Marketing and Touring: A Practical Guide To Marketing An Event On Tour

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Scottish Arts Council 12 Manor Place Edinburgh EH3 7DD www.scottisharts.org.uk Telephone: 0131 226 6051 Fax: 0131 225 9833 Arts Council of Wales 9 Museum Place Cardiff CF10 3NN www.artswales.org.uk Telephone: 029 2037 6500 Fax: 029 2022 1447 Arts Council England 14 Great Peter Street London SW1P 3NQ www.artscouncil.org.uk Telephone: 0845 300 6200 Textphone: 020 7973 6564 Charity registration no. 1036733 For the full list of Arts Council England publications and details of how to order, see www.artscouncil.org.uk Order our publications from Marston Book Services Telephone: 01235 465500 Email: direct.orders@marston.co.uk To download this publication for free as a pdf, see www.artscouncil.org.uk This publication is available in Braille and electronic formats If you need any of these formats, please contact us as follows: Telephone: 020 7393 6517 Textphone: 020 7973 6564 Email: enquiries@artscouncil.org.uk
This publication should be used for guidance only. While every effort has been made to make sure that the content of this publication is correct, Arts Council England cannot warrant that the material contained is up to date or can we assume any liability or responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any information disclosed. Arts Council England, July 2004
Marketing and touring

A practical guide to marketing an event on tour
Marketing and touring A practical guide to marketing an event on tour
Marketing and touring

A practical guide to marketing an event on tour Heather Maitland
Contents
Foreword
Foreword Introduction Developing effective partnerships Getting started Setting up a tour Campaign planning Communicating with audiences Monitoring and evaluation Further reading and other useful information Acknowledgements
Page 3 4 5 19 29 45 59 97 103 119
This is an invaluable and indispensable addition to the armoury for anyone involved in the complex business of touring, either as promoter or presenter. The very real challenges we face in connecting artists and audiences on tour are laid bare in this practical and comprehensive guide, itself an imaginative co-production by the arts councils of England, Scotland and Wales. It is based on real-life experiences from which we can all learn from companies and venues, from all artforms and from all scales. Above all, it underlines just how important the relationship between the visiting and resident manager is. In reality it is only a partnership approach that can secure success and make the hard, hard work of touring bearable. This guide describes all the tools that you will need to set out on that journey but provides more than adequate refreshment for those of us already some way along the road. Heather Maitland has completed her own gruelling tour in compiling this handbook and we owe her our thanks for her tireless devotion to an area of work in the arts that is so critical to all of us. I commend her efforts and the contents of Marketing and touring A practical guide to marketing an event on tour to you. John Stalker Chief Executive Festival City Theatres Trust
Developing effective partnerships
4 Marketing and touring A practical guide to marketing an event on tour
Introduction
This guide aims to help companies and venues to market touring arts events more effectively. It can be used by anyone involved in touring marketing in any artform, on any scale and in any capacity and it is particularly useful for theatre and dance. Many readers will already be familiar with the principles and skills it describes, but even so we hope it will be a helpful planning checklist to support you in your everyday work. Colleagues involved in touring marketing stress that the most important factor for success is creating and sustaining a strong partnership between the company and the venue. It is fitting, therefore, that the development of this guide has been a great example of teamwork. Sixty-two practitioners contributed case studies, top tips and comments, all of which you can find in the online version of this guide (at www.artscouncil.org.uk/touringguide). Forty-one companies and 50 venues responded to the research into current practice, and the process has been guided by an editorial group of 12 marketers working on all scales and in a range of artforms. You can find a complete list of the team in the Acknowledgements section. Marketing and touring A practical guide to marketing an event on tour describes a process which begins even before a tour has been pencilled in. You will find it most helpful, therefore, if you first of all read it through from cover to cover.
Top tips Minimum standards Thinking in the long term Making partnerships work Choosing partners Partnerships within your own organisation
6 8 10 12 15 17
Developing effective partnerships 7
Developing effective partnershipsd edition, Pearson

Education Limited, 2002, p. 35
The key to effective partnerships is understanding your own and your partners aims and objectives. Company marketers need to identify what their organisation is trying to achieve with each particular tour. From this they can identify their priorities. A company may, for example, have the longer-term aim of persuading venues to book a full week of performances next year. As a result, they will invest resources in maximising income and attendance for a particular tour. Similarly, venue marketers need to find out why a particular tour has been booked so that they too can identify priorities. A venue may for example book a prestigious tour by a major national company in order to reposition itself as a major player within its local market. The marketer would therefore focus resources on creating a high profile for the visit. Both partners must be clear about what they are trying to achieve and the amount of staff time and level of marketing budget that this will require. Two-thirds of the companies who contributed to this guide toured to nontheatre venues so most touring marketers will be faced with some unusual situations at some point. This can seem daunting but all the contributors agreed that tackling unusual partnerships was just a matter of common sense.
Top tips close liaison between touring companies and venues is vital understand your own and your partners aims and objectives set measurable targets you can achieve early on as success breeds success long-term relationships between venues and touring companies provide the best return on investment plan together to develop audiences be flexible and open to new ideas
London Bubble Theatre Company tours to parks every summer. Each year, they try to add one or two new sites so their Marketing Director, Elliot Rose, has to develop audiences from scratch. He knows from research into his existing audiences that most of them live very close to the park in which they see the show, so he concentrates his marketing in small geographic pockets. The research also tells him that editorial and adverts in local papers and free sheets work better than using London-wide publications; that door-to-door leafleting can be effective; and that arts attenders are best reached at other events taking place in unconventional venues. With this information and some enthusiastic partners, planning a campaign for this unusual context becomes straightforward. If your event is happening in a public space like a park, try and spend as much time as possible there. Find out when its busy and which parts of the space are most heavily used; make friends with the park keepers and caf staff. Not only will they become ambassadors for your event, it will help to smooth relationships when you descend on the park with kit, crew and, hopefully, a large audience. Elliot Rose, Marketing Director, London Bubble Theatre Company Minimum standards Only a third of venues involved in the research for this guide said that most of the companies visiting their venue gave them the basic support they needed to market a show. They said that the essentials they needed from visiting companies were: sufficient good-quality print that accurately reflected the show brochure copy and images information about the production images for the media information for a press release a list of target audiences a consistent point of contact
The companies involved in the research for this guide said that the essentials they needed from their venues were: up-to-date local press contacts a mailing list that could be divided into target groups an effective print distribution system an effective season brochure knowledge of their audiences enthusiastic staff Effective marketing needs more than this, though. The absolute minimum a venue or promoter on any scale should offer a touring company is: attendance at a campaign planning meeting, if offered, and advice about who else should attend a positive attitude towards the company and the work information, especially hard data, about existing audiences, potential audiences, catchment area and local conditions; a mailing list of core attenders an appropriate profile in the season brochure an appropriate profile in standard advertising the ability to undertake additional targeted mailings a local and regional press list advice and support throughout the campaign any available information to help evaluate the campaign, such as the analysis of attenders from the box office computer system
The absolute minimum a company should offer a venue or promoter, whatever their resources, is: a meeting or a lengthy telephone conversation to exchange information and plan the marketing campaign a positive attitude towards the promoter information, especially hard data, about existing and potential audiences suggested selling points suggested target markets sample direct mail letter appropriate for each of the target markets suggested appropriate quantities of print such as posters and leaflets sample press release an appropriate quantity of black and white photographs suitable for press use access to high-resolution digital colour images if required a box office information sheet appropriate display material advice and support throughout the campaign
the company has to offer. This appears to be a particular problem with dance companies when they focus on a particular choreographers work and especially when they perform the same piece too often in mixed programmes. Problems can arise when companies develop a new artistic direction. If audiences have come to associate a particular style of work with a company through their regular visits then they can react negatively to an unexpected experience. Loyal audiences need careful nurturing through the period of change. Above all, long-term relationships mean that the venue and company can plan together to develop audiences. Audience development Key factors for success in audience development: those involved in planning and delivering audience development are clear how the activity contributes to their organisations overall objectives projects are part of a long-term plan developed through dialogue between the artistic, education and marketing functions of the organisation and its partners clear aims and measurable targets are set in advance audience development activity is addressed at a distinct target group and there is a close match between their needs and interests and the benefits the chosen arts event or activity has to offer those involved collect and analyse information about the target group to use in decision making there is a process of consultation with the target group the elements of the marketing mix are tailored to suit the needs, experiences and personal circumstances of the target group, including the product surround and where appropriate, the core product activity is evaluated the organisation sustains its relationship with the target group in the long term
any available information to help evaluate the campaign, eg the results of an audience survey Thinking in the long term Long-term relationships between venues and companies Longer-term relationships between venues and companies are the most productive as they provide the best return on the time and money put into building audiences. Venue and company staff develop a closer working relationship and greater commitment, audiences can become loyal to particular companies and it becomes possible to take a planned approach to artistic development, education work and audience development. There are drawbacks to long-term relationships, though. Companies and venues need to ensure that audiences dont feel as though they have seen everything
Companies say I think venues need to regard touring company marketers as a resource, not as a threat or someone who will tell them off if things go wrong. I want to help, and Im there to help, but Im often not asked. PLEASE TALK TO ME! Catherine Evans, Diversions, Dance Company of Wales
In the touring context, there are two more key factors that can make the difference between success and failure: allocating sufficient resources of staff time and money to the project in the short as well as long term. Projects aimed at groups of people who are not traditionally theatregoers require significantly more investment of time, energy and money and have a far lower return on that investment than those that aim to develop people with a predisposition to attend or participate. Both the company and the venue need to be clear what resources will be required and make the commitment from the outset the venue or promoter needs to take an overview and coordinate the work of visiting companies, so that each visit contributes to their long-term goals Whats involved in audience development? Before identifying and selecting target markets designed to develop audiences, the venue or promoter and the company should consider the following: are the aims shared by both the venue or promoter and the company? the appropriateness of the product the demographic profile of the catchment area the ease of communication with the selected target market eg targeting young people outside educational settings is difficult are sufficient resources of time and money available? is the positioning of the venue and company appropriate? what work has already been done by other arts organisations in the region to reach the chosen target market? what outside support is available, eg from the regions marketing and arts development agencies? Making partnerships work Partnerships are not about organisations working together but about interaction between people. They change over time so they are more of a process than an outcome and tend to go through the following stages1:
1
Forming: finding a common goal that can bond the group, building a vision and establishing participants willingness to work together Informing: setting and exploring objectives, finding other shared bonds such as common interests and concerns, and establishing a mutual dependence Storming: adopting roles within the partnership this commonly leads to some conflict Norming: accepting the roles established within the group, resulting in stabilisation Performing: being committed to achieving the objectives the participants have set and dividing up tasks You will need to interact in different ways depending on the stage your partnership has reached. You are also likely to encounter some conflict on the way but if you set up the partnership well, the partners will be able to resolve it. Factors for success: spend time on the partnership, particularly in the first three stages make sure you find a common goal that all the partners think is important avoid making assumptions about each other find out be ambitious but make sure you set clear objectives that you can deliver set objectives that you can achieve early in the partnership because success breeds success make sure everyone is clear who is doing what agree some ways of working together, particularly if there are several partners be flexible respect and trust each other make sure you decide what happens after the tour is over so there is a legacy to the partnership this will encourage the partners to invest in it
Developmental sequence in small groups, Bruce W Tuckman, Psychological Bulletin, 63, 384399, 1965
Experts say People in partnerships feel guilty if they are getting more than they are putting in and, unless they change their partners behaviour, the partnership is as likely to break down as if they receive less than they are putting in. Troy Cooper, The Psychology of Partnership
Dealing with problems If you encounter problems in your partnership, your first task is to work out what is causing them. Here are some possibilities: misunderstandings: people getting the wrong end of the stick about what has been said or done differences of values: these lead to the most serious disagreements and are almost always about goals or objectives differences of viewpoint: these are disagreements about how shared goals should be reached differences of interest: these arise from competition for status or resources personality clashes: these arise from differences of temperament, style or ways of behaving but they are often used as an excuse for differences arising from the other reasons listed above.2 Once you have identified the cause, you have some choices. You can insist that you get your way but this is likely to make your partner feel they have lost and so will damage the relationship. It may be necessary, though, if you need to make an important decision quickly. You can avoid the issue if you think a cooling off period is necessary but this is not a solution to the problem. You can compromise so that you both partly win. You can give in because you want to keep a good relationship. If your partnership is already strong, you can collaborate to find a solution that works for both of you and so you both win. This is the best outcome possible and to achieve it you both need to: be open with each other and talk about the issues rather than hiding them be flexible and open to new ideas keep communicating summarise the situation and clarify your point of view put the problem to one side for a short while so you can think about it identify areas where you agree and then use this as a basis for talking about your differences you might not disagree about things as much as you think think about your point of view objectively as a last resort, bring in someone not directly involved to mediate
2
Communicating effectively One of the problems most often identified by both venues and companies involved in the research for this guide was poor communication. Avoid this by: giving your partner a named contact in your organisation who will be responsible for maintaining communication making sure that person is available to answer queries returning calls speedily checking what your partner needs to know not making assumptions check that your partner has understood writing things down sending your partner notes of meetings calling your partner periodically to check how things are going Choosing partners The process of booking a tour involves making decisions about which venues and promoters a company wants to work with. Both venues and companies benefit greatly from involving their marketers in setting up a tour and in the subsequent negotiations. A good relationship between company and venue is generated by customer satisfaction on both sides. Marketers play an important role in making sure that everyones expectations will be fulfilled because: first-time venues can have unrealistic expectations, especially if the product involved is not mainstream company staff booking tours can have unrealistic expectations of what can be achieved in unfamiliar venues both company and venue must have the staff and financial resources to make the potential partnership viable problems caused by a mismatch between the companys product and the venues audiences require a great deal of time and effort to resolve, if indeed they can be
Adapted from Units 910 Conflict, Managing in Organisations, Open University, 1985
Other factors There are many other factors that influence the planning of a tour: funders may require a minimum number of dates in a particular region, or require a company to perform in more than one region special relationships with a region technical requirements may prevent product touring to some venues the audience development objectives of the venue, company or a promoter timing the late booking of a tour may force companies to accept any venues that still have dates available companies or funders may aim to make particular artforms available as far as possible in all regions of the UK Even if you cannot influence planning at this stage, talk to your colleagues so that you understand and can explain why they have made particular decisions. Venues see poor internal communication as a major weakness in companies and it can be a problem in venues too. See the online version of this guide at www.artscouncil.org.uk/touringguide for sources of information that can help companies decide where to tour and for guidance on how to market your touring production to venue managers.
Partnerships within your own organisation Working with education and outreach Those responsible for education and marketing in your organisation are likely to have different goals and different perspectives on audience development. Education workers are more likely to focus on developing the individual through participation rather than attendance. Marketers are likely to want to expand and broaden attendance at performances and to strengthen peoples relationships with the organisation itself. Each area has its own specialist language, too. Education and marketing staff each have a unique set of techniques, skills and knowledge they can apply to audience development. On the whole, the tools used by the education staff are excellent at providing an in-depth experience to relatively small numbers of people at a time. The tools used by the marketing team can communicate effectively with relatively large numbers of people but are less effective in changing peoples attitudes to the arts. Working together ensures that the organisation avoids developing audiences or participants and then abandoning them, as both education and marketing can coordinate activities to ensure continuity in the relationship with these new-found friends. This means that when the two functions work together, they get better results. Close liaison is vital. There needs to be mutual respect and understanding of both the shared and individual visions and goals. Misunderstandings can arise when there is a lack of clarity about whether the companys policy is to focus education work primarily on audience development or on purely educational goals related to individual learning. In particular, some venue staff find it difficult to understand why education work is not linked more closely with the companys performances.
Discuss policy and possible activity at the campaign planning meeting including the appropriateness of links with any audience development objectives. These objectives are best achieved as part of a long-term relationship between company and venue. It is easy to be over-ambitious, particularly when the company does not provide education support on tour. Both marketers should therefore clarify their core marketing objectives, identify the activities that will best achieve them and prioritise them. If the resources needed to set up a preperformance talk outweigh the benefits, they should focus on more effective activities. It is unrealistic to expect people to fulfil the roles of both a marketing and an education officer. Talk internally and with your partners at the venue or company about: what education activity is happening and which wider strategies and policies it links with whether there are any resources that can be pooled whether there are any education activities that need wider promotion, how this will fit into the overall campaign plan and who will take responsibility for doing it if any potential exists for ticket deals that package education events and performances which contacts need following up if there is potential for events organised in collaboration such as pre- or post-performance talks the most effective selling points of the production for schools and other education contacts the best methods to use to communicate with schools and other education contacts and the best timing for these
Getting started
Getting started
Top tips What is touring marketing? The promoters and/or venues role The companys role When to do what... Employing marketing freelancers and agencies
20 21 23 24 25 28
Getting started 21
Getting started
People will act in infuriating and annoying ways but when necessary, will bring the genius of their humanity to solve apparently insoluble problems. Barbara Senior, Organisational Change, 2nd edition, Pearson Education Limited, 2002, p. 357
Getting started
What is touring marketing? The touring of arts events presents a series of unique challenges to marketers, whether they are based in a presenting venue or in a company, because neither a presenting venue nor a touring company can achieve its objectives on its own. The company is the expert on the product, but the venue is the expert on its audiences and the local marketing environment. They are a team even if their offices are at opposite ends of the country, maximising their resources of money, time, skills, knowledge and goodwill by pooling them to achieve a common purpose. In many ways marketers will be trying to achieve the same things and can identify complementary aims, but each venue and company will also have different aims and very different needs. Marketers need to: share responsibilities and so share the workload share information to make sure that each understands the others objectives be honest with each other and not hide the challenges they face in their own organisations Good teamwork will bring bigger audiences or broader audiences according to the companys and venues shared aims. It will also ensure an appropriate financial outcome for both sides. This teamwork has most impact when it is planned.
Companies say I want to emphasise that successful marketing depends on close cooperation between promoters and companies. Companies cant do it alone. Martin Heller, Prime Productions Ltd
Top tips touring companies that collaborate with venues on marketing get bigger audiences and are more likely to be invited back share information and promote teamwork to maximise results have clear aims and objectives put together a strong marketing resource pack negotiate a written contract with the venue
Getting started 23
Venues and promoters are looking for touring companies that produce work that fulfils their artistic objectives and attracts enough ticket buyers to meet their financial objectives. Many are willing to take financial risks but these risks are strictly limited. Companies must convince promoters that their work is of a high quality and that they can help them find an audience for it. Promoters seek out companies willing to share the responsibility for marketing. Companies that support venues and promoters in marketing to potential audiences are more likely to: encourage the promoters to take financial risks on unfamiliar artforms get bigger audiences so new promoters will be more likely to book them generate goodwill among promoters who will be happy to invite them back generate bigger audiences over time as regular bookings at a venue have been shown to develop audiences In some artforms such as drama and dance, the standard of marketing support offered by many companies is relatively high. This means that venues and promoters are disappointed by the inferior service offered by other companies and other artforms. It is in the companies own interest that they try and meet the minimum standard expected of them. It means that they are more likely to be invited back and even to get first-time bookings because venues and promoters talk to each other about companies, sharing both good and bad news. It is more difficult for marketers in some organisations to deliver what venues and promoters expect, particularly those working for classical music ensembles and orchestras. This is because the programme can be entirely different in each venue and there are none of the usual economies of scale. Even so, venues and promoters find it very difficult indeed to sell the events without the right help from the touring company and so some companies have invested in providing the best-possible support.
The promoters and/or venues role Promoters and venues need to: collect and analyse information about existing and potential audiences in the area gather information about the marketing opportunities and resources available locally including possibilities for collaborations with other organisations identify, through consultation with colleagues where necessary, what your organisation wants to achieve by booking each event in the season negotiate a written contract with the company, including the money to be spent on marketing and what marketing resources the company and venue will supply, with deadlines for delivery of the key items keep an up-to-date list of press and media contacts in the area give each incoming event an appropriate profile in the season brochure identify opportunities for promoting different events together identify opportunities for persuading audiences to cross over between events meet the person with responsibility for marketing from each company or engage in a lengthy telephone discussion to decide the marketing campaign for the visit brief the box office and other sales staff about each event mail and distribute the season brochure undertake mailings, presswork, advertising and distribution, etc as agreed in the campaign plan give each company an appropriate profile front of house through displays, etc undertake research into the audience as agreed, eg by analysing box office data provide feedback and copies of media coverage to the company
Venues and promoters say The essential things I need from companies are a strong marketing information pack, strong, clear and constant communication, clearly laid out and understood aims and objectives, and a clear understanding of our shared and individual objectives and each others workloads. Kevin Jamieson, Wakefield Theatres
Getting started 25
the production that will appeal to them and the most effective ways of communicating those messages compile a marketing resource pack with information about the production and its potential audience, information about the company and marketing tools, including a direct mail letter aimed at each target group, press releases appropriate to each type of media outlet and potential story plus other relevant information such as cast members with local connections, etc commission and distribute to the venues high-quality printed material that accurately represents the experience audiences will have when they see the production identify, through consultation with colleagues where necessary, what your organisation wants to achieve by visiting each venue on the tour negotiate a written contract with the venue, including the money to be spent on marketing and what marketing resources the company and venue will supply, with deadlines for delivery of the key items meet the person with responsibility for marketing from each venue or engage in a lengthy telephone discussion to decide the marketing campaign for the visit provide notes for the box office and other sales staff about your company and production undertake mailings, press work, advertising and distribution, etc as agreed in the campaign plan provide feedback and research information to the venue
-12 months -11 months -10 months
-13 months plan branding and structure season agree schedule
The companys role Companies need to: collect and analyse information about audiences for previous tours make informed decisions about appropriate target groups, the benefits of
When to do what Outline schedule for venues and promoters

