July 5, 2012
Live from DC: It’s LivingSocial Events!
LivingSocial is looking to put some space between itself and Groupon with the launch of live events at 918 F Street in the nation’s capital. The building was purchased and renovated by LivingSocial to provide space for local merchants to open pop-up restaurants, conduct classes in subjects such as photography and yoga, etc. Best of all for the daily dealer and the merchants — the events are full-priced.
Since opening the building, according to All Things Digital, LivingSocial has generated roughly $1 million from the events. In just four months, the events have risen to 10 percent of LivingSocial’s business in the nation’s capital.
The cost of the average event is $53, which is 40 percent higher than the typical LivingSocial daily deal, according to Daily Deal Media.
According to LivingSocial, 25,000 people have already attended events since the the building opened. Eighty-three percent of the merchants that have participated in the full-price events have never worked with LivingSocial on daily deals before.
The events, according to Yipit’s Pocket Protector blog, are particularly helpful for small merchants because the LivingSocial facility gives them the ability to serve "hundreds of customers on a daily basis" that they wouldn’t be able to do in their own shops.
"In a three- to five-year timeframe, I want LivingSocial to be a tab that you keep open in your browser all day long," CEO Tim O’Shaughnessy said in a media presentation earlier this month. "We think that there has to be that integrated commerce platform for local commerce, and we really hope it’s LivingSocial."
LivingSocial’s events are not exactly a new concept. The online dating service Match.com, for example, is rolling out "Stir" events nationwide. Members get to meet in person rather than online at such get-togethers as bowling nights, dance lessons and cooking classes.
- LivingSocial Experiments With Daily Deals, and It’s Like a Virtual Club Med – All Things Digital
- LivingSocial Spent Millions On an Event Space and Here’s How It’s Doing – Pocket Protector by Yipit
- LivingSocial’s 918 F Street Event: ‘It’s Working’ – Daily Deal Media
- LivingSocial Spent Millions On an Event Space and Here’s How It’s Doing – Business Insider
- The Stir: Events by Match.com – Match.com Blog
BrainTrust
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
Discussion Questions: How do you see the daily deal business changing in the years ahead? Do you see LivingSocial’s events as an avenue toward greater stability and growth for daily deal businesses?
Poll
Hooray to LivingSocial for bringing the social into social networking! This should work well for experiential products and services. Great way to expand an entrepreneur’s exposure without the risk of margin loss associated with the daily deal.
I don’t think that the event side of the business is sustainable by itself, but will help to drive the brand and differentiate it from Groupon and the many other competitors in the daily deal business. It will make their brand stickier as the live events have old fashioned interaction of people and will lead to another thing to do, especially well educated younger people in their twenties, a demographic that happens to be big in D.C.
This is just another facet in the always evolving field of daily deals and consumer discounts. I salute LivingSocial for experimenting with different ways to reach consumers. They have a huge online audience, why not offer them a different type of experience?
This is bigger than a daily deal, this is 21st century marketing at its finest — connecting merchants directly with a consumer base.
The comparison I would make is more like a TED event where local merchants can demonstrate their products or profession at a central location in front of a live audience.
Before we had the infomercials that cost money to make and the talk shows that are hard to get placement on, but now we have LivingSocial creating a fixed forum to showcase local merchants and gain fans in the process.
DC was a perfect launch market by the way.
This is a very successful marketing model because it combines all of the elements above for marketing exposure down to a macro/local level. I can’t wait for the Peachtree or the 7th Avenue or the Madison Street or LeBrea or Mission Road version to pop-up.
This reminds me of a funny skit on TV last night about a ‘Help Desk’ where the person behind the counter simply referred people to websites for any questions. It’s not enough in today’s world to simply point people/clients to another direction. You have to vet and expose. Humans are still very human and emotional. Yes, it is about experience. This is the next generation of flash sales/deal websites.
It’s also why Angies List and The Home Trust (shameful self promotion) are successful.
LivingSocial will succeed because it is facilitating experiences for stakeholders on both sides of the counter.
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Hooray to LivingSocial for bringing the social into social networking! This should work well for experiential products and services. Great way to expand an entrepreneur’s exposure without the risk of margin loss associated with the daily deal.
I don’t think that the event side of the business is sustainable by itself, but will help to drive the brand and differentiate it from Groupon and the many other competitors in the daily deal business. It will make their brand stickier as the live events have old fashioned interaction of people and will lead to another thing to do, especially well educated younger people in their twenties, a demographic that happens to be big in D.C.
This is just another facet in the always evolving field of daily deals and consumer discounts. I salute LivingSocial for experimenting with different ways to reach consumers. They have a huge online audience, why not offer them a different type of experience?
This is bigger than a daily deal, this is 21st century marketing at its finest — connecting merchants directly with a consumer base.
The comparison I would make is more like a TED event where local merchants can demonstrate their products or profession at a central location in front of a live audience.
Before we had the infomercials that cost money to make and the talk shows that are hard to get placement on, but now we have LivingSocial creating a fixed forum to showcase local merchants and gain fans in the process.
DC was a perfect launch market by the way.
This is a very successful marketing model because it combines all of the elements above for marketing exposure down to a macro/local level. I can’t wait for the Peachtree or the 7th Avenue or the Madison Street or LeBrea or Mission Road version to pop-up.
This reminds me of a funny skit on TV last night about a ‘Help Desk’ where the person behind the counter simply referred people to websites for any questions. It’s not enough in today’s world to simply point people/clients to another direction. You have to vet and expose. Humans are still very human and emotional. Yes, it is about experience. This is the next generation of flash sales/deal websites.
It’s also why Angies List and The Home Trust (shameful self promotion) are successful.
LivingSocial will succeed because it is facilitating experiences for stakeholders on both sides of the counter.