Dear colleagues,

Demand-based pricing keeps on working in tough times.
Arts Club Theatre Company in Vancouver is a leading example. During their first season working with TRG (2008-09), the Company finished $1,600,000 ahead of prior season results utilizing best practices in demand-based pricing and aggressive patron loyalty strategies. Emboldened even in the face of high unemployment, massive cuts in government funding, and a ticket tax increase to 12%, ACTC executed bold venue rescale and demand pricing strategies for their 2009-10 season. The results so far this season: a 23% increase in average subscription order size and more than $430,000 in incremental single ticket revenue. The momentum continues to build. ACTC's sell-out for White Christmas at optimized ticket prices began propelling early sales for its June production of the The Buddy Holly Story.

In patron behavior research, finding the leaks teaches how to plug the bucket.
TRG's recent audience behavior study for Atlanta Ballet provided one of the arts industry's closest looks yet at the sources of patron loss through attrition, especially among those who attend once and never come back. Details on the leaks in Atlanta Ballet's audience bucket also revealed opportunities and pinpointed necessary actions to keep the Company's audiences coming back. The research now is at work informing programming choices and an impressive company-wide patron retention initiative aimed at growing committed, loyal patrons.

Start courting new ticket buyers before their first show.
Since last fall, Victoria Theatre Association (Dayton, Ohio) has used TRG eMerge and counsel to find and communicate with new-to-file ticket buyers for their hit production of Wicked that opened last week. Thousands of new VTA patrons will have already received welcoming messages that oriented them to the theater and got them excited about Wicked - a great way to start lasting patron relationships.

With pleasure, TRG welcomes recent new clients...

5^th Avenue Theatre (Seattle)
Centre Theater Group (Los Angeles)
Goodman Theatre (Chicago)
Lyric Opera of Kansas City
McCarter Theatre Center (Princeton, NJ)
New Jersey Symphony
The Public Theater (New York)

...and completion of patron behavior research for Atlanta Ballet and Yale Repertory Theatre.

Don't hesitate to contact me for details. If we haven't spoken lately, there's a lot to catch up on.

Jill Robinson
President

See TRG at upcoming conference: Rick Lester offers a one-day workshop, The Art of Pricing, at ArtsReach, March 14-16, in New York.