Activities for whole season
pencil bookings set detailed marketing budgets Activities for each company
-8 months
-9 months
-7 months
decide targets and benefits book printer structure brochure gather copy and images brochure design printing and delivery
confirm bookings
contracts including marketing budgets schools mailing brief designer
campaign meeting
-5 months
-6 months
group bookers mailing mailing to members booking opens schools reminder
print arrives
box office pack
initial press release
-3 months
-4 months
-2 months
information distribution: season brochure
book planned ads information distribution: company print telephone sales company send artwork book extra ads ads appear assessment and feedback
press release and preview photos displays arrive review/photocall invites photocall Reviews send reviews to company
-1 month
Season opens
Performances
Getting started 27
Outline schedule for companies Ten out of 24 mid-scale venues involved in the research for this guide reported receiving marketing material on the day or in the week of the performance and being unable to make use of it. Most of the venues on all scales said that they preferred to be sent marketing resources such as print and marketing packs between four and six months in advance. Some venues have no storage space and prefer to receive material later. It is important to check preferred timings when companies and venues first make contact.
Outline schedule for companies

General activities for whole tour
-13 months company brand analysis of targets and benefits write copy for promoters pack
-12 months
follow-up calls
prepare and send out packs to promoters
-10 months
-11 months
pencil bookings set detailed marketing budgets
-9 months
Activities for each venue

