Ken Davenport - Opinions from a Broadway Producer

Who won the spot in the How To Market Your Show With No Money Seminar?

What excites me the most about giveaways for seminars, is how many people out there have shows that they're looking to get on.  Theater production entrepreneurship is alive and kicking across the city and across the country.

And on the 20th, we'll help kick those shows into a higher gear with our How To Market Your Show With No Money seminar . . . and the winner of the free seat is . . . Lorelei Mackenzie (and Lorelei's team of commenting lobbyists!).

Email me Lorelei and we'll set you up with your free seat.

There are just 6 seats left in Tuesday's seminar, so if you are looking to take it, click here to register asap.  And for those of you out of town, stay tuned for a webinar version coming soon.

And tomorrow, we've got a super ghouly giveaway for everyone.

 

(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:

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

The secret to producing a big fat hit Broadway show.

A distinguished member of the press recently asked me for my thoughts on developing product for Broadway, and the ingredients that make a million-dollar-a-week-show.

While sure, I'm a big believer in market research, and understanding who your audience is, and what they want to see, and trying to meet and exceed their expectations.

The big secret to creating a gi-normous, box-office busting, Broadway smash?  

Ready?  

There is none.

Anyone who tells you they can sit down and write a hit is full of something that rhymes with hit but doesn't smell as good.

You just can't do it.  People can tell you that they can engineer it, but they're wrong.  

You think Da Vinci sat down and said, "I'm going to paint a picture of a woman with a half-smirk that people will talk about for centuries!" 

You think Hemingway sat down and said, "Yep.  An Old Man.  The Sea.  Better open up the cash drawer and make some room, because this one is going to be a gusher."

You think R&H sat down and said, "Oh yeah, this Oklahoma thing is going to make us so much money we're going to be able to buy . . . well . . . Oklahoma!"

Artists write what they love, and what they want other people to love.  They write what they are passionate about.  Period.   

And a Producer has to do the same thing.  While sure, it's hard when you've got people's jobs on the line (including yours), to not think about "what could I produce that would be a hit?"  But since that never works, why bother?

Here's my mission.

Produce like Da Vinci painted.  Like Hemingway wrote.  Like R&H dreamed.  Produce what you love, what inspires you, and what you want to inspire others.  You'll be proud, instead of pandering.  

And whether or not people it's a "hit", when you're done with one project, find another one and do it again.

 

(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.

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

 

Need some inspiration to complete your script?

A few years ago, my pal Gil over at BroadwayAbridged, told me that November was National Novel Writing Month.  He pointed me to this website that sponsors a challenge/contest to writers to begin and finish a complete novel in 30 days.

Obviously I went crazy for the concept.  It combines my two favorite things:  creativity and deadlines.  (Which, by the way, may just define what a Producer is all about.)

So, of course, I thought, "Let's make one for scripts!"

And wouldn't you know it, someone already had!  (Which made my staff very happy, because if I start one more website, they just may change the name on the door to Davenport Website Enterprises). 

The folks over at ScriptFrenzy have deemed April (which, believe it or don't, is right around the corner), Script Writing Month . . . and they've started the same sort-of challenge as National Novel Writing Month:  One new script.  30 Days.  100 Pages.

They'll let you submit any kind of script, including screenplays and TV shows, but we know what we're focusing on, right?

It's very Title of Show, isn't it?

What do you win if you complete this challenge?  The most priceless prize you could imagine.

Pride.  And a brand-spanking new script.  

So do it.  Challenge yourself.  Make a deadline.

And make a script.

What's the worst that could happen?  You miss a couple episodes of Tabatha's Salon Takeover?  You stay up just a little later?

Or maybe the worst that happens is that the script sucks?

Big deal.

Something sucking is better than nothing doing nothing.  

And now, ask yourself what's the best thing that could happen?  

Maybe your script turns into Title of Show . . . or even this.  

Sign up for ScriptFrenzy today.  

 

(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. 

Making your butt feel better in your seat.

Theatergoing can be uncomfortable.  Let's face it.  With legroom that seems designed for the people of Lilliput, and a number of bathrooms that couldn't even accommodate the Duggars never mind 1500 people, we're not exactly the most user-friendly experience in town.  

But the folks at Jujamcyn are doing everything they can to change that.

In a whirlwind of a 48 hour changeover (that must have cost a fortune in stagehand OT), all the seats at the August Wilson Theater got a 'buttover' in early January with new, state-of-the-art ergonomic seating designed by a company called ProBax.  

As producers and theater operators, whether in this city or around the world, whether you have a 1500 seat house or a 50 seat house, we put most of our energy into making sure that thing that's on the stage, whether it's a play or a musical or a dance piece, is the absolute best it can be.  

What is easy to forget as we focus on that primary goal is that an audience's experience from their seat, can actually enhance (or the reverse) how they feel about what they're watching.

Seat backs and bathrooms may not be sexy, but they do have an impact on sales.

Watch the video below (or click that link) to hear Jordan Roth talk about the impetus for change, and then give Jujamcyn mad props for keeping our butts on the top of their minds.

 

 

(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. 

 

 

Broadway and Politics have a lot in common when it comes to social media.

