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Driving Charitable Contributions Through Ticket Sales: Julien Lepron's Insights from PSG to Common Cents France

• Carl-Erik Michalsen Moberg • Season 5 • Episode 3

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Incorporating charitable donations into the ticket-buying process is a powerful way to support important causes, enhance customer experience, and build a positive brand image. In the latest episode of TicketingPodcast.com, we explore this innovative upselling strategy with Julien Lepron, a Partner and Consultant at Common Cents France. Founded in 2012, Common Cents boasts clients like Paris Saint Germain, Rugby World Cup France 2023, and the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Julien Lepron’s journey is remarkable. As the former Head of Customer Experience at Paris Saint Germain, Julien gained invaluable insights into ticket sales and fan engagement. Leveraging this experience, he now drives charitable contributions through Common Cents.

Key Takeaways:

  1. Integrating Donations into Ticket Sales: Julien explains how Common Cents seamlessly integrates donation options into the ticket purchasing journey, significantly boosting charitable contributions.
  2. Boosting Customer Engagement: Offering donation options enhances customer loyalty and engagement, making fans feel more connected to organisations that facilitate impactful giving.
  3. Creating Commercial Opportunities: Julien highlights how event organisers can increase ROI and brand awareness by connecting commercial partners and fans, generating richer customer data, and creating new digital sponsorship opportunities.


Why This Episode Matters:

Whether you’re a ticketing manager seeking innovation or a sports executive aiming to enhance match day operations, Julien Lepron’s insights provide valuable lessons on leveraging technology for social good. His expertise underscores the importance of strategic partnerships and customer-centric solutions in today’s ticketing landscape.

TicketingPodcast.com is powered and sponsored by TicketCo and hosted by TicketCo’s CEO, Carl-Erik Michalsen Moberg.

Speaker 1:

In today's episode of TicketingPodcastcom, we explore Common Sense France, a company offering such solutions. Stay tuned, hello and welcome to TicketingPodcastcom, a podcast that's all about ticketing and where experts within the ticketing space share their stories and insights. In today's episode, we will be discussing donations, and with me in studio is Julien Leprand, partner and consultant at Common Sense France. It's great to have you on our show, julian. Hello, kajri, thanks for having me. So, before we get to know you better, julian, can you please give our listeners a little introduction to Common Sense France?

Speaker 2:

Sure, common Sense France is a little social company to try to associate charities in the live entertainment industries. What we do is we basically try to drive social impact into this universe of ticketing and live entertainment.

Speaker 1:

Nice. I mean, we'll talk more about that shortly, but before that, can you give our listeners a little insight in who you are, julien?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so my name is Julien, I'm based in france, I'm a self-employed contingent in sports and entertainment industry and I'm a minor partner of common sense. I've been specialized in the sport industry, with many experiences in venue development and rights holders, and also market offering in terms of plan engagements, and I recently stepped up in terms of expertise for sustainability and CSR practicing to a nice industry that we have.

Speaker 1:

Nice, and you also spent seven years in a pretty well-known club called Paris Saint-Germain, from 2012 to 2018. And whilst you're there, you had different roles. Can you tell me a little bit about that? Give us some insights in how it is to work with Paris Saint-Germain?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, sure, it's been seven years, quite intense seven years, especially because I was lucky enough to join the organization when the new ownership was taking over the club and was aiming at building this premium property in the world and the club was actually, let's say, on some really low-end standards at that moment. So we've been basically developing on every aspect of the brand some sustainable revenues in marketing assets. We're particularly in charge of anything related to the customer experience and the matchday experience, trying to sustain and help out all the sales teams in order to develop a consistent customer experience framework on a match-to-basis and internationally talking, as obviously the global fan base was raising up very importantly at that time.

Speaker 1:

Would you say there is a difference between going on a match in Paris versus going on a match in London from a customer experience perspective?

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, it is, and that's actually the best part of the deal. That's the charming aspect of this industry and that's something we should always remind make sure that we stick to the roots and to the DNA of the cities and the club, because that's basically what people are really endorsing. The PNPs are usually not really that great for the sports industry.