decide targets and benefits confirm bookings prepare packs campaign planning meetings print schedule commission print team design brief photocall write copy check brochure deadlines campaign meeting marketing resource pack
-7 months
-8 months exchange contracts
schools mailing
images and copy
-6 months
print design print and delivery national press campaign begins newsletter to national mailing list support for venues with local media, target groups programmes designed programmes printed and delivered group bookers mailing schools reminder booking opens information distribution eg venue mailing lists, poster distribution photos to venue displays to venue telephone sales book extra ads ads appear visit venue review/ photocall invites photocall
-5 months
print delivery
box office pack
initial press release
-3 months
-4 months
photocall photos reproduced commission ad design
-1 month
-2 months
Tour begins
Performances
assessment and feedback
Reviews
Venues and promoters say Companies should be very choosy if they opt to use a freelance intermediary to market their shows. Theyll get what they pay for, and in some cases should not consider the cheaper options at all. Jamie Normington, Eastbourne Theatres
Employing marketing freelancers and agencies Do you do your marketing in-house or employ a freelance or agency? Half of the companies who contributed to this guide undertake all their press work and marketing in-house. Small- and mid-scale touring companies are most likely to handle these areas themselves. Around a third employed a freelance marketing and press specialist to cover all marketing activity for some or all of their touring work. None of the companies with an in-house press officer contracted out their marketing activity, although one in six employed a press specialist to supplement their in-house marketing. Most companies employing freelancers or agencies did so because it was more cost-effective than employing someone in-house on a permanent basis and their tours didnt last long enough to justify a short-term employment contract. Choosing someone to do your touring marketing for you Some venues felt that the quality of marketing support from some freelancers and agencies was a problem, but some companies consulted felt that they did not have the resources to employ an experienced enough marketer in-house and that venues were getting a better service from their freelancer or agency. See the online version of this guide at www.artscouncil.org.uk/touringguide for top tips on how to choose and then brief a freelance marketer together with a sample contract.
Setting up a tour
Setting up a tour
Top tips Setting targets Contracts Setting marketing budgets Gathering information Setting ticket prices Sponsorship and hospitality Programmes and merchandise
30 31 32 39 40 41 43 44
Setting up a tour 31
Setting up a tour
Setting up a tour
Setting targets The income targets set by companies and venues have a direct effect on the financial relationship between them. This means that it is essential for the negotiations to be based on clear and realistic targets. Targets should always be set in consultation with the marketers as so many of the factors which influence attendance and income levels fall within their area of expertise. Two targets are required box office income and number of attenders. Targets that are neither overly optimistic nor pessimistic will result in the best-possible financial result for both sides so they should not be based simply on company or venue breakeven point. They should be placed within the context of the organisations three- or five-year business plans and their marketing strategies. Venue managers and marketers tend to make more accurate predictions of income and attendance levels as they have more ongoing information about their audience and about local conditions. Useful sources of information include figures for previous visits to the venue, other companies achievements at the venue and the companys achievements at other, similar venues. In addition, the following factors need to be considered: the nature of the product the venues programme audience development targets pricing patterns at the venue and region-wide the likely take-up of discounts (one large-scale company did not take this into account when they toured with a curriculum play into a venue programming arts product for the first time and entered into a financial relationship with the venue that meant an income target of 40 per cent but a corresponding attendance target of over 85 per cent)
Top tips negotiations need to be based on clear and realistic targets set targets for both box office income and number of attenders be open about costs and costing procedures marketers need to be involved in negotiating the contract
changes in the marketing environment, eg local management of schools, economic factors, competition from similar product in nearby venues the marketing resources available planned marketing activities Contracts Contracts can be an area of contention. Venue and company must be open about their level of costs and their costing procedures to avoid misunderstandings. Contracts should be signed in plenty of time for both sides to meet any deadlines they contain as occasionally company marketers find that the deadline for the delivery of print expired before they received the contract. Marketers should be involved in negotiating the contract because: it sets out the financial agreement which affects both the companys and the venues income targets it specifies the level of marketing activity agreed, eg print quantities, number of press photographs, display material, inclusion in the venues season brochure and sets out who is going to pay for this it specifies deadlines for the delivery of this marketing activity, often setting out penalties for the late delivery of print it should include an agreement about the use of data held on box office computer systems covering data analysis and future mailings to develop audience loyalty. The Data Protection Act does not prevent the venue from giving companies names, addresses and other information about their audiences. Venues, however, may wish to feel sure that the data will not be misused. The Data Protection Registrar has stated that the customer in buying a ticket is creating a relationship specifically with the venue, the company and any third-party promoter and so any of these will be regarded as the data owner and can legitimately use the information A third of the venue marketers and over half the company marketers involved in the research for this guide said they played a part in negotiating the contract.
Venue or promoters should avoid issuing contracts with exactly the same marketing requirements to every company. This can lead to unrealistic expectations and to companies investing heavily in a large quantity of print which is then not used. The section on marketing activity should set out what marketing support the company and promoter or venue will provide and who is responsible for making decisions including: the promoters or venues marketing budget for the show who sets ticket prices (usually the venue or promoter with the agreement of the company) who will provide box office facilities how many leaflets and posters the venue or promoter needs, who will overprint them and when they must arrive how many photographs the company will provide plus a deadline for delivery what other publicity material the company will provide, eg biographies, press releases, direct mail letters, reviews with deadlines who will print the programmes, who will sell them and what commission is payable the commission to be charged on the sale of any merchandise and who is responsible for selling it who will be responsible for carrying out any audience research, eg distributing questionnaires possible penalties for late delivery of print, etc Types of contract The distinguishing factor between the different types of contract is who takes on what level of risk. All of them are based on the net box office income (ie the total income once VAT and credit card commission have been deducted).
Guarantee The venue agrees to pay the company a fixed fee, known as a guarantee, for its services regardless of the eventual attendance figures or box office income. Any box office income above the level of the guarantee goes to the venue. Box office split The box office income is shared between the venue and company according to an agreed ratio. An 80:20 split in favour of the company means that the touring company receives 80 per cent and the venue 20 per cent of whatever the box office income turns out to be. More than one ratio can be agreed, for example, the company may take 60 per cent of the first 16,500 of the box office receipts and 70 per cent of any income over that. Minimum guarantee The box office income is shared between the venue and company according to an agreed ratio but the company is guaranteed a minimum payment (usually smaller than it would be with a straight guarantee). The company would for example receive 8,000 or 70 per cent of the eventual box office income, whichever is the greater. First call The company or venue is paid a fixed amount after which the remaining box office income is split according to an agreed ratio. The company would for example receive the first 1,500 from the total box office income of 6,000 and the remaining 4,500 is split 60:40 with 2,700 going to the company giving them a total of 4,200. First call and second call The company usually receives the first call but then the venue can also receive a fixed amount with the remainder being split according to an agreed ratio. The company would for example take a first call of 2,500, the venue take a second call of 2,000 and any remainder would be split 50:50.
Hire or rental The company pays a flat fee for using the venue and its staff and takes all the eventual box office income. Subsidised arts organisations tend to be paid guarantees. Two-thirds of the companies involved in the research for this guide said their deals were mostly guarantees. A third said most deals were box office splits or half splits and half guarantees. Two companies were mostly involved with hiring venues and two with some other form of deal. On the small scale, companies will usually only encounter guarantees, box office splits and hires. Royalties Companies contract to pay a percentage of the total box office income in return for permission to perform a work. Royalties usually range between 10 per cent and 15 per cent of the box office on the large scale and are around 810 per cent on the middle scale. There are various ways of paying them: the royalty percentage is deducted from the total box office income and the remainder split between company and venue according to the agreed ratio the company pays the royalties (calculated from the total box office income) out of the guarantee it is paid by the venue the venue pays the royalties out of its agreed share of the box office the venue pays the royalties out of its share of the box office but only up to an agreed maximum amount, after which the company pays Royalties have an impact on the breakeven point for a company or venue (ie the box office income target which will ensure that their share will cover their costs). The composition of royalties can be complex as Rob Lines, General Manager of UK Arts International, explains:
In my experience, its unusual for royalties to be anything other than 10 per cent for small-, middle- and Arts Council England-funded large-scale shows, often representing eight per cent to the writer and two per cent shared between the director and the rest of the creative team. Royalties may well exceed 10 per cent for large-scale commercial shows. The level of royalties depends on whether there is a large creative team, eg a choreographer, deviser, writer, director, composer, lighting designer and set designer who all require a percentage; or on the negotiating power of the producer. Producers royalties are becoming commonplace and these vary from production to production. Our tour of The Cherry Pickers (the first Aboriginal play ever written) had royalties set at 17.9 per cent because the estate of the writer had commitments to many people who had contributed their life stories to the creation of the piece. The high royalty package reflected the desire not to leave out in the cold people who are often not represented within royalty packages. Contras Contras are part of the contractual agreement between the venue and company, and set out the costs incurred by the venue which will be passed on to the company. Financial pressures mean that more venues are using contras to cover marketing activity. Marketers need to have a clear understanding of the contra in each venue especially as company administrators usually deduct it from the marketing budget thus reducing the resources available for additional activity. Almost half the venue marketers and half of the company marketers involved in the research for this guide said they were involved in setting the contra. Most large-scale and many middle-scale venues charge marketing contras; small-scale venues do so rarely. The types of activity for which venues charge companies vary, as do the amounts charged.
In theory, the basic marketing activities carried out by the venue are included in the agreement and the contra is designed to cover any extra expense incurred by the venue on the companys behalf. The logic that governs who gets charged for what is rarely so consistent. Possible variations include: charging the same activities at the same rates to all visiting companies relating the contra to the level of risk the venue is taking compared to the company and so some venues always charge a marketing contra if they are paying a guarantee offering a fixed set of activities at a fixed package rate always offering basic marketing services free but charging for any expenditure above a fixed ceiling dividing the total marketing expenditure according to the box office split splitting extra marketing activity 50:50 where there is a minimum guarantee or first-call arrangement, waiting until after the event and splitting total marketing activity according to the actual proportion of the total box office that each party ends up with negotiating a flexible agreement with each company that takes into account individual circumstances There is little agreement about what constitutes the basic marketing activity that should be included free. Some venues, particularly on the large scale, charge for all activities including an entry in the season brochure, ladder advertisements (often called classified or display listings) in the local newspapers, all distribution and all direct mail. Middle-scale companies and venues on the whole agree that the venues should provide ladder ads and an entry in the season brochure free in return for the company print, as long as this is on time, overprinted and in adequate quantities. Almost everybody agrees that staff time should not be charged for.
Here are some examples of contra agreements from the middle scale: Venue A The contract specifies the total amount to be spent on all marketing activity (including season brochure entries and ladder ads). If a guarantee has been agreed, the company is charged 60 per cent of the specified total amount. If the contract involves a box office split, the expenditure is divided according to the ratio of the split. If the company is appearing for less than a week, the company provides adequate quantities of their print and the venue pays for everything else. Venue B This venue only charges contras to companies performing for at least a week and receiving a guarantee. They agree a fixed expenditure level which is not more than 3,500 and charge the company for 33 per cent of this. If the total agreed expenditure is to be over 3,500 then the venue charges for inclusion in the season brochure and for extra distribution and targeted mailings which are otherwise provided free. Venue C Each company is charged a fixed sum of 360 which covers all marketing activity except purchasing lists from third parties and extra advertising, the costs of which are split 50:50. Venue D The venue has set different levels of contribution for each type of marketing activity depending on whether they regard it as core venue activity. The percentage of the costs that these charges represent range from 25 per cent of the real costs of inclusion in the season brochure to 50 per cent of the cost of newspaper advertising. This adds up to 1,000 contributed by a company visiting for a full week and 500 for a company undertaking three or four performances. The venue and company agree at the campaign planning meeting who should pay for any activity beyond this.
Contras can cause misunderstandings between venues and companies so it is essential that: the contract specifies the levels of charges, the specific marketing activities those charges include and any related deadlines, which may have penalty clauses attached both marketers are consulted during negotiations both marketers make themselves familiar with the details of the contract and the contra agreement before the campaign planning meeting both marketers keep meticulous records of the marketing they actually carry out any activities involving additional expenditure which will be charged to the company are agreed by both venue and company before they are carried out the venue manager is kept fully informed so that any activities agreed but not actually carried out are not charged to the company The Theatrical Management Association (TMA) and the Independent Theatre Council (ITC) can both give advice and guidance to members about contractual issues. Setting marketing budgets The level of marketing budget required will be closely related to both venue and company objectives for the visit, and to any objectives for the tour or season as a whole. Factors to consider include: type of venue type of product (new work will need additional investment of time and money) familiarity of the audience with the company (research suggests it costs 10 times more to attract a new customer than to persuade an existing customer to return)
nature of the venues programme level of resources provided by both venue and company (eg staff, budget, the activities included in the contra, the quality/suitability of their print) nature of the area (rural or metropolitan, etc) difficulty of the task (target audiences, etc) nature of the financial agreement (eg guarantee or hire) levels of charges specified in the contra The companies involved in the research for this guide on average allocated eight per cent of their total income to marketing (excluding salaries). This ranged from two per cent in an emerging theatre company touring on the small scale (although they have already identified that this is insufficient) to 22 per cent for a large-scale company touring contemporary work. Venues on average also allocated eight per cent of their total income to marketing excluding salaries. This ranged from one per cent at a cluster of venues being marketed centrally and 29 per cent at a university venue with a sporadic programme of contemporary work. See the online version of this guide at www.artscouncil.org.uk/touringguide for top tips on setting budgets. Gathering information Information will be needed to set income and attendance targets, identify likely target markets, choose the most effective ways of reaching those targets and work out what to say to get them to attend. Both sides should review box office data from previous tours and any relevant audience research they have carried out. To assist with their planning, companies will need some information from their venues well in advance. Company marketers may like to consider using a standard advance information sheet, which should be sent only after initial
contact with the venue has been made. Information requested could include: names of key people including the artistic director/general manager, house manager, administrator, marketer, press officer, technical manager and box office manager general print and photographic requirements including delivery deadlines details of and deadlines for the venues season brochure mailing lists other key contacts in the region, eg marketing agency details of friends or members schemes policy on programme sales date booking opens other events in the season Similarly some venues send out an advance information sheet to all incoming companies. Setting ticket prices The pricing structure for the event is often negotiated by those booking the tour at an early stage in the planning process and usually only in relation to the desired financial outcome. On the small scale, venues usually have a single ticket price plus a concession price (although it is to be hoped that they record the different categories of people eligible for this concession when they process a sale rather than simply categorising it as a conc.). These are usually set by the venue manager or the promoter and agreed by the company. On the middle and large scale, pricing is used as a key strategic tool for increasing income and broadening audiences so it is essential that marketers on both sides are involved in discussions before the deal is agreed. Almost two-thirds of both the venues and companies involved in the research for this guide said that the person responsible for marketing was involved in setting ticket prices.
