I have no illusions that a New York Times feature in the Theater section will be able to tell the full story of the incredibly far-reaching theater sector, but I bristled more than usual at a recent New York Times article that profiles Milwaukee Repertory Theater and Gulfshore Playhouse as regional theaters that are “defying the odds”. The article sets out to prove that success comes from leaning into familiar, upbeat programming and seeing strong attendance and financial results. Given the … [Read more...] about Nostalgia and Familiarity Oversimplifies What Audiences Want
Nostalgia
From Village Voice to TikTok: Rethinking How Audiences Discover Art
Like clockwork, every couple of weeks or more, I see artists lamenting the need to promote themselves in the current fractured media environment, mostly complaining about how much time it takes. I get it (and I’ve written about it on this blog before). Let's reframe that perspective—both by reminding ourselves of what really existed when a few media outlets held more power over the arts, and by pushing back against the learned helplessness I see all around us when it comes to connecting with … [Read more...] about From Village Voice to TikTok: Rethinking How Audiences Discover Art
A Christmas Carol as an Arts Marketing Parable
The marketing plan was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. You're the marketing director of a theater. It was your plan, but you knew it was dead. It's a Wednesday afternoon and the mid-week matinee happening in the theater two floors down was half-full. You can hear over the monitors the actors trying desperately to get the audience to laugh, but it just wasn’t working. You check the sales dashboard in your CRM and the social media accounts. Your Instagram post … [Read more...] about A Christmas Carol as an Arts Marketing Parable