Anne Trites - National Arts Marketing Project
Anne Trites - National Arts Marketing Project
Anne Trites - National Arts Marketing Project
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<strong>Anne</strong> <strong>Trites</strong>
YALE REP OVERVIEW<br />
• The Work: focus on new work<br />
and reimagined classic plays<br />
• Season: Sept-May<br />
‣ 6 productions<br />
‣ 2 theaters<br />
‣ 22 to 25 performances each<br />
‣ Capacity per run: 8,800-<br />
13,000<br />
‣ One-price house<br />
• New Haven, CT<br />
‣ Population ~1 million<br />
• Competitive Market:<br />
‣ Long Wharf Theater<br />
‣ Shubert Theatre<br />
‣ Hartford, Westport<br />
‣ New York City (1.5 hrs)<br />
• LORT D<br />
‣ Part of Yale School of Drama
GOAL 1:<br />
Maximize<br />
Attendance and<br />
Accessibility<br />
CHALLENGE OF OPPOSING GOALS<br />
…versus…<br />
GOAL 2:<br />
Generate Revenue
OPPOSING GOALS, IN DETAIL<br />
Maximize Attendance<br />
& Accessibility<br />
• Discounts<br />
‣ Yale faculty, staff, and students<br />
‣ School groups<br />
‣ Subscribers<br />
‣ Price-sensitive patrons<br />
‣ Audience development<br />
‣ Seniors …<br />
• Comps<br />
‣ Yale School of Drama faculty, staff, and<br />
students<br />
Generate Revenue<br />
• Goal of $1 million+ in ticket sales<br />
• 3 years of budget cuts—every dollar counts<br />
• Training in revenue management strategies<br />
for School of Drama Theater Management<br />
students
WE GOT IT WRONG!<br />
Death of a Salesman<br />
with Roc Dutton, 2009:<br />
Great Attendance & Accessibility,<br />
Lost Revenue Opportunity<br />
• Tremendous attendance<br />
‣ Sold out 25 performances<br />
‣ 11,656 seats total; 128% of goal<br />
‣ $282,967 in revenue; 115% of goal<br />
• Great accessibility<br />
‣ $10 Ticket Night<br />
‣ 1,324 group tickets at 20% off<br />
• Lost revenue<br />
‣ Just one dynamic pricing tactic, e.g.<br />
raising non-preview tickets to<br />
highest price, would have yielded<br />
an additional $100,000+
WE GOT IT RIGHT!<br />
Compulsion<br />
with Mandy Patinkin, 2010:<br />
Good Attendance & Accessibility,<br />
Increased Revenue<br />
• Introduced dynamic pricing<br />
‣ No senior discounts<br />
‣ All non-preview tickets to highest<br />
price<br />
‣ Increased prices at 70%, 80%,<br />
90% capacity<br />
• Did NOT sell out: 77% capacity, but<br />
made additional $51,000+<br />
• Still accessible: $10 Ticket Night, group<br />
sales, subscriber discounts
WE ARE GETTING<br />
BETTER AT THIS<br />
General Changes<br />
• Replaced panic discounting with<br />
strategic discounting<br />
‣ Papering almost entirely gone<br />
‣ Occasional targeted offers<br />
• Increase prices when houses hit 60%<br />
capacity instead of 70% to date this<br />
season<br />
• Continue to monitor responses to<br />
prices changes<br />
‣ Adjust up or down based on results
MORE CHANGES<br />
Passes<br />
(flexible passes are redeemed for<br />
tickets throughout the season)<br />
• Most pass holders come on Saturdays<br />
‣ Cheap pass tickets on Saturdays<br />
meant lost single ticket revenue<br />
• Increased pass prices<br />
‣ Higher than subscriptions per<br />
ticket<br />
‣ Closer to the weekend single<br />
ticket price<br />
• Results = no price resistance; pass<br />
sales increased
MORE CHANGES<br />
Previews<br />
• Replaced the one $10 preview<br />
ticket night with $20 tickets for<br />
three weekday previews<br />
‣ Result = Sell out<br />
• Maintained preview subscription<br />
prices for past three years<br />
‣ Result = Number of<br />
subscriptions has increased<br />
• Added dynamic pricing for two<br />
weekend previews<br />
‣ Results = no price resistance,<br />
increased revenue
MORE CHANGES<br />
Seniors<br />
• Challenge assumption that seniors need<br />
cheap tickets<br />
‣ Narrow gap between full prices and<br />
senior discounts<br />
‣ Discount range in 2009-10 was<br />
22% to 29%<br />
‣ Now it is 7 to 11%<br />
‣ No discounts for Saturday<br />
performances<br />
Results = No price resistance;<br />
eliminate?
BIG OPPORTUNITY THIS SEASON!
WHERE WE ARE GOING<br />
Hamlet with Paul Giamatti, 2013<br />
• Scaled House<br />
‣ Two sections in house with at least $10<br />
difference in price<br />
‣ All non-preview performances<br />
increased to top price when single<br />
tickets went on sale (Sept)<br />
‣ Will monitor speed of sale and adjust<br />
prices
REVENUE GROWTH WITH DYNAMIC PRICING<br />
Anticipated projections for 2012-13 Season indicate<br />
a dramatic increase in revenue while still maintaining<br />
attendance numbers (and accessible pricing).
“I don’t believe<br />
in dynamic<br />
pricing; theatre<br />
is meant to be<br />
accessible!<br />
Humph!”
WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED<br />
FROM DYNAMIC PRICING<br />
• Outrageous discounts will not increase<br />
attendance. Nor will they make people value<br />
the art more.<br />
• Highly-popular shows yield increased<br />
attendance, regardless of higher ticket<br />
prices.<br />
• Additional revenue can be earned while still<br />
being accessible.<br />
• Prices aren’t keeping people away from the<br />
theatre.<br />
It IS possible to set prices,<br />
maximize revenue, AND feel good<br />
about it!
<strong>Anne</strong> <strong>Trites</strong><br />
Yale Repertory Theatre<br />
anne.trites@yale.edu
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