CMU School of Drama


Friday, April 05, 2013

The Book of Mormon offers gospel lessons in social-media marketing

Stage | guardian.co.uk: The news that The Book of Mormon set a record on Friday for the biggest single day in ticket sales in West End and Broadway history is probably less a testament to the show itself – insanely enjoyable though it is – than to its clever (and clearly very expensive) marketing, which has used traditional media (to get to that crucial audience who don't do Twitter) and social media (for those already plugged into South Park) in tandem, to remarkable effect.

3 comments:

Chante Adams said...

It is very clear that social media has completely taken over the world. With a good show and maybe 2 or 3 celebrity raves, on their twitters, facebooks, or instagrams, with their millions of followers, you can have a hit show. News papers and word of mouth just does not cut it anymore. Though it will always be beneficial, Other shows need to take notes from the book of mormon and get on the social media marketing train. Mixed reviews or not, people are still banging down the doors to see that show and thats what matters.

Unknown said...

Like Chante said, social media has taken over the world. Because of this, I don't think it's so outrageous that ticket sales went up when a couple celebrities used their twitters and facebooks to mention the show. I think it's incredibly impressive that all it takes it a few words from a famous person to have a huge impact on the way the people buy their tickets. I think that social media is incredibly powerful and considering the age we are in, there is absolutely no reason for the theater community not to take advantage of it's power. Because of the internet, reviews can come out sooner, and if there's minimal/no promotion for the show online, most people will start reading bad reviews. The internet can't exactly hurt the cause anymore than it already is, it can only help.

David Feldsberg said...

Society has gone to the Internet. And the Internet is global (universal even). Therefore for someone to make an impact on society on a large and global scale, social media and Internet marketing has to be implemented. Only those companies that realize this and begin to modernize their advertising strategies are the ones that are going to survive. Matt and Trey have always been on the leading edge on how to reach large and varied audiences and I think they have a lot more to teach us.