Splurge: The Metropolitan Opera, Steal: You

Fashion magazines often have Splurge/Steal sections; that is, an item of clothing or an accessory that celebs have (splurge) next to the version of the product that the rest of us can afford (steal).

September of two years ago, the Metropolitan Opera seemed to change overnight. In his blog, Through Rosen Colored Glasses, former Met board member and current chair of The Met marketing committee Ben Rosen outlines the three major initiatives undertaken by the Gelb regime: improve the product, create a major marketing effort, and add new sources of revenues and audience development. He goes on to outline exactly what measures were taken and the critical and commercial success that ensued.

He doesn't mention what all this cost, unfortunately, but let's assume The Met's operating budget is a "splurge" for the average presenter. So what can you do with little to no budget? Well, here you are - my best Glamour magazine impression:

Splurge: Replicas of Met sets at Saks Fifth Avenue.
Steal: Window displays using production props or music scores at your local bookstore or library. Example: If you're presenting The Rite of Spring, blow up copies of the premiere's scathing reviews, political cartoons from the time, and parts of the score, and arrange those along with biographies of Stravinsky and books on 20th century music. All the while displaying your venue, box office and performance information prominently, of course.


 
Splurge: Movie stars at opening night.
Steal: Community leaders at opening night. Restaurant owners, bar owners, CEOs, the superintendent of schools, your local congressman/woman, the mayor. OK, it's not Jude Law, but reaching out to the taste-makers in your community can only help build support for your organization, and everyone likes a special opening night invitation, red carpet or not.

Splurge: Gallery Met, a corner of The Met's lobby dedicated to works by contemporary artists.
Steal: Same as the splurge! Maybe William Wegman won't do a portrait for you, but opening the door to local visual artists will generate new audiences, enhance lobby aesthetic, and give your PR department an opportunity to reach out to critics from different genres.

Splurge: Total redesign of posters and website.
Steal: Fresh perspectives from outside your organization/usual freelance designers. Example: Reach out to local art students in your area and invite them to submit potential poster designs for your productions. This can be done in the form of a competition (the winner is automatically invited to do a poster the next season or gets a profile in the local paper) or as a general call for submissions. If you're trying to reach a college audience, why not look to college students for aesthetic guidance for your marketing materials?

Splurge: Free opening performance dress rehearsals.
Steal: Free opening performance dress rehearsals.

Splurge: Attracting specialized audiences (Rosen sites marketing Satyagraha to "New-age magazines, yoga groups, anti-apartheid organizations, India groups and South African organizations").
Steal: Again, the same thing, with the addition of creating a network of businesses in your community that will support all the premieres at your venue. To site McCarter again (I was their marketing intern), Small World Coffee in Princeton, NJ started creating a unique coffee for every new theatre production (I was especially pleased with "To Brew or Not to Brew: There is No Question" for Hamlet), and Triumph Brewery, also in town, created a new beer as well (and donated lots to us on opening nights!).

Splurge: HD live telecasts to movie theaters around the world.
Steal:  Oh dear. Let me think about that one.