Broadway has always been in the business of making magic, transporting audiences and creating memories that last a lifetime. In today’s world of on-demand entertainment and personalized experiences, brands like Taylor Swift, Disney Parks and the Hallmark Channel have mastered the art of turning audiences into advocates by blending storytelling, emotional connection and community in ways that keep fans coming back again and again.
Here are a few ways Broadway can learn from these brands and others like them to keep building passionate communities that feel more like families than fanbases:
Transforming songs into shared stories
Taylor Swift is the queen of finding inventive ways to engage her fans in a meaningful, connected way. In anticipation of her latest album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” Swift hid clues in Spotify lyric cards of her past discography for fans to find. Each clue was a letter that formed a lyric to a new song. This task kept Swifties streaming her old music throughout release week while theorizing about the new music. She also hosted an in-person pop-up activation with Spotify that included photo ops, exclusive swag and physical lyric hints scattered throughout the event. The entire week leading up to the album, fans were engaging with her music and each other as they got excited to listen to the new album and hear the teased lyrics in the new songs. Social media was flooded with photos from the pop-up, theory videos about the songs and posts counting down the hours to the release.
For a Broadway musical, following Taylor’s lead by putting an emphasis on the music and lyrics can create a universal way for fans to engage with the content and create longevity for the material. A series of lyric videos of songs from your cast album that features fan art of the show would be a great way to highlight the music while also putting fans front and center. If fans can get involved in a project, they’re much more likely to support it and spread the word.
