Two souls in the chest
Theater marketing Commerce and art are moving ever closer together for Swiss theaters.
Theater marketing Commerce and art are moving ever closer together for Swiss theaters.
Since last month, Swiss theaters have been presenting their new repertoires. Classical or contemporary stage productions should attract as many spectators as possible. However, this is becoming increasingly difficult in an age of oversupply of commercial and cultural events. With an increasingly heterogeneous range of leisure activities and fragmented target groups, the competitive environment for spoken word theaters is also shifting. They have long been competing against clubs, bars and cinemas in the battle for the favor of the entertainment-hungry. However, the use of extensive advertising campaigns would go beyond the financial scope of most theaters. Although they are seen as cultural
institutions are subsidized by the state, but many theatres are not
under increased pressure to maximize income. While the people of Zurich granted the Schauspielhaus an increase in subsidies in 2002, the canton of Basel wants to cut its theater's contributions from next summer.
Commercial art or art commerce: in contrast to a purely commercial enterprise, a theater is not only committed to maximizing profits - or minimizing losses - but above all to artistic standards, which often forces those responsible to walk a tightrope: "We want to offer a high-quality artistic programme, but at the end of the year we want to at least break even," says Christoph Stuehn, Head of Sales at the Zurich Schauspielhaus, explaining the conflict.
Contact with the audienceHowever, the breadth of the balancing act between artistic and commercial performance varies from stage to stage, as Dietmar Seiler, Head of Dramaturgy and Communication at Theater am Neumarkt, explains: "A small, intimate theater that is much less dependent on its box office results does not have to focus on the needs of the audience." He is convinced that any market research would be dangerous for a theater. "Conversely, we should try to make our program consistently and uncompromisingly and then win people over to it," he continues. This is easier for the experimental theater at Zurich's Neumarkt 5, as its more intimate atmosphere allows it to retain a regular audience.
Although capacity utilization is not and cannot be the only target at the Schauspielhaus either, the management always tries to get in touch with the audience and find out their wishes and needs - most recently in a major visitor survey in the 2003/04 season. Those responsible at the Lucerne Theatre also made use of this marketing instrument. One of the findings of both surveys was that the theater consumer cannot be pigeonholed: They come from all demographic segments.
The fact is, however, that audience loyalty to a theater is heavily dependent on the respective artistic director. The 2004/05 season has started under new management at several Swiss theaters, including the Theater Luzern, the Theater am Neumarkt and the Schauspielhaus, which will be managed by commercial director Andreas Spillmann until Matthias Harmann takes office. With
A new beginning increases curiosity about the program, but also raises expectations of the new artistic directors. The Schauspielhaus is very satisfied with the start of the season after the Marthaler era, and subscription sales have also increased again, according to Christoph Stuehn.
In-house communicationDietmar Seiler is also satisfied with the results of the first production under his and Wolfgang Reiter's direction. With the departure of the artistic duo Otto Kukla and Crescentia Dünsser, the collaboration with the Wallisell agency FCB Leutenegger Krüll also came to an end. Today, the Theater am Neumarkt develops its communication in-house. According to Seiler, the aim is to communicate the program offered in the theatre to the outside world "without any loss of friction". This is also the reason why he himself is in charge of both dramaturgy and communication.
This is handled in a similar way at the Schauspielhaus: everything to do with the program is developed in close collaboration between the graphic design, direction and dramaturgy departments. Only for image campaigns and launches, such as those for Theater Monday, does the larger
Switzerland's largest spoken-word theater on the in-house agency Publicis.
The Lucerne theater's entire communication package, on the other hand, comes from a single source. For the start of the season under the new management of Dominique Mentha, the theater on the Reuss had a completely new look created by the Zurich agency TBS Identity - from the corporate design to the new program booklet. Commercial Director Adrian Balmer explains the fact that all advertising material was designed by the agency by saying that the theater is dependent on experts due to its "size". During implementation, however, the advertising professionals were also faced with the problem that the language of the market is not necessarily the one that suits the identity of the theater.
Without the generous cooperation of communications agencies, often based on sponsorship, hardly any theater could afford a visible presence. This is because the already limited communication budget must not only accommodate play posters and advertisements. All printed materials such as monthly schedules, season brochures or program flyers must be financed through this budget. Added to this is the not cheap publication of the program in the daily newspapers, such as the "Theater-Magnet" in NZZ and Tagi.
The latter is also a focal point in the marketing mix of Zurich's Theater an der Winkelwiese. The "Winkel" season brochure is also one of its most important communication tools. For the current season, the theatre, which specializes in contemporary auteur theater, had its play posters and season brochure designed by the Zurich agency Viznerborel. According to Ste-phan Roppel, director of Winkelwiese, this was also only possible because the creative minds worked for the theater on favorable terms. In terms of advertising, the theater is at the upper limit of what it can afford with its tight budget. "Ultimately," Roppel is convinced, "the quality of an artistic production determines its success and this is spread most efficiently by word of mouth." Accordingly, classic PR enjoys a high priority at the speaking stages. A review or a feature article often brings many more visitors to the theaters than they could ever achieve with traditional advertising. Adrian Balmer also confirms this: "Our audience survey has shown that most people are attracted to the theater because of newspaper reviews.
decide to go to the theater."
As with Goethe's young Werther, there are two souls in the chest of theater communicators. As a result, they sometimes have to rely on their instincts as to when and in what form they present themselves to the public. Christoph Stuehn: "Among the many external influences to which we are exposed, it is a great challenge, especially in terms of advertising, to take measures that have a positive influence on capacity utilization and address the right target audience as directly as possible."
Each theater pursues its own communication strategy in order to attract as many audience members as possible.
