Ticketmaster CEO Feeds on the Hate
From Fast Company magazine:
Haters gonna hate. But in recent history, no brand’s been on the receiving end of consumer vitriol like Ticketmaster. Its CEO Nathan Hubbard has witnessed firsthand just how intense the loathing can get.
“Go search for ‘Ticketmaster’ on Twitter,” he said at Fast Company’s recent Innovation Uncensored event in San Francisco. “You learn a lot. People want to eat my kids they’re so angry.”
It’s not because he’s lacking in listening skills. One of Hubbard’s main jobs as CEO has been to improve brand perception among consumers–to bring the love back to “the most hated brand in America,” as Chuck Salter wrote in Fast Company’s recent profile of the company.
Along the way, Hubbard actually feeds on the hate. It’s feedback, after all. If he wants to learn more about what the company is doing wrong, “hundreds of thousands of people” are giving feedback in one way or the other, whether via social media or on Ticketmaster’s website–and let’s not forget, these are still customers.
hubbard did a podcast with Bill Simmons of ESPN recently and I thought it was very insightful into how the ticketing business actual works. He was very candid. Definitely reduced, but not eliminated, my hate on for TM