Ken Davenport - Opinions from a Broadway Producer

Something else that newspapers can't do . . .

Here's an idea . . .

In all fairness, I'm not even sure websites can do this yet.  Well, I'm sure they can, but I'm not sure they are doing this yet.

I know our industry isn't . . . but I think you'll agree after you read this entry, that we should.

If you're advertising a show, you may buy banner ads across a news website like NYTimes.com or Playbill or even Huffpo.

Your ads are served across the network, in most cases, or what is called ROS or Run of Site, which means they are served on all pages.  Or, maybe you target just the home page, or a listings page, etc. 

But what if you could target just your content pages . . . and what if you could retarget the people that visit those pages?

Follow me.

If a customer visits Playbill.com and happens to see an editorial article on, oh, I don't know, Godspell, let's say . . . and clicks on that link to read that article . . . then "duh" wisdom will tell you that the clicker is a qualified lead for Godspell.  Someone reading editorial is more likely to be interested, and therefore more likely to make a purchase.

Well, the great thing about niche industry sites like Playbill and BroadwayWorld is that . . . yep . . . they contain many pages about similar content. There are a ton of articles about Godspell, Mormon, Wicked, etc.  And someone reading more than two articles is more inclined to purchase than someone reading one article.  And someone reading three articles is more inclined to purchase than someone reading two articles, and so on, and so on.

Imagine if news sites gave you the following options:

• Serve ads on pages in which your editorial content appears (that's easy)
• Serve ads to people that have visited one editorial article (getting trickier)
• Serve ads to people that have visited exactly three articles (advanced)
• Serve ads to people that have visited editorial articles about shows that are similar to yours (got a family show, target people that have read articles about Mary Poppins.)
• And on and on and on

Google allows some of the easier bullet points on this list to happen with sites on its content network.  But I'm lobbying for our sites (especially the ones that don't use the Google Content network) to look at building their own network that allows us to focus on retargeting those folks who have read all about the shows, but haven't purchased yet.  

What the internet allows us to do is get very, very specific in terms of the people we target.  It allows us to fire missiles instead of dropping big ol' expensive bombs.  

Less waste and better results.

Maybe we can't do this yet, but we can apply the theory.  Editorial means interest.  Find the people reading your articles, and you'll find the people who just might buy your tickets.

 

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Advice from my trainer . . . that strangely also applies to theater.

So, as a person who can't stand the gym unless it involves a basketball, I forced myself to get a personal trainer recently . . . who then forces me to do things I can't stand.  

But so far, so good . . . and yesterday I even got a pearl of wisdom from my exercise task-master who has pectorals the size of throw pillows.

In between my grunts, Pectoral Pillow man said this to me . . . "Ken, you're going to see immediate results.  That's what happens.  If you haven't been training, and then you start, BAM!  (Note from Ken - that's how he talks - in BAMs)  But after that?  That's when the hard work begins.  Because keeping the growth going is the challenge."

Of course, I started thinking about other things in my life that I wanted to better, and I found a very similar pattern.

I like to play chess.  And after reading one book and having a few lessons, my rating went up dramatically.  After that?  Took a lot longer to raise it just a few points.

I started investing in the stock market when I was 23.  And after one seminar and a mag subscription, my picks were better.  After that, it got more challenging.

And then, of course, I got to shows.

Sales for shows are the same.  It's very easy to get a burst of sales activity (improvement) at your announcement, or at the beginning of your sales cycle.  You're new, you've got the most media on your side, and you're learning fast.

We've all seen shows, even some from this season, which have come out of the gate with monster numbers, and then . . . well, some aren't even here anymore.

Want to know how good a marketer is?  Don't judge them at the start.  Judge them by the middle.

Because that's where the real grunting is required.

 

(Got a comment? I love 'em, so comment below!  Email subscribers, click here, then scroll down, to say what's on your mind!)

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FUN STUFF:

- RSVP to the Shooting Crows reading in our studios!  Click here.

- Win tickets to see Once on Broadway! Click here.

- Take a Broadway Road Trip from DC on 4/28.  Click here. 

