Marketing a Broadway Show

[GilmoreGirlO2]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 10:45am

There’s a lot of talk on here about the marketing of shows and the effect it can have on the success (or lack thereof) of a Broadway show. I’ve recently become more and more interested in this, but, aside from following the grosses of shows for years, I haven’t paid much attention to the marketing styles of different shows until recently.

Someone on here mentioned once (I believe in the review thread for “The Last Ship,” but I could be wrong on that…) how a marketing team/producers’ ability to use pull-quotes and such from mixed/somewhat positive reviews could turn a show into a hit. I’m curious to know if there have been any instances of this happening. Obviously, how you market a show absolutely plays a part in its sales, but I’m wondering if there are instances where it was clear that the marketing of a show was the main factor in turning a show that was not previously selling all that well into a hit? Or, on the opposite spectrum, a show where the marketing seemed to be the biggest factor in why a show didn’t succeed financially?

I think that the initial marketing for “The Bridges of Madison County” played a big part in its downfall and, despite reformatting their marketing later to something much more representative of the show, the damage had been done. But, even in that case, I think there was a lot more working against the show and couldn’t confidently say the marketing was the main reason it didn’t attract an audience. I know “Wicked” opened to mixed reviews, but it also had the “Wizard of Oz” connection, as well as the appeal to children to help find its audience. I have a feeling many might bring up “Gentleman’s Guide,” but, although they were able to survive until the Tony nominations, it was really only its success in the awards season that turned it into a financial success.

I know a lot of this will be speculation – how can we ever know exactly why one show failed and one succeeded? But, with shows that are struggling, there is often a lot of talk about what the marketing team can do and I’m wondering if there are any examples where it seemed like the marketing alone had a direct effect on sales in these situations.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 12:41pm

Pippin (the original one) turned it sales around with an interestingly choreographed commercial by Bob Fosse. Great marketing.
Made it look sexy, different, interesting and entertaining.

Updated On: 11/25/14 at 12:41 PM

[Taryn]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 5:31pm

Marketing tends to get blamed for bad sales and not given any credit for good sales. When a show does well, it tends to be attributed to the strength of the piece itself or something else.