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Thu, January 22, 2009
I don’t know about you – but I’m excited for 2009. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been speaking with the best and brightest marketers in the industry (see below) and I have the feeling that most folks are actually more optimistic that one would think for 2009.
Sure, the economy sucks – so what? There is nothing you or I can do to change that and if we spend time trying to deny it, fix it or toss and turn in our sleep about it (ok, a few times), then next year is going to suck too.
There is a one major reason I see to be optimistic for what 2009 will bring – that is, there is a new sense of urgency that will bring action to key issues in our industry.
You know that big elephant in the room (we all have one) – that big marketing issue that you’ve been meaning to address. Whether it’s concern over broker commissions, issues with retaining your subscribers, frustration packaging shows with add-ons, this is the year you can address and overcome major issues you’ve had in the past. This isn’t meant to be an emotional pep-talk – without question, the market conditions over the next year will create a new tone from many players in the live event industry – more flexible vendors, better media rates, more collaboration between companies.
This is the year that removes excuses, delays and reasons to put off big problems for later – with hardship comes a new found focus, a “sense of urgency” for positive change.
We are only three weeks into the New Year and we can already see exciting changes! To start, both Telecharge and Ticketmaster are making exciting new enhancements to their website that will make our customers have a better buying experience. We have already met with new media partners this year who miraculously are saying “yes!” to things they once said “no way!” too. And, oh yeah, we have a new President.
There is no room for naysayers – optimism will be the critical ingredient to innovation in ’09. Don’t just take my word for it – I asked a sampling of super-smart marketing folks in New York and Las Vegas on their reasons to be optimistic in 2009.
Here’s what they told me in no particular order:
“First, with a new president, even one facing ENORMOUS challenges, comes a great sense of hope and optimism. His youth alone will feel like a breath of fresh air, and he is steeped in current social and cultural trends, such as making the country more green and more e-friendly, which will quicken our embrace of modernity. We will also see what is now an inevitable trend towards more online activity, which I feel is good for the arts and theatre, particular the live arts. We already gather communities of people every night who have at least one thing in common--they all want to see that show on that night, so we just need to continue to find ways to keep them captivated. We are gathering them in a live, not virtual setting, but the virtual world can support this, and I feel with change in the air we will continue down the path of connectivity. All of that being said, however, the horizon for now does not look encouraging, but at least we are on the cusp of welcoming new, energized leadership while the rest of us feel drained.”
- Harold Wolpert, Managing Director, Roundabout Theatre Company
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“The reasons to be optimistic are fundamentally because we have no choice - any other way of thinking is only self defeating, un-motivating, and depressing. We honestly don't know what's going to happen, so we need to do our best and beat the shit out of our competition.:)”
- Carol Chiavetta, Vice-President of Marketing and Press, Blue Man Group Productions
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“Some good news? Gloom and doom stories seem to be the only thing interesting the press right now. But the fact remains: we are going to see a Broadway season unlike any other in recent years. Major stars doing plays in limited engagements. Yes, the economy may be in trouble and no one knows just how all of this will play out. But for now, let's focus on what is good: Major names coming to Broadway to star in smart, sophisticated, tough, timely, interesting, though-provoking PLAYS. That gives me hope.”
- Chris Boneau, Partner, Boneau Bryan-Brown
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“With the on-going negative chatter about our economic climate and the live entertainment marketplace I have every reason to be optimistic in 2009 as our team will tackle the challenges head-on and utilize new technology from social media, mobile marketing and web opportunities to conquer new frontiers to increase visibility and enhance value.”
- Jordan Fiksenbaum, Vice-President of Marketing and Public Relations, Cirque du Soleil, RSD
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"My thoughts -
• Labor gains for all - we have smarter deals with the unions that benefit all, and will really help the web and broadcast, hopefully keeping every show running longer.
• Competitive pricing of vendors - some partners are getting the message that prices must re-adjust - seeing some flexibility in print as well as outdoor buys. Radio also showing a willingness to get in the boat with us and help row.
• Quality sells - a quality show is still a quality show. This fall, in the midst of the supposed economic Armageddon, we saw Boeing-Boeing, The Seagull and In The Heights pay back, and Billy and Shrek launch to strong advances(really strong actually) and sell large quantities of tickets.
• Variable pricing - direct mail is working again. I know there are some in the industry who struggle with discounting. But what has happened over the last 5 years is variable ticket pricing, and a market correction of sorts. Any show now has a $25 student ticket, a $40 TKTS ticket for rear mezzanine, a $59/$65 ticket for previews on direct mail, an $80 full price balcony seat, a $110 to $125 orchestra prime seat, and a $250 premium seat. And we need consumers to know that there is a price for them, as well as reward (no need for waiting in line, preplanning) that matches that price. Sometimes I think our toughest problem currently is we are delivering almost the same value at $75 as we do at $125. Madison Square Garden does not have this problem. But it's an asset for consumers.
which leads me to...