The "Tweet Seat" debate featured on Rock Center with Brian Williams.

I'll admit . . . sometimes when I do something new, I know it's going to miff a few folks.  But boy, I had no idea that our tweet seat experiment at Godspell would attract so much attention.

Well, the buzz was so loud about this subject, that we actually attracted the super cool Brian Williams and his Rock Center crew, who did a whole story on cellphones and Broadway . . . and yes our tweet seat experiment.  I've posted it for you below.

By the way . . . our tweet seat experiment was a big success.  How do I measure success?  Our #1 concern was making sure that not an audience member nor a performer was bothered by the tweeters.  And, after the show, I personally polled about 20 non-tweeters  . . . and not one of them even knew we were having a tweet seat event.  And the cast gave their tweeting thumbs up as well.

How else did I measure success?  About half way through the Godspell portion, I talk about some age demographics.  My answer is how I knew we did some good.

 

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

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FUN STUFF:

- RSVP to the Shooting Crows reading in our studios!  Click here.

- Win tickets to see Ghost on Broadway! Click here.

- Take a Broadway Road Trip from DC on 4/28.  Click here. 

5 Ways to attract International Audiences

The most recent set of Broadway stats had international tourists at about 14% of the entire Broadway audience.

While not a majority, it's still a good chunk (and it was actually down this past year from priors).  International audiences are a challenging group to reach for a whole bunch of reasons, but there are still things you can do to make your show more appealing to this group, if you think they are important to your success.

Here are five ways that you can attract International Audiences to your show.

1.  Choose your art carefully.

If you're counting on people who may not speak English to see your show, you best make sure the art (logo, etc.) is a very clear representation of what your show is about.  They may not be able to read your blurb, your quotes, or how many nominations/awards you got. For non-English speakers, it's all about the art.  

2.  Show 'em they are welcome.

Want to make sure someone feels at home?  Speak their language.  Add a sentence or two in another language and you'll instantly make that international reader a heck of a lot more comfortable.  You'll make them feel like they belong, which will make them more likely to say, "Porterò due biglietti," which is Italian for "I'll take 2 tickets."  And if languages take up too much of your marketing space, some shows will put images of small flags from other countries on their materials to indicate that their show is internationally friendly.

3.  The bigger the brand the better your chance at going global.

International visitors are usually more risk adverse than domestic visitors.  That means, they're going to go with something they know over something they don't.  And thus the international success of shows like Phantom and Mamma Mia.  If you don't have ABBA music or 20+ years of shows under your belt, try and tie your show to anything that might have resonated globally.  

4.  Hotels are their new home.

They've already made a commitment to stay in a hotel, which means that temporary home has their trust and faith . . . which also means that's where they are going to go for recommendations and suggestions.  Advertising in hotels (in-room magazines, in-room tv, CTMs) are a big part of grabbing this demographic, and, of course, don't forget those concierges . . . many of which speak several languages.  Imagine you're in Japan and you find someone who speaks English.  You're going to bond with them instantly, right?  You're going to trust them, right?  That's what happens here, too, so make sure you have a concierge outreach program in place.

5.  Find a reason to appear in their press.

Does your show deal with international issues?  Got a cast member with international ancestry?  Are there any international connections that you exploit in international press?  Here's the thing - NY press hears about Broadway all the time.  But international press?  Well, it's more rare to have a story that resonates, which means, if you can find one, you'll get some serious play for your play.  Get them to know you're here before they're here, and you're much more likely to get them to buy a ticket. 

 

(Got a comment? I love 'em, so comment below!  Email subscribers, click here, then scroll down, to say what's on your mind!)

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FUN STUFF:

- RSVP to the Shooting Crows reading in our studios!  Click here.

- Win tickets to see Ghost on Broadway! Click here.

- Take a Broadway Road Trip from DC on 4/28.  Click here. 

5 ways to encourage more full price sales for your show.

Almost 3 years ago now, I published one of my most read blogs which asked the question, "Are discounts eroding sales".  You can read that blog, which includes a lot of charts and numbers about the history of Broadway discounts, by clicking here.

