Update: AIN'T NO MO extended thru December 23! Yay! — Page 8

The Distinctive Baritone said: "I stand corrected. The only thing I know about marketing is what I've seen onMad Menand I guess that doesn't really apply here, ha ha."

Broadly, it's just about targeting your message to the right audience, not literally being contradictory or exclusionary within the same campaign (which I think is what you were understandably getting at).

Like, ANM has been using the phrase "Black AF" which is fantastic as a message for spaces that have a large Black audience. For spaces that are more diverse in demo (or are decidedly not typically Black), you'd want to play up the more universally relatable elements of the show.

And it's up to the research/strategy teams at the marketing agency to know where those different audiences are AND how they're mostly viewing media (social, linear/television, digital banner ads, etc.) - which also brings in the intersectionality of age, gender, and so many other factors. Race just is the obvious one here and understandably the point of a lot of this discussion re: marketing this specific show.

(Edit: paragraphs are helpful)

Updated On: 12/13/22 at 05:59 PM

I think an additional problem is there's still an unfortunate amount of people who don't want to see a man in a dress. I think they also shot themselves in the foot with the title. It took me a few weeks to realize it wasn't Ain't Too Proud.

Edit: Peaches is in pants, not a dress! But, the point of people not wanting to see someone in drag unfortunately remains.

Updated On: 12/13/22 at 06:08 PM

The marketing company in question is called AKA.


Currently they are doing:

Leopoldstadt

Ohio State Murders

Piano Lesson

All "cultural shows" and yet they seem to be working out pretty well.

This scenario is/was unfortunate.

Singingformysupper said: "I think an additional problem is there's still an unfortunate amount of people who don't want to see a man in a dress. I think they also shot themselves in the foot with the title. It took me a few weeks to realize it wasn't Ain't Too Proud.

Edit: Peaches is in pants, not a dress! But, the point of people not wanting to see someone in drag unfortunately remains."

Hmm, I don't know. The marketing I've seen doesn't really address the fact that Peaches is a man in a dress. I also don't see that as an impediment to its success? Even if you wanted to argue that Black communities wouldn't take to that - you have White Chicks, Kinky Boots, the original Madea stage shows...

Lee Daniels comes across as very stupid here. Excuse a after excuse for making bad business decisions. And I liked the play too.


Also, they did that $20 initiative for one day but they didn’t even have rush tickets. It’s like they weren’t even trying.

Tough to compare a classic play written by a legend with a big Hollywood star (and stacked cast) to a new play by an unknown with no stars.

When I attended each, I'd say the audience was 30-50 ish.

You ultimately have to blame the producer who puts the team in place and oversees the different agencies and makes decisions. They also set and manage the budget alongside the general manager.

Most shows have multiple agencies and sometimes the jobs become blurred.

- An advertising agency creates the artwork and any visual ads, writes the copy, print and digital advertising, etc. These are experts who make recommendations based on knowledge of the marketplace. Such as SpotCo or AKA.

- Marketing agency focuses on partnerships, ticket trade, community outreach, influencers, etc. Sometimes plays a role in ticket inventory alongside the GM or producer.

- Digital media agency focuses on social media. Sometimes also handles ALL online advertising (such as programmatic ads) and online video/creative content and influencers. Such as Situation Interactive or Marathon Digital.

- The Press agent oversees third-party coverage in publications: reviews, news stories, TV appearances, etc. Such as O&M or Polk & Co.

Updated On: 12/14/22 at 02:26 AM

^Exactly. There’s only so far the “our marketing team didn’t get our show” will go, as we saw with KPOP. Lee Daniels was a producer. The first preview was a “hot ticket” with numerous stars showing up. The Smiths buy out an entire house at full price. At some point, the show itself is to blame. If it really was something special, it would have at least a cult following at this point as the other flops have. It’s not a show that is necessarily good nor financially sustainable in this format/platform. I guess ‘youngest playwright in Broadway history’ wasn’t the hook they thought it would be.

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "You ultimately have to blame the producer who puts the team in place and oversees the different agencies and makes decisions. They also set and manage the budget alongside the general manager.

Most shows have multiple agencies and sometimes the jobs become blurred."

What you say here is of course correct but I would offer a few comments, some of which I repeat from prior posts. The "producer" is a film guy [interesting to note that this was also true of Diana]. In this case he essentially hired a producer (WJP) to do the work. That hired hand then hired the usual suspects in the categories you list. All of those hired are experienced in the traditional way of doing things but none of them did any significant thinking outside of the box, and no discernible (or at least effective) effort was made to build bridges in either direction (i.e., enticing traditional audiences to be interested in this show and enticing new (meaning those with little or no awareness of things Broadway or even theatre) audiences. Without getting into what Daniels, Cooper, etc. have (and have not) said or done, the implications of the process reflect an unsatisfactory amount of attention to nurturing audiences outside of a box which, I think we can all admit, is moving much quicker than the traditional infrastructure is able to relate to. And at a fundamental level, as I have continued to think about all this, it's about generations as much as (or perhaps driving) what we are calling the more diverse audience. We are at a point that Boomers are starting to age out but the next generations are even less theatre and Broadway oriented. To return it to ANM, Millennials are far less likely to think of the content of ANM as "alien" but they are also more likely to think of going to a Broadway show as an alien experience.

They're now on sale through December 26, rather than February 26.

TaffyDavenport said: "They're now on sale through December 26, rather than February 26."

According to my friend who works at Telecharge, the producers were basically refusing to give the signal to tinker with the performance calendar, but I guess that changed, even if for an extra week. (Although ending on a Monday is weird)

WJP and O&M are on this show and they were the people that were complacent in Rudin's behavior.