Both venue and company must take a long-term view, rather than focusing only on maximising short-term income as pricing will be an important factor in audience development. A policy on discounting to develop audiences must be agreed at this early stage and the marketers should contribute accurate information to the discussion about particular target audiences attitudes to pricing. Factors to be taken into consideration when setting seat prices for each venue include: local economic environment including levels of unemployment, disposable income, etc audiences perceived value of the product type and of specific productions perceived value added by the nature of the venue perceived value added by the company brand income and attendance targets target markets are heavily discounted or premium prices appropriate? a wide range of prices to ensure that the event is accessible to the broadest section of the community while maintaining the perceived product value, which many ticket buyers relate to the top price the competition including other pricing structures at this venue, pricing at other local venues and pricing in the broader leisure market seating layout, eg restricted view You will need to decide: the number of price breaks or bands the number of seats in each break flexibility of price breaks range (ie the difference between top and bottom prices) the relationship between published prices and eventual ticket yield, which will be affected by such activities as targeted price offers in direct mail campaigns
Some venues have fixed pricing structures owing to the capabilities of their box office computer systems, but discussions about actual prices within each band should always be possible. Venues and companies should be tracking such indicators as number of sales within price breaks, timing of sales within price breaks and customer behaviour in relation to price. See the online version of this guide at www.artscouncil.org.uk/touringguide for top tips on setting prices. Sponsorship and hospitality The company marketer will be seen as an ambassador for their organisation and so will be expected to make the venue aware of any sponsorship plans at the campaign planning meeting. Their sponsorship department may ask them to visit corporate hospitality spaces and communicate with key members of staff to ensure sponsors requirements are met as far as possible. Other sources of support and information available to marketers with full responsibility for sponsorship include a range of publications by Arts&Business (see the Further reading section for details). Negotiation will be necessary to resolve issues about the prominence of logos, and priority over rooms for entertaining. Both venue and company should be aware that sponsors occasionally have unrealistic expectations and may make complex or last-minute demands that the arts organisation is obliged to try to meet. See the online version of this guide at www.artscouncil.org.uk/touringguide for top tips on working together on sponsorship and hospitality.
Programmes and merchandise Company and venue should agree at the campaign planning meeting the number of programmes required and the nature and exact siting of any merchandising operation. The company must discuss the venues needs. The venue will have programme income targets to meet, but is also likely to want a reasonably priced programme in addition to any souvenir brochure. The customer will blame the venue if they perceive the programme to be poor value for money. Customers also tend to blame the venue if the company runs out of programmes so it is in both parties interests to make an accurate forecast of requirements. Some venues always produce their own programme because of contractual relationships with their suppliers. The company must therefore negotiate whether they are to provide their programme or supply information for the venues programme. In the latter case they will need to agree whether they will be able to offer their programme to audiences in addition to that of the venue. Franchises Some companies, especially those touring productions from the commercial sector, franchise out their merchandising for the tour. Venues must therefore liaise with a third party. Practicalities Company and venue should notify each other of the name and contact number of the staff members responsible for the merchandising and programme sales in case of queries on the night. In venues this may be the front-of-house manager, box office manager or even the catering manager; in companies this may be the company manager, a member of stage management or one of the marketing team. The company should provide a form for recording sales. Commission Most venues deduct a percentage from the total sales on to which VAT must be added. This can range from 10 per cent to 25 per cent. Some charge a flat fee to cover staff costs and then deduct a much lower percentage.
Campaign planning
Top tips Campaign planning sessions The marketing toolkit Sales staff Middle- and large-scale tours
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Campaign planning
Campaign planning 47
Campaign planning
Campaign planning
Good planning is the key to successful marketing. Campaign planning involves the company and their promoters thinking about how they will work together in the short term to sell tickets for the current tour, and how they might build on their relationship longer term to develop audiences. Half of the small-scale companies and almost all the middle- and large-scale companies interviewed for this guide visit each of their promoters for a campaign planning meeting, seeing this as the best way to encourage commitment in their partner. The venues and promoters see these meetings as a major strength of the companies which provide them. Where resources are scarce, companies often hold a joint meeting for all their venues and promoters in a particular region. Some small-scale companies find even this difficult and so use a lengthy phone call to cover the same ground. Only two companies simply sent out marketing packs without any further planning discussions with the venues. Companies that hope to develop long-term relationships with particular venues or promoters bring them together after the end of the tour to get feedback and share ideas. This is an ideal way to get useful information to help them to plan the next production. Campaign planning sessions The campaign planning meeting is the most important point in the relationship between the company and their promoters. It is the best way for companies to motivate their promoters to work hard at marketing their show and so maximise ticket sales.
Top tips build long-term relationships through getting feedback and sharing ideas hold campaign planning meetings early come prepared for the meeting send summary info in advance ensure you communicate clearly and check you have been understood inform as many venue staff as possible about your production offer all sales staff the opportunity to see the production in advance
The meeting should be as early as possible even if the details of the contract are still under negotiation. Involve a representative from other partners such as marketing agencies or arts development agencies as they will be able to provide additional information, advice and sometimes services. The company marketer will be seen as an ambassador for their entire organisation and should check if sponsorship, education, administrative and technical colleagues require any information delivered or gathered. If this is the case, they will need to make an appointment with the relevant member of the venue staff. They should also meet and brief, where possible, the box office manager, any other key sales staff and the house manager. Companies use the campaign planning meeting to: find out what the promoter wants to achieve as a result of booking your event find out what resources the promoter has available collect essential information meet key staff including the people responsible for marketing and the box office give them essential information about your company and the event make decisions about how you will market the event get feedback on your ideas for your print design and copy Exchanging information Information required from the company: tour objectives background on the company information about the product including plot style sets and costumes music
likely audience reactions suitability including any bad language or nudity running time whether it is a set text, etc
Venues and promoters say Our biggest challenge is getting enough information on the show to be able to put a proper, informed marketing campaign together. Jonathan Saville, Royal Centre, Nottingham
a complete tour schedule including the names and telephone numbers of the other venue marketers possible selling points expressed as benefits not features factual information about audiences for the artform including crossover with other artforms, demographic information, etc factual information about audiences for this particular product, if available possible target markets resources they have available the marketing campaign carried out for the last visit (if applicable) together with the target, and income and attendance figures achieved effective marketing plans from other venues together with the target, and income and attendance figures achieved Information required from the venue: their objectives market position of the venue factual information about audiences factual information on catchment area size information about the local area including competing venues, economic situation, etc programming patterns especially for the relevant artform possible selling points expressed as benefits not features possible target markets target income and attendance figures achieved at the venue by similar product the marketing campaign carried out for the last visit (if applicable) together with the target, and income and attendance figures achieved
effective marketing plans for visits by similar companies together with the target, and income and attendance figures achieved pricing patterns typical seating plan resources they have available Information required from the marketing agency: possible conflicts in programming by other venues marketing activity planned by other venues significant audience development initiatives planned regional trends As much of this information as possible should be summarised and sent through in advance so that you can come prepared to the meeting. Any supporting material, including a copy of the contract, should be brought to the meeting. Time will be wasted if essential information or the appropriate decision maker is missing. Making decisions The purpose of the campaign planning meeting is to agree: objectives both shared and individual income and attendance targets target audiences most likely to respond identified by crossover with other artforms, frequency of attendance including lapsed attenders, demographics, eg newly retired, geography any additional audience development targets, eg new attenders, young people the most effective marketing methods for communicating with each target audience (eg direct mail, editorial, print distribution) the appropriate tone of voice and single-minded message for each target audience
details of the agreed marketing activities (including details of press and media campaigns) deadlines, who will carry them out and who will pay for them which marketing activities are to be included in the contra (if applicable) the budget available from each partner venues should allocate a specific budget to each event design brief for production print print quantities and delivery deadlines photograph quantities including press and front-of-house photos final details of pricing including strategic discounts, subscription, etc date when booking opens (ie tickets go on sale) especially where the company is early in the season and the booking period may be squeezed use of data from the box office computer system, now and in the future (where applicable) realistic strategies for name and address capture where there is no appropriate box office computer system realistic objectives for market research including desk research agree the information you need as well as the methods you will use to gather it monitoring and evaluation strategies including market research a series of short-term activities to be held in reserve and only undertaken if bookings do not reach an agreed level by a specified date You will also need to discuss arrangements (if applicable) for: giving sales figures to the company overprinting details how the box office and other sales staff should be briefed education activities, eg workshops, pre-performance talks display materials programmes other merchandise press tickets
press drinks
sponsorship requirements including tickets and corporate hospitality company tickets first-night invitations first-night party
The marketing toolkit All small-scale companies, whatever their size or resources, should provide each of their promoters with a marketing pack. This is an easy-to-use guide to marketing a particular event plus a kit of marketing tools. Middle- and large-scale companies do not always produce marketing packs as such. They prefer to tailor marketing resources such as direct mail letters, copy for season brochures and press releases to the individual venue as a result of the campaign planning meeting. Others do send marketing packs to venues, as it takes less time to compile a master pack so they can be distributed to venues at an early stage and they are easy to adapt to suit particular circumstances. The contents tend to be the same as on the small scale but with more versions of direct mail letters, press releases, etc aimed at particular target markets. The companies involved in the research for this guide provided: % of companies sample press release (on average one but up to three versions) 90 images in digital format, eg on CD-ROM or available from website 85 copy for the season brochure list of selling points information sheet for the box office sample direct mail letter (on average two but up to four versions) list of target audiences display material (in addition to posters) black and white prints eflyer 83 78 78 73 60 50 33 18
See the online version of this guide at www.artscouncil.org.uk/touringguide for a sample agenda for a campaign planning session on the middle scale. Following the campaign planning session The company marketer usually writes up the campaign plan and an action list complete with deadlines and timescales based on the meeting. This must be circulated as soon as possible to all the relevant people including the marketing or arts development agency who may have useful feedback to give. Check that you are clear: why each element of the campaign is being undertaken which target market it addresses which benefits are to be communicated what you are trying to achieve
Set measurable objectives for each element of the campaign. The company and venue should be in frequent contact to monitor progress and be ready to amend the campaign plan as circumstances dictate. Both sides should make themselves available to answer queries and return calls speedily. It is your responsibility to ensure that you communicate clearly and check that your marketing partner has understood correctly. The company marketers now need to use the information you collected and the decisions you made at the campaign planning meeting(s) to: prepare a design brief for your print write appropriate copy for the promoters season brochures put together a marketing pack
The middle- and large-scale venues said that above all they wanted plenty of accurate information about the production, sufficient print that arrived on time, and effective images and copy for their season brochure.
Almost all of the small-scale companies involved in the research for this guide provided the following to their venues: digital colour images, a list of selling points, a press release, an information sheet for the box office, copy for the season brochure where applicable and most provided at least one sample direct mail letter. The marketing pack Effective marketing packs must contain: information, especially hard facts, about audiences
Information about the company Aim to help the promoter understand more about the style of work your company creates and about its track record. Include any information that will help them convince audiences that your company will present highquality work. Listing the titles of previous productions is not helpful you need to give them reasons to see the show not just facts. Information about the event Use simple language, short sentences and lots of headings. Include: a brief summary of the plot or story the performance style the subject matter summary of the content sets and costumes likely audience reactions concise background information on the subject matter if appropriate information about the artform in straightforward language if this is likely
information about the company information about the event list of suggested target markets list of suggested selling points appropriate copy for the promoters season brochure sample direct mail letter for each of the target markets suggested sample press release box office information sheet tour schedule
key points about the composer/choreographer/author
They can also contain: biographies of company members where the company is expecting the
to be unfamiliar whether it is a set text, relevance to the National Curriculum, etc suitability of the work for particular audiences including any bad language or nudity likely running time likely number and duration of intervals Target markets It is tempting to list as many target markets as possible. Stick to around 10 groups most likely to respond. Be as specific as possible: young people is not a useful target market but young people aged 18 to 24 in further or higher education tells the promoter exactly who to target and how to get hold of them.
promoter to produce a programme images to help the promoter get a feel for the show press clippings and/or quotations about the companys previous work, and other supporting information
Many promoters find it easier to use packs that avoid large quantities of supporting material such as biographies and photocopies of reviews. They need to find the essential information quickly.
Selling points Think about what audience members will experience when they see your event. List the aspect that is most important to each target market, and then back this up with three or four other points. Make sure you list reasons to attend, not plain facts. See the online version of this guide at www.artscouncil.org.uk/touringguide for top tips on creating marketing packs and for detailed guidelines on using and distributing digital images. Sales staff The box office and front-of-house staff, including those based in ticket agencies, are the people in direct contact with the audience. They are the most important points in the sales process. The company therefore needs to give them as much information about the show as possible. Briefing sheet The most effective way of giving sales staff this information is through a concise briefing sheet. The aim is to enthuse as well as inform. Working conditions in the box office mean that it needs to be both durable and highly visible. The sheet should include: 20-word selling sentence about the show including key benefits 100-word plot synopsis a list of five selling points a list of the sort of people who will enjoy the show the running time and the number of intervals suitability give the detail the customer will ask for, eg a little swearing but no f- or c- words practical issues, eg strobe lighting or other special effects extracts from press reviews if available brief information about the company list of tour dates with box office telephone numbers
Middle- and large-scale tours The lack of involvement by sales and front-of-house staff in some venues is seen as a major weakness by touring companies so middle- and large-scale companies often arrange a meeting with the teams to brief them on the show. Bringing together what can be as many as 30 part-time members of staff, however, is complicated and expensive. Companies should consult the venue to find realistic ways of informing as many of the staff as possible about the production. The company may wish to monitor the effectiveness of the information given to the box office by asking a colleague to telephone them and ask appropriate questions or book tickets. Warn the appropriate head of department and be prepared to give objective feedback. Offer everybody responsible for selling the production an opportunity to see it in advance. Some companies subsidise travel costs and offer free tickets. Some companies offer box offices a team incentive for reaching targets. This needs to be handled sensitively and implemented in consultation with the venue. Be precise about the target and what the reward will be. Regardless of whether formal rewards are offered, staff always appreciate a thank you letter. One venue still talks about the biscuits brought in by a touring marketer after each visit. Companies should make arrangements for collecting advance sales figures at the campaign planning meeting. This information is essential if the campaign is to be monitored and any remedial action taken in time for it to be effective. Preferred procedure varies from venue to venue. The venue may arrange to send them weekly or ask the company to phone at a specified time. Monday is rarely a convenient day to ask for figures. These arrangements must be maintained to ensure the information will be provided without unnecessary work by the box office staff which may mean a less-effective service to your customers.
