Worst Marketing you've seen. — Page 3

Kad said: "In recent memory, I'd have to say the Side Show revival. It was vague and generically show-biz. The production was never gonna be a hit, but c'mon. It's a show about conjoined twins. Do something interesting with the posters.



I thought the posters for Side Show were beautiful (a shot of the conjoined sisters from behind, one looking one way, the other looking the other) -- but then I saw the show and loved ALL the geeks so much that I couldn't believe they weren't part of the advertising.

At curtain call it was clear how much the audience loved them, too. Oh, the sisters were terrific, but there was so much more to that show, and that one shot of the sisters from behind just didn't even hint at that.






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phan24, my bf actually attended a performance of that Godspell! I recognize the image from his Facebook event feed. How weird!

Agree about the N2N theater-specific marketing being awesome - I thought the headshots they had (Tveit, Damiano) were a cool way for folks passing by the Booth to get the sense that the show had something to do with a family (plus most shows - and I love this type of marketing just as much - have what I sometimes refer to as "Joan Marcus" - esque marketing: photos taken by pros like Marcus blown up and pasted on a theater facade. It's an equally valid form of marketing. Most productions relied on stuff like that for years, but at the same time, seeing something new and inventive (huge headshots on the doors entering the Booth, Something Rotten's whimsical and self-referential/denigrating marketing) does something to you to.

I call it the "Geico" effect. Different when applied to theater marketing, but the principle is the same: whether its over the air (Geico) or on a theater facade/marquee (Something Rotten) - smart and funny advertising draws the eye, it elicits interest, it makes people chuckle (I loved the stuff the Something Rotten guys came up with - it conveyed that the show was a comedy and it expresses the fact that audiences are seeing a show that doesn't take itself too seriously at the same time).

Hands on a Hardbody hands down (no pun intended) had not only the one of the worst but laziest marketing campaign's ever.

The show's about a contest where whoever keeps their hands on a truck the longest wins it, and they couldn't think of arranging the a contest to take place in Time Square to be cosponsored by Ford or GM?!?!? Or if the Time Square Permit was too expensive have it right outside the theater, but I still can't believe they didn't use the show's premise as a gimmick to sell it. On top of that the show did next to no press, nor did it sell Co-Written by Trey Anistasio of Phish.



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Also Next to Normal actually had one of the most effective Social Media campaigns of all time for any entertainment property, to the point where it is the only Broaday show to have one an Online Media and Marketing Award for its "Twitter Production" during Tony Season.

Updated On: 9/28/16 at 06:54 PM

After sitting through the commercial every morning lately, may I nominate Holiday Inn? It is a commercial that tells you nothing about the show, obscures the faces of the leads and is boring. Is that really all that can be said about the show?

I agree with Holiday Inn. The posters and commercials are ugly and tell you nothing about the show. If they're trying to bank on people's familiarity with the movie, they shouldn't, considering a lot of people aren't as familiar with it as producers probably realize.

Not worst, but not best.

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/09/29/grumpy-cat-cats-broadway

Roundabout has an in-house marketing department but also uses agencies for their advertising. Generally (but not always) SPOTCo for advertising and Situation Interactive for digital.

First thing to came to mind was Gloria Steinem's "Hell, No!" commercial for the first run of The Color Purple.

While it isn't even close to its Broadway opening, I think the GROUNDHOG DAY Bway logo is incredibly bland, boring, and completely uninspired. It looks like anyone could've opened Microsoft Word and created it in a couple of seconds. Hopefully this is only for now, but we'll see in the Spring. You can see it on their website: http://groundhogdaymusical.com/

TFMH18 said: "Most recently, Bright Star. Did you know that beloved American superstar Steve Martin wrote a musical? Well most of the country did not. Additionally, that entirely bland and vague artwork could not have been less enticing or telling of the show's warmth and tenderness if it tried. Really abysmal work all around."



I agree with you. I didn't even know about the musical until it was nominated for a Tony. After I watched the show, I loved it for its simplicity and strong & emotional songs. However, looking back, I don't think there was a scene when she was looking for a bright star (as seen in the logo). I really wished the marketing was done a lot better so it could have stayed in Broadway longer.