MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Ticket2Me, the Philippines’ first fully digital ticketing and video platform for online and offline events, officially announced the appointment of Enrique Gil as its new Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and investor as the company marked its fifth anniversary and highlighted its remarkable achievements for the past years.
Enrique and his manager, Ranvel Rufino, a former private banker, entrepreneur, and producer, will invest and acquire equity in Ticket2Me’s parent company in Singapore and assume executive roles within the organization. Following the investment, both Enrique and Ranvel will receive proportionate equity in the company, with Ranvel taking a seat on the company’s Board of Directors and Enrique becoming Ticket2Me’s new CMO.
With his status as one of the Philippines’ A-list celebrities, Enrique aims to empower artists, creators, and performers in the entertainment industry by bringing them closer to their fans through Ticket2Me’s direct and convenient platform. “Not a lot of people know that I’ve actually been very strategic about my investments, even during the time when I was very active in the entertainment industry. For me, joining Ticket2Me is one way I can give back to Filipino fans – by connecting them directly with the artists and celebrities they love but also to help my fellow artists, performers, and producers so that they have a more efficient and a more powerful way of ticketing and monetizing their events,” Enrique said.
“Enrique’s popularity and loyal fanbase is certainly a powerful addition to the Ticket2Me brand,” shared Ticket2Me Chief Executive Officer Julie Bautista. “Being a smart investor himself, he understands the power of giving artists, creators and performers greater control over the economic model behind their shows and performances. We believe that artists should be in control of their event ticketing, not the venues.”
According to Julie, Enrique’s addition to Ticket2Me’s management team cements its position as the leading independent event ticketing company in the country. “We have been continuously investing to improve Ticket2Me’s technology, and we want more fans to experience better, more convenient event ticketing that won’t require them to have to physically line up to redeem tickets from physical outlets or force them to choose from among very limited payment options,” she added.
As Ticket2Me marks its fifth anniversary this year, the company celebrates not only its partnership with Enrique and Ranvel, but also its tremendous growth over the years. While other ticketing platforms collapsed or ceased their operations during the pandemic, Ticket2Me in 2020 flexibly repurposed itself to raise around PHP 20M for healthcare, film and theater workers, and other charities as well, demonstrating the resilience and strength of its technology and, more importantly, Ticket2Me’s values and corporate responsibility.
In 2018, Ticket2Me exceeded the PHP 5M sales mark just six months after the platform went live and has now surpassed the PHP 100M barrier, achieving PHP 145M topline sales as of July 2023. To date, Ticket2Me has issued over 680,000 tickets to more than 150,000 users and has worked with over 450 organizers and producers.
During the pandemic, Ticket2Me innovated its platform by launching its streaming services, enabling producers and organizers to migrate their events, workshops, and shows to the digital space and continue to monetize them. Simultaneously, Ticket2Me also produced the hit limited series titled “Boys Lockdown” which allowed customers to experience viewing fresh content at home without monthly subscriptions.
Ticket2Me will soon release the most powerful version of its platform, the product of a two-year conversation, engagement, and continuous evaluation with and by its customers. Ticket2Me’s latest iteration will not only serve the needs of organizers and ticket buyers in the country, but will also equip the company for global expansion.
This year, Ticket2Me is also set to open its Series A Funding Round for a small number of qualified investors to help in the implementation of the company’s expansion plans, and the company is looking for and evaluating like-minded partners who share the company’s vision of empowering content creators and event producers both locally and internationally.
Led by Gil and Ranvel, Ticket2Me will launch also two new major projects that aim to strengthen the company’s position in the sports and music market segments: “Manila Madness,” an All-Celebrity Basketball League, and “Madness Manila,” which caters to Electronic Dance Music (EDM) enthusiasts.
“Manila Madness” will assemble many of Gil’s and Rufino’s artist and celebrity friends in a fun and entertaining basketball tournament that fans will enjoy watching. Through “Madness Manila,” Enrique wants to share his love for EDM and live events with fans and hopes to bring back the EDM scene in the country. These events will be among the first of a series of projects that Enrique will head as Ticket2Me’s new Chief Marketing Officer.
