May 5, 2010 Taylor Chatfield Creative Brief and Digital Concepts
821 W. Vickery, Fort Worth, Texas
Backgrounder Situation Analysis Stage West was founded by Jerry Russell on October 18, 1979, on Houston Street in downtown Fort Worth. After moving in and out of multiple locations throughout Fort Worth, extensive searching and finally a fourmonth renovation, Stage West settled on Vickery Street. The current theatre seats about 150 people. There is a spacious lobby, which also serves as a dining room where guests can enjoy dinner, drinks and desserts before the show, during intermission and often times after the show. The theatre is located in the up and coming Near Southside, the district’s central location in the heart of Fort Worth makes it a short trip from popular destinations in Downtown, the Cultural District, Texas Christian University and Southeast Fort Worth. The Near Southside is also surrounded by several of Fort Worth’s oldest and most distinctive historic neighborhoods. • Currently, the core audience for the theatre range in age from 40 to 70. • Regular ticket prices range from $26 to $30, with discounts as lows as $15 and student rush tickets as low as $5. • The theatre generally shows six productions per year with one of the shows being a classic Ameri can or British play. Industry Overview In the current economic client, the arts industry is struggling to bring in donations as well as customers, this struggle effects the museums in Fort Worth as well as theatre companies. Competitors • Circle Theatre- Circle Theatre has the advantage of being located in downtown Fort Worth. It chooses edgier shows, such as: “The Great American Trailer Park Musical” and “Bright Ideas.” • Jubilee Theatre- Jubilee Theatre has the advantage of being located in downtown Fort Worth. It is an African-American theatre that shows works that “reflect the African-American experience.” • Casa Mañana Casa Mañana is located in the arts district of Fort Worth. It shows all kinds of plays including a yearly series of plays and musicals geared toward children, it holds events such as the Betty Lynn Buckley Awards and Camp Casa geared at encouraging and teaching children to take part in theatre.
Creative Brief Target Audience There are multiple target markets that show potential for bringing new customers to Stage West. Young Professionals- Young professionals in the Fort Worth area includes people from the up and coming Near Southside and Seventh Street Corridor as well as people from downtown Fort Worth. These people are mostly unaware of Stage West Theatre, although they are likely aware of Casa Mañana theatre as well as the museums in the cultural district. Ads will focus on attracting young art users rather than all young professionals, however they will not deter young professionals who are not regular art users.
821 W. Vickery, Fort Worth, Texas
Students- The Fort Worth area is home to multiple arts-focused high schools including Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts, Fort Worth Country Day, as well as Texas Christian University and Texas Wesleyan University. All of these schools represent possible markets for new Stage West customers. Specific attention should be given to the theatre and fine arts departments within each school. Another possible market includes parents of grade school students. Although the ads may be more beneficial if they are primarily geared toward teens and young adults, they must also include a specific draw for parents. In large part this audience is aware of Stage West but may not have created any opinions about Stage West other than awareness. Benefits of Stage West • In-house dining experience • Location in the up and coming Near Southside • Non-traditional play choices (not necessarily edgy though) • Location easy to get to from all areas of Fort Worth • Cheap for students • Different experience Strategy Statement Stage West Theatre is a non-traditional theatre, which allows people to enjoy a full-night experience with dinner, drinks, the show and dessert. The full-service experience that Stage West provides distinguishes it from other theatres in the Fort Worth area. Also, its easily accessible location within the up and coming Near Southside allows patrons to beat the Sundance Square crowd and even to dine at one of the hip new restaurants on Magnolia street. The location and full-service experience make Stage West ideal for a younger (under 40) age crowd and the advertising and marketing should portray this hip and accessible appeal. What do we want the target audience to know? Stage West Theatre offers a full night experience. It is centrally located in Fort Worth and just a short distance from the hip Near Southside area, including Magnolia Street. You can come to the theatre to simply see a show, or to have dinner, drinks and dessert—an entire night of fun. What is the tone of the messages? Stage West is unique but not edgy, the tone should be hip and chic with a touch of traditional theatre to entice older patrons as well as young new customers. What tools will be used to reach the audience? • Possible updating or redesign of the logo • Direct mail-upcoming shows as well as a piece detailing the upcoming season • Advertisement- magazine or newspaper arts section ad • Outdoor ad • Re-format their social networking presence to be more updated and to stay current • Outdoor downtown ads that target people who normally spend their weekends in Sundance Square (guerilla marketing focusing on the name Stage West that send people to the Stage West website)