Speaker 1:

All right. So there's a lot of basketball on your CV. I mean, do you play yourself? Who got you into this industry?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's been always around myself, especially since my twin sister is an Olympic silver medalist, but I've been working for EuroLeague teams, working on some arenas project and I'm still having some hot connections with the world of basketball, which is also quite captivating on many aspects.

Speaker 1:

Nice. So, jumping forward, we need to talk a little bit about Common Sense, right? Can you give us a brief introduction to how that came about, and I mean that part of your professional life and career?

Speaker 2:

Sure. So I only joined Common Sense two years ago, but Common Sense is a company that's been there for 10 years. Nicolas and Mark realized 10 years ago that they were a huge opportunity to basically tackle the share really well into this settlement universe. At the beginning it was coming from a ticketing approach. They realized that there were a bunch of transactions every day and at some point the emotion was there, because this is obviously not a grocery business. It's a very emotional sector and, as the nation is something that's been kind of around everywhere for a long time, the idea was to develop something very much bespoke to this reality and to develop with all the different providers because, as you know pretty well, I guess there's not so many ticketing providers in the world. It's changing a little bit, but there've been a bunch of major playmakers so far and they say that might be a reasonable and a good idea to come up to those people and say you know what? We're going to be able to develop this social impact into this industry for yourself and other players.

Speaker 1:

So do you operate globally or where do you operate?

Speaker 2:

We operate globally, mostly domestically. We have a couple of clients abroad. Domestically, we have a couple of clients abroad. We also have classic e-commerce players like the French brand Clarence, which is a long-term client, and we do have nine countries with them Because, as you know, we basically use technology. They are very open, classic e-commerce world, not specifically dedicated to ticketing. We have applied that to ticketing systems, but it's obviously open to any digital players.

Speaker 1:

So I mean you have different types of clients, and I mean most of our listeners come from sports right Very often Sure what kind of clients do you work with in this space?

Speaker 2:

So I would say this is probably the best part of Common Sense is that we've been able to combine and create a nice portfolio of clients, because we do have, primarily talking, all the ticketing providers and resellers, but, most importantly, we have the sports rights holders, we have the cultural rights holders, we have the venues, we have the promoters, we have brands and sponsors that comes around the stakeholders.

Speaker 2:

So it goes from a major player like PSG also minor football clubs, the French Federation of Handball, the Rugby World Cup, we have Live Nations, we have all those venues that can be very much tied up with the entertainment world, like the Accor Arena in Paris, but we also have the Opera of Paris, which is obviously a very different landscape. And, additionally, we have those external, different clients from the e-commerce and retail worlds. We even work with the French airport of Paris. They were used to actually get engaged a lot of employees and we were able to tackle this too. And that's also very important to have this wide portfolio of clients because, as you know, donation is a very small industry, so we need to expand that legacy.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah yeah, let's talk a little bit more about donations. I guess there are massive differences when it comes to the various sports, different countries, different sides of the world when it comes to donations, in terms of the relationship between the club and the fan. If you should point out one specific sports or one specific country where donations are very common, what would those be?

Speaker 2:

Well, that's kind of simple in a way that that's not something that we have created. A notice, that's something that can exist for a long time and we have witnessed that. The British markets, the Anglo-Saxon markets, I mean, they are more cultivated about that. It's more common to do so, so obviously you can think about the major sports related to those marketplaces, but we have often witnessed big ups and downs in terms of outcomes that can actually shift from what we have done in the past or from what we have seen. We have standards, but we have met some big surprises many, many times. So that's interesting to see that we do not have much guarantee when we roll out a campaign and at the same time, there's still a great opportunity to create a nice surprise.

Speaker 1:

So when we hear about donations, right, you very often donate to a cause, everything from people running a marathon and please support me in my run, and whatnot but what sort of causes are the most common?

Speaker 2:

So it's quite versatile and I will say, first and foremost, that the most important thing is the question you ask is what is the cause and why we do that? And that's a very important piece of the puzzle for Common Sense, because what we've been trying to do to differentiate ourselves but also to bring value is to make sure that we always follow up the way the money is used and the impact with figures and tangibility up the way the money is used and the impact with figures and tangibility. So there are several types of causes. To be honest, very pragmatic, the social causes women, empowerment, kids, inclusions, all this kind of matter are often the ones that can trigger more engagements and donations from the end users. Anything related to sustainability, environment is often endorsed, but unfortunately, people are not giving away so much about that, for the reason we can understand. Unfortunately, that's the reality. Anything that tends to shake up a little bit your emotions obviously is often selected by the clients.

