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Post by mkb on Apr 13, 2023 15:08:34 GMT
Many provincial theatres offer an increasing level of discount if you buy a set number of shows from within their "season". Now, this is great and can offer excellent value for money, but why do they insist that all shows are bought at the same time?
In the age of online booking, it's an outdated concept anyway that a theatre needs to put shows on sale for a whole six months at the same time, rather than release each show as it is firmed up.
But even with theatres that still cling to the season model, what seems to happen more and more is that late additions are made to the season as vacant weeks are filled by new touring productions.
The upshot is that, even when you've already bought a package of shows from the season, you are required to pay full whack for the late addition. This penalises early bookers.
Why can't they simply let you accumulate the discounts as credits against your account? If I attend ten shows in a season, it really shouldn't matter to the theatre if I book 9 then later add 1, than if I book all 10 at once. The upshot is that I probably don't bother with the extra show.
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Post by Nelly on Apr 13, 2023 15:47:11 GMT
The most loyal customers in these situations are pretty much always the ones that lose out. For example, I have a season ticket for the football team I support, which means I am guaranteed a ticket in the same seat for every home match they play. However, the general admission tickets are categorised depending on the 'level' of team they are playing and generally the season ticket is priced based on the highest category, meaning that I'm technically paying over the odds for certain matches. All they (theatres, football clubs etc) care about is bums on seats and the earlier they can get that money in and guaranteed, the better!
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Post by marob on Apr 13, 2023 16:47:11 GMT
My local theatre’s season ticket offer helped get me into going to the theatre regularly, so I’m sure they do have their place. The same venue currently also sells the front rows for almost everything for a tenner, which is much better value than the discounted ‘prime’ seats, and where I would rather sit even at full price. So that’s a no-brainer.
The Southwark Playhouse model is the one everyone should be using though, even though I’ve had it nearly a year and only seen one show so far (Anyone Can Whistle.)
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Post by n1david on Apr 13, 2023 17:03:47 GMT
I think the main goal of multi-buys is to get more cash upfront, which helps them fund the development of shows and run the business until the shows actually happen, rather than specifically to reward loyal customers. Giving the discount to someone who might be booking only a little while before the show doesn't make sense from a financial point of view (assuming the booker would book the show anyway at full price)
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Post by mkb on Apr 13, 2023 17:45:55 GMT
I think the main goal of multi-buys is to get more cash upfront, which helps them fund the development of shows and run the business until the shows actually happen, rather than specifically to reward loyal customers. Giving the discount to someone who might be booking only a little while before the show doesn't make sense from a financial point of view (assuming the booker would book the show anyway at full price) But the current m.o. works against getting the cash upfront. It means I am put off from booking early when the season is first put on sale, because I don't want to be caught out by not getting the multi-buy discount on late additions to the season a few weeks later. Today, I was set to book at my local theatre for an autumn subscription package (25% discount for 5 or more shows), but (a) availability, which I'll continue to monitor, is wide open, and (b) they currently have a few weeks with no productions scheduled so it's very likely they will add more. I therefore haven't booked yet and will wait. This is really easy for theatres to fix but their marketing people seem to have little nous or imagination. I can think of a number of ways I could design solutions that would be attractive to both theatre and theatregoer and would encourage early booking. |
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Post by shady23 on Apr 13, 2023 18:09:22 GMT
I am very surprised more theatres do not offer loyalty schemes, especially those that have had the same show for a long period.
Ten visits to Wicked and you can claim an exclusive Chistery pin
A hundred visits and you get a money can't buy photo with Elphaba on stage (well, if any random B list visitor from a soap opera can then why can't a super fan?!)
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Post by n1david on Apr 13, 2023 19:49:55 GMT
It means I am put off from booking early when the season is first put on sale, because I don't want to be caught out by not getting the multi-buy discount on late additions to the season a few weeks later. But you're still early booking, even if it's a few weeks later, so it's still working for them. You might be a month or two later in booking but you're still giving them a season's revenue up front. |
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Post by showgirl on Apr 14, 2023 3:25:11 GMT
This is an excellent thread and the issue bugs me, too, as my nearest touring venue (the Yvonne Arnaud in Guildford) seems to have switched from announcing a full season in advance to a hybrid model of publishing a brochure and opening bookings for a fair number of productions but leaving gaps as mkb mentions, then drip-feeding 2 or 3 more plays or shows to fill these, which they seem to do almost at monthly intervals at present, so the multi-buy offer works against anyone who has already booked for the first wave. In fairness to this particular venue, I think they might have been stung by last year's experience, when no fewer than 3 productions from the original, full-seaon programme - and for all of which I had booked - were cancelled or postponed to a date to be determined. So that wasn't great for the audience members or the theatre, but things have now swung a little too far the other way and the suggestion that theatres introduce a "totting up" system to cope with this would reward and build loyalty rather than discouraging early bookings because people are tempted to wait to see what is added. Furthermore in the case of Guildford, you can't afford not to book asap if you want the best discount as the Early Bird deal (not always available as it's up to the producers, not the theatre) is limited to x number of tix and for certain performances, meaning if you don't bag a £15 ticket, you would have to pay more than double that for the same seat at full price, and in most cases I'm taking a chance on an untried production for which I'm prepared to risk that much but for which I'd begrudge paying a lot more later, even if it proved to be a smash. |
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Post by Dawnstar on Apr 14, 2023 12:19:16 GMT
I'd take any sort of offers personally. My local theatre never has anything. No multi-buy offers, no early booking discount, no discounts if something's not selling, nothing. And nowadays the cheapest price for most shows is either £20 or £25 (plus £3 booking fee per ticket even if you book in person). The net result is that I rarely go to my local theatre.
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