Sat, October 20, 2007
Imagine the top ranked listing in Google for someone searching for your show is a direct pan from a critic or consumer blog. Imagine it’s a Michael Riedel rant that your show could be in big trouble. Don’t think that has an effect on ticket sales? Think again. The web is all about content. People can access pretty much whatever information they want at a few key strokes into a search engine. Go ahead and search for your production in Google. Throw the word ‘reviews’ after it – see what comes up. You see, on the web, reviews don’t just come and go – they stay out there indefinitely. That's why I think the importance of public relations as part of your overall marketing strategy should only continue to increase. It's not just reviews - it's blogs, featured stories (good and bad), etc. They all live beyond their shelf life on a magazine rack. I believe the Broadway press offices that we've worked with (BBB, BH) have done an amazing job keeping pace with the changing landscape thus far.
Aside from the critics – then there are consumer reviews. I don’t know about you, but I read reviews and ratings from consumers before I see a show, book a hotel or buy something on Amazon.com. The power of the keystroke is becoming increasingly powerful from all forms of contributors and we all just need to be aware that it’s incredibly hard to contain and exploit effectively. Here is another interesting article shedding some light on the topic. According to the story, "62 percent of consumers read consumer-written product reviews on the Internet, and of these, more than eight in 10 say their purchase decisions have been directly influenced by the reviews, either influencing them to buy a different product than the one they had originally been thinking about purchasing, or confirming the original purchase intention."
It really is a very tough issue to address and one that we all must closely monitor.
Read more about consumer reviews here.
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