Minnesota Fringe Festival
About
Minnesota Fringe Festival connects adventurous artists with adventurous audiences through an annual performing arts festival that provides a stage for diverse artistic expression. Shows are selected by lottery so that the Fringe is accessible and inclusive. All are produced at venues across Minneapolis and Saint Paul and are 60 minutes or less. The 2011 festival offered 168 shows and involved almost 20,000 artists and audiences.
Marketing Initiative
Although the number of artists applying to and presenting at Minnesota Fringe has continued to increase, the audience size has not increased commensurately. The focus of the Fringe’s marketing plan is to find ways to convert single ticket buyers to multi-tickets purchasers, and to increase the audience numbers by drawing new attendees from three audience targets. The targeted groups are: young hipsters, traditional middle-aged theatergoers, and young families. Marketing strategies include using volunteers to help promote shows, improved press relations, a more effective web site and communications software, better signage at each venue, and year round social media promotions.
Highlights, 2010-11
At 48,350, tickets sold at the 2011 Festival remained near the high water mark of 50,222 set the previous year, making it one of the two best attended festivals in the 18-year history of the organization. To encourage people to attend multiple shows, the Fringe focused on promoting Fringe as a package experience, improved lobby signage, and offered pre-show speeches to reinforce this idea. Stepped-up volunteer training, including a volunteer welcome kit and discounted ticket coupons to share with friends, encouraged this cadre of helpers to be even stronger advocates for the event. (Two hundred and four coupons were redeemed.) Fringe Tracks, an online show selection guide, was launched. Fringe held a tailgating party to attract young hipsters. A partnership with a local kids’ store likely contributed to increasing children’s tickets from 1.8% to 2% of the total.
Marketing Activities, Year Two
- Expand the successful neighborhood ambassador program, which built relationships and offered free tickets to staff of bars and restaurants near Fringe venues.
- Continue the new strategies and new approach of incorporating marketing considerations throughout all operations.
- Refine data collection techniques to be better prepared to follow up with all audiences, but especially the new attendees.
