Artist booking – what do I have to pay attention to?
Professional tip 2: The target group analysis
What you should pay attention to when placing artists in the Gala & Corporate area or when booking artists.
Tips from the professional – Talent Buyer & Artist Relations Manager Stefan Lohmann
Live Entertainment Expert Stefan Lohmann in Event Partner Interview
Artist booking – what do I have to pay attention to when analysing target groups?
Professional tips from artist relations manager and live entertainment expert Stefan Lohmann
Artist placement What do I have to pay attention to? It sounds banal and in principle it is, because you don’t even need a complicated analysis tool or a specialized agency. As a rule, companies know exactly who they are inviting and why and who not. But often no conclusions and decisions regarding the program selection are made from the available information (age structure, international – national or regional audience, which industry, which industry events are typically visited, …).
Artist placement professional tips – be able to name the target group
If you know and understand the target group, you can derive a lot of information for the organisation of the event and the stage programme. There are really enough possibilities to analyse and better understand the target group in order to derive information for the entertainment programme.
Simple example: When guests generally have a high need to speak and rarely see each other. If there is usually a lot to talk about and live entertainment is annoying – then I would reduce live entertainment or even leave it out! And instead rely on suitable background music. Or to focus on short show highlights that promote the culture of conversation in a beautiful ambience rather than preventing it. Organizers should answer the question which goals they want to achieve with the event and which image they want to convey. This provides the answers for the entertainment selection. Be it for the Welcome Entertainment or for the star guest. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator
For congresses and meetings, one should select – if at all – the live entertainment very purposefully, extremely entertainingly and with high surprise effect. Ideally, live entertainment should encourage further conversations. Welcome Entertainment can take up the theme of the event and get the guests in the mood for it.
Artist Agency Pro Tips – Basics
The target group analysis is not about spying on the guests, but about offering an entertainment program that picks up on the preferences of a group of people, for example to present a star guest who manages to inspire the audience in the long term and to remain in memory because the artist really fits the theme and the company. The information of the analysis also helps in the creation of a live entertainment concept, which is specially created for the target group and thus offers many opportunities to integrate the marketing messages of the company.
If you have a rough idea of the guests and if you have set the marketing goals as described in Tip 1, you should next set the budget for the live entertainment program.
More on the topic of artist mediation – what do you have to pay attention to?
Tip 3 – Artist commitment or budget for live entertainment
Event Partner Interview with Stefan Lohmann, live entertainment pro.
In the Event Partner Magazine (December/ January issue) live entertainment expert Stefan Lohmann was asked about the topic of artist placement:
Stefan Lohmann, Talent Buyer and Booking Agent from Hamburg: “In my opinion, the first question that always arises is what do I actually want to achieve with the event and the live entertainment. Who do I want to reach and what do I want to achieve with the target group? The target group analysis also shows the choice of which artists could fit. Only when you have clarified what you want and what budget you can invest in live entertainment and what kind of artists are possible – only then does the contact with the artists or their representatives begin.
But the big stars are rarely to be found at corporate events. This goes hand in hand with my assumption that the positive image transfer, the reach and the memory of a special experience are underestimated by the event industry.
However, this only works if you stage the entire event and don’t rely on the star alone. In addition, the star must fit the company and the goals set and not the personal taste of the subsidiary of the board of directors or the event manager. The aim of the event must be determined by the artist, not the budget and not the personal taste.
A star doesn’t do an event. No matter which artist or which live entertainment you choose. It is very important that the entertainment is meaningfully embedded in the overall event and that the audience is led to the emotional climax of the event.”
Many thanks to Hans-Eberhard Kothe from EMP ebi media produktions GmbH for the short interview in the Event Partner Magazine.
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