“Broadway is a value - we cannot continue to set ourself up as a luxury good. Consumers are willing to spend dollars on experiences that they consider part of a life well lived, even if that price is substantial. Think skiing, or wine, even fine kitchen and entertainment systems and how the perception of those products has changed to the average household over the last 20 years. Conversely, if you think of what we do as an elite splurge, we are in danger of being seen as an "irresponsible purchase" as one client put it, particularly in tough times like these. We must remind people that we are a unifying experience, arts are good for education, and are enriching for all. Theater is a habit that holds generations together, not to mention killer first dates and grand anniversaries.”
- Drew Hodges, President, SpotCo
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“2009 is going to be a fantastic year on Broadway for the theatre consumer, or I should say, the theatre lover. Now that the theater industry is no longer in denial about the global economic recession, we can deal openly with the fact that there are alot of affordable tickets in the market place, and there will be availability at previously sold-out shows.
Looking ahead there are more than twenty new productions scheduled to open from now until the beginning of May on Broadway.
With the diversity of productions, combined with a remarkable number of Hollywood stars on stage this Spring, I believe that we should be able to revive a theatre-going habit among former avids who may have given up on Broadway, and bring in audiences that rarely go, if ever, to see a show.
It’s a great time for the industry to jointly promote. The editorial story of dozens of big stars coming to the stage will reach media that wouldn’t usually consider covering Broadway.
Affordable tickets may encourage people to see more than one show. The explosion of mechanisms to reach audiences online and by texting means that we can more effectively target offers and promotions. With so much production activity, we will learn even more this year about how we can become even more efficient in communicating directly with potential audiences.
The volume of production will also help the ailing old media by providing a steady stream of news which will justify their fight for editorial space. It is also a great time for publicists to engage traditional press who have stopped covering Broadway and new media who don’t usually cover theatre -- we should be able to make Broadway national news again this Spring.
The fact that all the Broadway houses will be occupied or accounted for over the next few months is a great sign. I think the economy will ultimately cause the creation of stronger shows which will eventually bring in larger audiences."
- Adrian Bryan-Brown, Partner, Boneau Bryan-Brown
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"I'm actually as optimistic as I've ever been about the prospects for the future, albeit after a period of real challenge. Here's why:
1. Start with the plays and musicals coming in this spring... Beckett, Ionesco, Noel Coward, Yasmin Reza, West Side Story, Guys and Dolls; look at the actors -- Geoffrey Rush, Jeremy Irons, Susan Sarandon, Jane Fonda, James Gandolfini (just some of the "names" among a pantheon of really great talents... to me this is the most telling indicator of the astonishing vibrance and resilience of our business, and of the Producers tenacity, respect for the art form, and respect for the brains and taste of the American theatre-goer. I'm in awe of and in gratitude to who bring these gifts to the public. And that makes me optimistic.
2. I think we're on the cusp of developing a true distribution mechanism for theatre via an extensive partner network of loyalty programs that crave what we have to offer.
3. Other entertainment is struggling, as we are, to evolve their economic model when content is so widely disseminated and hard to monetize. Music? The News (yes... News is entertainment)? Movies? Live theatre, however, is hand-crafted, uniquely made each performance and therefore we can't get digitized, atomized, and reconstituted-- you actually have to BE THERE (in caps) in order to get it, and we're just starting to understand how to commercialize that wonderful fact.
4. We're learning how to communicate with our customers to tie in their preferences and likes and dislikes with what we offer them in our marketing. How powerful will that be, and it’s not far off.”
- Charles Flateman, VP of Marketing, The Shubert Organization
Tue, January 20, 2009
When Facebook drew up its original business plan, do you think it factored in ‘customer-service’ as an expense that had to increase in time? Their number of subscribers grow by thousands daily – do you think behind the scenes they have a customer-service group that is growing proportionally to subscriber growth? I highly doubt it. As more and more people use Facebook as their hub for social networking, the more responsibility they are going to have to offer real customer service that lives up to consumer expectations. They disable pages all of the time for reasons unknown to the owner and then, to top it off, they don’t have clear directions for customer support to address their issue with your page. It’s a common problem (one that we have seen plenty of times) and I think they really need to figure out a way to address their online support. If they don’t, more and more of the stories that I have included in the link below will continue to pop-up. What could be worse for a social network brand than having your customers worried if their primary social network account could be disabled at any time without warning?
Here’s an interesting story of someone who just went through this with Facebook.
