The Final Push
The cruel thing about marketing a play, is that as opening night edges closer, the quality and quantity of marketing have to accelerate, just when you start to feel like if you give your (by now) well-rehearsed marketing spiel to anyone else you will scream. This has been a 9 month project, and I would be lying to say that I have enjoyed every minute of it. Lots of things have been incredibly challenging, and sometimes you don’t feel up to it. However, when everything starts to come together in such a way, it really is so beautiful and I am so proud of every single member of the team for all the hours they have put in so far. It is all finally starting to pay off.
One of the aspects of the marketing I was most proud of was the event that we created in union with The Oxford Hub, discussing the refugee crisis. The speaker gave personal accounts of a number of refugees she had met in her travels, in their own words. I think in our world of snappy headlines and incomprehensibly large statistics, it is easy to forget that these are real people, and this is really what they are experiencing. I was so proud of the team, for organising such a successful event, but also for hopefully energising the Oxford community to do something. Our play is a piece of art, but that doesn’t mean that we have to stop at simply entertaining our audience. It raises important questions about how we treat and think about those less fortunate than ourselves, and I hope that in some way we will indirectly but practically help someone in the world. That would be my dream.
Facebook advertising is well underway, and the numbers are starting to creep up slowly, as do ticket sales. The most helpful advice any of us have been given throughout this process, is to HOLD YOUR NERVE. This sounds simple, but with a production such as ours, nothing will market it better than word of mouth. We have to stay calm and trust that all the hard work will pay off, I have every confidence that it will.
When we received the bid confirmation in February, I remember dancing around our room manically with our producer, Clara, both overcome with happiness. Then we both fell silent very quickly as we realised we had to produce and create something to a professional standard, while also doing Oxford degrees and maintaining sanity and a social life. I also remember thinking that 9 months was so far away, that’s the length of a pregnancy! But it has whistled around so quickly, we are days away from the due date now. I for one cannot wait to see the culmination of 9 months of blood, sweat and tears, and to see the look on the audience’s faces when we reveal to them all our hard work. The look on the audience’s faces will make it all worthwhile I am sure of it.
Beth, Marketing Manager
