NEW YORK ? A Live Nation and House of Blues executive at the Mobile Marketing Association?s SM2 Innovation Summit 2015 admitted that mobile advertisements function best as an inciting point for music fans, leaving 90 percent of actual transactions to occur on desktop.

During the ?The Cross-Device Concert Fan: Harnessing Mobile for House of Blues? session, the executive discussed Live Nation?s growing focus on mobile retargeting and advertisements in a bid to capture the fleeting attention of millennial music enthusiasts. While desktop continues to be the go-to platform for booking sales of concert tickets, mobile is an ideal starting avenue to incite consumer interest and build brand awareness.

?We?re definitely looking at increasing our overall budget for 2016,? said Aaron Wilson, senior vice president of marketing at Live Nation and House of Blues, Hollywood, CA. ?Everything we do is created for a mobile-first consumer.

?We started with a much larger prospecting budget in the beginning and as we started to see results, it moved to a ton of retargeting.?

Prime information channel
While much of House of Blues? budget initially centered on prospecting and sending advertisements to consumers who were potentially fans of a certain brand or venue, the company has shifted more of a focus to retargeting efforts. Prospecting offers more discovery features for fans, while retargeting ads provide additional information about shows or artists.

Mobile works best as the inciting channel for customer discovery, eventually leading to purchases made on desktop. House of Blues occasionally serves ads that showcase the venue, tagline for the show and then ask the mobile user to tap for more information if they are interested.

Mobile video has also proven to be effective in marketing upcoming shows. A recent success story came from an impromptu video shoot that featured several rockers having a good time.

At the end of the video, the venue was displayed with a hashtag, with no artist mentioned. The allure of discovering who the headlining band was prompted many music fans to attend the show.

Possible reasons for the plethora of desktop sales may be due to mobile?s small screen sizes, as well as the informative nature of personal devices.

Unless a consumer is a repeat buyer, he or she may be deterred from filling out their personal and payment information on a small screen. Moreover, many advertisers do not see significant repeat buying experiences being supported by their mobile sites or applications.

?I think [consumers are] not ready to commit,? Mr. Wilson said. ?It?s more of an informative space for them.

?Our digital spending has evolved faster than we have made our Web sites optimized. In clubs and theaters, the demand for buying now is not as urgent as a 5,000-capacity venue where you want to get the best seat.?

Mobile advertisements? reach
Mobile advertisements still play a crucial role in the entertainments industry, especially for raising awareness of specific artists or venues. House of Blues has found that mobile marketing efforts reach up to two and a half times more people, thereby prompting the company to bump its mobile budget up to 40 percent.

Marketers in the event space must consider all of the advertising possibilities that mobile offers, such as announcement of anticipated shows, pre-sale tickets and VIP experiences for loyal fans.  

The potential for teaming up with popular mobile platforms also abounds. This past May, Uber aligned itself with music fans by offering rides to and from more than 60 Live Nation events at festivals, clubs and theaters, boosting its presence through another partnership to satisfy consumers? mobile-driven demand for convenience (see story).

Ultimately, mobile?s effectiveness in this sector cannot be overstated, particularly when targeting the millennial demographic.

?Mobile is the anchor device, especially for this segment,? said Aaron Kechley, senior vice president of products at DataXu, Boston. ?The increase in share of media consumption for mobile devices is just growing exponentially.

?You really can?t ignore this phenomenon.?

Final Take
Alex Samuely, editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York