Communicating with audiences
Top tips Choosing the message Getting the message across Writing copy Images Print Direct mail Sales promotion E-marketing Word of mouth Media Advertising Print distribution Outdoor advertising Displays
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Communicating with audiences 61
Different local conditions, targets and objectives need different marketing communication tools and different messages. To choose which will be the most effective: identify each target audience you want to prioritise identify the message (the benefits or selling points) that each will find most persuasive choose the most effective tool for communicating that particular message to each target audience and invest in it Choosing the message Audiences perceive the arts product as a night out at the theatre. They do not tend to separate their experience of the performance on stage from their experience of the venue. A small number of enthusiasts will be motivated by wanting to see a particular companys work. Most audiences, though, find it difficult to recall the names of companies or the titles of shows they have seen even the ones they liked. This means that most audiences will be motivated by the venue brand first of all and that companies need to invest in communicating to potential audiences what to expect from their work rather than assuming knowledge. See the online version of this guide at www.artscouncil.org.uk/touringguide for top tips on choosing messages about new or challenging work. Getting the message across The most important communication tool in marketing touring events is the season brochure research repeatedly shows that it accounts for between 65 per cent and 80 per cent of the audience. This should be targeted at the
Top tips the venue and the company go hand in hand in the audiences perception audiences will reject or shortlist an event by looking at the images discuss with the venue before producing print to ensure it is tailored to their needs print should reflect what the audience perceives they are actually purchasing a night at the theatre sending venues overprinted leaflets saves a great deal of time and money combine several methods of communication to get people to buy tickets ensure you have sufficient reserves of production photographs to respond to press requests at short notice
Venues and promoters say My biggest challenge is getting brochure copy written at the last minute with poor images, or none at all, to go in our season brochure, which is the biggest-selling tool we have. Jo Lock, North Devon Theatres
venues general audience that has no special knowledge of the artform, company or creative team. It is vital to get both copy and image right. Persuading people with no predisposition to attend the type of event on offer is more difficult. The more personal the method of communication, the more effective it is in changing their preconceptions. Of course, it is impossible to talk to every single person in your target group, so concentrate on the key people who might persuade others through their endorsement. Research tells us that, for most arts events, advertising in local newspapers, putting up posters or advertising on the radio only attract a relatively small proportion of the participants or audiences. Newspaper advertisements reach lots of people but they are bad at persuading. All they can do is give basic information so they can be effective for high-profile companies or major events with performers who are household names. Posters are not good at persuading either because they dont give potential customers anything concrete to take away with them. If they want to know when the event is on or how to buy tickets, they have to find a pen and paper and write down the details. Good posters are highly effective in attracting peoples attention and are particularly useful in far-flung rural areas. Articles in newspapers and on radio are also good at attracting peoples attention and at persuading people who are influenced by public opinion. Of course, there are always exceptions to these general rules. In remote rural areas, for example, posters can be a key source of information for local communities. It is important that you ask your key partners what they find works best for that particular target group in that context. Often you need to combine several methods to get peoples attention, make them interested in what you have to offer, help them make the decision to attend and then nudge them into taking action and buying their tickets.
list the target markets you have decided to prioritise list the communication methods you have the resources to use for each target market identify the three or four communication methods that will be most efficient and effective in reaching them. Highlight the one that is the most important remember, you need them to take action and buy a ticket so catching their attention is not usually enough See the online version of this guide at www.artscouncil.org.uk/touringguide for information about how to get your message across if you are touring to London. Writing copy Research into audiences responses to copy about touring arts events in leaflets and brochures usually reveals that they are quite simply exasperated: Written by clever people for other clever people who are equally in the know. Theyre not written for us. Its shorthand. A lot of its shorthand. Exciting new production by Ive never heard of him. If youd been really into ballet but its not a hook to pick up Mr and Mrs Average. Profile of Dance Attenders in Scotland: Section 3, Qualitative Research Report, Scottish Arts Council, 2002 Copy is usually written for the knowledgeable few and leaves all the less committed but potential attenders feeling ignorant and confused. Above all, most copy is not persuasive enough and assumes that the readers will do most of the work: I think thats what they have to do grab me. Make me put myself out to come. Research into the Attitudes and Perceptions of Frequent, Lapsed and Non Attenders at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester, Midlands Arts Marketing, 1998
You need to make sure your copy grabs the readers attention and tells them why they might want to experience the event. All but the knowledgeable few want to know immediately what its like, what its about and how theyll feel when they watch it. Images One of the company marketers most important tasks is to choose an image that tells the viewer why they should come and see the show. Research into how audiences use print indicates that they will reject or shortlist an event by looking at the images. When they read venue season brochures, audiences tend to filter out the shows they dont want to see by flicking through the pages fairly fast to identify the events that look interesting. They then go back and read about those in more detail. All the events that dont look interesting in this first scan through are rejected. This makes the initial image that the company sends the venue of crucial importance as most tickets for most shows are sold as a result of the venue season brochure. New music or dance works have often not been created by the time the deadlines for season brochures approach. New plays have not gone into rehearsal so the creative team have often only a general idea of what the flavour of the finished production will be. This means that companies producing this kind of work are often reluctant to commit themselves to an effective image at this stage.
conductor in a rehearsal room with some performers and a photographer and then leaving them to it will rarely produce effective images. think about the target markets you have prioritised. Which will be reached most effectively by printed materials? identify the key selling point you want to communicate to each of the target markets you chose. What would be an appropriate tone of voice to use? write a brief summarising all of this. Talk to the shows creative team about its ideas for images that would deliver the brief discuss the brief with your graphic designer and come up with some ideas for images get approval to follow up two or three ideas ask the graphic designer to write a brief for the photographer or illustrator if you are going to commission photographic images, identify who will direct the photo shoot (usually the head of the creative team). Get them together with the photographer and discuss the shoot. Some directors and choreographers even produce a storyboard at this stage, like those used to plan film shoots. Ensure that everybody is still clear about the message that the image is to convey it is a good idea to attend the shoot if you can to keep the photographer and the director or choreographer, etc focused on the ideas that were previously agreed and to help identify whether any spontaneous ideas that arise during the shoot will fulfil the brief Print
Solving this problem involves commissioning a photographic image or illustration to represent the show but this takes skilful diplomacy on the part of the company marketer. They need to use their interviewing skills to extract a useful description from the creative team. They then need to work with a graphic designer to translate this into ideas for images that will tell audiences what the show is about, what it will be like and how they will feel when they watch it. Then they need good negotiating skills to get at least one of those ideas approved. Putting the director, choreographer or
Printed material is a means of communication with audiences, not just a means of reflecting the artistic vision of the product. The print should reflect not just what is on stage, but what the ticket buyer perceives they are actually purchasing a night at the theatre. Companies perceive the quality of their print as a major strength but many venues perceive company print as lacking a clear message and focusing on features not benefits as a weakness in fact.
Identify the target audience, identify the appropriate benefits you are trying to communicate and only then produce a design brief. What are the target groups attitudes and preconceptions of the product? Different design and copy may be needed for different target audiences such as family groups or new attenders. Each target audience is interested in different benefits and needs different information to help them make a purchase. Even a different format may be appropriate, eg postcards, bookmarks and beer mats. The venue and company are intertwined in the audiences perception so even in a field most marketers regard as relatively straightforward, venue and company need to work together. If both venue and company are producing print, check that both sets are necessary (they are probably not if they are being sent to the same people) and that they are communicating compatible messages rather than confusing potential audiences. Is there a different, more effective communications solution to be found by working together? It may be more appropriate for the company to invest in the venues print if they feel that, for example, essential messages of quality are not being adequately communicated. Touring companies in the same region at the same time may find a cost-effective solution to be a joint piece of print. Opera companies touring to the North West invested in a highly successful leaflet and response mechanism communicating a generic message about the artform as well as information about individual productions. Company print Most marketers believe that this is best used to develop audiences that do not have a relationship with the venue. The copy and images contained in company print should therefore be different from those in the venues season brochure as they should be appropriate to the needs and attitudes of this particular group of people.
The print must be appropriate to the venues needs, so company marketers will need to discuss with them the target audience, message and the format, size and weight before drawing up the design brief. Potential purchasers are more likely to feel a strong relationship with the venue than with the company, especially as they are making personal contact with the venue in order to buy a ticket. It is essential that the venues corporate identity is clearly and strongly expressed to strengthen the call to action by making it as simple as possible for the potential customer to make their purchase. The venue may be contractually obliged to include certain information such as a funding credit for their local authority on all print displayed in their building. The relative billing of sponsors, funders and other information must be negotiated with the venue at an early stage. Good relationships will be easier to sustain and expensive mistakes avoided if the venue is asked to proof company print for factual errors and omissions. Venue print More customers get their information from the venue season brochure than from any other source, making it the most powerful of the marketing communication tools available to company or venue. In order to maximise its effectiveness marketers must: give visiting companies an appropriately high profile within the season be clear who it is targeted at and how it will be used. Is it a season brochure targeted at core attenders or is it a source of general information for wide distribution to be picked up spontaneously by a wide range of target markets?
Venues and promoters say Im afraid the size of poster is venue specific. Generally for distribution A3 is ideal (not too big for shop windows and not as insignificant as A4). Most venues will be able to find a couple of places to put A2s, even if its within their own venue. Posters need to arrive overprinted except A2s, as small runs simply arent cost effective. Sally Anne Tye, Nottingham Playhouse
identify the most effective selling points reflect the selling points in the copy and the image. If the company brand is a strong selling point it should be given appropriate prominence if the company has a strong visual identity, which is an important benefit, this should be reflected even in the season brochure. The more long term the relationship between the venue and company, the more important the company identity becomes in encouraging customer loyalty the company may be contractually obliged to include certain information such as a sponsors credit on all print featuring the product. The relative billing of sponsors, funders and other information must be negotiated with the company at an early stage good relationships will be easier to sustain if the company logo is always used correctly and the company is asked to proof the print for factual errors and omissions Practicalities Size Many venues are unable to find sites for A2 or double-crown posters as they usually rely on shops and community focal points. They will insist on an A3 format and sometimes prefer A4 posters. Two-thirds of the small- and middle-scale venues that responded to an email about their preferences said they needed A4 posters. All the large-scale and most of the middle- and small-scale venues said they could use A3 posters. Around half the middleand large-scale venues consulted could use A2 posters but considerably fewer of the small-scale venues. Very few venues said they wanted all three standard-sized posters: A2, A3 and A4. Some venues have framed display cases and official boards for posters. These sites can be A1, A2 or double crown and the wrong size of poster causes sometimes insurmountable problems. Around half the large-scale venues needed double-crown posters for this reason.
Many venues find it difficult to display leaflets which are not A5 or third A4 or larger formats folded to these sizes. It is advisable to discuss all non-standard formats with the venues before proceeding there is no point in producing print that cannot be used. Purpose How the print will reach the consumer is an essential part of the design brief, for example: key images, messages or company branding must appear in the top third of leaflets to be displayed in racks many distribution services are unable to display non-standard sizes paperweight will affect a leaflets suitability for direct mail or bulk distribution a vertical fold will make a leaflet less prone to drooping in display racks substantial or expensive-looking print, especially if it is in a magazine format, will achieve a higher pick-up rate with free on the cover varnished posters and leaflets cannot be overprinted posters printed on coated paper are difficult to paste up on outdoor sites Schedule Negotiate a schedule in the campaign planning meeting that takes into account such issues as the date when booking opens and timings for shared mailings. Missing delivery deadlines is expensive, resulting in the financial penalties specified in the contract as well as the extra costs incurred by a solus mailing or special distribution run. It also gives inappropriate messages to the venue about the companys efficiency. It is essential to build margins for error into design and printing schedules.
Venues and promoters say We are always asking for A4 posters and very few companies supply them. A3 is almost no use to us. Madelaine Smith, Theatre Royal, Winchester
Venues and promoters say Companies frequently send lovely shiny posters, which can neither be overprinted by a printer as the ink just runs nor put through a photocopier as they stick to the drum. I end up having to stick labels on them. Can you imagine how long that takes? Sheena Walker, An Tobar
Work out when you should start producing print by working back from the date you want it delivered. Allow for weekends and bank holidays. Most printers close for a fortnight at Christmas and some close for an extended Easter holiday. Check with your designer and printer before finalising your own timetable. Getting your copy, images and design together ready to be printed can take anything between one and three months, depending on what needs to be done. Overprinting Almost every venue of any scale involved in the research for this guide made a plea for leaflets to be overprinted by the company. All print for the largeand middle-scale venues should be overprinted by the company with the specific information about each venue. Three-quarters of the companies involved in the research for this guide said they provided overprinted leaflets and/or posters to all their venues and promoters, regardless of whether they were touring on the small, middle or large scale. Of the remainder, companies touring to small-scale venues were more likely to list the venues and their details on their leaflets and those touring to the middle and large scale were more likely to leave them blank. Ensure designers know that the material will be overprinted. They will then leave enough room and, if possible, reduce costs by using colour in a way that allows overprinting to be integrated into the main printing process.
ask venues for the information in a standard format to make it easier for the designer to use and so avoid mistakes ask the marketer to sign and date the form as correct to ensure they check the information they give you ask the venue to email their logo and those of funders and sponsors at a resolution of 300DPI never assume the logos will be the same as last time consult the printer about overprinting for each job it is likely that adjusting quantities to match the way the printing plate is laid out will reduce costs significantly as several venues print can be overprinted at the same time careful print planning with both printer and designer will save money Fifty-eight venues responded to an email asking them about their preferences if company resources were severely limited and overprinting was not possible. Many responded, reiterating how much time and money could be saved if companies sent venues overprinted leaflets. Almost all largescale venues preferred leaflets that listed details of a number of venues, as long as the list was not excessively long. Half the middle-scale venues preferred to receive blank leaflets and posters, and half preferred print that listed venues. Two-thirds of small-scale venues preferred to get blank print if overprinting by the company was out of the question. Quantities
Venues and promoters say It would be much better if the company dealt with overprinting and either set off these costs against the original deal or coordinated the overprinting and passed on the cost to the venues, which would be cheaper than having venues do it themselves. After moving boxes, overprinting is the single biggest hassle for all venue marketing officers in the country. Sally Anne Tye, Nottingham Playhouse
