Posters and Advertising
Printed From: Community Theater Green Room
Category: Theater Administration
Forum Name: Running Your Theater
Forum Discription: General questions about how to make it work
URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5057
Printed Date: 11/22/24 at 12:16pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 8.05 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Posters and Advertising
Posted By: Legacy Theater
Subject: Posters and Advertising
Date Posted: 4/26/11 at 3:56pm
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Hello Everyone,
I just love this forum and this site. It has proved to be so valuable as we start our new theater!!! Thank you all for your expertise and insight! A little background. I have started a community theater in Jacksonville NC. We are on our way to raising funds for our 501c3. I live in a decent size town that has NO community theater. There are numerous theaters in Wilmington (about an hour away) and New Bern (about 45 minutes away) but nothing of substance in my town. So, coming from Long Island and being engrossed in theater and going to school for music, The Legacy Theater Company was born. Check out our website and we would LOVE any advice. ANYWHO . . . my first production is an original, absolutely hysterical comedy and we will be performing on June 10, 11, 17 and 18 of 2011. My question is, How soon do you start putting up posters in your town business' (if you do)? And what other types of advertising/marketing do you do? Thanks for the advice :) Erika ------------- Erika Hose President Legacy Theater Company |
Replies:
Posted By: edh915
Date Posted: 4/26/11 at 4:41pm
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We usually get the posters out and around town about three weeks (absolutely no more than a month) before the show opens. We usually manage a feature article in the newspaper about a week before the show opens. And then a "mini-review" after the show's opening weekend. Since you're new, you should be able to get the paper interested in doing a feature article now (or real soon) about your theatre and what you're plans are. Then when the article about the play comes along it won't be coming from left field, so to speak. Get yourself listed in any community calendar you can find - local paper's web site, local library, maybe even local churches. See if you can get a local eatery or grocery to host (or partially fund) a reception after the opening night show. Charge extra and keep it exclusive. (A wine and cheese tasting event is always popular.) See if you find local sponsors for subsequent shows. It's also possible to sell one night of performance to a local group or organization that they can use as a fund-raiser. That's all I can think of at the moment. (I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but my brain cells don't always cooperate.) |
Posted By: Legacy Theater
Date Posted: 4/26/11 at 11:22pm
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Thank you so much. Those are AMAZING ideas!!! I was thinking the same thing about the posters, three weeks will do it :)
The fundraiser idea intrigued me. Can you elaborate more on that? Thanks so much for your response :) ------------- Erika Hose President Legacy Theater Company |
Posted By: Majicwrench
Date Posted: 4/28/11 at 11:39am
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We sampled our audiences during three shows, and most of em heard about it thru either the radio or the newspaper. We did not run any ads, but there were several articles about us. Posters came in last. In my tiny town, newspapers love to get pictures and articles already written, so you might just send em something. I usually send in pics and an article as we are starting rehearsals, and then one before we open. Most radio stations have some sort of community interview/calendar and they love to have something new to talk about. Offer them some tickets to give away too. This last show I did two batches of posters, and put up the first batch about a month before, and then the second, different batch a week before. If the same poster is up too long it becomes invisible. Of course two sets of poster is $$ too.
I'm not sure what kind of show or if this is possible, but I take every show I can to our local Adult Care Center before the actual opening. The performance itself is often a little rough, without the real stage and lights, but it gets the cast in front of real people AND I invite the media to come and take pictures. Mucho good PR.
An adventure awaits you...
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Posted By: jayzehr
Date Posted: 4/28/11 at 5:55pm
What do you charge for that? |
Posted By: jayzehr
Date Posted: 4/28/11 at 5:57pm
| My theory on posters is that it's not a primary method--i.e. very few to no one comes to a play based on just a poster--but it helps reinforce other publicity. For example, someone sees a poster and says "that's the show Joe is in." |
Posted By: Rorgg
Date Posted: 4/29/11 at 11:55am
I think it depends on circumstance. I got involved in CT in the first place because of a poster. I didn't go to THAT show, but I now knew there was such a thing near me, and I looked them up on the web, and saw the audition notice for the NEXT show. So, for a new company in an area without any existing theatre at all, this could be a VERY effective thing. |
Posted By: Majicwrench
Date Posted: 4/29/11 at 12:03pm
| By all means use posters, yes, When we sampled our audiences we certainly had people who came because they saw the posters. But the more stuff you can get out there, the better, and posters are expensive to boot. |
Posted By: edh915
Date Posted: 4/29/11 at 12:33pm
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Re: Using a performance as a fundraiser A group I've worked with does this very successfully. They run their normal Fri-Sat-Sun schedule for the general public (usually 3 or 4 weekends), but will add a Wednesday or Thursday show (after the first weekend) if a local organization wants to use it for a fundraiser. The theater holds 120 people. They charge the organization what the theater group would expect to get at 50% capacity. In other words, 60 seats at the normal box office rate of, let's say $10.00 ea. So for $600.00 the community organization (charity, religious, business, fraternal, whatever) is free to charge whatever they want to their supporters. So, for example, if they sold their tickets for $20.00 ea, and if they sold out (120 seats at $20 ea), they'd pay for the $600.00 rental and earn an additional $1800.00 on top of that. Add raffles and silent auction pre-show and intermission activities, and they can make substantially more. Businesses have also bought performances for an employees night out, too - Christmas Party or "Company Picnic". Another option is to have two charities combine to share a performance. (We had a Jewish and Catholic combo one year) The last show I did there we did four weekends for the general public, and an additional four pre-sold shows. The only trick is that the organizations must commit to the show prior to its opening. In fact, we know at auditions how many shows are being sold to groups, so we can tell our cast members and crew what to expect in terms of their performance schedule. There are all sorts of variations that can be run with this kind of set-up; but this at least is the basic structure that they work with. Because it's pre-sold, it's usually easiest to do a show the audiences are familiar with. But even that is not a hard and fast rule. If you've got something a bit "out of the ordinary" you can sell it as a "event" and still fill the seats. Another little side effect of this kind of arrangement: You make people aware of your theater who might not ordinarily have come on their own. They attend a show for their group, enjoy themselves, and come again on their own dime. It's good PR for the group on top of everything else. |
Posted By: Legacy Theater
Date Posted: 4/29/11 at 1:46pm
Great ideas everyone! Thank you so much for your advice and support. I love the idea of the fundraiser night. Great info! I will also be sure to get the posters up three weeks prior. Thanks so much!  ------------- Erika Hose President Legacy Theater Company |