There's no question that now, three years later, the effects of the ubiquitous availability of discounts for Broadway shows have made it challenging for what I call "middle-of-the-market" shows (aka non blockbusters) to sell more full price tickets, and therefore achieve profitability.

I recently met a very well-off attorney who told me he kept a Broadway discount site on his list of "favorites" in his browser toolbar.  And when his wife told him she wanted to see a show, he went straight to the discount site first.  

Unfortunately, there's not much we can do to win that battle.

But is there a way to win the war?

Since we'll never get rid of the discount sites (especially since the modern day consumer wants a discount like a Khardashian wants attention), perhaps we should focus on the reverse . . . increasing the value of the full price ticket.

What can we do to make that well-off attorney make full price a favorite of his, instead of a discount site?

Here are five ways to encourage our buyers to buy more full price tickets off the top o' my noggin:

1.  MAKE BETTER SHOWS

I know, this is one of those non-helpful "Duh, Ken" ideas, but I had to say it.  If you've got a great show that people want to see, they'll pay full price and beyond.  Product is the first P in marketing for a reason. 

2.  GIVE THEM AN EXCHANGE COURTESY

No exchanges anytime . . . that's what most of our tickets say.  What if they said . . . Exchange anytime for full price buyers.  Yep, what if paying full price gave you the freedom and flexibility to change your plans at anytime.  If you're a middle-of-the-market show, then odds are you're not going to lose revenue by putting them into another show.  People pay for convenience, and since we've drilled the idea that Broadway tickets can't be moved into people's minds for decades, this is something that people just might want to pay for.

3.  GIVE THEM SOMETHING THEY CAN'T BUY

What if we added an "experience" for the full price buyer that not only the discount buyer couldn't get, but that would make the discount buyer envious when they got to the theater.  Backstage tour?  Talkback?  Early admittance to the theater?  What about a separate entrance?  Front row access at the stage door if they wanted to wait and get autographs?  Add something in to that full price that doesn't cost you anything but adds to the experience and gives them an even better memory will increase sales and give your customers even more to talk about.

4.  GIVE THEM SOMETHING THEY CAN BUY

Most people want to take the music with them when they leave a musical.  What about giving full price buyers the 'cast recording' on purchase?  What about a Souvenir Program?  Drinks?  T-shirt?  These items will cost you some money, but the value is so much greater to the theatergoer, that it might cost you less to give these items away than it would be to lose that customer to a 40% off discount.  With this idea and the one above, you have to do the research as to what your customers really want, and then do the math on how much it costs you.

5.  NO SERVICE FEES

Poll a group of theater customers about what they hate about buying theater tickets, and no doubt, service fees will be one of the top five.  And finding out what people hate about what you do is an easy way to find out how to increase business.  Giving full price buyers the feeling that they are saving money (even though it wouldn't be nearly as much as a 40% off discount) might just get them coming back and back to the official site first.  

 

Recoupment of Broadway shows depends heavily on the number of full price buyers in an audience, so it's up to us to encourage more full price buying, even while the customers feel a strong almost gravitational pull towards discounting. 

If we don't, all of Broadway could be non-profit in twenty years.

What ideas do you have to encourage full price sales?  What, as a ticket buyer, could get you to fork out full price for a show rather than search for a discount?

 

(Got a comment? I love 'em, so comment below! Email subscribers, click here, then scroll down, to say what's on your mind!)

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FUN STUFF:

- Win a spot in our How to Market Your Show with No Money seminar!  Click here.

- Take the Musical Boot Camp!  Click here for info and an application.

- Broadway Road Trip from DC on 4/28.  Click here. 

5 ways to use Pinterest to help market your show.

Yesterday we talked about Pinterest.  But talking and taking action are two very different things.  In fact, those two things are what separate an entrepreneur from a wannabe.

So how do you take action with Pinterest?  How can you turn it into a marketing machine for your show?  Or should you?