Think how the target audience will use the print and lay out the information accordingly. Some simple procedures will eliminate many of the problems associated with overprinting: collect overprinting information from the venue marketer, not the administrator, to ensure necessary information is included always ask the venue to provide the information in writing
A third of venues involved in the research for this guide said they only sometimes received appropriate quantities of print. The wrong amount of print seems to be more of an issue on the middle scale and for nontheatre spaces. Three-quarters of the companies involved in the research for this guide said they rang each promoter to find out how much print they would like.
A quarter said they were able to wait until they had roughed out the campaign plan with the venues or promoters to see how much print was actually needed. This is important as insufficient print will hamper the campaign and supplying more print at a later stage will not be costeffective. Discuss the quantities requested by the venue to ensure that the allocation will be used effectively. Venues should ensure that they ask for the quantity of print they will actually need. A number of company marketers commented that some venues seem to request a standard amount of print from every company and, when they visit those venues for the performances, they find much of it still in its boxes, unused. Delivery Having invested resources in the production of quality print, it is worth spending a little extra time to ensure it gets to the right people in the best condition possible. the overprinting form sent to the venues should ask about delivery as many prefer print delivered straight to mailing houses or distribution services the bulk delivery service provided by printers is often the most costeffective option for getting print to venues. They do not offer good value for money if used as a mailing house for sending out relatively small quantities of print. Ask for a breakdown of the delivery costs in the printers quotation, and ensure that there are no cheaper options ensure the printer packs the print adequately so it arrives in good condition. Posters should never be folded ask the printer to bundle leaflets in specific quantities, otherwise they will be sent loose in a box and have to be counted out individually ask the printer to label the boxes or packages clearly with the company or production name, the quantity of print in each box and, if appropriate, the number of leaflets in each bundle inside the box give the printer clear delivery deadlines and ensure they will be met give the printer a clear delivery schedule with the total quantity required by each venue and the quantity needed at each delivery address together
with a contact name, a full postal address and, if possible, a telephone number. Give specific information where necessary, eg that deliveries are not accepted before 10am inform the venue when delivery is due and confirm the actual dispatch with the printer Monitoring print effectiveness Venue and company should decide together how they are going to monitor whether particular pieces of printed material are effective in communicating appropriate benefits to the chosen target market. Information about print effectiveness should be fed into the development of the following seasons venue and tour print. Some distribution services, especially those run by arts marketing and audience development agencies or consortia, have carried out informal research into print pick-up rates and can give useful advice. Communication Companies should keep the venue informed by: giving them a copy of the design brief sending them a colour photocopy of the visual for their information telling them if there have been radical design changes telling them immediately if there are likely to be delays so they can plan accordingly allowing them to proof their overprinting details checking the delivery schedule with them Venues should keep the company informed by: giving them a copy of previous season print telling them if there have been radical design changes telling them immediately if there are likely to be delays so they can plan accordingly allowing them to proof their section
Direct mail Coordinated direct mail campaigns work best so venues or promoters and companies should plan their campaign together. Understand your partners way of doing things, even if in the end you decide together to do things differently. Consider which organisations identity fits best with the selling message and target group of each direct mail campaign. If you are encouraging the occasional attender to attend more frequently, then the mailing should be from the venue because a level of relationship has already been established. If you are targeting people with a special interest in the artform, for example ballet attenders at another venue, then the mailing should be from the company. Mailing lists Mailing lists are available from a number of sources at a range of prices: Venue mailing list Some venues have a mailing list of people who have actively asked for and even paid to receive information. This should be used in a targeted way where possible. Mailing an entire list of 13,000 names in a mixedprogramme venue is pointless especially if the content of the letter is much the same as the copy in the season brochure. Instead of simply duplicating the season brochure mailing ask yourselves where the company print would be more effective. Some middle- or large-scale venues contra the cost, or a proportion of the cost of such mailings, while some undertake them free as part of the service they offer visiting companies. Companies should never be charged a fee simply for using the list, even if they are hiring the venue.
Customer database Box office computer systems can generate huge lists of patrons, well over 100,000 names and addresses in some large-scale venues, between 10,000 and 40,000 in middle-scale venues and anything up to 15,000 in small-scale venues. You will together need to consider how to break these lists down into affordable, targeted mailings, for example by extracting people who have not attended in the past year but have attended more than once before that, and have attended a similar product to that being marketed. Again, the cost of mailing may be charged as part of the contra but companies should not pay a fee for the use of the list. Other venues Companies or venues may arrange a reciprocal mailing of each others lists, pay for slipping a leaflet into an existing mailing or purchase labels to mail once themselves. If the venues have compatible computer systems the data can be provided on disk. This will enable you to monitor its effectiveness but you must delete those who do not respond once you have done so. The venue will have seeded the list with names and addresses of colleagues so they will know if the list is mailed more than once and can take appropriate action against the offending party. Make sure that the venue has asked the people on their lists if they want information from other arts organisations so you are not contravening the Data Protection Act. Audience and market development agencies Many agencies manage databases, usually broken down by interest. They can also put you in touch with other companies visiting the region so you can share mailings. This reduces costs, but evaluate whether this will reduce the effectiveness of the mailing.
Regional tourist boards Most tourist boards offer lists compiled from enquirers, purchasers of publications and respondents to advertising. See the Further reading and other useful information section at the back of this guide for more details. List brokers These are commercial organisations offering lists for sale. Some have lists of arts or entertainment purchasers as well as the more usual lists of mail order purchasers, magazine subscribers, respondents to shopping surveys and purchasers of consumer goods. Almost all brokers impose a minimum purchase of 5,000 to 10,000 names. Selections can be made by such factors as type of purchase, value of purchase, gender, location, age, income, lifestyle type, ACORN or other demographic typing system. You will be charged per thousand names for each selection criterion you want used. You will be charged for providing the information on labels and for delivery. There may also be an administration fee. These lists are likely to result in lower response rates than more targeted lists held by arts organisations so they are best used for generic promotions by groups of organisations initially offering more information about arts events. The respondents can then be targeted with more-specific campaigns to sell them tickets. Mailing houses Envelope stuffing is traditionally seen as part of the marketers role but both venue and company marketers should ask themselves if their time could be spent more cost-effectively. Mailsort discounts alongside developments in technology mean that mailing houses may often provide a better, cheaper service for large mailings even if you are currently using teams of volunteers. Typically, a mailing house will cost you per item the same as a stamp, but this will include the cost of the envelope and stuffers. Costs increase, however, for small, complex or non-standard mailings so it is essential to
draw up an accurate tender document and get a series of quotes before making the decision to move your business to a mailing house. You will need to specify the following: size and type of envelope (white, manilla, plastic wrapper, etc) whether you want the envelope overprinted (eg with your address for returned mail) size and weight of contents quantity to be mailed the format in which you will be supplying name and address data postage rate typical schedule If you use a mailing house you will need to book in your mailing at least two weeks in advance, giving a schedule of when you will be supplying the printed material to go in the mailing; the name and address data for labels (usually a week in advance of the print); and when you want the mailing to arrive on the recipients doormats. You will need to be clear about what you want in the mailing and the postage rate. The Royal Mail offers substantial discounts if your mailing list is correctly postcoded and sorted in Mailsort order. There are different rates depending on how quickly you need your mailing to arrive and whether it should all be sent out in one batch or spread over as much as a week. Sources of information The Royal Mail website at www.royalmail.com contains a complete guide to all their services including details of the various discount schemes for large mailings. It includes case studies, a toolkit guide to planning, carrying out and monitoring campaigns, a directory of suppliers and guidance on the best response mechanisms to use for each campaign including Freepost and the Business Reply Service.
Testing The benefits of knowing whether a mailing has worked or not seem selfevident. At the most basic level this means whether it has brought in more money than it cost to do. Unlike other users, however, few arts organisations monitor direct mail. There are many decisions involved in devising a campaign, and marketers rarely have the hard facts they need to make them. They can gather that information themselves in straightforward ways. If you are unsure whether it is more effective to mail a particular target market as though from the company or from the venue, split the list in two and mail half from the venue and half from the company. You need unbiased samples. The simplest way of achieving this is to divide the list alphabetically into half, each half containing the same number of names and addresses. The response rates are easy to monitor with a sophisticated box office computer system but they may also be monitored with a manual box office using: unique discounts unique added-value offers a special phone line coded booking forms giving the customer a code word or name to use when telephoning the box office Decisions about monitoring and evaluation should be made at the campaign planning meeting. Sales promotion Sales promotion is used to encourage potential attenders to take action and buy a ticket, or to buy now not later (early booking offers), or to buy more, or to buy more frequently. To be effective, sales promotion campaigns must be targeted and have a limited lifespan. They are rarely successful at selling
tickets at very short notice so should not be used for last-minute mailings. They work by giving the customer something extra if they take action. Incentives often used by arts organisations include discounts, two for one offers, vouchers giving money off future purchases and free gifts. The key is to offer the customer something they want, so the incentive will vary according to the target audience. Sales promotions have proved particularly effective in increasing frequency of attendance and the number of tickets sold per transaction, reactivating lapsed attenders and increasing loyalty to particular companies. It is essential that you agree sales promotion ideas with the venue or company marketer, and that they get the agreement of their administrator as sales promotions effectively reduce the value of each sale made either by offering a reduced ticket price or, with added-value offers, by costing money. Some contracts between venues and companies prohibit any sales promotions that offer discounts. You should evaluate the effectiveness of the promotion by monitoring the take-up of the offer using any of the methods applicable to direct mail. Discounting Some target groups are price sensitive and will respond to discounts, but you need to target this pricing message to them without affecting the perceived value of your product in the eyes of the rest of your potential customers. You must be sure that a discount is the most effective incentive for your target audience. The discount offered needs to be significant. Price sensitivity is affected by the relationship between the cost of the ticket to the weekly disposable income of the potential audience member. Venue marketers are most likely to have the most accurate assessment of this.
Unless the company is being paid a guarantee, the venue and company marketers must agree all discounts in writing as they have an impact on the box office income that will be split between them. The box office must be fully briefed well before the campaign is implemented. Their workload means that staff need to have a manageable range of discounts to deal with and their management systems may limit the nature of the possible discounts. The effectiveness of the promotion may be monitored by ensuring that the relevant discount is marked distinctively on seating plans or given a unique code on box office computer systems. See the online version of this guide at www.artscouncil.org.uk/touringguide for case studies on sales promotions using price and added value. E-marketing E-marketing involves using digital technologies such as text messaging to mobile phones (SMS), email and websites to achieve your marketing goals. It involves a set of communication tools that can be integrated into our marketing strategies but cannot replace traditional communication methods. E-marketing simply gives us more options. It can be cost-effective, it allows a dialogue between audiences and arts organisations (although this can be very time consuming to manage) and it enables us to tailor our marketing to our customers. Organisations with few resources find it difficult to set up and maintain websites, let alone adapt them for specific event campaigns, and this can be a source of friction between venues and their visiting companies. Some venues, however, are selling as many as a third of their tickets online and integrate e-marketing into each event campaign. West Yorkshire Playhouse, for example, schedules into each show campaign at least three news items,
updates or additional activities that will be added to their website alongside appropriate email or text-messaging campaigns. Websites Start by working out what you want a website for: to build awareness and create a desire for your activities (this is difficult unless the site already has an audience visiting it) to give more information about a show to help people decide whether to buy tickets to to to to make it easier to buy tickets develop relationships with audiences and so increase their loyalty enable people to communicate with you communicate with audiences more cost-effectively
to develop your brand (if so, whose brand the venues or the companys?) This will help you decide whether a website is the best way of achieving your objective and what kind of site would be appropriate. There is no point in having a site if all you will do is put the season brochure or company leaflet images and copy onto it. Some organisations set up separate websites for particular tours, eg the Royal Shakespeare Companys website for the national tour of Midnights Children. The costs of setting up and maintaining a site are considerable so companies and their partner promoters and venues need to judge whether the benefits will outweigh the investment required. Ask: do we have the systems in place to enable customers to buy tickets online? If not, there will be insufficient call to action on the site, which may make other communication methods more effective do we have enough time? It usually takes around eight months to develop a site from registering the domain name who do we want to target? Do they generally have access to the Internet?
do we have enough appropriate material to make the site worth visiting? what are we offering to visitors (eg an added-value product, better value for money through price promotions, more information, a relationship with our organisations)? do we have sufficient mechanisms to get people to visit the site? offline communication methods search engines links hubs banner ads on other sites how will it integrate with existing marketing communications? do we have sufficient resources to create and maintain the site? how will we evaluate the site? Many venues and companies have websites that list forthcoming activities. Again, there is no point in simply repeating information already available on the company or venue print. Ask: who visits the site? are they existing or potential customers for our activities? what do we want to say to them? what do we want to do? (see the list of goals above) how will we direct our target markets to the relevant pages? do we have the skills and time to write appropriate copy? do we have sufficient images? Email marketing In 2003, email overtook direct mail as the most used method of direct marketing communication. Many organisations send out a weekly ebulletin and artform-based enewsletters. They monitor results carefully; however, the Arts Marketing Associations benchmarking project in 2003 discovered that most venues could not track responses to email campaigns.
Many venues have box office computer systems that do not allow them to combine information about customers purchasing patterns and preferences with the email address. This has led some to compile emailing lists that cannot be broken down to create targeted mailings. E-marketing campaigns based on these lists often achieve low response rates. Other venues have solved the problem by creating a number of different lists and recruiting different types of customer to each list. Marketers at the West Yorkshire Playhouse have built a list of 2,500 late bookers and offer them last-minute special offers. They also send email bulletins as a reminder about shows to around 2,000 people who have booked online in the past but do not offer them a discount. Companies that dont send regular, relevant information to the members of their email lists should question whether it would be better for the relevant venue or promoter to hold the list so that it is kept up to date. It is better to build a list yourself than buy one in. Start small: a couple of hundred of the right people are infinitely more productive than thousands of people who do not want your information. If you have a website, make sure that you clearly offer visitors the opportunity to sign up to your email list on the front page and when they have bought tickets. Do not forget, though, that your email subscribers and website visitors are not necessarily the same people. Hand people cards to fill in at the box office so you are collecting more than just their email address. You can relate the information to the transaction later. Use your printed material and advertising to invite people to sign up through your website or at the box office. Collect basic information and then gradually build up the information about each customer that will allow you to target your emailings to the right segments of the list. The more relevant the emailings, the better the response. In particular, you need to know whether each person on your list plans their leisure time well in advance or whether they are late bookers who might respond to last-minute promotions.