Speaker 1:

You talked about the environmental doesn't necessarily create big donations. Do you think that? The reason why is that people think that it doesn't really matter in the big scheme of things anyway, I mean, is it important that you feel that you're actually making a difference when you're donating, versus just throwing something into a big hole? Maybe?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, very well said, kaleri. First of all, that's true. The most important thing is to make sure that you're going to have tangible impact and you might have the ability to change people's lives. That's the biggest thing and, as often we say overall for any organization that tends to be impactful and responsible, do you change a little bit of life or do you just do some social greenwashing. But back to your first point people understand that environmental things are quite important. Unfortunately, this is the thing that gets the most tangibles in terms of efforts, where most of the big players in this role are not really running their activities on the right way and people just get really sad and bored about it, and that's why it gets complicated then to step up and make a difference. So that's a little bit different. They're conscious of that, but they're kind of sick of probably not seeing so much movements from leaders.

Speaker 1:

Got it so back to common sense. How does donations work through your company?

Speaker 2:

It's pretty simple and that's how the co-founders came up with. They were very keen on the fact that it had to be simple. So we had a technology and we do everything around the technology, and it's probably the reason why Common Sense is successful. It's because there's nothing complex, it's just a matter of time and resources. So we have the technology, we have the backend system that gets everything automated, which is accountings, which is administrations, which is fiscal receipts, which is all the tracking that you need, and basically anybody that wants to go for that will not have to do anything except focusing on the campaign, the audience and how to basically enhance all of that. We do everything behind the scenes. Our ticketing channel is very simple. It's just an upsell. We basically provide a simple widget. The widget is completely disconnected from your old ticketing funnel to make sure there is no disruption into the transaction process, and then we have all the data information that goes automatically in our systems and we run all of that.

Speaker 2:

We do what we've got to do in terms of contracts between the charities and the rights holders. Some of the rights holder properties brands will like to use their own connection. They already have. Sometimes they don't, so we do have a portfolio of hundreds of charities in many, many different fields and we make sure that, in the end, the connection between the audience, the customers, will be there. We don't really focus on the upsell option itself. What we try to really focus on is on the marketing campaign that we develop, because, in the end, the idea is that we provide an opportunity for the brands to develop a retention tool, because we understand that it doesn't have to be done only because of social things. We would like to do so, but we understand that this world runs with the balance between economics and social, so we always need to team up between these marketing objectives and, at the same time, the opportunity to develop social outcomes for the world.

Speaker 1:

I think you have a strong point there, for sure, I mean. But when you buy a ticket, right and you might feel that the ticket is already pretty expensive and we see we've been discussing the cost of living crisis with several locations, several guests, etc. Do you think that the cost of living crisis with several locations, several guests, etc. Do you think that the cost of living crisis, the rising ticket prices, does that impact the donations or do you see it as a separate issue?

Speaker 2:

yeah, you know what. It's a separate issue for a simple reason is that when you go for the process of buying a ticket for a concert, it gets a little bit excited and emotional, not like when you go to the grocery and you're being required to run your bill, and that's the point. It's all about the way that people are getting into the action of purchasing the tickets or any products. I'm not saying that there is no consideration to have around the reality of the world right now and all the crises that we are facing. But that's the core system. Of common sense is basically to rely on things where people are up to basically get committed way further than any other purchasing processes. So that's not really too problematic.

Speaker 2:

But back to your point very interesting thing is that the biggest trigger for a good campaign of the nation is basically the quality of the customer journey on the platforms. Basically the quality of the customer journey on the platforms, and I'm going to give you a bunch of examples. But we went through and we work with a lot of major sporting events, including the Olympics, the World Cup of Rugby, and when there's too much pressure on the momentum of buying tickets and when people are just running around trying to find the right ticket at the right price and being scared of losing the opportunity to get that ticket. That's pretty bad for the donation things like any other upselling options that you can have in the basket. So that's probably the most important things when you want to optimize the transactional process and the donation in the end.

