Yuyan Wang 王語嫣

Abstract： This paper analyzes the marketing process of Chinese theater art， mainly dividing the products into two categories： native works and imported works， and focuses on the marketing process of three theater art forms： musical， modern drama and opera. Firstly， SWOT analysis is used to analyze the competitive situation of Chinese theater art. Then， on the basis of the questionnaire， the regression analysis formula of the sensitivity of domestic consumers to the theme of theater plays， performers， cross-city performances， ticket prices and other factors is proposed. Finally， by referring to the experience of successful cases at home and abroad， and applying modern marketing theories such as 7P1S， the principle of circulation network， comprehensive marketing， 4R theory and 4I theory， this paper proposes how to localize the marketing of Chinese theater art and expand its profit point， so as to find suitable development mode and direction.

Key words： theater art marketing strategy; 7P1S; circulation network principle; comprehensive marketing; 4R theory; 4I theory

1.The concept， classification and development of major categories of theatre art

（1）The concept

Zhou Yibai drew on the western concept of THEATER to explore the theatrical characteristics of Chinese opera. This is the earliest form of Chinese theater art. For the first time， Zhou Yibai's history of Chinese theater summarizes the early stage of Chinese theater form from three aspects： "the organization of theater"， "the organization of theater troupe" and "the performance of drama". "Theater organization" is divided into upper and lower gate， backstage， theater and stage; "The organization of the troupe" is divided into troupe， roles， costumes， masonry， and music; "The performance of the drama" is divided into singing， speaking， expression， martial arts， opening and closing.

（2）Categories

Modern drama

Musical

Opera

Traditional Chinese opera

Dance drama

Dumb show

Immersion show

Stage play

（3）The marketing status of theater art in China

①Typical marketing mode of Chinese modern drama works

Most of Chinese modern drama works are performing in small theaters， focusing on the first-tier cities such as Beijing， Shanghai， Guangzhou and other large cities. It is also popular in Taiwan. The creating-positioning of small-theater drama works determines its market-positioning. In essence， the marketing of small theater drama is how to sell all the tickets short. These plays have their own characteristics in the operation， such as low site requirements， small number of actors， short creative cycle and insufficient production costs. In the initial form of "performance workshop" （e.g. Lai Shengchuan）， the creative merger market within the professionals or small range of interested audiences should be explored. For now， the form of performance-workshop is still very popular. The "grass table class" in Shanghai is using this form to explore the market in neighbor areas， attracting the attention of some interest groups. While the workshop continues to pioneer the drama market， some private theaters begin to develop in the form of "pre-drama and post-drama society"， which is no longer limited to operating the theater or drama club， but to extend and combine the two things. Maybe after watching a play， the audience can discuss the plot with the actors at the bar in less than ten minutes， and even discuss the acting skills. The market of drama， reflect not only on ticket， but also the inside and outside extension， which can increase certainly the business income.

In the marketing process of small-theater drama， market precision should be crucial， which is not only reflected in the small-theater drama market， but also the golden rule in other art markets. Small-theater drama market segmentation gradually aroused attention， which is not only reflected in the creation period， but also in the marketing publicity period. Script creation based on target consumers， and marketing based on target consumers as well.

②Typical marketing mode of Chinese musical works

High ticket prices and too many free tickets are the biggest pain in China's musical performance market. Data show that the ticket price in the world performance market is usually no more than 1%-3% of the average monthly income of local residents. "Miss Saigon" at America's top Broadway theaters costs $40， while the average American earns $2，000 per month. The highest ticket price for a Japanese musical is about 5% of a college graduate's monthly income. In contrast， Beijing residents， for example， pay a maximum ticket price of 1，180 yuan for a show of "School of rock and roll"， about one-fifth of their average monthly income. For most working-class audiences， the high ticket prices would keep them out. This is a departure from the popular， civilian nature of the musical itself， and so， investors will face huge losses. Serious free ticket problems will directly damage the healthy and orderly development of China's musical theater market.

Domestic musicals often get a lot of attention in stage performance， but few people pay attention to market operation. Up to now， there are only a few plays that can be performed for a long time in China's musical theater （maybe only beauty and the beast）. From the number of performances， a series of problems such as blind investment in musical creation， insufficient marketing concept， the lack of market operation in the production process， and the neglect of follow-up effects in performances are exposed. All of these factors results in the failure of effective establishment of the marketing operation of musical theater.