The end-user of a list has the responsibility for ensuring that each recipient has agreed to get email or text messages from them. Apply the same rules to the content of emailings as you do to direct mail letters. Know who you are talking to, why they will be interested in your event, what they want to know about it and what you want them to do as a result of reading your email. Include a clear, simple response mechanism. Personalise emails properly, even if this is only by mail-merging information in Microsoft Outlook. There are some additional guidelines: be concise because your potential customer has limited time put something relevant and interesting in the subject line make sure it is clear who the email is from put the important information in the top half to encourage them to scroll down and read the rest Remember that in early 2004, only a quarter of the UKs home Internet users had broadband so keep the email small enough to be easily accessed with a 56k modem. Effective email campaigns require resources so, as with every other marketing communication channel, it is essential to evaluate whether that investment is worthwhile. If you dont have access to a sophisticated email management system, use special offers to track response rates or periodically make a manual check against box office records. Word of mouth It is possible to generate word of mouth in advance of the performance dates. The key to this is networking. Company and venue marketers should work together to identify key people in the area who are at the centre of their particular communities or groups. They need to be given relevant
information, motivated and enthused. They will then go out and talk to other people within their network. Arts Council England has published a guide to working with arts ambassadors which explores this process. The Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, and The Bush established an effective relationship with gay groups in East Anglia to promote the play Beautiful Thing. The venue marketer followed up a telesales campaign with talks to gay groups, sent information to community leaders and handed out leaflets at gay club nights from Kings Lynn to Ipswich. This is a time-consuming process so both marketers need to establish priorities and some realistic expectations of what may be achieved. Perceptions of the venue itself can be a barrier to attendance. This can be overcome in part by recruiting members of the public to sell tickets in their community. Information about the local community is available from other venues, animateurs, local authority arts officers, marketing, audience development agencies or consortia. Media More coverage is won if the venue and company marketer work together to find ways of communicating the most effective message to the chosen target audiences. This means talking on a regular basis to share information and avoid duplication of effort. Most venues have excellent relationships with at least some members of the local and regional press and know which media are seen by particular target audiences. Local media, however, sometimes feel overtargeted by venues so an approach by companies can occasionally enliven relationships. The national press, with their specialist requirements, is usually best dealt with by the company in consultation with the venue.
Journalists usually request information and photographs at very short notice so company marketers should ensure that they have sufficient reserves of production photographs and headshots to respond immediately. Practicalities Finding stories Some lateral thinking is required in devising interesting angles. The target audiences may not read the local newspaper and never look at the arts pages so target news, sports and womens pages in a wide range of publications. School and neighbourhood publications, in-store magazines and staff newspapers may all feature effectively in your press campaign plan. Find out early on from the cast and creative team if they have local connections, however insignificant they may seem to you, and communicate this information to the venue. Interview them to identify possible human interest stories, eg interesting collections or hobbies. Sources of information Media directories (see Further reading section) may be found in larger reference libraries. Marketing, audience development agencies or consortia are likely to maintain press lists covering a wider area than the list held by the venue.
Press releases Almost all the companies involved in the research for this book provided their venues and promoters with sample press releases. Most provide just one, suitable for use on the entertainment pages of local newspapers and magazines. This means that their partner venues are unable to take advantage of opportunities to get coverage on news and features pages. Companies should also give venues sample press releases for one or two human interest and photo stories to maximise coverage. Compass Theatre Company supplied venues presenting The Winters Tale with four ideas for photostories, a photograph for a caption competition, quiz questions and ideas for interviews including details of performers with local connections. Press releases should be concise and give the key information in the first two paragraphs about what the event is, where it is happening and when, why it is happening and who is involved. They should be factual and objective, avoiding too many adjectives and superlatives: this is not the place for a hard sell. Press releases are not always the most effective method of communication. A letter setting out the specific reasons why this particular publication should cover the story followed by a phone call is more likely to get results. This is time consuming, so both marketers should agree whether this is a priority. Photo stories An imaginative photo story is likely to get coverage; however, it is often difficult to find a gap in the performers tour schedule to enable them to come to the venue in advance of the performances. If you are playing more than one date in a region, arrange photocalls and interviews for all the venues to coincide with the first date.
Venues should bear in mind that some performers refuse to make themselves available for interviews and photocalls. The company should seek clarification from their cast as early as possible in the rehearsal period and ensure that the venues know what is possible. Ideally artists should see a reasonable degree of involvement in the promotion of the show as part of their contract with the company. Reviews The company marketer may feel that more reviewers will attend a press night in London than in a regional venue. Conversely, the venue will be seeking a profile through mentions in the reviews. This issue must be discussed and resolved at the campaign planning meeting. Press photographs Companies need to choose images that communicate the benefits of the event to the target audience they want to reach through the press. Fine detail or subtle shading cannot be reproduced in newsprint so images need to be high contrast and avoid large areas of solid black. Test images for contrast by photocopying them. If they become indistinct then they are probably not suitable for press use. Provide both landscape format images, for use across several columns, and portrait format, for use down one or two columns. Images will usually be reduced to a small size so those depicting more than three people will lose impact and are unlikely to be used by newspapers. A well-written short caption sent with your press photographs along with a longer version will increase the likelihood of them being used. Make sure you give digital photographs a file name that will tell the journalist which organisation it is from and what it is about. Ensure the digital images you send are of sufficiently high resolution for print work.
Companies should provide colour images as well as black and white. Four out of five companies involved in the research for this guide sent venues images in a digital format. Venues can have problems if prints are not also available and they do not have the equipment or the time to print images out for low-tech publications such as community newsletters. Radio Local radio stations will always prefer live or as-live interviews but other options include taped interviews, interviews down the line from studios elsewhere or telephone interviews. If you are making an advance visit to the area, try to arrange interviews you can do yourself. Many independent local radio stations operate in groups. If you do an interview for one, persuade related stations to run extracts linked to your performances in their catchment area. Television Some TV companies now run linked operations so related programmes may be persuaded to screen coverage filmed earlier in the tour. Some will show colour images of events on Whats On or local news programmes. Press nights Venues usually ask a member of the company to be present on press nights although it is not always possible for the marketer to attend. Companies should decide who will stand in and brief them fully. See the online version of this guide at www.artscouncil.org.uk/touringguide for top tips on maximising press coverage on tour, using the press to build a company brand and getting on TV. Advertising Some companies and venues have an inflexible approach to advertising and try to apply the same formula to every situation. Advertisements should not
consist merely of a nice image, the name of the venue and some dates. The same rigorous process should apply to selecting a target audience, identifying the benefits and choosing the most effective way of communicating that message to those people. It may be more appropriate to focus resources on getting free editorial coverage in the target publication. This is an issue that must be fully discussed in the campaign planning meeting, with both marketers willing to consider new ideas. No matter whose money is being spent, company and venue marketers should compare notes, share information and agree schedules. Discuss the likely financial return from each insertion, including the venues ladder advertisements. Both of you need to be clear about what you are trying to achieve by advertising and check if other methods will be more costeffective. If insufficient information is available to make the decision, monitor the response rates closely to gather data for the future. Ways of evaluating the effectiveness of advertising include: comparing daily sales figures with the advertising schedule box office staff asking customers How did you hear about this show? or Where did you see the ad? special phone lines coded response coupons Sources of information Venue marketers and regional audience development agencies or consortia will be able to give advice about appropriate publications. Media directories such as brad, Willings Press Guide and Mediadisk are available in larger reference libraries (see Further reading section for more information). These give basic information about regional, national and specialist publications. You should ring the publication and ask for a rate card. This is a pack giving a limited amount of information about readership and reader profile, the technical information you will need and a list of prices. Many publications
publish their rate card on the web. Match your target audience to the profile and calculate the cost per reader reached and the cost per target audience member. The organisation which can negotiate the most favourable price should book any advertising included in the campaign. Companies performing at more than one venue in a region should maximise their budget by grouping them together in regional advertisements if appropriate. Some marketing, audience development agencies or consortia have negotiated group discount rates for arts organisations. Where applicable, space should be booked through them. Lead-in times Deadlines for some types of publication are very early. Glossy magazines, some Arts Council magazines and colour supplements have deadlines three to six months in advance of the publication date. Design Design should allow for poor-quality reproduction and printing in many local newspapers and some national publications. The production of artwork can be expensive as publications have different column widths and so each requires a separate piece of artwork. Designers charge 100 to 150 for each piece of artwork. Some venues require full-colour artwork as some regional newspapers have full-colour technology available at reasonable rates. Marketers are also involved in a great deal of administrative work getting the relevant information, communicating with the designers and checking the results. Advertising agencies Some companies and venues use advertising agencies to remove some of their administrative burden. Given a budget per venue and a brief
identifying the target audiences and message, they will research appropriate publications, draw up a schedule, book the space and deliver the artwork. The client, however, must still proof the artwork, a time-consuming task. The agencies often get discounts from the newspapers but these may not be passed on to the client. It is also worth bearing in mind that some agency design studios do not work to a particularly high standard. National advertising Advertisements in national publications may give a production status; however, costs can be high. In audience questionnaires few people say they have noticed national advertisements, but some companies use them as an incentive to persuade venues to book the production. As before, the company and venue should clarify their objectives, ensure that the money would not be more effectively spent on other marketing methods and monitor the response. Print distribution Bulk distribution of printed material should be just as targeted as any other marketing communications method. It should be used as the most effective way of reaching a particular target market. If the venue and company print will be displayed side by side in the same racks, the marketers need to ask themselves if one or the other will communicate more effectively with the target market. Sometimes you will need both sets of print; more often you will not. Distribution plans therefore need to be discussed in full at the campaign planning meeting to avoid unnecessary duplication and confusion, and any changes communicated to your marketing partner. Distribution is more difficult to monitor, but some distribution agencies have developed ways of evaluating pick-up rates in each site. They may charge extra for this service.
A variety of distribution systems may be available: the venue will usually operate or contract out a distribution system for which they may charge the company in the contra most county councils have library distribution systems and bulk mailings or van deliveries to schools which they may charge for. Some local authorities, particularly in rural areas, have widespread distribution schemes at reasonable prices many marketing agencies have set up cost-effective systems. Others can give advice about available systems operated by arts organisations or by commercial companies regional tourist boards often offer distribution to tourist information centres and sometimes to a wider network of heritage sites and attractions. These tend to be priced more competitively than commercial alternatives a range of firms specialise in distribution, offering local or region-wide and even national services. Some of these give minimum quantities of print they will accept Outdoor advertising A wide variety of outdoor advertising sites is available, and some are used extensively, especially by larger organisations. Outdoor advertising fulfils two main functions: raising the profile of the event in the vicinity of the theatre reaching a broad section of a local community The effectiveness, and even the reach, of this kind of activity is difficult to monitor. It is best used to reinforce the more targeted elements of a campaign.
Theatre sites A range of options may be offered: poster sites on the exterior of the building signwritten posters listing the events in the season cinema-style canopy board poster sites elsewhere in the area banner sites on the theatre building or elsewhere Many venues charge companies for using these sites, so it is essential to negotiate cost, when the posters or banners will be put up and for how long, who is responsible for printing them, exact dimensions and any delivery deadlines. Where resources are scarce, the cost of producing material to fit the sites can be prohibitive. In this case, the venue may agree to put up, say, four double-crown posters to fit a four-sheet site. Other sites Options include: local council poster sites negotiating with shopping centres and/or local authority planning departments to put up a banner Maiden Outdoor offers poster sites on many of the UKs railway stations (via adRAIL) and many roadside and shopping mall sites Viacom Outdoor offers poster sites on London Underground and many of the UKs mainline stations (GNER, Central Trains and Merseyrail) and most of the UKs buses, coaches and trams some local public transport operators may deal with advertising themselves Clear Channel UK (via Adshel) has roadside, bus shelter and shopping centre sites large poster sites operated by commercial agencies
The large commercial operators have set high minimum booking levels that place their sites out of reach of all but the largest arts organisations. Negotiating with these operators is daunting, especially as the location and condition of the sites is of the utmost importance. Many arts organisations therefore employ an advertising agency to book and monitor the sites, and even to produce and deliver the necessary printed material. Displays Visual reinforcement of other elements of the campaign within the venues is a useful addition, if possible. There may be competition for space with several companies due to perform discuss this issue at the campaign planning meeting. Any effective display sites outside the building need to be identified. Most marketers believe that venues should be responsible for putting up displays, and companies for providing material that is appropriate and clearly distinguishable from images for press use. A poor display gives potential customers negative messages about product quality and is worse than no display at all. Display materials should be appropriate for the target market, communicating clearly the key benefits of the event. Companies should send photographs ready mounted and captioned. Displays should be dispatched with sufficient packaging to ensure they arrive in good condition. Venues should keep the packaging in order to return them to the company.
Monitoring and evaluation
Top tips Information from box office systems Key criteria for success
98 100 101
Monitoring and evaluation 99
Both company and venue will monitor the progress of the campaign right up to the performance dates and beyond. If there are problems it is counterproductive to try to hide them. Work together to identify the problem, its probable cause and possible solutions. It may not be possible to resolve it this time, but the information will be essential in trying to prevent it occurring next time. Systems designed to provide a degree of financial control to such areas as the number of discounted tickets sold should be based on partnership and communication not mutual distrust. It may take time for these relationships between company and venue to develop. Top tips set evaluation criteria at the campaign planning meeting dont try to hide a problem from your partner work together to identify the cause and possible solutions for next time involve box office and sales staff in evaluation meetings agree a research and data analysis plan that both venue and company have the resources to implement A tour is not over until the process of evaluation has been completed. Both marketers will wish to identify whether the marketing campaign objectives were achieved and if venue and company were each satisfied by the service the other provided. Evaluation criteria should be agreed at the campaign planning meeting. Many companies have developed a set of evaluation forms to be completed by both sides and follow these up in core venues with a formal post mortem meeting. Box office and other sales staff are an essential source of information, feedback and debate and should be involved in such a meeting. The evaluation process should aim to gather a sensible amount of information about audiences and their purchasing behaviour. Both sides
Monitoring and evaluation 101
