By Kathy Hong
Kathy Hong is the formal Executive Director of OISTAT and sits on the board of Performing Arts Network Development Association.
Every autumn and winter, during the high season of performances, the market of performing arts in Taipei is essentially a bloody war zone. I still remember hearing familiar greetings like “tickets are so hard to promote” and “people are not in a buying mood” in early October. Let’s cut to the chase. This problem will persistently plague marketeers, crews, and artists, and will never go away. If that is the case, after we rant and rave about “box-office failures”, what else can we still do or think of doing to gradually change the status quo?
“Recently, performance tickets are still difficult to sell. What exactly do you think is causing it?” This is the question that the Arts Managers Group posted on Facebook in early October. The answers are mainly summarized as below:
👉 Price inflation, salary freeze, decrease in disposable income
👉 Too many performances, not enough audience
👉 Too much distraction in the overall environment diverting people’s attention
👉 Performing arts not a necessity
👉 Many works discouraging people from going to the theater again
It seems that the affecting factors have not changed much throughout the years. Then why are we still looking for the crux of the problem? Based on the experiences and new thoughts of our partners, this special topic hopes to provide troubled people in the business some inspiration. Next time when we run a promotion, we could try something different, and be brave to experiment somewhat. Who knows? Maybe we might inadvertently start a new phase.
When we are acting as the audience, we care about work quality, whether there is novelty, whether it is inspiring, and whether it is revelational. Is this too much to ask? If you think so, then I firmly believe that you do not need to read on, and should consider leaving the business. As marketeers, are we clearly communicating across the values of the works to the audience?
What IS value?
What is the value of performing arts? And what is the value of your work? This is largely dependent on the audience. If that is the case, it implies that value is a subjective perception of the audience, neither universal nor unique. For you, the work may have shaken up your universe, making an immense change on your perspective of life. However, that may only be true for you. For the person sitting next to you that is sound asleep, I am afraid the value can be totally different.
When viewers purchase performance tickets, what they are actually buying is an anticipated atmosphere imagined in their brain. The true value of this anticipation is to be realized after they finish viewing the performance. It is only after they have experienced (consumed) the performance can they judge what the value of the work is to them. As a result, the whole process from having purchase intention to the actual experience itself is utterly subjective. It is entirely in the viewers’ (consumers’) minds. When viewers decide to buy tickets, they are always calculating the relative value of the purchase, intentionally or unintentionally. They are relying on the information the works provide to make a decision. When we tell our potential viewers to “come and buy a ticket”, have we truly given them enough information to decide whether the works can meet their expected values? Do we know the kind of information our viewers rely on when deciding among choices? As marketeers, have we really communicated across the value of the works? Highbrow communication techniques will only invite viewers of the same taste. However valuable you think your work may be, if the value is not communicated across, it is essentially nonexistent when viewers are making the decision.
Only after you (the artist), you (the producer), and you (the marketeer) clearly understand the value of the works can you start strategic planning, and have opportunities to artfully play the game of image building. Your mental state will then be in sync with that of the consumers in the foreseeable future.
For the Chinese version of this Feature, please go to 你的價值，是什麼？
{in.notes #1 January, 2014} Online journal & download here: in.notes