③Typical marketing mode of Chinese opera works

Performance managers lack market awareness. For a long time， the government has paid for the regular expenditure of large art groups in China. The main goal of art managers to create operas is to participate in various drama festivals and art festivals or to compete for awards at various levels in China. In order to qualify for the election， some troupes make every effort to secure enough performing times by organizing enterprises personnel， public institutions officials and students， and even hire amateur actors to participate in ordinary performances but in front of leaders and judges， the art work is performed by the headliners. The temporary establishment of the grass stage group makes it impossible for the actors to get exercise in the performance and impossible for the audience to enjoy the high-level opera， which exposes that the art managers have not been strong in market awareness， business awareness and benefit awareness， and that cultural services are out of touch with the needs of market and consumers.

2.SWOT analysis of main problems of the current stage of China's theater art marketing model

（1）Analysis of market-oriented operation of theater art

①Supply and demand analysis

The market operation of theater art forms conforms to the law of both supply and demand of market economy. From the perspective of supply， the annual amount of creation is increasing year by year， and the supply is on the rise as well. From the perspective of demand， the total potential market demand and market trend are gradually changing. The number of audiences increases year by year， and the audience's acceptance and understanding of theater art also deepens year by year.

②Market environment

Theatre art form interacts with the external environment through internal resources， structures and operational regulations. Internal resources include： human resources， theater hardware resources， funds， etc. Structure refers to the organizational structure and process of creation， production and management. Operation regulation refers to the free principle， mode and guiding principle that should be followed in operation. Small ring is a micro environment， which directly affects the theater art service in music market. The grand circle is a macro environment， including all social factors that have an impact on theater art.

③Marketing targeting and market positioning

The main characteristics of consumers in western countries are： young and middle-aged intellectuals and students in cities who have a good economic income basis or have received certain education， as well as those who have formed consumption habits. The consumer groups that have formed in the west are the target consumer groups that China should refer to in the process of cultivating audiences.

（1）Viewing the marketing strategy and development patterns of theater art from SWOT matrix.

3. Modern online marketing theory basis

（1）7PS theory

7PS Marketing Theory was established in 1981 by Booms and Bitner， which was on the basis of The traditional Marketing Theory 4 PS and three "P" service Theory. The three "P" service is： People （People）， Process （Process）， tangible demonstration （Physical evidence）.

Product， price， channel， promotion， personnel， physical display and service process.

It reveals the important significance of employees' participation in the whole marketing activity. Employees are the main body of the enterprise organization， and everything they do will be part of customers' feelings about the enterprise service， which will have a certain impact on the image of the enterprise. Each employee should actively participate in the enterprise management decisions to truly play the role of the master of the staff. Enterprises should pay attention to the whole process of providing services for users， understand customers' feelings in this process through interactive communication， and make customers become participants in the service marketing process， so as to timely improve their services to meet customers' expectations. Enterprise marketing should also pay attention to the division of labor and the management of cooperation process among internal departments， because marketing is an activity that is coordinated by all departments and participated by all employees， and the effective division of labor and cooperation between departments is the fundamental guarantee for the realization of marketing activities.

Internal marketing （Berry， Gronroos， 1981）.Berry（1981） defined internal marketing as： "internal marketing refers to treating employees as customers and work as products to meet the needs of internal customers and achieve organizational goals". Gronroos （1981） believed that the purpose of internal marketing was to "motivate employees and make them have customer-oriented concept"."Internal marketing is also a tool to integrate different functional departments of an enterprise."

Social marketing （Gerald zelman， Philip kotler， 1971） ： marketing should not only focus on the interests of consumers and enterprises from a micro perspective;Moreover， we should pay attention to social interests and corporate social responsibility from a macro perspective.In marketing， we should abide by laws and regulations， pay attention to marketing ethics， pay attention to the protection of the ecological environment， and pay attention to make contributions to the development of the community.

（3）4R Theory

4R marketing theory is a new marketing theory proposed by American scholar Don Schultz， on the basis of 4C marketing theory， which refers to Relevance， Reaction， Relationship and Reward， respectively.

