Marketing Conclusion

My final conclusion is that, while both fill shows out, The National Theatre has more effective marketing. This is partly due to the fact that Forest Forge has a guaranteed audience of relatives to the ensemble, as well as a large local following. While Forest Forge does advertise online; it does little more than notify their garrunteed audience to book tickets. Their phyical local marketing has limited reach; traditional poster marketing has a limited sucess rate in turning impressions into purchases.

In comparison the National Theater does not have enough of a guaranteed audience to fill more than a few shows, mostly of press and dedicated fans. This means they have to market heavily, and for a sustained period of time; giving out lots of free tickets to the press, putting up posters all over London, and doing lots of online marketing. This leads to shows selling out, and if they are good knowledge of the show spreading by word of mouth.

Therefore the National Theatre marketing is far more effective, as it manages to sustain a show for multiple month long runs, selling enough seats to make the show sustainable, if not selling out. Forest Forge does not nessecarily even need a very sucessful marketing campaign, because their shows have limited runs.

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Forest Forge Marketing Strategy

Forest Forge's marketing strategy is almost entirely online. As Forest Forge is a local youth production theatre they are well known in the area, and most of their audience is likely already following them on social media.

On Twitter, left, they post regular links to their website where people can buy tickets to shows and events. They also follow up and post updates on the day of the event, showing anyone looking in the future that their events run well. These factors combine to make shows and events that sell out.

There is also a good deal of cross-promotion, with touring companies tweeting Forest Forge, announcing tour dates at their theatre space. This is also in conjunction with retweets from thanks of local outreach projects, mentions from the national lottery fund which supports them, and a competition giving out free tickets. As well as being cross-promotion, these tweets are varied and makes it more likely to view new messages in their feed.

Forest Forge's website, below, is easy to navigate and well laid out. The header has the logo and navigation options, along with icons to navigate to their social meida. Below is a rotating gallery, with large images and text linking to pages such as ticket sales, or details on how to join the company.

Below that is a second set of navaigation links with larger text and explanations. That is followed by lists of upcoming events and shows.

In the physical sense, Forest Forge has limited but effective marketing. They regularly advertise in the local paper, and put up posters in the local area. They also have connections with lots of the local schools, and advertise though posters and word of mouth there. They also tour a yearly show to these schools, the cast recruited from GCSE finishers.

All of these aspects come together to create a successful marketing strategy, in which most of their shows end up sold out.

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