What's the Right Discount Price for a Broadway Ticket

Tue, January 17, 2006

Tags: Broadway, Case Study, Discounting, Ticket Prices, Ticketing

What is the discount price that tips prospects into paying customers? There is no blanket answer to this question but there are trends we see in response rates that we believe can help us maximize our marketing efforts. Months back, we tested a campaign for a Broadway musical and wanted to share some of our findings that could help shed some light when formulating your next discount ticket offer.

The scenario:
A Broadway musical was looking to fill select performances that they felt were weak in attendance. In order of priority, we were focusing on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and select Thursdays. It closely resembled the airline industry's approach of selling airfare.

The solution:
To target building sales for select performances on the official website. A tiered discount was offered on eight performances. Four performances were for $65 orchestra seat tickets. Four performances were for $75 orchestra seat tickets.

The results (after 7 days of the campaign):
$65 Ticket
Total of 4 available performances on a Tues or Wed
# of tickets sold: 115 tickets

$75 Ticket
Total of 4 available performances on a Wed or Thurs
# of tickets sold: 16 tickets

$101.25
All non-discounted performances
# of tickets sold: 41 tickets

Our conclusion:

• The discount price ruled over all other variables.
  
• There was no movement on the second-tier price ($75). It seems as though people either wanted the best price or the most convenient performance to attend.
  
• People were willing to purchase tickets for an immediate performance with the discount.

Moving forward:
What we felt was most interesting about the campaign is that this helps support the theory that discounting specific performances based on demand (similar to the travel industry) has legs. A Tuesday of this week could be $65 and next week could be full price if the market conditions support it.

Each show has different buzz levels, audiences, marketing channels, etc., so it's difficult to draw one final conclusion moving forward. But, for now, it's something to consider when putting together that next discount mailing.