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Banks increase advertising spend on concerts

Banks across the globe have been increasing their advertising spend on live music to target younger customers, according to new studies.

Around 39% of the industry’s total sponsorship portfolio is now dedicated to music-related events, compared to 25% in 2021, according to a report from data provider SponsorUnited.

American Banker reports that bank sponsorships of music festivals surged by 165% over the past two years, with sponsorship of concert venues rising by 94% in the same period.

Data compiled by the Commission for the Financial Market (CMF) in Chile, meanwhile, shows double-digit growth in the marketing budgets from major financial groups. Overall, advertising expenses grew by 17.5% across the sector over the past year, driven by music, sport and entertainment.

Scotiabank, which inked an exclusive deal with Chilean promoter DG Medios to allow clients access to special discounts for shows, upped its advertising budget by 16.6%.

“We have sponsored more than 30 musical events, which have been attended by about 500,000 people,” Scotiabank’s marketing and partnerships director Rodrigo Orellana tells Diario Financiero, who said the partnerships had helped attract 140,000 new checking account clients.

“It reaches a young audience, allowing us to connect with this segment that is an important part of our portfolio”

Banco de Chile raised its spend by 10.1% via partnerships with events such as Lollapalooza Chile, in addition to sponsoring Mexican singer Luis Miguel’s gig at the Movistar Arena in Santiago, while Banci Falabella was affiliated with a concert by rapper Quevedo.

“It reaches a young audience, allowing us to connect with this segment that is an important part of our portfolio,” says Banco Falabella marketing manager Felipe Ruiz. “Post-pandemic, people’s behaviour changed, with interest in benefits that help with daily enjoyment growing greatly. Within this context, massive events such as concerts and shows once again played a relevant role.”

In the US, tickets for three of LCD Soundsystem’s upcoming 12 New York shows – split across Brooklyn Steel, Manhattan’s Terminal 5 and Queens’ Knockdown Center – will be exclusively sold to American Express cardholders. American Express has also sponsored AEG’s BST Hyde Park since 2021.

The concert series’ previous sponsor Barclaycard now has partnerships with events such as Isle of Wight Festival, Latitude and Capital’s Summertime Ball, which include link-ups such as branded stages and social media activations. Customer perks include food and drink discounts and special viewing points.

Multiple credit cards also offer early access to concert tickets. It was revealed in July that the frenzy for Taylor Swift tickets had seen credit card applications for UOB, Singapore’s third largest bank, soar, as fans clamoured to gain access to a presale for cardholders.

Bloomberg reported that daily average credit card applications across Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam jumped 45% last month in the week Swift announced her 2024 tour dates.

“Our goal is to seamlessly connect artists and event organisers with fans wherever they are in the world”

Applications for debit cards in Singapore and Vietnam skyrocketed 130%. UOB, the official bank and presale partner for the singer’s six nights at Singapore’s National Stadium, said more than half of the new credit card holders are female, while a third of new customers are aged between 30 and 40.

Business Insider reported that Swifties in the US had flocked to sign up for Capital One credit cards to gain access to a presale a few days before they went on sale to the general public. Capital One declined to comment on how many applications it had received since the tour was announced. Swift first teamed with the company around her Lover album in 2019.

And in the spring, Live Nation announced a multi-year strategic partnership with PayPal, which was named Ticketmaster’s preferred payments partner.

As part of the link-up, fans are able to pay with PayPal products across Ticketmaster’s platform. Additionally, PayPal Braintree also became Ticketmaster’s primary global payment processor.

“Our goal is to seamlessly connect artists and event organisers with fans wherever they are in the world, and PayPal helps us take that to the next level with a truly global-reaching payments solution,” said Ticketmaster president Mark Yovich. “This partnership gives fans continuity and confidence that they have a secure, trusted and accessible payment method wherever in the world they happen to be attending an event.”

 


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