The whole Michael Jackson story smacks of desperation…

from start to finish, the latest Michael Jackson saga smacks of desperation. His initial speech, if you can call it that, speaks of someone desperate to claw themselves back into the black, after spending a significant time in the red. However, what speaks of desperation even more is the way the e-crm programme has been worked by all involved.

As you will see from earlier posts, the O2 password system was a complete let down. Cue angry and disappointed wife, and other consumers if you read the comments on here and Twitter. Not only was it near on impossible to get through on Ticketmaster, I was just left with a spinning logo and a “Your wait is 15 minutes or more”… Then suddenly the screen changed to say they lost my booking and I would have to go through the process again. Joke.

Even during the process or the few hours you could actually buy tickets, the MJ and Ticketmaster companies were pleading for people to stay online and keep trying. Then they released another 20 shows?! They should have just admitted that it was a total cock-up from start to finish.

However, now multiple companies are sending me emails clutching at the “we have THE only tickets left for Michael Jackson”. First the email came from LastMinute saying we have the last few tickets for MJ, come and get them. Intrigued by this I went to the LastMinute site…. by “last few tickets” what they really mean is you can only buy these tickets if you shell out £900+ for a hotel, meal and ticket package. I personally think this is really poor e-CRM and totally misleading, the average MJ fan is not going to pay out for this and therefore the O2 is just going to become even more corporate for a gig that should be about the fans that have supported MJ throughout his career. Unfortunately, I cannot say I am one of those.

The next email came this morning from Viagogo. Advertising the fact that Ticketmaster was sold out, Viagogo feels it can now justify ticket prices of (minimum) £194 for a single seat in the nosebleed section. Clearly or what I feel is that Viagogo have bought a bundle of tickets, waited for Ticketmaster to sell out and then said “look we are doing you a favour come buy from us”.

I’m half expecting a few more over the next few days. Let me know if you receive any and I will post them here. A real shame that something so exciting has been destroyed by some really poor digital e-crm and PR, plus some really cut-throat companies offering over-priced tickets.