2. About SCT
• Professional theatre for young audiences.
• Well-respected as one of the nation’s leading creators
and producers of children’s theatre, and as experts in
children’s arts education.
• Two theatre spaces, 482-seat Charlotte Martin Theatre,
and 300-seat Eve Alvord Theatre. Both are GA seating.
• SCT has commissioned and/or produced 113 World
Premiere productions in it’s 40 year history.
3. Challenges
• The traditional subscription model continues to
lose favor
– Our subscribers are subject to “aging out”
– Renewal rate is about 50%, requiring an extensive
acquisition campaign each season
• Our patrons are busy families who want flexibility
– Locking families into dates/times and even shows
months in advance can be daunting
– Young parents are more used to a membership model
– Children are unpredictable
4. Subscription History
• Flex Pass introduced in
2001-2002 season
• Varying ticket restrictions
• Not heavily marketed in the beginning
• Became a more popular option for subscribers
– 20% = the average increase of Flex Pass buyers
each year
– 16% = the average decrease of total subscribers
5. Expansion of Flex Pass
Model
• Options of package size: 6, 8, or
10 tickets.
• Bigger packages get bigger discounts
• Discount package for less
popular Thursday/Friday evening
performances.
• Preview package keeps the
standard subscription structure
to maintain inventory
constraints.
6. The managing director’s dilemma
• Q: How do we forecast sales trends when
patrons will no longer have to choose their
shows in advance?
– A: Free ticket for booking in advance
• Q: How do we entice people to choose a show
that is not familiar?
– A: Free tickets with World Premiere bookings
7. How is it going?
• With 3 months of recorded sales, we are
reversing the recent downward trend
