I recently wrote an article about the return of the theater experience for the Ricoh Business Booster site where I am an active contributor, providing info and intel for developing long-term relationships with print customers and sharing creative ideas for generating new business.
The Business Booster site is accessible to members only, and my posts can be found under ‘Deborah’s Corner’ in the News and Insights tab. If you have a login check it out, and click around the site. Ricoh has done a really nice job providing marketing tools, sample templates, whitepapers, webinars, podcasts, vertical marketing guides (LOVE THOSE!), and intel for helping printers succeed.
Regarding that success, with movies, shows and events reopening there are some big new business opportunities associated. Hollywood is banking on the EXPERIENCE of being at a theater to get people off their couches and into seats, so are other venues. You can click into my post (when it’s posted) to see my recommendations for print applications and creative ideas to wow theater owners, I am going to share something new with you here.
My mom (Lady Scanalot for those who have met her at my Printerverse booth over the years) called me today and told me that she had bought tickets to a bunch of shows. I was quite surprised. She has immune system issues that make her more susceptible to Covid and lives in FL which is at or close to the bottom when it comes to Covid safety protocol. My mother, who is very Covid cautious, committed to going inside a theater and sit amongst strangers multiple times from now, through 2022.
WHY? What had happened?
Turns out it was some GREAT print marketing!
A group of venues got together to form the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County. Collectively, they created the #SafeArtsSarasota campaign announcing new indoor safety measures these venues would be following and took out full-page ads in the local papers outlining the process and sharing the reasons why they came together and created it.
My mom saw the ad, did some research and bought her tickets. Not to one show, for many.
Take that concept and apply it every way you can. Using my mom as an example, she already has the tickets to the shows. Are there groups of businesses that can rally together to create Covid safety ecosystems such as dinner and a movie? How can we help parlay this concept into more local business partnerships and more local marketing?
Are there groups of local stores that can advertise their safety protocols to the community? Local businesses? Any place where a person must consider such things, and perhaps is still avoiding?
I am aware that there are different levels of concern over Covid exposure and protocols may already be in place, so your new business development plan must make sense for where you live. Please consider the return to indoor shows/movies as a BIG step in the pandemic recovery process and helping to get people in seats now can truly generate long-term business AND give print marketing the center-stage moment it deserves.
Ready for your close-up?
Deborah Corn is the Intergalactic Ambassador to The Printerverse™ at Print Media Centr, a Print Buyerologist™, industry speaker and blogger, host of Podcasts from The Printerverse, the cultivator of Print Production Professionals the #1 print group on LinkedIn, Girl #1 at GirlsWhoPrint, host of #PrintChat every Wednesday at 4 PM ET on Twitter, the founder of International Print Day and the founder of #ProjectPeacock. She is the recipient of several industry honors including the 2016 Girls Who Print Girlie Award and sits on the board of The Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi and is on the Advisory Board for the Advertising Production Club of NYC.
Deborah has 25+ years of experience working in advertising as a Print Producer. She currently provides printspiration and resources to print and marketing professionals through PMC and works behind the scenes with printers, suppliers, and industry organizations helping them create meaningful relationships with customers, and achieve success with their sales, social media, and content marketing endeavors.
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