“IBM 1401,” a contemporary dance theater piece, recently made its way from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. Created by Glom Theatre, Live Promotions was chosen to assist the team in bringing the show to Chulalongkorn University.
What is “IBM 1401” ?
“IBM 1401” explores the complex interplay between humanity and technology, telling a story through contemporary dance and live string music performances. We’re sure that this kind of show never happened in Bangkok and in our research we found only 4 projects that are similar so we thought the Bangkok dance and theater community would be impressed by this show and looked forward to helping Glom theatre bring the show here.
Finding the perfect venue
We first met with Glom Theatre in May 2023. Their goal was to introduce “IBM 1401” to a broader audience by bringing it to Bangkok.
Finding the perfect venue and gaining a standout presence in Bangkok’s cultural scene is not easy, so they chose to have local support from Live Promotions for our expertise, success in event management, and big database of venues, suppliers, and connections
After contacting all venues, talking with the owners and managers, and getting all information for each of them, we narrowed down to the 8 best venues and scheduled the venue scouting for Glom team.
Crafting the Marketing Plan and Promoting the Show
After the venue was secured at Chulalongkorn University in collaboration with the Dramatic Art Department and despite the results of our market research, the Glom team decided to go for 18 shows over the course of three weekends. Although we all agreed it would be a challenge, the ambition and passion of the Glom team motivated us to put our minds to the show, starting out with the marking plan.
We created the marketing plan in the pre-launch phase to create excitement, comparing the marketing strategies of several contemporary shows in Thailand, as well as in France and Europe, to see common strategies and implement one. We launched a big advertising campaign on social media with the help of our partner, Atawad, a specialist in social media promotion, trying different strategies and targets to see what worked best.
To promote the show, we used various methods both online and offline, including word of mouth, guest invitations, and emails to influential people in the dance and theater world of Bangkok, hoping they would understand what we were doing and share it with their networks. We were in charge of sending press releases to our media contacts and creating Google Alerts to ensure we could follow any new articles about the show. Then, we launched the ticket sales.
We also did a lot of out-of-office marketing by selecting venues to put up posters and give tickets to the venue owners, as well as poster bombing in the busiest streets of Bangkok and handing out flyers at the most common BTS stations and hotspots in the city.
Supporting the Music Production
During this promotional phase, we also helped the Glom team with the music production side of the show. Polo, our musician with a background in the music industry, provided input on rehearsals, found rehearsal rooms, and handled recording and content creation. We worked with JD, the Glom team’s sound engineer, to ensure they had everything they needed for the best performances, whether buying or renting microphones and comparing prices to ensure the music production was perfect.
Managing the Event
While we were handling marketing, we were also in charge of ticketing for this event. After comparing options, we decided to work with Ticketmelon and managed the reception. One funny thing was that, at the last minute, the Glom team told us we couldn’t use computers because the set was set in the 60s, and there were no computers back then, which was the whole point of the show. So, we had to check in all the people by hand, which was surprising and challenging.
Post-Event Efforts
Once the show was done, we wanted to make sure this huge production would live on, so we invited the Fat Mango video team to record and film, creating content to ensure everybody remembers this show and to help sell it to festivals in the future.
We know that Glom Theatre has a lot of great projects coming soon, and we’re looking forward to helping them develop, organize, and strategize these artistic events.
About Live Promotions
At Live Promotions, our goal is to connect creative opportunities for the creative community. If you want to develop your business or connections in Thailand’s creative scene, contact us today!
