It’s a tradition.

People wake up and turn on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

How many people?

MILLION!

And you know what’s amazing about those kind of eyeballs?

The parade is one, giant, multiple-hour, float-sized, commercial.

All those floats advertise movies, TV shows, brands, singers and their albums, and yep, there’s even some Broadway show stumpin’ along the way.  McDonald’s, Power Rangers, SpongeBob, Trolls, and Macy’s (duh) are just a few of the big ol’ corporate emblems that’ll float down Broadway and into the minds of those millions of consumers tunin’ in.

But you’d never know it.

Because this kind of marketing is the best of all.  To use a modern buzz phrase . . . it’s called content marketing.  In fact, the Parade is probably one of the most classic examples of CM that is still being used today (and will be used for decades to come).  The Parade provides entertainment to consumers while at the same time promoting brands.  And it’s so entertaining to the consumer that they don’t even care (or know) that they’re being sold something.

What does this mean to you?

Most likely, you can’t have a parade for your show or your theater.  But you can brainstorm how you can provide extra value or entertainment for your potential ticket buyers to get them to pay more attention to you (and not your competition).

If you’re a rock show, do you have a “how to” video series in how to sing like your lead?

If you’re a Gilbert and Sullivan opera, do you have a free lecture on those originators of the operetta?

Or free tap class if you’re doing Anything Goes?

What’s great about content marketing is that it can be very low cost . . . and inspire incredible brand loyalty.

Or as I like to say, teach someone to fish, and they’ll probably buy even more fish from you.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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FUN STUFF:

– Listen to Podcast Episode 99 with the VP of Live Theatricals for Universal Studios, Chris Herzberger! Click here.

– Interested in learning more about topics like this? CLICK HERE to join The TheaterMakers Studio, an online community, certification training program, and resource for playwrights, producers, directors, actors, and theater makers of all kinds!