Tue, January 20, 2009
Imagine suing customers who give your show bad reviews? Well, there are companies doing just that as I type. Wow! According to the story that profiled the review website Yelp, “In the last two years, at least five lawsuits--and possibly more--have been filed against Yelp reviewers. In California alone, in addition to the chiropractor's case, two dentists have sued reviewers and a spa owner sued an ex-employee. A fifth case was filed, but does not appear to have ever gone forward. Yelp is not notified about all cases, and lawsuits brought in state courts are not always in legal databases, so it's difficult to determine whether other cases have been filed.”
What I'm most interested in seeing with these cases is how Yelp or the other websites that allow reviews could be effected. Consumers rely on what other consumers have to say and that trend is only on the rise online. It's something to keep an eye on although I think the law suits mentioned in the following story are just ridiculous.
Click here to read the article.
Sat, October 20, 2007
Imagine the top ranked listing in Google for someone searching for your show is a direct pan from a critic or consumer blog. Imagine it’s a Michael Riedel rant that your show could be in big trouble. Don’t think that has an effect on ticket sales? Think again. The web is all about content. People can access pretty much whatever information they want at a few key strokes into a search engine. Go ahead and search for your production in Google. Throw the word ‘reviews’ after it – see what comes up. You see, on the web, reviews don’t just come and go – they stay out there indefinitely. That's why I think the importance of public relations as part of your overall marketing strategy should only continue to increase. It's not just reviews - it's blogs, featured stories (good and bad), etc. They all live beyond their shelf life on a magazine rack. I believe the Broadway press offices that we've worked with (BBB, BH) have done an amazing job keeping pace with the changing landscape thus far.
Aside from the critics – then there are consumer reviews. I don’t know about you, but I read reviews and ratings from consumers before I see a show, book a hotel or buy something on Amazon.com. The power of the keystroke is becoming increasingly powerful from all forms of contributors and we all just need to be aware that it’s incredibly hard to contain and exploit effectively. Here is another interesting article shedding some light on the topic. According to the story, "62 percent of consumers read consumer-written product reviews on the Internet, and of these, more than eight in 10 say their purchase decisions have been directly influenced by the reviews, either influencing them to buy a different product than the one they had originally been thinking about purchasing, or confirming the original purchase intention."
It really is a very tough issue to address and one that we all must closely monitor.
Read more about consumer reviews here.
Tue, July 11, 2006
A new study was released that attempts to calculate the rate at which the number of people who read news stories on the web decays with time, and have found that most news becomes dated and unread after approximately a day and a half. The study shows that the structure of a typical news site is similar to that of a biological cell, with a "skeleton" that stays stable while temporary "nodes" (stories) come and go.
Click here to read more.
Thu, May 25, 2006
Publicity is one of the key drivers to Broadway ticket sales. Good press could equate to big sales. Bad press could be devastating.
Elements from your overall publicity live in Google, get spread through blogs, run on syndication networks and are ultimately read by millions. They are talked about on message boards, chat rooms and make their way into every day ‘word-of-mouth’.
With all of these opportunities and threats for public relations that have been enhanced by the Internet, we decided to check with some of the industry experts to get their take on the market.
We sat down with Chris Boneau of Boneau Bryan Brown public relations to get his thoughts on a few topics.
Click here to read the interview.
Thu, May 25, 2006
Here is a story
published in 1996 relating to online journalism ethics. This is
over ten years old and it amazingly addresses many of the most
basic principles in journalism being questioned today.
The following is an excerpt from the article:
"Following those deeper and broader definitions of our
principles can certainly improve journalism as we know it today. And
it's obvious that in the unlimited newshole of new media, we can
practice those values like never before.
So it's tempting to say we'll just transfer the values into cyberspace, and get on with it.
But it may be early to say that: online media can take us
and our readers to places journalism hasn't been before. And in those
places, our values may be obstacles or antiques."
What a prediction!
We sat down with Michael Hartman of Barlow Hartman Public Relations to get his take on the current state of Broadway publicity.
Click here to read more.
Wed, May 24, 2006
Publicity is one of the true market drivers for Broadway sales.
Variety and The New York Times have been two primary resources for covering both the art and business of Broadway. To the Broadway community, their coverage has an incredible impact on our business for better or worse. Furthermore, it’s clear that the Internet has changed the playing field and we believe further increased the importance of their role in the survival of a Broadway show.
First, their coverage no longer just hits their print readers. Stories in both of the journals now hit online and spread virally to readers across the globe. Second, their coverage is no longer a one shot deal. The stories are archived and available at any time.
We were fortunate enough to chat with Gordon Cox of Variety to discuss his take on reporting in the digital age.
Click here to read the complete interview.
Fri, April 21, 2006
We recently sat down with Paul Wontorek, Editor-in-Chief of Broadway.com, to discuss the topic of how the Internet has changed how arts and theater news is delivered to the general public. Overseeing the creation and delivery of content that reaches millions of prospects on Broadway.com each year, we felt he would have some interesting insight to share with our readers.
