Live Nation this week bought data analytics company BigChampagne to help expand its marketing and Internet branding efforts. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Located near Live Nation in Beverly Hills, CA, BigChampagne is an entertainment industry media measurement company that crunches a wealth of information and analytical data to help businesses reach more customers.
In a release announcing the acquisition Wednesday, December 14, the companies said BigChampagne’s software will power “social discovery, content relevancy and product personalization across Live Nation’s businesses,” which includes its Ticketmaster division.
“This acquisition strengthens our commitment to be the leader in artist-to-fan data,” Live Nation president and CEO Michael Rapino said in a statement. “BigChampagne’s expertise will accelerate our mission to drive deeper fan engagement throughout Live Nation driven by world class data technology.”
Since last year’s merger with Ticketmaster, Live Nation has branded itself as an all-around live entertainment company that can handle ticketing, concert promotion, artist management, merchandise sales, and licensing and sponsorship deals. With the acquisition of BigChampagne, the company can bring together data from all those divisions to determine the best ways to reach fans and drive sales across all its sectors.
Earlier this year, Live Nation launched its own data analytics initiative through Ticketmaster to help its venue and team clients discover marketing opportunities. BigChampagne’s 26 employees will be folded into the live analytics group, and BigChampagne founder Eric Garland has been named general manager of LiveNation.com.
“The mandate is to take all the underlying capacity behind our B-to-B product [Ultimate Chart] and extend it to the consumer — so we’re trying to improve fan experiences using data analytics,” Garland told the Hollywood Reporter.
Ultimate Chart can measure artist “buzz” by studying ticket, album and merchandise sales; licensing and endorsement deals; and social media reach to help companies determine the best course of action for marketing and branding.
Rapino told the New York Times that with BigChampagne’s help, Live Nation will be able to take fan data and merge it into “a relevant database of what artists are most popular and relevant to today’s consumer.”
