They say that travel broadens the mind.  But what do they know?

One benefit of travel for this hardened road warrior is the opportunity to listen to the radio.  Particularly with talk radio, I hear voices of people from all over the U.S.A. with curious points-of-view that seem strange, new, and odd.  Were it not for late-night radio, this writer would never have had the chance to hear about the now-passed calamities resulting from the fly-by of Planet X.  (You mean that you don’t remember the tragic massive earth tremors, electro-magnetic storms, and general destruction of civilization-as-we-know-it from Planet X hurtling through our solar system? Gee, where have you been?)

Driving all night through Virgina (don’t ask), this writer heard an interview with a management “guru” who runs several grocery outlets in the western U.S.A. This man’s approach to management was very simple – treat workers as if they’re easily expendable.  The employee has to work to get the boss’s attention.  For example, if an employee wants to ask for a raise, schedule the meeting for lunch time. Have the employee ushered into the employer’s/manager’s office while the employer/manager is eating lunch – preferably also reading a racing form or newspaper. The employer/manager is not to look at the employee.  If the employee can’t say anything because they’re too intimidated, good for the company. This so-called “guru” also said that he’ll give a raise to an employee if they go “above and beyond” – which in this instance includes picking up his dry cleaning and chauffeuring his children to and from school and activities. This “guru” touted one employee (a grocery checker) who brought her own lawn mower over to his house on weekends to mow his 2-acre lawn. Moreover, as an advocate of legalizing marijuana, this guy also said that someone could get a raise if they supplied him weed.  I suppose I have some mild admiration for someone who is so open about using graft, corruption, and self-aggrandizement for personal gain.

Curiously it led me to think about how theatres market their wares.  This man was evidently shocked by other listeners’ attitudes about how he ran his business and the system he advocated to others. Not surprisingly some people said they would not shop in his stores. He was oblivious to his marketing image. (I suppose there may be a niche market of callous, self-absorbed, recreational drug users out there – but is it a big enough group to keep open a chain of grocery stores?)

Theatre often experience difficulty in drawing sufficient audiences to see their shows.  There are numerous reasons, of course. But one major difficulty is marketing. How is the potential audience being made aware (or, in most cases not made aware) of a show?

First, who does the theatre want to attract? Generally the audience for live theatre in the USA is aging.  Does the theatre want to attract younger folks – people in their, say, 20s? Will the theatre do work that might attract 20-somethings and 30-somethings? Morning’s At Seven is a lovely play, but is it an attraction for someone who’s 25 years old?

Therefore, let’s assume for this example that the theatre wants to attract a younger crowd.  The theatre not only wants the younger crowd, but also is willing to program the material. How to get the audience in the door and butts in the seats?

Where does a 25-year old get information about possible activities?  How does the theatre claw their way through the daily din of advertisements, marketing, and promotional messages?  This may sound heretical to some people – particularly for some people in smaller venues – but it seems to me that too much money is wasted on newspaper advertising. The newspaper readership is aging along with the theatre audience. There’s a reason for that. Does the theatre know where the target audience listens to the radio?  Does the theatre know how to market a play through radio other than simply giving the name of the play and dates of production? 

And how can the theatre start getting the target audience to talk about the theatre? Word-of-mouth promotion is always the most effective means of marketing a good or service. For example, several companies identify trend-setters in local communities and provide them with “test” goods and services as a means of getting new products to be “cool.”  What would it mean for a theatre to identify some trend-setters in the local community and provide free tickets to a show or shows?

Of course, people always have objections about marketing strategies and obstacles about seeing a show. For example, one regularly hears about how potential audiences are reticent about coming to a show without knowing if it’s good or not. For an audience, there may be an aspect of a gamble on a type of show.  But I don’t believe this is an important obstacle.  The growing number of casinos and state-run games of chance is the U.S.A. prove that no one need go poor in accounting for an American’s love of a gamble. The question is how the gamble is approached.  The live-action Scooby Doo film was boring, dreadful and tedious.  Nevertheless, without having seen it, it made enough money the first weekend to spawn the inevitable sequel.  People were willing to gamble the ticket price for an unseen movie. Why not for theatre?  

Also, say you want a younger audience. They don’t have the expendable income to go to the theatre, I sometimes hear. Yet, this demographic seems to have money enough to pay the cover charge for a foam party and then suck down long-necks and/or shots all night.  Yes, a foam party is fun.  So is theatre.  A different kind of fun.  The point is that humans like and appreciate a variety of pleasures.

It seems to me that a number of theatres have a “build it, and they’ll come” attitude about their shows. Sheer artistic brilliance will attract ticket-buyers like so many moths to the flame. These artists then sit and wonder why so few people saw the work.  In the meantime, the wise theatre artist decides who she wants to converse with through the art of theatre – her target audience.  And then she works out a plan to communicate her work to that group. That’s the beginning of effective theatre marketing.

©2003 Nathan Thomas

For more commentary and articles by Nathan Thomas, check the Archives.

Nathan Thomas has earned his
living as a touring actor, Artistic Director, director
stage manager, designer, composer, and pianist
He has a Ph.D. in Theatre and is a member of
the theatre faculty of Alvernia College

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