New Media Publicity: Marketing Experience of the Stage Production of Ola Rotimi’s Hopes of the Living Dead.

Abstract

A theatre production, like every other product meant for the market, becomes useless if it does not get to the consumer (audience). Publicity within this context is the means of passing information concerning a theatre production to the target audience through the means available to the producer. In the Twenty-First Century, it has become necessary to be careful in the choice of publicity channel to reach the desired demography. The new media publicity has become normal publicity because of its mobility and malleability. This paper recounts the choice and positive effects of new media publicity on the stage production of Ola Rotimi’s Hopes of the Living Dead. It is anchored on McCarthy’s theory of the 4Ps amongst others as the framework. Findings have shown that most theatre productions have failed as a result of wrong publicity choices even when they have been properly packaged with great artistic content. It, therefore, recommended that producers must be mindful of the fact that the audience is as important as the theatre product. As a result, there has to be a concerted effort to seek publicity strategies that can reach the right kind of audience.