Here are five ways you can use Pinterest to market your show:

1.  Don't use it.

I know, that seems counter-intuitive to this post, doesn't it?  Well, just because there's a new toy on the market, doesn't mean you should play with it.  Pinterest may be free but your time isn't.  And remember, Pinterest is still in the early-adopter phase and your audience may not be there yet.  According to this infographic, about 50% of users are under 35, and about 75% are under 44.  Only 28% make $100k or more.  So if you're a traditional Broadway play, it might be a little early for you to be pinning.  If you're a show focused on getting a younger, female, audience, however . . . pin away, my friend, pin away.

2.  Get a page.

Just like your show has a Facebook page, go grab a Pinterest page and start putting up your favorite images.  Just remember, like the F-Book, Pinterest is a social site.  Don't sell too hard.  You want people engaging with your brand.  Billboard-like images screaming at the viewer to buy tickets are going to get people going the opposite direction.  Social networks are social by nature.  You wouldn't hard sell your "friend", right?  So don't do it here either.  TIP:  Pinterest is still in its "you must be approved" for a page stage, so apply right away so you can be ahead of your competition.

3.  Make stuff on your site pinable.

If you want people to "spread the word", you need to make it easy for them to do so, no matter what your promotion.  Translating that to Pinterest means, you gotta make things pinable.  And, duh, you gotta tell them to do it.  Attach a PIN THIS note next to the image that you think best (soft) sells your show, and put it in an easy-to-find place.  

4.  See what people are pinning about you.

People may already be pinning you and you don't even know it.  Search the site, and see what images people are using of yours, or what people are saying.  TIP:  A quick way to do this is to go to:  www.pinterest.com/source/YOURWEBSITE.  If you find people are pinning you, guess what, you've just found some of your most passionate customers.  Interact with them.  They're already spreading the word naturally, imagine what they could do with a little suggestion.

5.  Find the tastemakers and follow their pins.

It's a similar strategy to Twitter, but if you follow the biggest Pinterest pages, and they start checking out what you are pinning, your stuff may spread to a wider audience faster.  It's like high school - hanging out with the cool kids could get you "pinned" by the Captain of the Football Team that much faster.  

We're just seeing the beginning of the Pinterest revolution.  They'll be making big changes to their community now that they have so many more users (and so much more data as a result).  

Will they stick?  Will pinning become the new Twitter?  Or will it be the old MySpace?

Too soon to tell.  But I don't know about you, I'm not waiting around to see what happens before jumping on board. 

When my shows have the right demo, I'm going to start pinning right away.  

 

 

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FUN STUFF:

- Win two tickets to see If It Only Even Runs A Minute!  Click here.

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- Take the Musical Boot Camp!  Click here for info and an application.

- Broadway Road Trip from DC on 4/28.  Click here. 

 

Pin this! Pinterest takes off - can you benefit?

Wait.

You don't know what Pinterest is?  Hmmmm, what's the best way to describe it.

How about this:

Pinterest is . . . the 16th highest trafficked website in the US. 

Got your attention yet?

And, just like I bet that Twitter would take off back in 2008 (for fun, read that post - I liked to say the word "twit" instead of "tweet" - hey it was 2008!), I'm predicting that Pinterest will move up that list a few more notches before this year is up.  

Just check out this hockey stick of a growth curve over the last six months.  Talk about a tipping point!  

So seriously, what is Pinterest and how can you use it for your show?

Pinterest is . . . an electronic bulletin board.  It's e-scrapbooking. Or the inside of an e-locker.  

It's a place where you e-pin pictures of things you love.  

You grab photos from anywhere on the web of anything on the web, and you just put them up on your page. And then other people cruise your pages, comment on them, repin your pix, and . . . that's it. 

And, here's why it's something that theatrical marketers need to pay attention to . . . the primary user of Pinterest is (and I'd almost say "only" user of Pinterest) . . . is female.  

It's loved by women, lots and lots of women.  Users are younger than the traditional theatergoer, of course, but give it some time.

Lots of wedding pages, lots of fashion pages, food pages, and more.  

So Pinterest is gonna be huge(r).  

But the concept of why it's going to be even bigger is even more interesting.  Follow this path of our consumption of content.

We started with articles . . . then we went to blogs, which were a bit shorter . . . then we went to even shorter tweets . . . and now, it seems, that we're going to simply . . . images.  We don't even want to read a thing to understand who/what we're looking at it. We just want to get it. Instantly.