Some of the most valuable lessons I've learned about how to produce shows are from watching how other high risk industries deal with similar issues.  Airlines and perishable inventory.  Sports and VIP experiences.  Restaurants and customer retention.  Etc.

I've written about Producers and Politicians before in this post, and I'm sure with only T-minus 8 months and counting before the big contest in November, I'll write about them again.  

But until then, you've got to watch this video about the resistance to social media in the political space.  I swear, you could just overdub the words "politicians" with "producers" or "politics" with "Broadway" and the video would be absolutely relevant to our biz.

Any of this sound familiar . . .

"I don't know what that is, quit using it."

"That's not how (we) do it."

"(Politics) is such a lagging issue when it comes to technology."

"They are very reluctant to try anything that is untested. They want to stick with the things that have been working for the last 30 years."

Watch the video.  It's pretty hysterical how similar we are.

Now, in their defense and in ours, social media and new technology are still a young(er) person's game (and when I say young, I mean under 40, because I still haven't crossed the 4-0 threshold yet, so I'm holding on to young as long as I can).  And the fact is that younger voters do not make up the majority of our voters.  That puts more of the decision in the older folks' hands (and when I say older, I mean 65 plus, which gives me another quarter century).  Same with theater.  The majority of our buyers aren't tweeting up a storm or figurin' out foursquare.

Yet.

But they will be tomorrow, so it's important all of us invest in it today.  Because other industries are.

What's going to change our resistance to technology?  Well, we need a lot of passionate people, just like bow-tie wearing Wesley, who is the first person to speak in the vid, who almost falls out of his chair with his desire to get politics into the 21st century.

We need more of those guys in our biz too.

I'm betting that if you're reading this, you could be one of them.  

So do us all a favor, fall out of your chair.  But forget about the bowtie.  That was so me in 1988.

 

 

(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 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. 

Broadway Grosses* w/e 3/11/2012

The following are the Broadway Grosses from the week ending March 11, 2012:

Show Name	GrossGross	TotalAttn	%Cap	AvgPdAdm
ANYTHING GOES	$696,182	7,952	96.88%	$87.55
CHICAGO	$524,747	6,604	76.44%	$79.46
DEATH OF A SALESMAN	$620,444	7,237	99.79%	$85.73
GODSPELL	$289,607	4,278	72.76%	$67.70
GORE VIDAL'S THE BEST MAN	$614,511	6,785	79.71%	$90.57
HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING	$704,071	8,515	74.75%	$82.69
JERSEY BOYS	$938,081	9,201	93.66%	$101.95
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR	$614,299	10,233	93.30%	$60.03
MAMMA MIA!	$586,403	7,741	64.59%	$75.75
MARY POPPINS	$702,121	9,497	66.06%	$73.93
MEMPHIS	$611,962	9,101	77.39%	$67.24
ONCE	$544,535	8,081	95.47%	$67.38
OTHER DESERT CITIES	$399,332	4,508	74.05%	$88.58
PORGY AND BESS	$686,715	7,314	68.48%	$93.89
PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT	$519,327	7,138	52.83%	$72.76
ROCK OF AGES	$424,365	4,476	95.97%	$94.81
SEMINAR	$388,397	4,856	75.50%	$79.98
SISTER ACT	$553,290	7,608	54.19%	$72.72
SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK	$1,300,006	12,845	83.19%	$101.21
THE BOOK OF MORMON	$1,500,713	8,752	102.63%	$171.47
THE LION KING	$1,520,084	12,622	94.08%	$120.43
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA	$767,945	10,209	79.51%	$75.22
VENUS IN FUR	$344,313	3,952	69.77%	$87.12
WAR HORSE	$838,679	7,812	91.35%	$107.36
WICKED	$1,662,595	14,245	98.43%	$116.71
WIT	$232,422	4,434	85.27%	$52.42
TOTAL	$18,585,145	205,996	81.39%	$87.49

*Broadway Grosses provided courtesy of The Broadway League.

The Sunday Giveaway: 1 Ticket to our How To Market Your Show With No Money Seminar

We're taking a break from giving away tickets this week, to give away information.

Here at DTE, we're about to launch the latest in our seminar series, with our almost-sold-out "How To Market Your Show For No Money" seminar coming up next Tuesday, March 20th.  You can get all the info here. 

The seminar costs $99, but one of you is going to get a we-pay-your-way-scholarship.

Here's how.  Comment below with why you need this seminar, or why someone you know needs this seminar.  We'll give it to who we think needs it the most.

Good luck! 

 

(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:

- 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. 

Who won the tickets to If It Only Even Runs A Minute?

Oh flops, you are so much fun.

Unless you're involved with one.

It was a blast reading your memories of such winners like Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, High Fidelity and ooooh, Shogun!

So who's gonna go have a lot of fun with a whole bunch of flops and see If It Only Even Runs A Minute?

Congratulations to . . . Molly!  Molly, since you you sat through Thou Shalt Not, you deserve a couple of free tickets to If It Only . . . so email me and I'll set up your tickets.

And the rest of you . . . let's hope there are no more flops in your futures, no matter which side of the curtain you are on!

 

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

------

FUN STUFF:

- 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. 

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.  

 

 

(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.