Online Ticketing, India's Norm in Five Years : Neetu Bhatia

Kyazoonga a fascinating name, that makes a person wonder what it really means, when he/she hears it for the first time. However, for the budding ticketing company the name is synonymous with its success story.

Kyazoonga was launched in early 2007 as India’s first and largest entertainment and sports ticketing company. It is one of the first online ticketing company to have come to the market.

 It has also made rapid strides by using state-of-the-art scalable software and signing a few big deals. Buzzing at the moment is its Rs 100 crore multi-year deal with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), the official T20 championship in West Indies.

Adgully caught up with Neetu Bhatia, Kyazoonga co-founder & CEO to get her opinion on global ticketing industry, how it is shaping in India, and on Kyazoonga of course. Excerpts:

1) Your views on global sports and entertainment ticketing scenario…

Global sports and entertainment ticketing scenario is very vibrant. Number of events that need ticketing around the world continue to increase exponentially and the complexity of delivering an easy and simple solution to clients and consumers alike also continues to increase with it. Size of the global sports and entertainment ticketing market is north of $50 billion and rising. It is an exciting time for the industry with massive advances in web and mobile technologies layered with a connected and networked customer base always on social media. The opportunity to create a complete event experience for a sports/entertainment ticket customer has never been greater.

2) Talking about India, what do you think would grow faster in online ticketing here - sports or entertainment?

Sports will continue to drive major share of online ticketing in India simply because Cricket is a major driver. Demand often exceeds supply and hence people flock to online to ensure they’ve booked their spot in their favourite match. Average ticket prices are higher as well. Similarly, other sports and leagues that are seeing success with live audiences will contribute to the online ticketing pie. For example, last year most of Pro Kabaddi tickets were sold online. Entertainment will make up the balance of the push to online ticketing however that is constrained by two factors - paucity of large live entertainment events in the country coupled with smaller ticket sizes for local events. Most of the traffic online for entertainment options is browsing rather than transacting traffic. The regulatory environment will also impact live entertainment options. Online ticketing in both sports and entertainment must move to paperless ticketing.

3) We are fascinated by the name Kyazoonga.

Well, we were christened by ad-man Prahlad Kakar. The founding team figured that having a different sounding name would stick with customers who would never forget something interesting they had heard and then had a great experience with.

Over time, Kyazoonga brand has come to signify Big Ticket experience - access to high profile sports and entertainment events like the Cricket World Cup, the Sachin Tendulkar 200th Test match, the CPL, the IPL or the Jaipur Lit Fest, the Bryan Adams concert series, the Guns ’N Roses concert series and Big Ticket access to smaller events such as the local Cathedral School reunion or the MIT alumni club get together. The name gives us the flexibility to operate the business and build to scale while customising individual experiences rather than a ‘one size fits all’ approach that a pedestrian name may signify. Fortunately for us, the name also has two ‘O’s in it, not by design but completely by accident, so we hope that the Google effect rubs off on us.

4) Moving to the 100 cr deal, what are the objectives and potential benefits of associating with CPL?

CPL is a fantastic league that brings together love of Cricket that people in West Indies have for the game and combines it with the party atmosphere the Caribbean stands for. It is, in fact, billed the ‘Biggest Party’ in Sport. As we look to expand Kyazoonga globally, CPL has become a showcase for how we can quickly drop anchor in a new, yet complex market (six countries, varied geographies, culture, customer behaviour and buying patterns, multiple currencies, etc.) and drive revenue to an event like CPL through our centralized ticketing system. It is truly ‘Make in India’ for the world.

5) What are your expectations from this 100 crore deal?Is it an exclusive deal?

We hope to deliver sold out stadiums, record revenue and a smooth and seamless customer experience and access. All our deals are exclusive. That is the only way to drive seamless execution of large and complex events - through a centralized ticketing platform that powers up multiple channels. Response has been great.

6) On what platforms are you promoting your company?

We always look to optimise our promotion channels - web, digital, social, mobile and also offline mediums like TV and Outdoor. We have run several campaigns in the past and continue to push the envelope on ATL and BTL alike.

7) Where do you see online ticketing and Kyazoonga five years from now?

We believe online ticketing will be the norm in India in the next five years. As for Kyazoonga, we see it transition from an Indian to a global ticketing major in five years.

debarati(@)adgully.com