Australia’s TEG looks to be data marketing leader in pan-Asia

TEG, the live events and ticketing business previously known as Nine Live, has ambitions to become the leader in data marketing for the pan-Asian live ­music industry.

TEG, which owns Ticketek, TEG Live, Softix, Eventopia and Sydney’s Qudos Arena, turned its focus toward Asia following Nine Live’s $640m buy-out byprivate equity firmAffinityEquity Partners last April.

Speaking to The Australian back in September, TEG’s chief executive Geoff Jones said he was on the hunt for acquisitions in Asia and was creatinga new company calledTEG Analytics, which uses Ticketek’s data to create marketing campaigns for the entertainment sector. Since TEG Analytics’ launch it’s created campaigns for the NRL, AFL, as well as for music and theatre promoters.

Now, in an interview published by The Australiantoday, Jones has said TEG is close to inking acquisitions in Asia’s ticketing and technology sectors.

“We see ourselves going forward as a pan-Asian entertainment company, integrated across a number of different fields,” said Jones.

TEG and Affinity’s investment in Asia couldn’t come at a better time. As reported in IFPI Global Music Report in April, revenue from the Asia market’s music industry increased by 5.7% in 2015, reversing a 1.6% decline in 2014. The Japanese market, which at 76% of Asia’s trade value is the region’s dominant market, returned to growth after two years of significant decline. It increased by 3% in 2015. To put these figures into perspective, Europe’s market increased by 2.3%, Australia increased by 6.1% and the globe’s top region for growth, Latin America, saw an 11.8% increase in recorded music revenues.

TEG’s Hong Kong-based owner Affinity is already the sole investor in Virgin Australia’s Velocity frequent flyer program with a 35% stake that cost it $336 million in 2014. It’s also a joint-lead investor in Korean apparel brand TBH Global, and the sole investor in Korea’s only digital satellite TV broadcaster Korea Digital Satellite Broadcasting and in Korea’s largest vertically-integrated music company, Loen Entertainment (formerly Seoul Records).

Ticketek Australia and New Zealand has database of 12 million consumers and annual ticket sales of 23 million to more than 20,000 events each year. TEG was behind One Direction’s 2015 stadium tour and will look after Keith Urban’s next tour with Carrie Underwood this December, in support of his ARIA #1 album Ripcord. Urban’s last Australian tour in 2014 was promoted by Chugg Entertainment, it sold over 53,200 tickets and generated over $6.73m in gross revenue.

One-time MD of Peer Group Media (TMN’s ex-parent company) Andrew Reid is now the General Manager, Data Analytics and Insights at Ticketek Australia (TEG). Reid joined the company last November.

TEG’s Geoff Jones has also said Australia’s current lull in its live music market – where big-name acts refuse to announce local dates due to our weak exchange rate – will see a comeback fromDecember through to 2017.

“I’d say half a dozen of the biggest acts in the world will be out here in that period,” he told The Australian.