Sydney, Australia — Supanova Comic Con & Gaming is expanding its partnership with Leap Event Technology to connect ticketing, marketing, audience data, its event app and on-site operations, supporting audience engagement and new growth opportunities across its events.
The expanded partnership has delivered a 50x return on ad spend (ROAS) and a 32% year-on-year increase in revenue, according to Supanova.
By bringing its marketing and event technology services together, the Australian pop culture event organiser aims to improve how it reaches fans, converts interest into ticket sales and manages the event experience.
Combining Leap’s ticketing and marketing services with Supanova’s first-party audience data and technology, the partnership integrates event apps and on-site capabilities to streamline the customer journey from initial awareness to ticket purchases and attendance.
Supanova’s marketing strategy uses Audience Republic to analyse ticket-buying behaviour, identify high-value customers and segment audiences based on their interests and spending. This allows the team to tailor communications to different groups, including repeat customers and VIP ticket holders.
The approach is supported by email marketing, SMS, social media, paid advertising, and traditional and digital out-of-home campaigns. Leap’s marketing services team manages paid campaigns across Google, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn, with targeting tailored to specific actors, franchises and audience interests.
Supanova also uses a staged approach to announcing celebrity guests, building anticipation before tickets go on sale and releasing further names as they are confirmed. Around 70% of its ticket sales take place in the final week before an event, making timely announcements and audience engagement important to conversion.
Expanding its use of SMS marketing and event video content on YouTube and TikTok, the organiser is leveraging convention-generated content to engage fans across multiple touchpoints.
“If all we did was market to our existing audience, we’d probably sell about 75% of the shows because we’ve just built such a powerful and extensive database and our audience is very passionate and engaged. We recently sent an EDM and achieved a massive 70% open rate,” said Stephen Stavroulakis, General Manager at Supanova.
Expanding its relationship beyond ticketing, Supanova evaluated alternative technology and commercial partners—including US-based Tixr—before transitioning from Moshtix to Ticketbooth, which has since rebranded as Leap Event Technology.
“We aim to have a strong group of guests confirmed before tickets go on sale, then continue releasing guests in waves as they lock in,” Stavroulakis said. “We’ve trained our audience to expect multiple releases of guests. We start with a couple of good ones, move to some bigger ones and then, by the end, go to our big ‘whammo’ to get people across the line.”
Supanova selected Leap in part because it could provide local operational support, including ticket-scanning and point-of-sale staff. The partnership also addressed the fees charged on tokens used by fans to purchase celebrity autographs and photographs, with Leap treating token sales like ticket sales.
As the relationship developed, Supanova brought ticketing, marketing services, its event app and other technology requirements into a multi-year agreement. The app has helped grow its SMS database and improve the experience for attendees.
“We had incredible video assets we weren’t leveraging fully. Now we’ve started taking video content, cutting it up and promoting it on YouTube and TikTok, generating huge engagement with about a 10-to-1 return. Between text marketing, TikTok, YouTube and our EDMs, our outreach is significantly turbocharged delivering powerful growth,” Stavroulakis reported.
Beyond consumer ticket sales, Supanova is also developing its business-to-business offering through Level Up, an event connecting students and educators with businesses, universities, technical and further education (TAFE) institutions, and technology organisations. The programme has expanded from Brisbane to include Adelaide and Sydney, with Perth and Melbourne planned for the following year.
This expansion is creating new opportunities for corporate partnerships and sponsorships. Supanova is using LinkedIn advertising, email outreach and LinkedIn Sales Navigator, supported by Leap, to strengthen its business-to-business marketing.
The companies are also exploring Leap Conventions, an event management tool designed for fandom conventions. The platform can help manage guests, artists, staff, volunteers, vendors and exhibitors, while connecting event operations with mobile apps and websites.
As Supanova approaches its 25th anniversary, the expanded partnership reflects a broader role for event technology: connecting marketing, ticketing, audience insights and on-site operations to support future growth.
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