Last year there was a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies an acclaimed Broadway musical that had a very successful run on Broadway after opening in DC. Broadway, like everything else, has jumped into social media marketing. Therefore, at first blush, the fact that they have a social media promotion giving away tickets to the show’s Los Angeles production’s last performance for people who upload videos of themselves singing songs from the production seems like a fantastic idea.
Last year there was a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies an acclaimed Broadway musical that had a very successful run on Broadway after opening in DC. Broadway, like everything else, has jumped into social media marketing. Therefore, at first blush, the fact that they have a social media promotion giving away tickets to the show’s Los Angeles production’s last performance for people who upload videos of themselves singing songs from the production seems like a fantastic idea.
Let’s go over the good; it’s a promotion that is related to the product, so you can be sure that only interested customers would join. Also, it’s a fun, sharable little thing; every Broadway fan has dreams of singing on stage, so by giving people a chance to do that they’re making a promotion that is fun to do on its own. And, the video with the most votes wins: in other words, the person with the most expansive social media presence is going to win, so you can be sure the promotion will be seen by the most people.
But, the next question is…why are they doing this? The point of a promotion is to get people to buy product, after all, but will it convert? To that, I have to say, I can’t imagine it will.
First of all, this promotion is open to people around the country to get them to go see a show in Los Angeles. Most Broadway fans live in New York, so it sounds like a good idea. But, how many people, disappointed that they didn’t win the promotion, do you honestly think would then fly across the country to see a show they already had a chance to see? I can’t imagine that many people would.
And, if this is to get press, why are they giving away tickets to the last performance? Once the promotion is all done and people can see happy Broadway Fans loving the show these fans can’t turn into brand evangelists since the show will have closed. So, what’s the point?
The answer is: there really isn’t one. It’s a smart idea, a neat idea. It’s going to get people talking. But, nobody is going to buy anything from it.
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