When putting together a marketing kit for your next touring production it’s important to consider timelines. There’s no use producing excellent content if presenters don’t have enough time to get it in front of potential audiences.
Generally you should be aiming for the following;
- 16 weeks out – begin compiling marketing kit
- 12 weeks out – issue complete marketing kit to presenters (allowing them 4 weeks to digest the information and build their marketing campaign)
- 8 weeks out – marketing campaign implementation begins
Remember to also consider any funding time frames into this schedule. Ideally you should aim for all funding to be confirmed before releasing any marketing materials. These time frames may vary depending on funding guidelines; for example Playing Queensland requires an eight week turn around where as Playing Australia has three to four set rounds per year.
There can be some exceptions to this schedule and it’s definitely worth checking with presenters if the timing works for them as well. They might be planning to implement a cross promotion with another large event and require finalised marketing content earlier. Or they may want to include your production in their annual season brochure which means you’ll need to have secured funding and have marketing content ready to go as early as September for shows touring the following year.
If you are aiming for season brochure inclusion you need to have the following prepared
- Presentation line + billing requirements
- Marketing copy
- Media quotes
- Logos + text acknowledgements
- High res hero image + image credit
- Key info: duration, age suitability, warnings
EXAMPLE
Here is an example of the marketing info arTour and JUTE supplied for the 2016 Bastard Territory tour and the actual season brochure pages from the venues in Townsville and Brisbane.
Marketing copy: Bastard Territory is a confessional human drama about a man – and a city – carving out an identity. Mixing wry humour, raw insight, a dash of Tennessee Williams and a killer 60s and 70s soundtrack, it’s a powerful and affecting yarn.
Russell thought he’d made peace with his past, but the skeletons won’t stay in the closet – even if he came out of it long ago. It’s Darwin in 2001, and Russell and his boyfriend run The Tectonic Plate – a hip café, art gallery, and queer cabaret dive. Its walls are about to be shaken by some earth-shattering truths. PNG-born Russell came to the Territory with his adoptive white parents, but his boho mum shot through when he was eight. Suddenly, unpleasant memories are dredged up from the murky past and Russell has a new fire to find out the truth of his biological parentage in this new play from Darwin-raised and Brisbane-based Stephen Carleton (The Narcissist and Patrick White Playwrights’ Award-winner Constance Drinkwater and the Final Days of Somerset).
Media quote: “Bastard Territory is a well-crafted, intelligent and entertaining new Australian play.” REAL TIME
Logos + text acknowledgements: A ground breaking co-production between Knock-em-Down Theatre, Browns Mart and JUTE Theatre Company. Tour supported by The Playing Queensland Fund and arTour, initiatives of the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, part of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet. JUTE Theatre Company acknowledges the financial assistance of the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, and the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
REQUIRED LOGOS: JUTE, AUSTRALIA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS, KNOCK EM DOWN THEATRE, BROWNS MART THEATRE, ARTOUR, QUEENSLANDGOVERNMENT
High res hero image + image credit: Photography by David Kelly
Key info: duration, age suitability, warnings: Duration 160 minutes including 2 intervals, No restrictions, Ideal for 13+ yrs
View our marketing checklist for a full list of content you should be considering developing for your next tour.
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