Every Swiss theater pursues its own communication strategy to attract as many audiences as possible >> page 8
Simone Keller
Since last month, Swiss theaters have been presenting their new repertoires. Classical or contemporary stage productions should attract as many spectators as possible. However, this is becoming increasingly difficult in an age of oversupply of commercial and cultural events. With an increasingly heterogeneous range of leisure activities and fragmented target groups, the competitive environment for spoken word theaters is also shifting. They have long been competing against clubs, bars and cinemas in the battle for the favor of the entertainment-hungry. However, the use of extensive advertising campaigns would go beyond the financial scope of most theaters. Although they are seen as cultural
institutions are subsidized by the state, but many theatres are not
under increased pressure to maximize income. While the people of Zurich granted the Schauspielhaus an increase in subsidies in 2002, the canton of Basel wants to cut its theater's contributions from next summer.
Commercial art or art commerce: in contrast to a purely commercial enterprise, a theater is not only committed to maximizing profits - or minimizing losses - but above all to artistic standards, which often forces those responsible to walk a tightrope: "We want to offer a high-quality artistic programme, but at the end of the year we want to at least break even," says Christoph Stuehn, Head of Sales at the Zurich Schauspielhaus, explaining the conflict.
Contact with the audienceHowever, the breadth of the balancing act between artistic and commercial performance varies from stage to stage, as Dietmar Seiler, Head of Dramaturgy and Communication at Theater am Neumarkt, explains: "A small, intimate theater that is much less dependent on its box office results does not have to focus on the needs of the audience." He is convinced that any market research would be dangerous for a theater. "Conversely, we should try to make our program consistently and uncompromisingly and then win people over to it," he continues. This is easier for the experimental theater at Zurich's Neumarkt 5, as its more intimate atmosphere allows it to retain a regular audience.
Although capacity utilization is not and cannot be the only target at the Schauspielhaus either, the management always tries to get in touch with the audience and find out their wishes and needs - most recently in a major visitor survey in the 2003/04 season. Those responsible at the Lucerne Theatre also made use of this marketing instrument. One of the findings of both surveys was that the theater consumer cannot be pigeonholed: They come from all demographic segments.
The fact is, however, that audience loyalty to a theater is heavily dependent on the respective artistic director. The 2004/05 season has started under new management at several Swiss theaters, including the Theater Luzern, the Theater am Neumarkt and the Schauspielhaus, which will be managed by commercial director Andreas Spillmann until Matthias Harmann takes office. With
A new beginning increases curiosity about the program, but also raises expectations of the new artistic directors. The Schauspielhaus is very satisfied with the start of the season after the Marthaler era, and subscription sales have also increased again, according to Christoph Stuehn.
In-house communicationDietmar Seiler is also satisfied with the results of the first production under his and Wolfgang Reiter's direction. With the departure of the artistic duo Otto Kukla and Crescentia Dünsser, the collaboration with the Wallisell agency FCB Leutenegger Krüll also came to an end. Today, the Theater am Neumarkt develops its communication in-house. According to Seiler, the aim is to communicate the program offered in the theatre to the outside world "without any loss of friction". This is also the reason why he himself is in charge of both dramaturgy and communication.
This is handled in a similar way at the Schauspielhaus: everything to do with the program is developed in close collaboration between the graphic design, direction and dramaturgy departments. Only for image campaigns and launches, such as those for Theater Monday, does the larger
Switzerland's largest spoken-word theater on the in-house agency Publicis.
The Lucerne theater's entire communication package, on the other hand, comes from a single source. For the start of the season under the new management of Dominique Mentha, the theater on the Reuss had a completely new look created by the Zurich agency TBS Identity - from the corporate design to the new program booklet. Commercial Director Adrian Balmer explains the fact that all advertising material was designed by the agency by saying that the theater is dependent on experts due to its "size". During implementation, however, the advertising professionals were also faced with the problem that the language of the market is not necessarily the one that suits the identity of the theater.
Without the generous cooperation of communications agencies, often based on sponsorship, hardly any theater could afford a visible presence. This is because the already limited communication budget must not only accommodate play posters and advertisements. All printed materials such as monthly schedules, season brochures or program flyers must be financed through this budget. Added to this is the not cheap publication of the program in the daily newspapers, such as the "Theater-Magnet" in NZZ and Tagi.
The latter is also a focal point in the marketing mix of Zurich's Theater an der Winkelwiese. The "Winkel" season brochure is also one of its most important communication tools. For the current season, the theatre, which specializes in contemporary auteur theater, had its play posters and season brochure designed by the Zurich agency Viznerborel. According to Ste-phan Roppel, director of Winkelwiese, this was also only possible because the creative minds worked for the theater on favorable terms. In terms of advertising, the theater is at the upper limit of what it can afford with its tight budget. "Ultimately," Roppel is convinced, "the quality of an artistic production determines its success and this is spread most efficiently by word of mouth." Accordingly, classic PR enjoys a high priority at the speaking stages. A review or a feature article often brings many more visitors to the theaters than they could ever achieve with traditional advertising. Adrian Balmer also confirms this: "Our audience survey has shown that most people are attracted to the theater because of newspaper reviews.
decide to go to the theater."
As with Goethe's young Werther, there are two souls in the chest of theater communicators. As a result, they sometimes have to rely on their instincts as to when and in what form they present themselves to the public. Christoph Stuehn: "Among the many external influences to which we are exposed, it is a great challenge, especially in terms of advertising, to take measures that have a positive influence on capacity utilization and address the right target audience as directly as possible."
Each theater pursues its own communication strategy in order to attract as many audience members as possible.
Every Swiss theater pursues its own communication strategy to attract as many audiences as possible >> page 8
Simone Keller
