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John Field (ArtsProfessional, issue 44, p10) makes an interesting contribution to the debate on the use of print in theatres ? but it is also important to consider the venue?s point of view too.
Contrary to John?s assertion that we use posters to cover our ?cracked walls?, posters and leaflets are a basic, though essential part of a venue?s marketing mix. Deforestation may be an unfortunate side-effect, but I?m afraid venues need print to sell tickets! Most efficient arts marketing people do not just send a ?brown envelope stuffed with a sheaf of A5?s?, but instead target them selectively at those customers on their databases who appear to be the most likely attenders. And of course we distribute them in the venue itself, as well as other relevant local outlets, to raise awareness of events and find those all-important new audiences.

The suggestion that a venue should provide its own print for companies is far-fetched to say the least. Many venues are not in the position to subsidise companies who refuse to share marketing costs ? however small or deserving they are. If I suddenly had to produce print for the forty or so shows in an average season, then I?d be in the unenviable (and more than fantastical) position of asking for at least a doubling of my yearly budget.

Print costs may seem high for a company, but why should venues accept shows that fail to provide the tools to sell tickets? I can?t think of many other industries where the supplier resents giving the seller the means to promote their product to the public. Don?t forget that venues already use a major proportion of their budgets on season brochures, which provide companies with an (often free) chance to promote their shows to a large number of potential attenders ? assuming of course, that they send in a good photograph in plenty of time!

Surely, marketing should be an equal partnership between venue and company. It is old-fashioned thinking to assume that the success of a show is ?by and large, the theatre?s responsibility?.