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Re: RAT USC conference.
One way that this sort of Coney Island approach gets turned from Nick's
(past-lifetime induced?) natural affinity for the scam into a theater
marketing technique is to make sure that there are a number of "add-ons"
or "peripherals" available to give/sell to current audience members in
addition to the actual performances, which, in this age of limited
budgets tend to be much too widely spaced for effective audience
reinforcement.
The important thing is that once you have an audience member's positive
attention, you need to keep them involved with the theater, and
peripheral experiences can help to "keep the hook in". Purists (trans:
those who have independent incomes and prefer to see theater as being
more like art history) should note that this approach isn't cost based.
The idea is to habituate the individual to being involved with the
theater. Many small "pro" theaters of my experience are very, very, very,
very, very, ~, bad at doing this because they have limited staffs, the
staffs are insanely busy, and the staffs may not be naturally social
people. Community theaters are often very, very good at doing this
because they tend to be run by people who understand the social life of
the local community.
Peripherals don't necessarily involve incessant schmoozing:
-- Simple souvenirs that the audience doesn't pay for (or trivial
amounts) but remind them of the production
-- Fun things done before/after the performance (good place for throwing
tokens [see below] into the crowd)
-- "Tokens" that give audience members free or reduced-rate access to
other company events or to other products or services. This is different
than a "discount" in the sense that you can set up a series of
one-performance or one-weekend promotions involving a single
restaurant/store. If audiences come to expect some "mysterious" goody it
can become a part of their reason to come back to the theater. This is
very different than a program-based discount, which targets only those
audience members who are likely to be using that particular product /
service on the same day.
-- Opportunities to sit in on rehearsals
-- Online chat room discussions with director/author
-- Special event post-performance parties involving the cast / director
-- Readings, workshops geared to non-theater people
"Of course." you say. "This is just brand marketing." True. But I think
it has to be fun -- both for the audience and for the people doing it.
Too many nicely conceived promotions go astray because the people
involved say "more business stuff".
Actually, I'd be interested in hearing *really* clever "peripheral"
promotions that RAT theaters have used.
Cheers,
Cat Hebert
> > If you contact someone
> > who attended a show at your theatre within 24 hours of seeing the
> show, your
> > chances of selling them another ticket is 50%. Within 48 hours,
> its 15%,
> > and at 72 hours, it is less than 1%. This may or may not be
> accurate or
> >helpful, but it is a way of looking at things.
>
> And here's another way of looking at things.
>
> In the sideshow the same "10 acts" run continually over and over.
> So
> audience are continually entering and exiting.
>
> Now the audience won't stick around to see the same act again. But
> the
> real point is that once you have the price of admittance, why in the
> world
> would you want them to take up seats you could conceivably sell to
> another
> victim.
>
> So there is this device called the "blow off."
>
> "Ladies and gentleman, we have a special show in the back room.
> Little
> Sally wasn't born like the rest of us…..'cause you see, poor little
> Sally
> was born with two heads.. …it's the truth folks…. now this is a
> separate
> part of show and as such there will be a separate admission…. don't
> worry
> that haven't all 10 acts yet… after you have seen poor little Sally,
> …you
> will be able to return to your seat…. this freak of nature and God
> is not
> to be missed…. we will hold up the regular show so that all who wish
> to see
> poor little Sally can…..just one dollar, folks."
>
> The back room has the fetus of a two-headed pig in a jar of
> formaldehyde.
> After viewing Poor Little Sally, the doors open from this room out
> onto
> the street. Everyone in this Poor Little Sally the pig audience is
> welcome
> to come back to see the rest of sideshow but at least a few of them
> decide
> to "blow off" whatever is still left of the freaky acts. They have
> had
> enough. They have had their full.
>
> So you have not only taken an extra $ from the audience by seducing
> them
> into the "blow off", more importantly, you have gotten their seat
> back to
> resell to some other just as deserving audience.
>
> Long Tall Elvis
> King of the Box Office
>
>
>
>
>
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