Shocking, isn't it?  A little scary, maybe.  I mean what comes next?  

Check out Pinterest here.  In typical early adopter fashion, you need to "apply" for a page.  But soon enough everyone will be able to get one.  And then Pinterest's traffic will really take off (and I'd imagine Facebook is already figuring out to how to incorporate the concept of image-only into their network).

How do you use Pinterst for your show?  

Check out tomorrow's post.

But before that . . . let's take a little poll?  Comment below if you already knew about Pinterest before this post?  And let us all know if you have a page!

 

(Got a comment? I love 'em, so comment below! Email subscribers, click here, then scroll down, to say what's on your mind!)

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FUN STUFF:

- Win two tickets to see If It Only Even Runs A Minute!  Click here.

- Take the How To Market Your Show With No Money seminar on 3/20!  ONLY A FEW SPOTS LEFT!  Click here.

- Take the Musical Boot Camp!  Click here for info and an application.

- Broadway Road Trip from DC on 4/28.  Click here. 

5 Questions from our Broadway Hotline

Remember the Broadway hotline we started up a few weeks ago?  No?  Well, click here to read all about it (and then make sure you subscribe to the blog by chucking your email address into the box in the upper left hand corner of this page so you don't miss out!).

Well, the phone has been ringing.  

And people have been asking questions, of all different kinds.

And they learn about whatever subject they are wondering about.

But what's even better, is that we learn just what the heck people want to learn about.

Follow me?

If you're a Producer, a Writer, or even a Manager, you can learn a tremendous amount from the questions that your audience, readers or employees ask.  In fact, I used to have a rule when I was Company Managing shows - if more than two members of the company asked me the same question, then I wasn't doing my job in getting them the information they needed.  It didn't matter how crazy I thought the questions were . . . if more than two people wanted answers, then I needed to provide more information.  

This same theory can be applied to writing, producing or anything you do.

And that's one of the reasons we started the hotline in the first place, to see just what the heck people wanted to know about Broadway.

And I thought you'd like to know too . . .

So, I thought I'd share some of the questions we've gotten on our hotline with you.  I've also added my own comment so you can get an idea of what I learned from each phone call.

Here are 5 Questions we've gotten on the Broadway Hotline:

1.  What shows are playing tonight that are like Memphis?  

I learned two things from this. The word "tonight" stuck out to me that we need to provide more "day of" information to consumers, and the "like Memphis" told me that the Amazon.com-like "if you liked XX show, you'd also like YY show" could be very effective.

2.  Is it normal for a show that is not open yet to hold center orchestras seats as premium seats before the box office opens?

This customer wanted great seats, but didn't want to pay premium price, and also didn't want to pay service fees (note the box office open language).  Availability of great seats is an issue.

3.  What's the best way to get tickets to Evita?

A little digging on this question discovered that by "best", this person meant "best locations for the best price".  They were smart enough to find our hotline, surely they were smart enough to google "Evita tickets".  What they weren't smart enough to do was to discern what was best with all the brokers and discount sites out there.  Googling a show for tickets can be a bit like walking through a Turkish Bazaar.

4.  Why isn't Wicked at TKTS?

This person thought TKTS was a destination to get tickets for all, and that every show used the booth to sell ticket discounts.  I answered this call myself, actually, and the woman on the other end couldn't quite comprehend that all shows didn't automatically use TKTS.   I wondered - if Wicked was available for full price at the booth, would this woman have bought tickets?  Probably. 

5.  I know I just called, but . . .

We had a couple of repeaters, but this was my favorite. A woman called in looking for tickets to How to Succeed, Book of Mormon and Phantom.  We sent her to Telecharge.  Then she called back and asked how she could get discounted tickets.  Whether we like it or not, a huge percentage of today's consumer wants, no, feels like they deserve a discount . . . and if they don't get it, they almost feel like they are being cheated.  We need to increase the "value" (not the price) of buying a full price ticket so that they feel like they are getting a deal, but paying the price we need to keep our shows going for as long as possible . . . because isn't that our mission?

