MARKETING BRAINSTORMING PROMPT

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Bernard Banks
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MARKETING BRAINSTORMING PROMPT The following are meant as guidelines for creating the marketing plan for your production of OKLAHOMA!, based on show themes.

1 MARKETING BRAINSTORMING PROMPT The following are meant as guidelines for creating the marketing plan for your production of OKLAHOMA!, based on show themes. We encourage you to let this spark your own ideas, and for you to find ways to scale, adapt and mold them into what will work in your community and help to achieve your specific outreach, education and marketing goals. SHOW SUMMARY: Rodgers & Hammerstein's first collaboration remains, in many ways, their most innovative, having set the standards and established the rules of musical theatre still being followed today. Set in a Western Indian territory just after the turn of the century, the high-spirited rivalry between the local farmers and cowboys provides the colorful background against which Curly, a handsome cowboy, and Laurey, a winsome farm girl, play out their love story. Although the road to true love never runs smooth, with these two headstrong romantics holding the reins, love's journey is as bumpy as a surrey ride down a country road. That they will succeed in making a new life together we have no doubt, and that this new life will begin in a brand-new state provides the ultimate climax to the triumphant OKLAHOMA! EVENTS & CLASSES The farmer and the cowman should be friends Play up the high-spirited rivalry between the local farmers and cowboys in OKLAHOMA! with Western-themed events and classes at your theater and in the local community. Hoe Down Dance: Host a Hoe Down or Western-themed party either in the theater or in partnership with another local space to generate interest in your production. Have cast members perform to give patrons a sneak peek of the show. Consider performing the "Farmer Dance" from your show as a centerpiece of the event s entertainment. Have the show s choreographer or a cast member teach the attendees a square dance or other dance in the style of the show s choreography. (Remember to keep it simple!)

2 Invite local press for photo ops and encourage media coverage of the event and show. Post photos to social media feed to encourage sharing and drum up interest for future similar events. Serve American Western-themed snacks and drinks (i.e. hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ, chili, apple pie, lemonade, beer, etc). Use this event as a fundraising opportunity. Sell tickets and offer them to anyone who has donated in the past first to keep it feeling exclusive. Event / Online / Fundraising / Community / Partnership / Press Square Dancing classes: Before the weeknight pre-show or on weekend matinee mornings, host a class at the theater. Have a cast member or guest artist teach a square dance set to songs from OKLAHOMA! This will bring patrons into the theater at non-show times and create a social opportunity. Extend the event s impact with some of the following: Offer the class as an added value for the first number of tickets sold, or as an up-sell on your ticket price ($50 for a ticket $70 for a ticket and a dance class.) Open your concessions before and after the class for additional revenue opportunity. Film the classes and post them to YouTube, your website and social media pages to encourage sharing and reach new patrons through their friends. Invite patrons who have attended these classes and know a dance to come on stage at the end of each show, and perform the number with the cast following the curtain call. Use this on stage experience as part of your sales pitch for the dance classes. When posting videos on YouTube don t forget to link to the song and include credits for the song and the composer and lyricist: Music by Richard Rodgers Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, licensed in agreement with Rodgers & Hammerstein, Event / Online / Fundraising / Kids / Community "Dress Like a Farmer" Night at the Theatre Offer discounted entry on same-day tickets to anyone dressed in a Western costume Give away prizes for the best costume, i.e. tickets to a future show in the theatre or prize donations from a local business who has partnered with the show. Allow patrons to take a picture on stage with your surrey with a fringe on top and encourage them to post their photos to their social media using a special hashtag created for the production. Consider requesting donations to the theater for the photo op to create an additional revenue stream.

3 Run an associated contest on social media to allow followers to submit a picture in their best farmer or cowman outfit. Give away tickets or show merchandise as a prize. Event / Online / Fundraising / Kids Host a Box Supper Social : Incorporating any/all of the following elements: An indoor pot-luck dinner at a local community center or religious center. Have an outdoor cookout or gather for a picnic in a local park Auction off hampers of homemade food and baked goods for fundraising for the theater or a local charity Sell entry tickets to general theatergoers as a revenue stream and offer them as gifts to major donors and patrons Event / Fundraising / Patrons / Kids / Community / Charitable / Press Host a bake-off: Where attendees bring their best pie to the theater to be judged and then sold for fundraising or charity. Get permission from the winner to allow you to share the recipe on your social media pages. Post the winner s recipe online and encourage others to share theirs as well. You can use these to create a digital OKLAHOMA! Laurie s Box Supper Social Cookbook. Solicit donations from local bakeries, grocery stores and restaurants in exchange for promotional callouts at the event. Event / Online / Fundraising / Community / Charitable / Partnership Hay Rides: Partner with a farm or pumpkin patch to offer OKLAHOMA!-themed hay rides once or a few times during the shows run. Have cast members join to teach a song from the show and lead a sing-a-long on the ride. Consider packaging this in with a Box Supper Social and tickets to the show to create a day-long event. Be sure to take lots of photo and video to post to your social media pages during and after the event. Event / Online / Kids / Community / Partnership

