This month, performance marketing agency, Mustard Media is celebrating a decade of success with a remarkable record-breaking company milestone: selling over 4.2 million tickets and generating over £229 million in revenue for clients across the globe over the past three years, a true comeback from near closure during COVID-19. A leading force in driving ticket sales for renowned large-scale music, hospitality, and sporting events and venues across the UK and internationally, clients include entertainment giants Live Nation, Superstruct, Reading & Leeds Festivals, Kendal Calling, and Take That’s Greatest Weekend. From small club nights in Manchester in the company’s early days, Mustard Media has become a global powerhouse in event marketing and revolutionised how festivals and venues promote events and connect with audiences.
The Driving Force Behind Remarkable Growth of Some of Europe’s Biggest Live Events
Over the past three years, Mustard Media has driven remarkable growth in ticket revenue for its clients. In 2021-2022, the company sold 620,000 tickets, generating £35m in revenue for its clients. This figure more than doubled the following year, with 1.6m tickets sold and £86m in revenue for 2022-2023. Altogether, Mustard Media has delivered an impressive 4.2m tickets sold and £229m in revenue for its clients since the pandemic.
Amid the huge numbers of beloved UK festivals being cancelled and postponed at an alarming rate, including over 60 festivals closing this year alone (AIF 2024), the continued growth within Mustard Media’s Portfolio signals optimism for the future of live events. Their impressive recent client list includes Camp Bestival, Wireless Festival, Liam Gallagher & Friends – Malta Weekender, Hideout Festival, Visit Liverpool, Aston Villa FC, Team GB, Belladrum Festival, elrow, Afro Nation, We Are FSTVL, Sziget Festival, JBM, Bongos Bingo, Concerts by Candlelight and Diecast.
“Tapping into the Mustard team’s knowledge from across the event industry has been invaluable to know what we could do differently – challenging us where to improve, helping us to achieve a 257% YoY uplift in sales. The collaborative strategy sessions were especially useful in bringing out the creativity in our team. We came away with a tonne of innovative ideas and tangible tools to make them happen!” – Michael Fensom, Marketing Director, Ibiza Rocks.
Rob Masterson and Ed Norris founded the now 15-person-strong agency. Managing Director and Co-Founder, Masterson oversees daily operations, ensuring profitability, team management, innovation, and the evolution of the business. Commercial Director and Co-Founder, Norris, leads the sales and marketing divisions, utilising his extensive music and events industry network. A recent partner and addition to the leadership team is Strategy Director, Sian Bennett. Her role is to drive the brand’s direction while focusing on developing innovative strategies, technologies, thought leadership, and inspiring outstanding client results.
Mustard Media’s journey hasn’t been without challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic hit the live events industry hard and Mustard Media, dependent on its clients hosting live events, was unable to generate revenue. They were forced to let people go, furlough team members, and take out loans and grants. However, with the few remaining staff, the agency launched initiatives including “Business Keeps on Dancing” webinars and “Event4Covid19”, supporting thousands of event professionals and artists struggling during lockdowns.
“It was a pivotal moment,” says Masterson. “We could have walked away, but we chose to stay and support our team and our industry. That decision defined us. We designed these webinars to inspire hope and give the events industry a guiding light when the only thing available to us was online events. We still have people today who tell us how encouraging it was at the time when it really felt like it was all over. We didn’t know when we would be back in the fields again.”
By 2023, Mustard Media had more than bounced back.
Mustard’s journey began in 2013, with founders Masterson and Norris serving as a pivotal driving force behind the growth of two of the UK’s fastest-growing event brands: The Warehouse Project and Parklife Festival. By spearheading marketing campaigns and driving digital innovations, they helped expand the events from 2,000- to 10,000-capacity shows and from 20,000 to 80,000 attendees, respectively.
During that time, they also helped launch the hugely successful Hideout Festival in Croatia, their series of sell-out shows, Drop The Mustard, and co-founded new international festivals, including Annie Mac Presents: Lost & Found in Malta.
Their phone blew up with promoters wanting to discover their secrets to supercharging ticket sales, and they soon realised that a marketing agency combining innovative marketing campaigns with a ‘promoter’s mindset’, designed specifically for festivals and events, did not exist. Masterson and Norris sympathised with event owners who were under-resourced in their marketing departments and lacked access to insights into sell-out campaigns, and Mustard Media was born. “We created the marketing agency we wished we’d had for our own events.” Explains Masterson.
“Agencies have a habit of selling big fluffy metrics & KPIs but if it doesn’t sell tickets or get feet through the door, you can waste a lot of money and time incredibly quickly.” Norris expands. “We understand the urgency and high stakes of event marketing, and that drives everything we do.”
Since then, Mustard has continued to innovate and develop unique ways to sell more tickets. They took inspiration from the world’s best digital product creators to devise bespoke marketing strategies. For example, taking inspiration from Silicon Valley concepts such as Google’s “Design Sprint”, an intense five-day problem-solving process, enabled Mustard Media to create their signature strategy workshops to help events sell more tickets.
Mustard has built its own ‘ticket buying engines’ including techniques and tech stacks specifically designed for ticket-sale campaigns. This includes new fan and community strategies alongside evolving methods to supercharge data collection and improve conversion rates, advanced technology to analyse creative performance, custom KPI dashboards, and creative swipe file databases.
“The journey of purchasing a ticket is like no other form of commerce. It’s incredibly tribal, and exists in the most delicate balance between community and commercialism.” Bennett explores. “We’re obsessed with the nuances of it. We have all kinds of internal team chats buzzing every day with daily insights and debates from across the world of events and our own sell-out campaigns.”
Their unique approach to sell-out marketing strategies has helped hundreds of events, from major festivals to Women’s Super League football clubs, sell more tickets.
“They are experts in crafting winning cross-channel marketing strategies and implementing them.” – Ben Robinson, From the Fields (bluedot, Kendal Calling, Christmas at Bute Park, Northern Lights).
Reaching Their 10th Anniversary With Huge Success
As they celebrate their 10th anniversary, Mustard Media looks ahead with ambitious plans for the future. Intending to sell over 4m tickets annually and generate even greater revenue for their clients, the agency is expanding into new markets, including sports, travel, and tourism, while continuing to innovate in the world of event marketing.
“Mustard Media played an integral role in delivering the best results we’ve ever experienced since acquiring the festival. Their recent work in our 2024 campaign helped us double YoY ticket sales which they were able to warm up and convert into 22,000 sales in just 36 hours – a festival record!” – Laura Ball, Festival Marketing Director, Forbidden Forest.
“We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished, but we’re not stopping here.” Says Masterson. “We’ve built a strong foundation, and now we’re ready to take things to the next level. With our ambitious targets and new London office, we’re fired up for the year ahead.”