need to understand why the information is required and what it will be used for. The company should avoid making unreasonable demands of the venue. Internal communication is key: if the company manager has been given a complete set of sales reports the venue marketer should not be asked to provide the information as well. The company will find it productive to share information about the shows performance and its audiences throughout the tour. It is useful for venue marketers to be able to measure their achievements against those of their colleagues. The evaluation process should be completed before the campaign planning meetings for the next tour begin. This is also an appropriate point for company and venue to cement their relationship by thanking each other for the time, money and enthusiasm invested in marketing the event. Information from box office systems Companies can learn a great deal from the huge amount of information many venues collect about audiences on their box office computer system: build up a picture of normal booking patterns for different types of event at different times of year to see how bookings for the current show are different test pricing structures by seeing which price bands sell out first monitor the take-up of relevant discounts to see whether campaigns targeted at particular market segments worked identify likely target audiences for future events according to factors such as previous attendance, frequency of attendance, average or total spend or average number of tickets per transaction Companies must be aware, however, that analysis of this data involves the venue in a great deal of time and effort. A middle-scale venue can rapidly accumulate a database of over 40,000 bookers and a large-scale venue,
over 100,000. Reports to analyse frequency of attendance on a database of 80,000 bookers take a long time to run. Different computer systems have different capabilities so the accessible information will vary widely from venue to venue. Companies must discuss their priorities with the venue and agree a reasonable research plan. Companies will need to enthuse and motivate the venues by explaining how the information will be used, how the venue can benefit from it and share tour-wide results. Only two out of the 49 venues involved in the research for this guide said that they had a policy that prevented them sharing information with visiting companies. Two-thirds said that they had shared the results of box office analysis and a quarter, the results of audience surveys. Key criteria for success What makes a good touring marketing partnership? shared short- and long-term objectives the sharing of information the rejection of formula marketing and an openness to each others ideas clear and frequent communication an understanding and acceptance of those aims that are different an effective use of combined resources of time and money to achieve these agreed aims, whether they are shared or not a commitment by companies to the venues and audiences beyond their home base long-term commitments so that relationships between venue and company, and company and audience, can develop the highest standards of marketing professionalism trust
Further reading and other useful information 103
Be effective and efficient: assume nothing check that your opposite number has understood you correctly agree everything in writing return calls promptly do not allow questionnaires and forms to replace conversations and meetings as they can seem daunting and unfriendly Prioritise the marketing activities that will bring you the biggest return: know what you are trying to achieve identify the target audience identify the message choose the most effective tool for communicating that message to that target audience invest in your decision set measurable objectives monitor your achievements Marketers have key information to offer their organisations so they must be involved in: setting up the tour setting targets negotiating the contract setting pricing setting levels of marketing expenditure
Further reading and other useful information
Arts Marketing publications General marketing The Marketing Manual, Making sure the message gets across, Heather Maitland, Arts Marketing Association, 2000. The Marketing Manual is a comprehensive reference book combining case studies and creative ideas to meet the needs of arts marketers. Available from the Arts Marketing Association at www.a-m-a.co.uk Audience development projects A Guide to Audience Development, Heather Maitland, second edition, Arts Council of England, 2000. A guide to managing audience development projects, including case studies from a wide range of arts organisations. A practical guide to working with arts ambassadors, Mel Jennings, Arts Council England, 2003. An invaluable guide for anyone considering an ambassadors scheme. Arts Council England New Audiences programme www.artscouncil.org.uk/newaudiences, a unique resource for audience and market development. Primary research Commissioning Market Research: A guide for arts marketers, Liz Hill, Arts Marketing Association, 2000. This is a comprehensive guide for anyone considering commissioning market research, including information on how to write a research brief or select a researcher. Building partnerships The Psychology of Partnership, Made in Heaven, Troy Cooper, AMA conference 2001, Arts Marketing Association, 2001.
Choosing messages about new or challenging work Is It Time for Plan B? A guide to marketing new work, Heather Maitland, Arts Marketing Association, 2000. Drawing together research findings from dozens of individuals and organisations, Is It Time for Plan B? focuses on the considerable challenges involved in marketing new work. Available from the Arts Marketing Association at www.a-m-a.co.uk E-marketing Word of Mouse, Julie Aldridge, Arts Marketing Association, 2001. Practical report on online marketing. Arts Marketing Association members can download a copy as an online file for free from www.a-m-a.co.uk Journal of Arts Marketing, Volume 6, Arts Marketing Association, 2002. Available to members of the Arts Marketing Association (see above). A practical guide to developing and managing websites, Roger Tomlinson, Vicki Allpress, Arts Council England, 2004. Comprehensive advice on using websites to achieve marketing objectives. Data Protection Acts Data Protection: a guide to the Data Protection Acts and their implications for managers in the arts and entertainment industry, Roger Tomlinson, Arts Marketing Association/TMA, 2000. This book offers essential guidance for managers, ticket sales, marketing and fundraising staff on how to handle customer data and stay legal. Available from the Arts Marketing Association at www.a-m-a.co.uk
Media directories brad brad (British Rate and Data) is a monthly classified directory of media in the UK and the Republic of Ireland that carries advertising. Media are broken down into: national and regional newspapers, consumer press, business press, new and electronic media (mostly Internet sites), television, video, cinema, radio, posters and outdoor. This directory is also available via subscription through bradnet. bradgroup EMAP Media 3339 Bowling Green Lane London EC1R 0DA Telephone: 020 7505 8000 www.brad.co.uk Mediadisk Mediadisk includes around 650,000 contacts with details of 150,000 media outlets. www.waymaker.co.uk Willings Press Guide Lists 65,000 publications, organisations and media outlets. Divided into three volumes Western Europe, World (ex-UK and Western Europe) and Online. Willings Press Guide Chess House 34 Germain Street Chesham Bucks HP5 1SJ Telephone: 0870 736 0010 Fax: 0870 736 0011 enquiries@willingspress.com www.willingspress.com
Arts marketing associations Arts Marketing Association (AMA) The AMA is a membership organisation for those who promote the arts and cultural industries. Membership is drawn from many areas including education, marketing, publicity, press, public relations, box office, general management, administration, sponsorship and fund development. Key services the AMA offers include personal and professional development, up-to-date information about current issues and best practice, events, publications and networking opportunities. Arts Marketing Association 7a Clifton Court Clifton Road Cambridge CB1 7BN Telephone: 01223 578078 Fax: 01223 578079 info@a-m-a.co.uk www.a-m-a.co.uk Business and the arts Arts & Business (A&B) A&Bs mission is to develop creative and effective partnerships between business and the arts. It offers professional development programmes, training schemes, a specialist databank and publications. It is also a grantmaking body. Arts & Business Nutmeg House 60 Gainsford Street Butlers Wharf London SE1 2NY Telephone: 020 7378 8143 Fax: 020 7407 7527 www.AandB.org.uk
Marketing and audience development agencies Network Network is a professional association of arts marketing agencies in England and Wales dedicated to collaborative audience development. Many of the network agencies do research and publish on marketing and audience development. www.audiencedevelopment.org England AAM Arts About Manchester Churchgate House 56 Oxford Street Manchester M1 6EU Telephone: 0161 238 4500 Fax: 0161 236 8077 intray@aam.org.uk www.aam.org.uk Greater Manchester and North West Arts Board region for certain services AMH Arts Marketing Hampshire Mottisfont Court Tower Street Winchester SO23 8ND Telephone: 01962 846962 Fax: 01962 841644 amh@hants.gov.uk www.hants.gov.uk/artsmarketing/ Hampshire and surrounding area
Audiences Central 10th Floor Alpha Tower Suffolk Street Queensway Birmingham B1 1TT Telephone: 0121 685 2600 Fax: 0121 685 2601 info@audiencescentral.co.uk www.audiencescentral.co.uk Birmingham Local Authority area and the West Midlands Arts Region Audiences London Unit 225 Great Guildford Business Square 30 Great Guildford Street London SE1 0HS Telephone: 020 7207 4776 Fax: 020 7207 4894 info@audienceslondon.org www.audienceslondon.org London within M25. Membership is offered to any cultural organisation, based in or touring to London. Audiences Yorkshire 31 St Peters Buildings St Peters Square Leeds LS9 8AM Telephone: 0870 160 4400 Fax: 0870 160 4401 info@audiencesyorkshire.org.uk www.audiencesyorkshire.org.uk Yorkshire and Humberside
Momentum Arts Boltons Warehouse Tenison Road Cambridge CB1 2DG Telephone: 01223 500202 Fax: 01223 576307 info@momentumarts.org.uk www.momentumarts.org.uk Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk SAM Sussex Arts Marketing Unit 11B Dyke Road Mews 74 Dyke Road Brighton BN1 3JD Telephone: 01273 882112 Fax: 01273 297849 info@artsinsussex.com www.artsinsussex.com East Sussex, West Sussex, Brighton and Hove Smart Audiences Leatherhead Enterprise Centre Randalls Road Leatherhead Surrey KT22 7RY Telephone: 01372 825123 Fax: 01372 825133 info@smartaudiences.co.uk www.smartaudiences.co.uk Surrey and venues in counties immediately bordering Surrey, particularly South London, Kent and Berkshire
SWAM South West Arts Marketing St Nicholas Church St Nicholas Street Bristol BS1 1UE Telephone: 0117 927 6936/41 Fax: 0117 927 6936 Email: info@swam.org.uk www.swam.org.uk Cornwall, Bath, Bristol, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Somerset TEAM The Entertainment and Arts Marketers (Merseyside) Ltd 4th Floor Gostin Building 3236 Hanover Street Liverpool Merseyside L1 4LN Telephone: 0151 709 6881 Fax: 0151 707 2555 info@team-uk.org www.team-uk.org Merseyside, northwest Cheshire, North Wales, west Lancashire Scotland GGA (launching in 2004) Glasgow Grows Audiences Details from www.sac.org.uk Glasgow and surrounding area
TAB The Audience Business First Floor 50 George Street Edinburgh EH2 2LE Telephone: 0131 243 1430 Fax: 0131 248 1434 info@tab.org.uk www.tab.org.uk Edinburgh and surrounding area Wales Cardiff Arts Marketing 2 Market House Market Road Canton Cardiff CF5 1QE Telephone: 029 2037 3736 Fax: 029 2038 4141 mail@cardiff-arts-marketing.co.uk www.arts4cardiff.co.uk Cardiff and surrounding area Creu Cymru (Touring Agency for Wales) 8H Science Park Aberystwyth Ceredigion SY23 3AH Telephone: 01970 639444 Fax: 01970 639452 post@creucymru.co.uk www.creucymru.co.uk
MASC Marketing the Arts in Swansea and Carmarthenshire Parc Howard Museum Felinfoel Road Llanelli Carmarthenshire SA15 3LJ Telephone: 01554 755557 Fax: 01554 755566 admin.masc@btconnect.com www.mascdirect.com www.artsdirect.com Swansea and Carmarthenshire Valleys Arts Marketing Lower Park Lodge Glan Road Aberdare CF44 8BN Telephone: 01685 884247 Fax: 01685 884249 admin@v-a-m.org.uk www.v-a-m.org.uk South Wales valleys Negotiating contracts ITC ITC (The Independent Theatre Council) provides management, legal advice, training and professional development for a wide range of performing arts organisations, venues and individuals.
ITC 12 The Leathermarket Weston Street London SE1 3ER Telephone: 020 7403 1727 Fax: 020 7403 1745 admin@itc-arts.org www.itc-arts.org TMA TMA (the Theatrical Management Association) is a UK-wide membership organisation dedicated to providing a professional support network for the performing arts industry. TMA 32 Rose Street London WC2E 9ET Telephone: 020 7557 6700 Fax: 020 7557 6799 enquiries@solttma.co.uk www.tmauk.org Regional tourist boards England Cumbria Tourist Board Ashleigh Holly Road Windermere Cumbria LA23 2AQ Telephone: 01539 444444 Fax: 01539 444041 mail@cumbria-tourist-board.co.uk www.cumbriatourism.info Cumbria and the Lake District
East of England Tourist Board Toppesfield Hall Hadleigh Suffolk IP7 5DN Telephone: 01473 822922 Fax: 01473 823063 www.eetb.org.uk Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk Northumbria Tourist Board Aykley Heads Durham DH1 5UX Telephone: 0191 375 3000 Fax: 0191 386 0899 www.tourismnortheast.co.uk Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham, the Tees Valley North West Tourist Board Swan House Swan Meadow Road Wigan Pier Wigan WN3 5BB Telephone: 01942 821222 Fax: 01942 820002 info@nwtourism.net www.nwtourism.net Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Derbyshire Peak District and Liverpool with Merseyside
South West Tourism Woodwater Park Exeter EX2 5WT Telephone: 01392 360050 Fax: 01392 445112 post@swtourism.co.uk www.swtourism.co.uk Bath, Bristol, Cornwall, Isles of Scilly, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire Tourism South East 40 Chamberlayne Road Eastleigh Hampshire SO50 5JH Telephone: 02380 625400 Fax: 02380 620010 enquiries@tourismse.com www.tourismse.com Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex Visit Heart of England Woodside Larkhill Road Worcester WR5 2EZ Telephone: 01905 761100 Fax: 01905 763450 info@hetb.co.uk www.hetb.co.uk Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, The Oxfordshire Cotswolds, Rutland, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire
Visit London 1 Warwick Row Victoria London SW1E 5ER Telephone: 020 7932 2000 Fax: 020 7932 0222 marketing@visitlondon.com www.visitlondon.com Greater London Yorkshire Tourist Board 312 Tadcaster Road York YO24 1GS Telephone: 01904 707961 Fax: 01904 701414 info@ytb.org.uk www.yorkshiretouristboard.net East Riding of Yorkshire, North East Lincolnshire, North, South and West Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Tourist Board 59 North Street Belfast BT1 1NB Telephone: 028 9023 1221 Fax: 028 9024 0960 www.nitb.com
Scotland VisitScotland 23 Ravelston Terrace Edinburgh EH4 3TP Telephone: 0131 332 2433 Fax: 0131 343 1513 www.visitScotland.com www.scotexchange.net VisitScotland Thistle House Beechwood Park North Inverness EV2 3ED Telephone: 01463 716996 VisitScotland London Office 19 Cockspur Street London SW1Y 5BL Telephone: 020 7321 5752 Fax: 020 7930 1817 Wales Wales Tourist Board Bwrdd Croeso Cymru Brunel House 2 Fitzalan Road Cardiff CF24 0UY Telephone: 029 2049 9909 Fax: 029 2048 5031 www.wtbonline.gov.uk
Acknowledgements 119
Outdoor advertising Clear Channel UK Clear Channel UK sells advertising space on roadside billboards, in shopping centres, on LED screens, at music venues and student unions, on taxis and at bus shelters via Adshel. www.clearchannel.co.uk Maiden Outdoor Maiden is the UKs largest independent outdoor media owner, offering railway station, roadside and shopping centre advertising sites. www.maiden.co.uk Viacom Outdoor Viacom Outdoor sells advertising space on the London Underground, most of the UKs buses and coaches, urban tram systems and rail routes such as GNER, Central Trains and Merseyrail. www.viacom-outdoor.co.uk
Acknowledgements
With grateful thanks to the following touring marketing colleagues: Editorial group: Isobel Burgess, Walk the Plank Louisa Davison, Corn Exchange Catherine Evans, Diversions, The Dance Company of Wales June Gamble, Freelance Emma Glackin, Royal Shakespeare Company Iain Kempton, Creu Cymru Katy Manuel, Freelance Arts Marketer and Consultant Anne McCluskey, Festival City Theatres Liz Pugh, Walk the Plank Samantha Scott, Forced Entertainment Joanna Sigsworth, BBC National Orchestra of Wales Sally Anne Tye, Nottingham Playhouse Contributors: Kevin Appleby, Turner Sims Concert Hall, Southampton; Louisa Ashley, Unlimited Theatre; Tim Baker, Tim Baker Associates (tim@timbakerassociates.com); Lindsay Berry, Trestle Theatre Company; Rachel Bickerton, Hall; Helen Black, TAG Theatre Company; Philip Bray, NITRO (formerly Black Theatre Co-operative); Isobel Burgess, Walk the Plank; Susan Coffer, Rambert Dance Company; Drew Colverd, English Touring Theatre; Ceri Davies, London Mozart Players; Jo Dereza, Exeter Phoenix Arts & Media; Craig Dronfield, Compass Theatre Company; Simon Drysdale, Glasgow Cultural Enterprises Ltd; Helen Dunnett, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic & Philharmonic Hall; Jane Evans, Torch Theatre, Milford Haven; Catherine Evans, Diversions; Emma Glackin, Royal Shakespeare Company; Mark Hazell, Norwich Theatre Royal; Martin Heller, Prime Productions Ltd; Richard Hogger, Creu Cymru, The Touring Agency for Wales/Asiantaeth teithio i Gymru;
Kevin Jamieson, Wakefield Theatres; Trina Jones, Birmingham Repertory Theatre; Victoria Kearns, Shared Experience; Robert C Kelly; Iain Kempton, Creu Cymru: The Touring Agency for Wales/Asiantaeth Teithio i Gymru; Sarah Kennedy, West Yorkshire Playhouse; Iain Lanyon, Kean Lanyon (iain@keanlanyon.com); Rob Lines, UK Arts International; Jo Lock, North Devon Theatres; Anne-Marie Logan, Jasmin Vardimon Dance Company; Duncan MacInnes, PAN, the Promoters Arts Network Highlands and Islands; John Macneill, Kneehigh Theatre; Katy Manuel, freelance consultant; Robert Martin, The Lowry; Anne McCluskey, Festival City Theatres Trust; Roger Nelson, Graeae; Jamie Normington, Eastbourne Theatres; Nick Parr, Scottish Ballet; Karey Parsons, UK Arts International; Fern Potter, George Piper Dances; Elliot Rose, London Bubble Theatre Company; Andy Ryans, Hall; Matthew Sanders, Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds; Jonathan Saville, Royal Centre, Nottingham; Samantha Scott, Forced Entertainment; Leo Sharrock, Arts Marketing Hampshire; Lucy Shorrocks, Welsh National Opera; Madelaine Smith, Theatre Royal, Winchester; Richard Sobey, IOU and freelance business development consultant; Victoria Stuart, Eden Court, Inverness; Rebecca Tavener, Cappella Nova; John Tellett, Tower Arts Centre, Winchester; Angela Tillcock, Marketing Consultant; Drew Tosh, Scottish Dance Theatre; Anna Travers, Eastern Angles; Sally Anne Tye, Nottingham Playhouse; Sheena Walker, An Tobar; Tei Williams, Tei Williams Press and Arts Marketing (artsmarketing@btconnect.com); Tim Wood, The Place; Laura Woods, Arc Dance Company; Sally Wrench, Unicorn Theatre Marketing and touring A practical guide to marketing an event on tour Heather Maitland ISBN 0-7287-1027-7 Arts Council England, July 2004
Writer Heather Maitland hmaitland1@aol.com Front cover photograph Robin Thompson robint@talk21.com Editor Amanda Oliver Arts Council project director Karen McKinnon-Lilley Publication coordinator Sarah Boiling Designer Flag www.flag.co.uk An expanded and updated version of this guide with case studies and top tips can be found at www.artscouncil.org.uk/touringguide Other publications in this series Commissioning new work A good practice guide for amateur theatre companies and playwrights A practical guide to developing and managing websites A practical guide to audience development and disabled people Front cover image: Cambridge Corn Exchange, Arts Council England 2004 A practical guide to working with arts ambassadors

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Marketing and touring

Marketing and touring A practical guide to marketing an event on tour

Marketing and touring

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Developing effective partnerships

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Developing effective partnershipsd edition, Pearson

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-12 months -11 months -10 months

-13 months plan branding and structure season agree schedule

When to do what Outline schedule for venues and promoters

contracts including marketing budgets schools mailing brief designer

group bookers mailing mailing to members booking opens schools reminder

box office pack

initial press release

information distribution: season brochure

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Outline schedule for companies

prepare and send out packs to promoters

pencil bookings set detailed marketing budgets

Activities for each venue

-8 months exchange contracts

images and copy

box office pack

initial press release

photocall photos reproduced commission ad design

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key points about the composer/choreographer/author

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Communicating with audiences

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