Selling The Dream

THE HARD SELL

The hard-sell marketing strategy works amazingly well on the majority of people when it comes to creating hype for a sales push. Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the Boxing Day Sales are evident of this fact. But when it comes to convincing someone they are really going to like something by saying it will be the funniest thing they have ever seen, as is the case with promoting film, TV and theatre shows, quite often this tactic will have the reverse effect.

It's Down To The Numbers
The people who are most receptive to being primed for a blockbuster film, will very likely be drawn into making the sales figures through a hard-sell. Especially when the product has been successful once already. This is why the more fantastical films with recognisable actors can be rolled out time and again. Fast and Furious is one good example, as are all the Marvel comic adaptions. There are many people who already like watching these types of films and so there doesn't really require much more effort in promoting the sequels other than putting up enough posters and teaser trailer advertising.

With theatre, however, the same can be said for hard-sell tactics some of the time - ie. where the show is recognised or there are known actors in it. But, mostly the show relies increasingly more on it's critics and word of mouth. Most people will only watch a film in a cinema or a play the one time - but the difference in pricing for a film at the cinema and a show in a theatre, is roughly 3x more expensive. That's why theatres are more reliant on good consistent performances and positive reviews to hit their numbers. This is certainly the case for fringe and the shorter run shows in any case.

After seeing The Book of Mormon this week (at a discounted matinee price), I've realised where the media hype has been exceptionally brilliant for promoting this show. However, it was clear to me that the show was pretty mediocre for the money they were asking per ticket - even at the discounted price. I'm amazed at the responses from seemingly savvy and intelligent friends, well-known celebrities and critics. However, the power of marketing and hard-sell has really created an impression in this case. Many of my friends have not only enjoyed the show, but some have been more than once to see it at £75+ each go because they liked it so much. Very impressive indeed!

There is a clear point here that the hard-sell, backed up by the right marketing spiel and when it hits the right audience, has the power to persuade and influence many more through word of mouth. Because, it's ultimately been the pressure placed on our friends, family and colleagues, to go and see this show, which has bolstered the marketing impact. And this knock-on snowball effect, with it's gathering momentum, for convincing the next to give their praise - for fear of not fitting in if they don't keep up the the chain, that's been the the real hard sell.