Build relationships with customers.

Speed up market reaction.

Relationship marketing is increasingly important.

Return is the source of marketing.

（4）4I Theory

Interesting

Interests

Interaction

Individuality

5.The marketing future of Chinese theater art

As Zhang Guangtian， the director of Che Guevara， said， "art is a productive force. If we regard drama as a product and operate in accordance with the model of an industry， this is our way out." Not only drama， but all theater art and even all cultural works should grow in the market and seek the balance point and interest point between artistry and commerciality in the market.

In the era of great data background， information updating speed is fast， and the proportion of people's entertainment consumption increases greatly. In essence， people's entertainment consumption should take spiritual culture as the core driving force， apply creativity and industrial production mode， take the industrialization road， and realize profit maximization.

（1）Marketing - audience centric

At the present stage， there are three operating modes of theater art in China： production-oriented crew center system， management-oriented producer center system， and marketing-oriented audience center system. As an industrial project with huge investment， there will be numerous unexpected problems in the process of creation. It is impossible to achieve a double harvest of art and commerce only by relying on the crew. Producer in the troupe， the highest level， belongs to the core of management， have considerable power， plays an extremely important role in the development of drama， but it also makes the once producer orientation grasp of market demand shortage， or for the choice of resources and occupies the deviation， which will make the whole play to worry. Theater art works achieve value via performance， and the audience naturally become the core of performance marketing and even of the whole process. Performance marketing is to meet the cultural needs of the audience， through the performance market to turn the potential performance service into a real performance service supply and demand exchange activities. For marketers， the biggest challenge is how to grasp the demand of the customers and potential customers， and the marketers have to put the customers and potential customers as the center， to meet the needs of the audience in the reality or potential as the starting point of marketing activities， to facilitate the market exchange as a marketing goal， as well as the comprehensive performance and related product development as the theme of the marketing content. The concept of audience-centered marketing is a leap forward of music cultural marketing theory， which also makes the marketing of theater art more refined and operational.

（2）Highlight creative driving force and build brand chain effect

To maintain the vitality of artistic works， it is necessary to have its creative and artistic connotation， while to maintain the vitality of artistic works， it is necessary to have the brand and chain effect. Brand refers to both the brand of plays and the brand of theatres and troupes. The chain effect refers to the use of the concept of chain stores in business to carry out chain management mode and unified management mode for drama clubs， and to form a distinctive and evergreen theater art brand. After establishing the brand， the focus of marketing can be shifted to maintaining the brand image， and stabilizing the existing customer group instead of developing new potential customers becomes the profit growth point to maintain the profit.

Experiential marketing of cultural products， lengthwise expanding the product line of cultural products

As a kind of cultural product， theater art is different from general products in marketing due to its artistic particularity， experimental and exploratory nature. But this experiencing product makes the theatre art use the audience reaction and responses as the only optimization criterion especially in the creation stage. In view of the special performance form of those rearranged plays， the form of performance can be adjusted， the quality of performance can be optimized， and even the content of performance can be modified after the last round of performance， or even in daily sessions， through salon or online， according to the audience's opinions and experience feedback. The essence of cultural and creative industry is content industry. As long as conditions permit， creators should draw opinions from target audiences before， during， during and after creation.

（3）Partial or whole free service to popularize the art works

In a specific period of time， striving for the target audience's experience of watching and using in order to obtain both scale and revenue harvest. Video fragments of theater art can be released free of charge as a means to attract audiences and stimulate the interest of audiences and potential audiences .In view of the important feature that the marginal cost of theater art products is almost zero， it is possible to set up a media field for free and even invite cultural critics to watch the performance， making it become a breakthrough point of "word-of-mouth marketing" and "N-times marketing".

（4）Pay attention to new media channels

A large advertising budget is necessary， opening the last step of information dissemination. In the target audience gathered in Beijing， Shanghai， Guangzhou， Shenzhen and other international metropolis， advertising intensively in three-dimensional to have the effect of advertising sensation effect. In the era of media diversification and fragmentation， the rise of new media and the promotion of cultural and creative products bring new opportunities.

Reference

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