821 W. Vickery, Fort Worth, Texas
Digital Concepts Facebook: Facebook is second as a web-resource only to the company’s main website, for this reason, I believe it is imperative for the Facebook presence of Stage West to accurately describe and show Stage West’s theme, main message and all relevant information about the company. However, the goal of the Stage West page needs to be to help the consumers or fans rather than promote the company. This means that for every one post that promotes Stage West, there should be approximately five to ten posts that provide interactive resources and information to page fans. Here is a list of possible post topics that would be beneficial to page fans and will keep them interested in interacting with the page. • • • • •
Link to local theatre and arts blogs when they update with any interesting articles (even if the articles do not directly mention Stage West): o Theatre Jones o Art And Seek o DFW Onstage o This Week in the Arts Frame Stage West as the place to go, by listing the names and/or placing photos of prominent guests on the Facebook page (make sure you have their written permission first) Link to articles about national and international arts news (Stage West’s page should be the place to go to find updated arts news) Post specials on drinks, food and tickets for people who are Stage West fans Post anything and everything that is interactive (photos, videos, links to web games…) and relates to theatre, the arts or DFW
It is imperative that the Facebook page stays up to date, this means that posts should be made approximately three times weekly. It is also important to communicate a fully branded company on Facebook, this can be done by placing the logo as the profile image, using the same text on the Facebook page description as the Website and linking the Facebook page to all other sites and media accounts that Stage West has. Facebook Ads: Facebook ads allow you to narrow the people who view the ads by demographics, interests, or basically anything they post on their personal Facebook profile. For example: you could narrow ads to be shown to females in Fort Worth who are between the ages of 18 and 30, single and who have “theatre,” “art” or “fine arts” listed as interests on their profile. This allows you to target very specific audiences and because it is an interactive ad that links to your Facebook page or Website, people are able to find all the information about Stage West that you could possibly want them to know with the click of a mouse. Facebook ads are charged on a cost per click or cost per thousand impressions basis, this means that you are only paying for actual results, if no one clicks on your ad, you will not be charged. Foursquare: Foursquare is an emerging social media platform, because of this it would be very good to create an account now so that you have time to become acquainted with Foursquare before it completely bursts on to the scene.
821 W. Vickery, Fort Worth, Texas Here is a general explanation of how Foursquare works: • People download the Foursquare application onto their cell phones and media devices • People “check-in” at different locations including businesses • People gain points by checking-in at locations for the first time, lots of times and for other various reasons I recommend that Stage West creates a Foursquare account and uses the Foursquare account to track and reward people that “check-in” at Stage West. These rewards, or even just verbal/written acknowledgements will keep people connected to Stage West across the Internet. Rewards, such as discounted meals and tickets or free drinks can be given to people who “check-in” at Stage West most often. Other Recommendations: • Make on-line ticket buying more prominent on the Stage West website (include a button on the homepage), that is something that a younger audience will find necessary, and right now the link is buried in the site. • Review the click-through-rate of your current banner ads and evaluate their effectiveness (on sites like Theatre Jones). If they are effective leave them up, if not take them down, there is no use paying for an ad simply because you feel like you should have a banner ad. Try ads on other websites, such as: o Art and Seek o DFW Onstage o This Week in the Arts • Banner ads should not link to the Stage West homepage, link them to information about the play they’re advertising, or even directly to the on-line ticket sales page. People who click on the link a are not likely to dig on your site for the information they want. Make the information easy for them to find.
Where you don’t have to eat with your hands. Experience dinner and a show, instead of popcorn and an action flick. Experience intimate, personal and unique. Experience live theatre.
Retreat from the expected
Where you don’t have to eat with your hands. Experience theatre. Live.
Retreat from the expected
Where a date is more than a shared soda. Experience dinner and a show, instead of popcorn and an action flick. Experience intimate, personal and unique. Experience live theatre.
Retreat from the expected
Where a date is more than a shared soda. Experience theatre. Live.
Retreat from the expected
Experience Theatre. Live. .org
Where you don’t have to eat with your hands.
.org
Where a date is more than a shared soda.
.org