From Tickets to Takeover
The BookMyShow case study...
A case study in making boredom extinct (and charging a convenience fee for it)
Let’s rewind to 2007.
You wanted movie tickets? You had 3 options:
Call a shady friend who “knew a guy.”
Stand in line like a common mortal.
Give up and watch CID at home.
Enter BookMyShow.
They looked at the chaos and said, “Let’s make booking a ticket less painful than the movie itself.”
THE BIG IDEA: Don’t Sell Tickets. Sell Time, Convenience & FOMO. 🎟️
BookMyShow didn’t just sell you a seat; they sold you a way out of:
Arguing with your friends on who’s going to stand in line.
Heartbreak when your SRK film is “housefull.”
Boredom on a Friday night.
They turned ticketing into a vibe.
MARKETING MAGIC — HOW THEY DID IT:
1. The UX That Slaps
BMS understood something Bollywood often doesn’t: keep it simple.
The app wasn’t overdesigned. It was basically a Tinder for events — swipe, select, pay, popcorn.
2. The “Convenience Fee” That No One Fights
Let’s talk about the ₹23 fee.
It’s the only tax Gen Z happily pays.
Why?
Because it buys you:
2 minutes of peace.
No uncle breathing down your neck at the counter.
Prime seat smack in the middle row.
Lesson? If you charge a fee, make it feel premium.
(Also, don’t call it “processing” — call it a “Convenience Tax for Legends.”)
3. Partnerships That Packed a Punch
BookMyShow started dating brands faster than a Love Island contestant.
Axis Bank = BOGO offers
Netflix & Hotstar = event collabs
Ed Sheeran Tour? BookMyShow Exclusive, baby.
They became the official plug for anything cool.
4. FOMO Engineering 101
No seats left? "Uh-oh. 9 people are looking at this show."
Translation: You better book, or cry later.
They turned scarcity into speed — and made your brain hit Buy Now before you could even blink.
5. Content That Didn’t Suck
Their Insta isn’t just “here’s a show, buy tickets.”
They meme’d, joked, and even ran polls that made people forget they were being sold to.
They knew the secret sauce:
Be the friend who recommends the best plan, not the app that shouts SALE.
Revenue Masterclass: Not Just Movies
Concerts ✔
Sports ✔
Comedy shows ✔
IPL ✔
Even RJs doing poetry in a café in Andheri ✔
Basically, if 3 or more people are clapping in a room, BookMyShow probably has a ticket for it.
The Takeaway for Marketers:
BookMyShow didn’t just digitize ticketing.
They romanticized it.
They built a brand not on product features — but on solving a Friday-night problem you didn’t know you had.
Quick Update: News & Numbers
BookMyShow smashed its FY24 targets—revenue leaped ~43% to ₹1,397 cr and net profit jumped ~28% to ₹108 cr, with online ticketing driving results while live shows still bleed cash . On the buzz side, the Coldplay ticket frenzy this September crashed their platform and triggered a police probe into scalping, though BMS insists it’s on fans’ side, cooperating with authorities and pushing fair-play messaging .
YOUR ALMANAC LESSON:
📌 If your product makes life 2% better — don’t whisper it. Meme it, hype it, FOMO it, and slap a convenience fee on top.
Sounds cool , isn’t it?
