NY Post: "The Times had a hand in killing 'Brighton Beach Memoirs.' And I don't mean critic Ben Brantley's mixed review (although that didn't help).
The Times offered the producers of 'Brighton Beach' several weeks worth of splashy ads in the paper and on its Web site at steep discounts, production sources say.
In exchange for what one source calls the 'fire sale' price, the Times demanded exclusivity."
2 comments:
Why in the world would a producer throw away a proven marketing strategy for something so cheap. I agree with the article this is not the sole reason the show was closed, but I think it was a major contributor. This was ridiculous when papers are closing every year. Not to mention how many people read the paper online, then you lose that placement. Web advertising is complete different. It is easier to avoid. I blame the producers. It is a shame for Neil Simon the production staff and the designers. But, theater is always a gamble. Hopefully the situation was not a total loss and everyone learned something from it.
I can understand the producer's and the Times' motives for trying the new strategy, it just turned out to be a sour deal for the particular production, in my opinion. If the article's assessment that Neil Simon audiences are better reached through mailing lists and coupons, then I can understand that exclusivity with the Times paper and website was a poor choice, but who's to say that it wouldn't work with another show? The only thing I will say is that perhaps print exclusivity would have been a good choice, but internet and mailing lists are very strong and should not be thrown away so easily, even for the fire sale prices that the Times offered.
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