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On January 13, Alvin Ailey Director of Marketing Thomas Cott wrote:
Trendwatching: “One Day Sale”
FROM TC: This season, I’ve noticed more and more major regional theaters have announced a “one day sale,” offering low-priced tickets to their productions. Some recent examples include: American Repertory Theatre (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Arena Stage (Washington, D.C.), Dallas Theater Center (Dallas, Texas), Huntington Theatre Company (Boston, Massachusetts), and Portland Center Stage (Portland, Oregon). Is this merely another sign of the bad economic times or is this a trend in arts marketing?
As I’ve said before, arts organizations need to embrace recession-era lingo. “One Day” sales are a great idea; someone also mentioned having a “Clearance Sale” at the Chamber Music America conference on Saturday, which I love, to promote concerts. “All Tickets Must Go!” “Liquidation Sale!” “All Inventory 60% Off!”: these are words we’re starting to see everywhere, so why not incorporate them into your marketing materials?
You can’t walk around New York City without being bombarded by ‘Sale’ signs. I took the bus across town to The Whitney on Sunday, and walked from 66th and Madison up to the 74th and Madison, a stretch that includes some of the most expensive, high-end clothing boutiques in the country. Literally ever single store had a sign in the window:
…and then when I got to The Whitney, a membership sale:
I walk by The Miller Theatre on the way to the gym…let’s pretend “daily”…and there are no ‘Sale’ signs. If I saw a season poster outside a New York City venue that said TICKET CLEARANCE SALE, it would both get my attention and blend in with surrounding shop windows. I’m not sure the world-at-large knows that arts organizations have trouble selling tickets – it sounds silly, but I really don’t think folks outside the industry have any idea. Not only would ‘Clearance sale’ signs outside of venues and in brochures be funny, but they would provide an acknowledgment that we’re all in this together – even the classical music you associate with rich people and fancy concerts is affected by the times.
We all know that Pre G. Depression Take Two, arts organizations hardly had ad dollars to spare, but I’m hopeful that the added pressure of the economy will result in a – can I say “renaissance”? – of arts marketing. Organizations will have to seriously consider where and how they spend their limited funds, and look toward community-building promotions and free marketing outlets to support their products. Marketing interns spending your days on blogs and Facebook, take note! You’re about to become the most valuable member of your department.
Hi! We at the Huntington Theatre Company began our one day sales in 2006 (before it was a trend!) mostly as a means to draw attention to the day in August that our single tickets went on sale to the public and a way to celebrate our 25th anniversary. We were initially concerned that we would be losing out on revenue and would re-train our audience to only buy discounted tickets, but found that an overwhelming percentage of buyers of our sales were completely new to our database (65% that first time). We have since had these sales quarterly and found them to be effective tools to drive traffic into our early performances and to remain as affordable as possible to a wide audience. And now, of course, with the economy crumbling, these sales are more important than ever. Thanks for highlighting them!