\u201cNo one likes ticketing companies. We very much understand that, and everyone\u2019s got horror stories of platforms crashing, not being able to get tickets and information not being clear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Flicket was established to challenge traditional ticketing models by giving event organisers greater control over customer data, revenue streams and fan engagement.<\/p>\n
Flicket powered Cosmic Baseball, one of the United States’ fastest-growing touring sports attractions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was so much demand of [event] organisers wanting to know who their fans were, wanting to have better control over how their product was marketed, what data was collected and then build better engagement,\u201d Barwell-Smith said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re effectively solving the same customer problems from eight years ago, just at a bigger scale now, which is so cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Securing international events <\/p>\n
Since launching, Flicket has grown from a New Zealand start-up into an international business, operating in multiple overseas markets.<\/p>\n
The company helped power New York Fashion Week and Cosmic Baseball, one of the United States\u2019 fastest-growing touring sports attractions.<\/p>\n
It also supported events in Las Vegas alongside the McLaren Formula One team and continues to expand across baseball, rodeo, college sports and live entertainment markets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe event where we realised we could be a major player was Cosmic Baseball,\u201d Barwell-Smith said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s glow-in-the-dark baseball and it\u2019s the coolest thing ever. They do the first couple of innings with some trick plays and then halfway through the lights go off.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said Flicket would sell more than one million tickets with Cosmic Baseball in the coming year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe engagement is massive and the biggest pivot we\u2019ve seen for events has been the change in sports \u2013 it\u2019s no longer just sport, you\u2019re putting on the most entertaining product.\u201d<\/p>\n
Flicket’s Nic Mowday (left) Amelia Calvert, Jimmy Barwell-Smith and Jay Watphisit, and an Export Awards judge.<\/p>\n
For organisers, running events was often \u201cimmensely stressful\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got 10,000 things that can go wrong and so whatever we can do to help alleviate that stress always works really well.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked about the challenges of scaling Flicket internationally, Barwell-Smith said the \u201cbiggest thing\u201d was understanding what had made the company successful in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
Flicket has supported ticketing for some of New Zealand\u2019s biggest events, including Super Rugby and festivals such as Laneway<\/a>, and most recently delivered ticketing for Australian DJ Dom Dolla\u2019s New Zealand headline show.<\/p>\n \u201cEach market has its own unique landscape and so it\u2019s a blend of not wanting to completely change who you are and be inauthentic to other markets,\u201d Barwell-Smith said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to retain what\u2019s made us us and that\u2019s just out-hustling our competitors.\u201d<\/p>\n His advice to other companies looking to grow internationally was \u201cto take the punt\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is crazy, you\u2019ll pull all-nighters, you pull together great people, you lean in and if you do the hard work and you\u2019re honest and upfront, it works out.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll never think that you\u2019re ready for it. If you\u2019re not doing stuff that scares you and pushing you outside your limits, you\u2019re not doing it right.\u201d<\/p>\n Exporter of the Year <\/p>\n