4 PARTNERSHIPS Partnerships with local businesses and organizations are a great way to reach people who shop and socialize in your area, but have not been to your theater before. Set up the partnership and then discuss promotional exchanges of marketing collateral, in store signage, online links and program callouts between the business and your theater to maximize partnership opportunities. Consider the following types of partnerships: Partner with a local Bakery or Ice Cream Shop Ask the bakery to name their apple pie, new ice cream flavor or other all-american dessert after OKLAHOMA!-or a character in the show (i.e. Ado Annie Apple Pie, Laurie s Lemon Pie or Judd s Jelly Donuts ). Offer a % discount at the bakery for patrons with ticket stubs from the show. Do a promotional exchange of marketing collateral, in store signage, online links, program callouts to maximize partnership opportunities. Fundraising / Community / Partnership Partner with local American Restaurant: For a buzz-building pre-run event and ongoing promotions throughout the run. Connect with the restaurant in any or all of the following ways: Host an OKLAHOMA!-themed donor dinner with a sneak preview of the show to help build word of mouth buzz. Integrate appearances and performances from cast members as space and resources allow. Ask each person in attendance to like your Facebook page before the event. Take photos at the event and tag everyone in attendance to help spread the word to their friends. Work with the restaurant to set up an OKLAHOMA!-themed prix fixe dinner. Rename the food and drinks on the menu after characters and songs from the show. Both the Theater and the Restaurant should send out invites to their lists, post on social media outlets and hand out flyers to customers for the weeks leading up to the event. Ask the restaurant to share information about the upcoming event through flyers which can be given to all patrons for weeks leading up to the event. Offer a package deal through Living Social, Groupon, Bloomspot, Savored or any other local discount site with tickets to the show and dinner at the restaurant. Exchange value-added discounts with the restaurant: Have them offer a % discount on their meal when patrons show a ticket stub from your theater. Offer a discount on a ticket or concessions at the theater with a receipt from the restaurant. Promote the offers in collateral, on receipts on social media, etc. Event / Online / Patrons / Fundraising / Community / Partnership

5 Partner with a Movie Theater or Community Center: To do a screening of the film version of "OKLAHOMA! Host a discussion afterward to discuss the differences between the stage and film versions. Hand out collateral and/or a discount flier, and do a giveaway of tickets to the show at the event. Invite local media for photo and video ops Have cast members appear and perform a number from the show to encourage ticket buying for the Theater s run. Screenings of OKLAHOMA! can be licensed through Criterion Pictures. Please brian@criterionpicusa.com with the details of your event. Restrictions may apply. Rights are needed for screenings. Event / Online / Kids / Community / Partnership Partner with a local Clothing Shop Choose a store that sells items such as jeans, plaid shirts and Western wear. Host a western fashion show with the clothing store that is OKLAHOMA!-themed and play music from the show throughout. Event / Community / Partnership Partner with a local farm or farmers market: Possible partnered events include: Host an event on the farm to teach kids about farming or farm animals. Sponsor Apple, Fruit or Pumpkin-picking excursions. Event / Kids / Community / Partnership TALKBACKS Talkbacks are a quick and uncomplicated way to offer added-value to your audience members, encourage further dialogue about the show, and bring in new patrons. Contact local schools, libraries, museums and historical societies to find experts for your Theater s post-show talkbacks. (Be sure to keep post-show talkbacks relatively short, or schedule them as separate events outside of show times to be respectful of audience time commitments.) American History Expert: Invite a historian or U.S. History professor to discuss the state of the country during the 1906 setting of OKLAHOMA! and place the show in a broader historical context. Pull out themes and moments from the show and talk about

6 how they connect with real-life events. If this person also tutors high school students on the side, you may be able to get them to do this for no cost in exchange for promoting their tutoring services. OKLAHOMA! & The American Musical Theatre: OKLAHOMA! was the first musical written by Rodgers and Hammerstein and is widely considered to be a seminal piece in the history of American musical theater. Invite an expert from you theater's staff or the local community to discuss the history of the musical theater genre, the traditional structure of a musical and this show s place in all of it.

MARKETING BRAINSTORMING PROMPT

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