Act 2 Scene 2: How would Shakespeare market new works?

Shakespeare is a man of strategy. While his clever tactics and memorable strategies are not so visible in his personal life, they are notable in his numerous plays.

"Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice." — Hamlet

This quote from Hamlet shows the importance of listening to the advice of others. An essential trait for Shakespeare as he adapts to the 21^st century world. At the same time though, Shakespeare will be wary when heeding the advice of ‘yes’ men and ‘yes’ women.

For example, his character King Lear decides to divide up his estate according to the daughter who proclaims to love him most. His 2 older daughters who dislike him ‘butter’ him up while his youngest who loves him most does not speak up. This eventually leads to King Lear’s demise, showing that Shakespeare is knowledgeable in human nature and smart enough not to blindly heed the advice of ‘yes’ men and ‘yes’ women.

Once Shakespeare has assembled a dedicated marketing team filled with trusted advisors, he’ll be quick to get things going by following his advice from Coriolanus.

"Action is eloquence." — Coriolanus

After all, follow through is essential to getting results.

So, which marketing streams will Shakespeare and his team likely be using? Chances are, they will distance themselves from modern advertising plays such as exaggeration and other predatory tactics. In the words of King Richard III, a character in Shakespeare’s play:

"An honest tale speeds best, being plainly told." — King Richard III

With honesty at the centre of each marketing campaign, and the past strategies Shakespeare has demonstrated, he will likely market his movies/plays in some/all of the following ways. This list is ranked from most likely to least likely.

(It is important to note that for the purposes of this blog, marketing and advertising are classified as separate tactics. Marketing in this instance will be defined as ways to promote his movies/plays that don’t involve significant paid channels. Advertising in this instance will be defined as ways to promote his movies/plays via paid channels. You can find the blog on his advertising tactics here.) 

Podcasts & Media – Having recently risen from the dead, Shakespeare will no doubt have countless media outlets reaching out to him looking to chat. Notable newspapers would need to compete to become the first to break the news about Shakespeare’s next new project.

After the news is broken and all the newspapers end up copying the original article in some way or the other, Shakespeare would surely get countless podcasts reaching out seeking an interview. These podcasts would open Shakespeare’s work up to audiences that have long since forgotten about him while making Shakespeare some money per appearance.

Guest Posts on Blogs – Blogs will probably reach out next, offering to pay Shakespeare to write a guest post on their blog. While usually the guest would pay to get their post featured on the destination blog in exchange for valuable ‘do-follow’ links for higher search engine rankings, this would work in an opposite way for Shakespeare as his fame would be an attractive proposition for blogs.

Marketing Events and Premiere shows – Using the money from the media, podcasts, and guest posts, Shakespeare and his team can run lavish themed events or a premiere showing. For example, if his new movie/play was about technology, he could require guests to dress up in cyborg like costumes – a step up from his usual masked fancy dress parties!

A-list celebrities, YouTube influencers, superstar bloggers and podcasters, and industry experts would be in attendance and through their social media and everyone posting incredible pictures, his new work would become the talk of the world.

 

Other than these, there are plenty of marketing channels available such as setting up his own social media accounts, attending industry networking events, running focus groups, and more. However, the fame associated with Shakespeare being back from the dead, will mean that these are inconsequential.

Not having his own social media accounts would also be a calculated decision for Shakespeare. Being the smart man that he is, he will probably wait for all the initial fame to die down a little before setting up his own accounts. This would be similar to the strategy used by David Attenborough for Instagram that helped him gain 1 million followers in a record breaking 44 mins!

-Jason Yang

Up Next: Act 2 Scene 3: Copyright