator first. What I have thought is , like you said, they have to challenge to big companies and dominated industrial field by using of their unique skills and particular strength that may bring “emergence” to people.
To approach right people as innovator and early adopter ,and convert how they think substantially, this is personal opinion but I believe there is a way to change big companies in oligopoly and above all ticketing industry as a whole without radical campaign or friction in terms of each other’s fight. That is the “critical solution” that we have to create towards our future.
Naoki
Hi Tsuyoshi,
Thank you for your comment.I agree with your mentions,but on the other way, I imagine BPT like google or Linux, which changes the basic custom of business or Industry.
At the same time, I imagine about reduction of Industries. If some industry change to be less profitable, money will move any other Industry. So is change of Industry that’s only the transfer of money ? uuuh…difficult but interesting !
Thank you
Yusuke