I love our hotline.  My staff loves our hotline.  Call sometime.  We'll talk to you about whatever it is you're wondering.  

And hopefully we'll both learn something at the same time.

 

 

(Got a comment? I love 'em, so comment below! Email subscribers, click here, then scroll down, to say what's on your mind!)

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FUN STUFF:

- Win two tickets to see If It Only Even Runs A Minute!  Click here.

- Take the How To Market Your Show With No Money seminar on 3/20!  Click here.

- Take the Musical Boot Camp!  Click here for info and an application.

- Broadway Road Trip from DC on 4/28.  Click here. 

 

The #1 secret to raising money, marketing, and just about anything you want to do.

There's no technology needed for this one.  No fancy social media.  No mega-buck marketing campaign.

Just you.

See, I'm working on a new revival.  

Not the musical kind. And not the 16 week kind with a Hollywood star.

I'm trying to revive . . . good ol' fashioned, face-to-face, networking.

I was on a panel recently, and was asked a whole slew of questions about how I did things, from raising money, to selling groups, to getting press, and so forth.  While I was going through a list of some of my "greatest hits", I traced 90% of them back to a simple and honest personal relationship that started with a handshake.

They weren't all relationships that stretched back to college, or summer stock. Some were based on quick meetings that lasted no longer than 15 minutes.  But they did involve two people being in the same space at the same time.

Want some specifics?

• I met two of my largest investors at a performance of one of my shows.  They just looked like they were having fun, so we started talking.  And then they started investing.
• I've sold tickets to Godspell by talking to people on the subway platform, at a blackjack table, and on an Amtrak train.  
• I convinced an actor to do a show of mine by flying across the country to have lunch.

Electronic communication is fantastic.  It allows you to reach more people, and allows you to reach them faster.  

But the conversion rate of email, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and every other e-tool out there is a lot lower than the conversion rate of a request after you've met someone in person. 

Because a real handshake beats an e-handshake 9 times out of 10.

 

(Got a comment? I love 'em, so comment below! Email subscribers, click here, then scroll down, to say what's on your mind!)

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FUN STUFF:

- Win two tickets to see If It Only Even Runs A Minute!  Click here.

- Take the How To Market Your Show With No Money seminar on 3/20!  Click here.

- Take the Musical Boot Camp!  Click here for info and an application.

- Broadway Road Trip from DC on 4/28.  Click here. 

 

What about the audience members that are in the middle?

I read an interesting word-of-mouth study recently that talked about how companies are getting much better at recognizing the importance of responding and engaging with fans.

For the most part, corporate America is getting smarter about:

1 - Responding to complaints and putting out fires before they spread.

and 

2 - Engaging the superfans and encouraging them to spread their fire.

Makes sense, right?  And all of you are doing this on your shows and at your theaters, right?  

Good.

Well, the trick is, as this article went on to explain . . . there is a third group, which most likely is a larger group, that is even more important.  These are the customers/audience members that think your product is "good" or "fine" or . . . the one word I hate to hear more than anything . . . "cute".  

They had an enjoyable time, they got their money's worth, but they are not exactly screaming from the top of their lungs that their friends should throw money your way.  In other words, they are "satisfied."

The tricky thing about this group is that they are not easy to find. They probably won't sign up for mailing lists, or respond to contests, or want to be surveyed.  

We'll call them the elusive "cute" customer.

And it's your responsibility to hunt them down like they're the Yeti.

Find them, and figure out what you can do to turn them from a "cute" to an "advocate".  What can you do to make their experience more unique . . . more unforgettable . . . and therefore more "spreadable."

Because in an industry where the stakes are high and the economics fragile, cute just doesn't cut it.

 

(Got a comment? I love 'em, so comment below! Email subscribers, click here, then scroll down, to say what's on your mind!)

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FUN STUFF:

- Win two tickets to see If It Only Even Runs A Minute!  Click here.

- Take the How To Market Your Show With No Money seminar on 3/20!  Click here.

- Take the Musical Boot Camp!  Click here for info and an application.

- Broadway Road Trip from DC on 4/28.  Click here.