We know the nostalgia factor is strong for parts of our formative years that have been lost to time, technology, capitalism, etc.

I hold an unpopular opinion that most people don’t really miss Blockbuster.
More times than not, it was a standalone trip to the store that ended in a stalemate (or worse) with your siblings, parents, or partner over what movie to collectively and definitively commit to for the evening. I maintain that endlessly scrolling Netflix, only to give up and go to bed (or at least watch The Office for the 99th time) gives the same frustration that the video rental store used to.

So what do we actually miss?

The THING. (Kurt Russell optional)
It was the physical thing that our grubby little mammal paws could hold onto that was ours.

The box, the art, the cassette, the disk, etc. It was all a tactile experience; from putting that movie into the VCR, the CD into your car stereo in the Best Buy parking lot, or coming home from that sweaty concert and taping the ticket stub up on your wall because it was all you had and you couldn’t afford a shirt…

No one misses calling the grocery store at 8am asking for the Fastixx desk to buy concert tickets. Thankfully, the days of forgetting your physical tickets at home and having to restart the MapQuest journey to the venue are over.

We miss that little piece of analogue evidence that documented all the details of a live experience, which allowed us to escape from the real world for a while. When all else failed, we ALWAYS came home with our ticket stub.

There is still value in that.

So what do you do? Keep them FREE.
Sounds insane right? While the larger commemorative tickets are appropriate as cost-effective merch items, the smaller classic-size tickets are your ticket to elevate your event. Put them directly in your attendee’s hands and unlock a core memory.

In the days where everything is a subscription, micro-transaction, add-on, upcharge, upgrade, service fee, or tax… bring physical tickets back to the people.

They will keep them.
They will show them off.
They will remember you.
And they will return.