Reaching Our Community
Romeo, D. (2021) Sovereign Song DesignMyNight Page, digital image, London.
Marketing for Sovereign Song began a month prior to the opening performance. We developed a DesignMyNight page (CrushRoom, 2021) due to their ability to sell tickets, promote our production to other buyers, and collect audience reviews. As audience response was an important part of my research, I was drawn to the community environment of an open forum. We also began promoting the production via Facebook (CrushRoom, 2021) and Instagram (CrushRoom, 2021), and released a press announcement on Broadwayworld.com (Rabinowitz, 2021) in order to increase sales and reach a wider audience.
Early in our marketing process, we struggled with finding the correct branding to reach the community we wanted to build. Initially, the production was titled Homeland Security, an explosive, intimidating title that I hoped would catch people’s attention. However, as my collaborators noted, it also evoked a sense of violence, action, and Americanism, which didn’t quite fit the tone or themes we had created within the production. We also hoped to learn from the mistakes of productions such as The Wolf of Wall Street, which attracted a more aggressive and rowdy audience than they had anticipated (Watkins, 2020). Instead, we transitioned to a new title, Sovereign Song, which had several meanings. It was a play on words, referencing a swan song (which hinted at the state of Elephant and Castle); a synonym for a national anthem, a key moment in the performance; and a communal act. We hoped this would convey a tone of community, patriotism, and pride.
Romeo, D. (2021) Sovereign Song Logo Design 1, digital image, CrushRoom, London.
Romeo, D. (2021) Sovereign Song Logo Design 2, digital image, CrushRoom, London.
Potter, C. (2021) Sovereign Song Logo Design 3, digital image, CrushRoom, London.
Our production art went through several changes as well. We discovered a rubber stamper at COLAB Tavern of an elephant with a turret on its back. We later learned that this was the official crest of Elephant and Castle, and immediately adopted it as the main image for our show. After several design changes, our collaborator, Charlotte Potter, designed a poster that would become the primary image for the production.
We then reached out to members of the press in order to get professional feedback on our work. After designing and submitting a press release, we received responses from several major review sites, most notably The Stage. While our social media campaigns were attracting attention, we felt the best way to draw new audiences was via high profile reviews. Although our scores were average, the response was encouraging, and our review from The Stage was printed in their June 17 issue (2020).
“Engaging, smart, and fun. CrushRoom’s enjoyable immersive show is full of exciting ideas with lots of potential. Overall it’s a very entertaining (and well-priced) evening of collaborative fun with some absolutely brilliant moments. It’s a strong offering from a new company, which shows many signs of good things to come.”
“Delivers a real punch. This production has vitality and youth in spades. The participation and enthusiastic acting came together brilliantly, and a group effort steered the fortunes of the young nation in ways that would resonate forever through Elephant and Castle’s imagined history. It allowed the audience’s creativity to shine and be reflected back.”
“The perfect antidote after lockdown, this is the ideal night out to ease back into theatre with an immersive experience that’s both Covid-secure while making you feel part of the community.”
“This show did not miss a beat, I’ve only dreamed of being this good straight out of the gate. Do not miss Sovereign Song.”
Romeo, D. (2021) Sovereign Song Press Release, digital image, CrushRoom, London.
COLAB Theatre Productions (2021) News and Updates. Available at: https://www.colabtheatre.co.uk/welcome [Accessed on: 25 May, 2021].
We further expanded our audience by cross-promoting with DesignMyNight and COLAB. COLAB posted our ads on their website and social media, handed out our promotional postcards during their performances, and verbally advertised Sovereign Song to audiences at the end of Crooks 1926. DesignMyNight included us on several promotional lists, including ‘Best Immersive Performances in London’.
We also attempted to engage with audiences through a variety of media (see Appendix B). We created still images and videos to tease the narrative of the production, questions and polls to engage with our community, and glimpses behind the scenes to provoke connection. While our marketing campaign took some time to become effective, towards the end of the run we began to attract audiences that had no direct relation to COLAB, CrushRoom, or any of its members, thus expanding our community. Because of this, the production closed as a financial success, earning a small profit.
Romeo, D. (2021) British Speaker Ad, digital image, CrushRoom, London.
Romeo, D. (2021) LondonTheatre1 Review Ad, digital image, CrushRoom, London.
Romeo, D. (2021) What Would You Do Ad, digital image, CrushRoom, London.
Bibliography
CrushRoom (2021) [instagram]. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/crushroomtheatre/
CrushRoom (2021) [facebook]. Available at: https://www.facebook.com/CrushRoomTheatre/
CrushRoom (2021) Sovereign Song. Available at: https://www.designmynight.com/london/whats-on/activity/sovereign-song?t=tickets
James, A. (2021) ‘Sovereign song: engaging, smart and fun’, The Stage, 17 June, p. 19.
Rabinowitz, C. (2021) ‘CrushRoom set to debut Sovereign Song at COLAB tavern’, Broadwayworld.com, 10 May. Available at: https://www.broadwayworld.com/uk-regional/article/CrushRoom-Set-To-Debut-SOVEREIGN-SONG-at-COLAB-Tavern-20210510
Watkins, B. (2020) Interviewed by Danny Romeo, November 18.
Sovereign Song Reviews
James, A. (2021) ‘Sovereign song: engaging, smart and fun’, The Stage, 10 June. Available at: https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/sovereign-song-colab-tavern-london-immersive-crushroom-2021
Morley, C. (2021) ‘Sovereign song’, Sidetrack London, 18 June. Available at: https://sidetrack.london/experiences/79?utm_campaign=theatre-3&utm_content=stage-3-1&utm_medium=email&utm_source=chase-up
Ross, B. (2021) ‘Sovereign song at COLAB tavern’, LondonTheatre1, 10 June. Available at: https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/sovereign-song-at-colab-tavern-review/
Appendix A
COLAB Theatre Productions (2021) News and Updates. Available at: https://www.colabtheatre.co.uk/welcome [Accessed on: 25 May, 2021].
Potter, C. (2021) Sovereign Song Logo Design 3, digital image, CrushRoom, London.
Romeo, D. (2021) British Speaker Ad, digital image, CrushRoom, London.
Romeo, D. (2021) LondonTheatre1 Review Ad, digital image, CrushRoom, London.
Romeo, D. (2021) Sovereign Song DesignMyNight Page, digital image, London.
Romeo, D. (2021) Sovereign Song Logo Design 1, digital image, CrushRoom, London.
Romeo, D. (2021) Sovereign Song Logo Design 2, digital image, CrushRoom, London.
Romeo, D. (2021) Sovereign Song Press Release, digital image, CrushRoom, London.
Romeo, D. (2021) What Would You Do Ad, digital image, CrushRoom, London.
Appendix B
Romeo, D. (2021) Gallery of Sovereign Song Video Ads, video, CrushRoom, London.
Romeo, D. (2021) Gallery of Still Marketing Content, digital images, CrushRoom, London.