Find out who your current customers are.
Increase your advertising and marketing initiatives on that demographic and decrease the time and money you’re spending on other groups.
Those two steps alone will have an instant positive effect on whatever you’re trying to build, whether that’s an audience, a social media following, or even an online suitcase selling-store.
7 comments:
I feel like we are missing some data in this analysis. First, and perhaps most importantly, what are the demographics of the cities Broadway shows tour to? What parts of the country see less show traffic? I would also be interested in seeing some comparison data between different types of live entertainment that draw Broadway-size crowds. All that aside, the author of this article introduces the data by explaining that the first thing you should do once you figure out who is buying your product is focus more on advertising to that consumer. He then goes on to bemoan the fact that the vast majority of people who go to see Broadway tours are Caucasian. If they follow the advice given at the beginning of the article, producers and marketers will double down on advertising to white people older than 53 and spend less on marketing targeting other groups, thereby growing the diversity gap. Unfortunate, indeed.
I agree with Chase, this data seems incomplete. I would like to see a more detailed analysis based on where these 99 theaters are and how much of this country actually even has the potential of access to them before drawing too many conclusions about the touring business and audience. It is unsurprising though that the average audience member is white and tends to be better off than the vast majority of the country in terms of annual income. Theater can be incredibly restrictive in its price point. I wish that the article did not start off with the “advice” on running a business. I know that it is one and that the ability of shows to make money is what keeps them running; however, I really think that the business model should be finding ways to get out to those who are not represented in these demographics and spread the influence of art.
I am not surprised that the majority of touring Broadway shows’ audiences are comprised of (for lack of better words) wealthy white people. I have seen a lot of touring Broadway shows and this has always been my reaction to the audiences I have experienced. I am a very firm believer that theatre needs to be more accessible for everybody and much of this involves the prices of tickets to shows and the demographics that they are marketed to. I know commercial theatre’s goal is to make money but I wish they would make more of an effort to getting a diverse demographic to their shows and I do think one way is to make tickets less expensive. Subscription tickets often times too expensive for people to buy and since so many people do there are fewer tickets available for each individual show and therefore those tickets raise in price, so to be able to see a show it ends up being very expensive.
Wow this is not surprising at all. In fact this is what I could have told you. Of the theatre going audience I know myself outside of our cobbled together utopia, every single person I think of that buys the ticket is a woman. Though I know no one that sees on average of 5 shows a year. At most it is 3 and even that is stretching it. In Chicago it is just too damn expensive to buy more than that. Usually my family budgets enough money to see one show around the Christmas holiday, whether that is a Christmas time show Nutcracker or Christmas Carol, or whatever Road Show is in the city at the time. So right there a chance of our buying power is already cut in half. Most of the shows I remember seeing are in the late spring or early summer. I understand other cities are a little more accessible as far as monetary factors are concerned, but even still those who do are most certainly the elderly I would say about 60.
I thought this article was really strange. I agree that the survey was missing some, probably more relevant important, data about where shows go and why they go there and not other places. I also think that the data that was included was a little weird and not particularly helpful to anyone. I do not really see why it matters how patrons arrive at a venue, how they prefer to receive information, and their level of education, among others. Depending on the kind of information companies are looking for, the relevant data will change, of course, but I just do not see how some of these elements are relevant to anyone. I feel that it would be more interesting and useful to examine the process of making decisions for touring shows, like how people decide where to go to perform, and that would also provide relevant information as to why the demographic of people who see shows is the way it is.
This was not at all surprising and I really think this is something we all know already. Tours tend to go to the big cities because it makes the most sense financially. Rich people live in big cities. This makes theatre more accessible to them. Tickets are expensive but they are rich so they can afford them. If they do not live in the big city, and perhaps live in the nice suburbs surrounding it, they almost definitely own a car to transport them to the big city. They can afford to do this because they are rich. They are white. They speak English. These things make life easier for them so they can enjoy things like going to see shows. I think we as theatre artists know this and that’s why we make so many shows about the minorities. We know the chances of them being there to represent their selves are lower, so why not tell their story to the people who won’t give them the time of day otherwise? This is very general, but you get the point. By using something the rich already do to tell stories about the poor, we can hopefully make them more open-minded, better, more accepting, and understanding people. At least that’s my goal.
As Annika and Sebastian both said, this is not shocking at all. It really doesn’t surprise me that this is the audience demographic for the touring shows. Coming from a city with a touring house, subscription and show tickets were so damn expensive, it was nearly impossible to for me to go see one. A lot of people are saying things about the data, but it’s all really relevant. Like Miranda pointed out, they can afford all of the stuff they have; car, subscription or show tickets, etc. We talk about making theatre accessible to everyone, but when popular shows arrive, people who don’t have the means to spend hundreds of dollars on tour tickets are left out. Rich white people going to see shows is what everyone is used to seeing, I just can’t wait until we actually make theatre available for everyone. Getting a larger demographic would be beneficial in so many ways.
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