Speaker 1:

So I guess you touched on a couple of things there. When it comes to donations, if you have a high-intensity game coming up right, that might not create that many donations. But if you have more time you're excited about going to the game or the concert, then you might have time. Do you have some examples of some donations that's gone wrong and also some examples of donations that's gone very successful?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, definitely. You know this is the kind of activity you run. You've got to be ready to undertake any project with up and downs Giving you. A really good example that we have is the World Cup of Rugby that happened last year in France. Massive success off and on the pitch for everybody.

Speaker 2:

We were able, first and foremost, to tackle the opportunity on the ticketing channel primary and secondary platforms but that's something I have not mentioned so far. But we also make sure that the donation opportunity is going to happen in any situation where the fans and the customer will be at some point facing. So we also have channels on-site into the venues with QR code, anything that's going to be promited on the Jamba screen, but also on the regular social media and digital channels. And that was the combination of those three different verticals that gave us the opportunity to raise a lot of money like something that's never been done before in the World Cups. There were more than six figures of results and the great thing is that we were able to collect that money with the right balance between every vertical. That means that the ticketing, the on-site experience and the digital experience brought more or less about 30-35% of the total amount of the donations we are running.

Speaker 2:

Giving you another example which is probably very close to your current clients' environment is that we are running a new operation with one of the most famous rugby clubs in France, la Véron-Bayonne. They actually offer and suggest the donation options during the season ticket campaign renewal which is taking place. So that's the place. There's no tickets available all over the years more than 10,000. It's easy to get older, over 15,000 in the stadium capacity, and while they actually renew on the phone with everyone, we are tackling this opportunity too by doing so. So it's not always only about a sort of a momentum on the digital aspect, but it's also much more about the customer relationship that you basically run every day.

Speaker 1:

Oh, it's super interesting and thank you so much for sharing your insights. Julian, we like traditions on this podcast and there's no secret to that at all and that is to ask our guests about their match day rituals. I mean, you're a successful businessman, julian, right? You found this niche if you can call it a niche right in what you're doing. How do you create success every day and what's your everyday ritual?

Speaker 2:

to frame it a little bit differently this time that's something quite simple, but that's the most important thing is to step into your client's shoes. If you are, in my experience, I'm supposed to do very well with the customer journey and experience, so when I have a client I do the same. And guess what? It's not even a key for success. I'll say it's just like the primary step of any potential success in the end. So let's say that that will be my ritual as a professional every day.

Speaker 1:

So you're going out of bed and stepping into the customer's shoes. That's a good start, for sure. Yes, it is so. Second tradition is to sum up the key takeaways. Right Donations. I'm sure that's a discussion on every ticketing office around the world, but what would be your key takeaways? If you can give us two or three key takeaways from today's conversation, what would those be?

Speaker 2:

Well, first one will be, again, very simple is that let's do it because it's not costly, it's simple, it's a great opportunity to be able to be part of the international labor to help others, and that's something that's even more getting important right now in this world. Second is that this is a great way to connect with your final audiences differently. Instead of promoting always the same thing, which is is the next goal, which is the next gear that you should be wearing up, or whatever, let's think about other ways to get your fans to engage. And third point is definitely the ability of addressing the matter not specifically on the ticketing channels, but much more on different parts of the customer journeys, on a match day basis on site, when you can capture the clients on a very different perspective than online. That's quite versatile and that's the combination that gets you the chance to be successful.

Speaker 1:

Great. So thank you so much, julien. It's been a privilege to have you as our guest, thank you, thank you very much. If any of our listeners wants to get started or contact you for advice, how could they reach out?

Speaker 2:

They can hit me up anywhere online for LinkedIn, my personal account or the commonsensecom is also a great way to reach out to us. We will be very keen on giving to explain our little impact that we drive every day over this nice industry.

Speaker 1:

Sounds great. Thank you so much, julien. Thank you very much, karl-erik. You've been listening to ticketingpodcastcom, where today's guest has been Julien Leprand, partner and consultant at Common Sense France. Thank you so much for listening and thank you to our sponsor, t TicketCo, for powering this podcast. My name is Carl-Erik Moberg. Until next time, have a great day and remember to subscribe to us on LinkedIn. Thank you so much. Bye-bye, thank you.

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