Can't tell your crew without a program
This is a thought my office manager had last summer while we wrestled the many headed hydra of self-published, self-printed programs: once the audience is in the building, ticket in hand, what is the marketing value of a program?
We were trying to balance cost-effectiveness, waste-reduction, and in-house control with finish, quality, and aesthetics. For the big outfits who can order large runs of full color glossy programs, even if the show under sells and they throw out boxes of the things (something we've all done) - maybe it's not worth the effort.
Our solution was to get a slick black and white digital copier with a saddle-stitching unit - a Konica Minolta BizHub 350. In addition to being able to make 32 page program booklets, it also saved a lot of money on deskjet ink by becoming our network printer. It also three-hole punches - which makes it very popular with the stage managers.
Our marketing solution - to explain why we used flimsy black and white programs - was pretty straightforward - print the programs on recycled paper. We wrote on the front of the program that they were printed on minimum 30% post consumer waste. In addition, we were always able to print exactly how many we needed. After seating 7000 or so people last summer, we ended up with about 200 extra programs (usually the ones from the last night of each production, because they couldn't be reused.) And because they were not on glossy paper, they were easier to recycle again.
What is the marketing value of your program? Depends on your audience, your geography, your budget, etc. Our major donors are almost all major donors of various environmental causes as well, so this makes sense for us - saved a lot of money, too.
We were trying to balance cost-effectiveness, waste-reduction, and in-house control with finish, quality, and aesthetics. For the big outfits who can order large runs of full color glossy programs, even if the show under sells and they throw out boxes of the things (something we've all done) - maybe it's not worth the effort.
Our solution was to get a slick black and white digital copier with a saddle-stitching unit - a Konica Minolta BizHub 350. In addition to being able to make 32 page program booklets, it also saved a lot of money on deskjet ink by becoming our network printer. It also three-hole punches - which makes it very popular with the stage managers.
Our marketing solution - to explain why we used flimsy black and white programs - was pretty straightforward - print the programs on recycled paper. We wrote on the front of the program that they were printed on minimum 30% post consumer waste. In addition, we were always able to print exactly how many we needed. After seating 7000 or so people last summer, we ended up with about 200 extra programs (usually the ones from the last night of each production, because they couldn't be reused.) And because they were not on glossy paper, they were easier to recycle again.
What is the marketing value of your program? Depends on your audience, your geography, your budget, etc. Our major donors are almost all major donors of various environmental causes as well, so this makes sense for us - saved a lot of money, too.
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