Class Handouts
Class Notes May 4, 1998
Broadway University™
PRODUCING COMMERCIAL THEATER
Class Notes Volume No. 1 May 4, 1998 Class No. 11
Notes taken by Amy Baldwin
Thanks Amy!
Our guest tonight is Evan Shapiro of Fourfront, Incorporated, a Marketing Agency. He is currently working on The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk, ART, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Last Nigh of Ballyhoo, Blue Man Group, Freak, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The national tour of Noise/Funk as well as various projects for HBO. Prior to opening Fourfront, Evan was the Director of Marketing for the New York Shakespeare Festival/The Public Theater under George C. Wolfe. While there, he managed the advertising, marketing and branding campaigns for The Public Theater, Shakespeare in the Park and the insititution's two Broadway productions, The Tempest starring Patrick Stewart and Bring in Da Noise/Bring in Da Funk. In addition they also produce the Drama Desk Awards. Evan entered producing from the marketing standpoint. More and more major producers have marketing in house, so the more well-versed you are in all areas, the better off you will be. In all cases, be prepared. One of the last things producers think of is marketing.
Q: How do you get capital? How do you pay it back? A big part is getting the audience. How do you sell tickets for $80?? Coming in to Broadway, producers approach from the accounting side. Take advantage of lower costs by lowering ticket prices. Word of mouth is always the number one reason people will come to see a show. Offer a low price ticket so people can come to see it and tell their friends.
Advice from George Wolfe: Create things that create a context in which you can put your show. Number two: hire a press agent. Help the press resound: use a poster that reflects the content. Have all of the pieces of news and advertisement dovetail so they help each other. Give the person giving word of mouth your sales tools to work with. Posters everwhere is called "wildposting". Exposing the superficial image that is identified with the show is called "branding". Remember the medium into which you are speaking: the size, color, what works for what you can afford. If you have a great show with great reviews, hire a great press agent to make sure you get publicity. Amplify your reviews. If you don't get the reviews, or a big star, it will be an uphill battle to get your money back. Don't put in a huge amount for advance marketing unless you are fairly sure you can run long enough to make it back. Put the money into the 1st two weeks post opening. Full page in the New Yorker costs the same as 1/4 page in the Times.
ABC's Theater directory doesn't' sell tickets-it tells people where and when to find the show. Off-Broadway you are gearing towards a younger, media savvy ticket buyer. Subscribers already know you. To attract attention, stack the title, but only on Sundays. The Broadway Theater Guide is also useful.
Q: Why hire a marketer? A: The reason people hire us is because we do things that they don't expect. We created a contest trailer for Loew's -45 seconds for CHICAGO in the middle of film trailers.
To get advertisers for a small theater, don't ask for money. The advertiser will not get enough back to make it worthwhile. Ask what they want. You have to find out what they need. Clients don't want to pay, but there has to be payback. Plan to spend 10% of your production budget on advertising. For a smaller house, promotions depend on where the theater is located. It can be hard to run on Theater Row. Use the assets that are at your command. Send out 10 people with 10 posters to stores in the neighborhood each week to keep up the buzz. Everybody makes money when there is a theater in the area. Promote a restaurant if they hang a poster. Give them an ad in the program, ticket envelope stuffers, tickets, etc. Develop the support of the neighborhood. Tie in the name of the restaurant in the script. Promotions are also endorsements. If you have a published play, Barnes and Noble will do a promotion, reading, signing, etc. for you. Find out what a company wants and/or find someone who you know or knows someone you know. Get an advocate who will sell the idea for you. Q: How much in advance should you develop these partnerships? A: Give yourself a year if you have the time, especially for major corporations. Find connections, tie in with appropriate organizations. A big star is only as good as the amount of publicity that they will do. If you do have one, advance sales on the name recognition is important in case of mediocre reviews. The results of your campaign show up directly in ticket sales. Young or ethnic audiences buy at point of sale. Don't think about advances. Q: Title recognition: how can you use press to get group sales in advance? A: Videos can be created to send out to group sales agents. These are a great marketing tool. "Spotco"-Drew Hodges- new ad. agency. Designer/ad guru has great design ideas. Street fairs are a useful opportunity. For $800 you can get a table. This creates great word of mouth. You can have a video, give-aways, contests for tickets, etc. "Broadway to Go" is the company to contact.
A marketing agency should be hired six months in advance to be effective. The fees are $1200-1500/week for a Broadway musical, $500-1000/week for a Broadway play, $400/week for an off-Broadway play. For a big company like Disney, they do what the inhouse people can't do. For Chicago, Lion King and Wait until Dark, they did the opening night parties on E! This is a promotion across the country and reaches those who will come into New York. Some of Evan's favorite promotions have been the Loew's clips, Opening nights on E!, the Freak campaign, Noise/Funk and Ballyhoo. Evan does a strategic marketing plan whenever possible. He tries to avoid turf wars with advertising agencies.
Q: The sides of buses for Miss Saigon have been redesigned. Why?
A: Long running shows get the initial huge hype. This one is seven years old. Every two years there are 30% new inhabitiants in New York. You need to reach them. It is time to show something new about the older shows.
Q: Where do you rank yourself among marketing agencies?
A: We probably charge more, but we have a bigger office and the ability to mobilize. We are the first on people's list, but are not always hired.
Q: Would you bring in another agency to do something you don't do?
A: No. We do a great deal that they don't do and everything that they do.
Q: What can you do before a show opens?
A: Trade tickets for advertising, invite promotional partners to see a group sales video, presentation, contact hotel concierges-they are in a position to get tickets for a client and you can do that for them. They will suggest your show in return. We are in a position to promote for you with our connections.
If you need any advice or help, feel free to call our office at 212-714-1550 and say you met me here at Bruce's class.
Next week is our last week of this session. See you there.
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