Click here to read the interview.
Fri, April 07, 2006
All the rage has surrounded CGM (consumer generated media or sometimes referred to as user generated media).
Unlike paid media, CGM is created by consumers. Some simple examples of CGM include blog entries, message board posts, forum comments, personal Web sites, and personal e-mail.
This concept has begun to expand over the last few years and now it's top of mind for Madison Avenue.
Most recently, Chevrolet took CGM to the next level and introduced a Web site allowing visitors to take existing video clips and music, insert their own words and create a customized 30-second commercial for the 2007 Chevy Tahoe.
Cool concept, right? NO!
It's turned into a public relations nightmare as these commercials are now being sent around online with tag lines like:
"Our planet's oil is almost gone. You don't need G.P.S. to see where this road leads."
"Like this snowy wilderness? Better get your fill of it now. Then say hello to global warming."
Who in their right mind at Chevrolet thought it would be a good idea to let consumers freely make and distribute their own TV commercial for their new SUV in today's social/political climate?
The marketing community is mixed on the overall results. Some see the campaign as a success and others do not (including myself).
You decide.
Click here to see a sample commercial we put together to show you how the campaign works.
Click here to read more from the story in the New York Times.
Thu, February 09, 2006
According to a recent story in the Hollywood Reporter, over 90% of 18-35 year olds go online to receive information about movies.
If you were to conduct this same research for the theatre industry, we don't think you would get the same astronomical percentage - but you would find that a very large percentage of theater goers did research reviews online before purchasing ticket to a Broadway show.
That means that every review posted about your show potentially has a shelf life of - well, indefinitely.
Think about it, ten years ago, if you had missed a show review in The New York Times, how would you have ever actually read it. You wouldn't have! Right?
Is it possible that ten years ago when you ran a big quote ad in The New York Times piecing together compelling quotes from a critic that they had more weight from an advertising standpoint simply because there was no way for a consumer to validate the claim?
Think about how easy it is today to find out if a show received critical praise or not. And if you expect someone to spend $110 on a ticket, you can be sure as consumers become more web savvy they will be turning to the Internet to better research their purchasing decisions.
Just Google your show name and the word "broadway reviews" and you will see.
Click here to read the story from The Hollywood Reporter.
Thu, December 22, 2005
Reuters is now expanding it's reach online. They are now allowing websites, blogs and news organizations to stream Reuters video footage on their websites.
So, a feature on Reuters.com means a lot more coverage online and, more importantly, means your story could benefit from a viral effect.
Will they cover Broadway-related stories? This we will have to wait and see.
We think this is a format that many other news organizations will follow. We are keeping a close eye on this.
Click here to read more.
Fri, October 21, 2005
Attention PR folks.
A few weeks back, we presented an article called "Who's Blogging About Your Production." Well, if Yahoo has it's way, this may become an even more important topic to discuss.
In an effort to give their users access to "grassroots journalism", they are now including blog posts in their search listings.
Potentially, if someone went to see your production and posted a good or bad review of your show on their blog, this review could now become easily accessible to the general public and those actively seeking information about your production.
This is a very interesting (although not unexpected) move by Yahoo. It's something we will continue to keep a close eye on.
Click here to read more.
Mon, October 17, 2005
OK, so this topic may be a bit boring so beware. But, for those interested, it's actually a rapidly growing marketing technology. It's called RSS feeds.
What is it?
In a nutshell, RSS feeds allow you to subscribe to websites or news sources and be notified immediately whenever new content for your subscriptions is available.
So, if you are on your blackberry or on your Yahoo start page you can create what's called an RSS feed to make sure you can always receive the newest updates immediately when they are posted.
There really is a lot more that RSS feeds provide. I was just aiming to give you a basic overview. Click here for a more detailed explanation. It's great material to put you to sleep.
The reason I'm even bringing this to your attention, is that in the marketing and advertising industries you will begin to hear a lot about RSS feeds. I've heard over the past few months how it's the next "big thing" (even though it's been around for a while).
Well, according to a new study, I think much of the exposure is simply hype.
A new study found that only 12% of all users were aware of RSS, and just 4% had knowingly used the technology for reading feeds from blogs, news sources and other regularly updated content sources on the web.
I repeat... just 4%.
So, while the technology really does make sense, for the short term - don't believe the hype.
Click here to read the complete story.
Tue, October 04, 2005
Simply stated, according to a new research study, the answer is public relations.
While it may not be 'fair' to compare advertising and public relations, it does look at the fundamental question of how you generate buzz around your production.
Is it more cost-effective (or simply effective) to do it through advertising or through a press release? In this study, they tested an online advertising campaign against a press release and found the bottom line in generating traffic with PR was 21.4 to 56.3 percent cheaper than online advertising.
Score one for Broadway's publicity groups.
Click here to read the complete story.
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