Broadway show “The Lion King” was the top-grossing show on Broadway in 2013 – despite being 16 years old. Patrick Healy took a look at how this was managed:

• While top Broadway shows have tickets that are as expensive as $477, Disney made the decision to limit prices for The Lion King to $227.
• This makes the show relatively affordable for families, and mitigates the amount of negative word of mouth driven by buyer’s remorse.
• This also allows Disney to slowly raise prices over time and ensure that revenues show steady growth.
• Disney has implemented an algorithm which predicts how much guests are willing to pay – based on their seat preference, the day of the week, and the time of day. Experts say this algorithm is better than anything that other shows have come up with.
• The Lion King’s success also owes to the heavy advertizing campaign that Disney launched.
• This is a boost from the dark days when the show was under-performing. In part because Disney made mistakes such as trying to advertize both The Lion King and The Little Mermaid together – even though they target different audiences.

Read more about how The Lion King compares with its competitors, how changing to a smaller theater helped Disney, and more over here.

Source: The New York Times

Via: Erik Arneson