“The marketing mix is a blend of variables” (Rentschler, 1999, p.8), which consists of the 4 p’s; Product, Place, Price and Promotion. These summarize the marketing activities for a company and “these marketing activities support the marketing goals of the organization” (Mokwa, 1980, p.114).
Product
When concerned with the arts, the product can be categorized in a number of ways; “one is the year-after-year product that the organization is providing to its community. A second is a particular year or season; the set of performances being offered […] [Another] level of product classification is the individual performance itself” (Mokwa, 1980, p.114).
For our theatre company theatre our ‘product’ can be categorized in the following ways;
Wake Up Theatre:
Our company, itself. We want to be known as a reliable theatre company, who offer a great standard of performances year after year. We want our audience to be loyal to our company and believe it what our work expresses. Therefore it is important that as a product we remain consistent in what we produce, by creating “thought provoking theatre by experimenting with the collaboration between fact and fiction.” (Wake Up Theatre Company, 2013, online). 130,000 will be the start of establishing Wake Up Theatre as a product which offers all this.
Final Degree Shows:
Our current show 130,000 is part of a season of shows taking place at the LPAC in May 2013. These shows are the final degree shows for graduating drama students at the University of Lincoln. 130,000 is part of the theatre company strand of these final degree shows and will be marketed against 3 other shows, The Trial by Stamp Theatre, A Gothic Tale by Progeny Theatre Company and Cagebirds by Retold Theatre.
130,000:
Our current show, arguably our most important product. “130,000 explores the hidden complexities surrounding knife crime in Britain. Merging Roy Williams fictional play Fallout, inspired by the murders of Stephen Lawrence and Damilola Taylor, with verbatim testimony taken from the Stephen Lawrence inquiry; we will experiment with the collaboration of fact and fiction, to create a compelling and contemporary response to gang related culture.” (Wake Up Theatre, 2013, online). As 130,000 is our current and debut show the rest of the marketing mix will be concerned with this product.
Place
“Place is the composite of factors affecting where and how the product is offered, including the kind of facility, its location, accessibility by transport and time of event” (Rentschler, 1999, p.8).
At the moment, 130,000 is a one of performance as part of our theatre company module and therefore is only being performed in one venue, The Lpac in Lincoln.
The venue:
“Lincoln Performing Arts Centre is a modern theatre in the city centre, with a great range of shows and a friendly café bar. We are walking distance from High Street shopping and the restaurants on the Brayford Pool waterfront, you will also find plenty of parking nearby. We are home to the Lincoln School of Performing Arts. Around 400 students study Dance and Drama here at undergraduate and postgraduate level” (Lpac, 2013, online)
Accessibility:
The Lpac located in Lincoln City centre in walking distance from both the train and bus station and with parking available close by.
130,000:
Our production will be performing at the Lpac Monday 20th May at 7.30 pm.
Price
Tickets for 130,000 are £5 each or £15 as part of a pass to see all four final degree theatre company shows.
Promotion
“Promotion is the element of the marketing mix that communicates […] what is on offer to the target audience. By its very nature it is the most visible aspect of marketing activity. It plays an extremely important part in arts marketing strategy, especially where the aim to reach not only existing arts customers, but also to arouse interest of new audiences” (Hill, 2003, p.120).
130,00 will be promoted in the following way:
Posters:
Flyers:
Front:
Trailer:
Social Media
Facebook:
Twitter:
(More information on promotion for 130,000 can be found in 130,000 Marketing Presentation).
Works Cited
Hill, Liz, O’Sullivan, Catherine, O’Sullivan, Terry (2003) Creative Arts Marketing, Oxford: Butterworth.
Lpac (2013) About Us, Online: http://www.lpac.co.uk/about-us (accessed: 19th May 2013).
Mokwa, Michael P., Dawson, William M., and Prieve, E. Arthur (ed.) (1980) Marketing the Arts, London: Praeger.
Rentschler, Ruth (ed.) (1999) Innovative Arts Marketing, St Leonards: Allen & Unwin.
WAKEUP Theatre (2013) Home Page, Online: https://wakeuptheatre.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/ (accessed: 19th May 2013).