Hamilton.
It’s all the rage in New York City right now. People everywhere
are hunting for the impossible ticket. They are crowdsourcing on social media,
begging, pleading and PAYING (big bucks) to score the hottest ticket in town.
Let me give you some stats to
show you exactly how hot we are talking. The show is selling $1.5 million in
tickets….WEEKLY. “According to financial statements obtained by the Hollywood Reporter,the show grossed $61.7 million at the box office from its Broadway previews in July
through early April, and may have already recouped its capital cost for
investors. (By comparison, it took "Wicked" 14 months to recoup, and
"The Book of Mormon," the phenom most often compared to
"Hamilton," eight months.)”
After the show broke the record for receiving the most
Tony nominations, ticket prices went bananas. I’m talking as much as what
someone might be paying for their mortgage, bananas. Two tickets on StubHub for $666 each in the rear mezzanine side, typically the cheapest
seats in the house. Prime center orchestra seats for $3,334. The
lowest-priced solo ticket was $1,295 for a side orchestra seat.
It’s basically easier to get into an Ivy League school right now, than it
is to get a Hamilton ticket and if you CAN get one, you may just have to
refinance your house to pay for it.
So why is everyone flocking to the show AND paying the big bucks?
The music? Yes.
The singing/dancing/acting? Yes.
The Tony nods? Yes.
The exclusivity of being able to actually say you went? Yes.
THE EXPERIENCE? YES
All. The. Yes.
And this is all happening because of the show’s creator Lin-Manuel
Miranda. He’s a creative genius, not just for the show itself, but the movement
he has created around it. He has differentiated his show from all the others,
it is a unique experience, in fact it is a movement! It’s that movement that
creates the sense of urgency for people to get their hands on the tickets. He
didn’t just make a Broadway show, he built a differentiated experience. And one
that has people everywhere filled with desperation to be a part of it.
People stalk social media to see the latest celebrities posting pictures
and status updates about attending Hamilton. Hashtags like #Ham4Ham were
created for the elusive lottery tickets many try to snag. There are even
SoulCycle classes that use Hamilton music. The audience demographic is also
vast and diverse pretty much running the gamut from age 8 to 80. A Hamilton
ticket has become a status symbol.
A recent article from FastCompany said, “Miranda has
cultivated—and maintained—a level of devotion among his followers that branding
agencies only dream of. He insists that there is no gimmick to it, just a raw
desire to connect to other rap, theater, and history nerds. "I hate the
word branding," he says.
"I don’t feel like an entrepreneur. I feel like a writer who is forced to
wear an entrepreneurial hat occasionally."
He engages with Hamilton fanatics on every level.
He’s built a community. Creating these amazing participatory moments where they
feel part of the Hamilton phenomenon. Even those who have never set foot in the
theater!
The same FastCompany article said, “But Miranda’s
closest—and most important—relationship is with the hundreds of thousands of
fans who have likely never seen the show. Ticket scarcity has motivated him to
create an entire world around it, so that people, and especially young people,
can feel like a part of the movement even if they can’t get into the theater.”
The entire
world of Hamilton is essentially one of the best modern examples of creating a
differentiated customer
experience. It’s something that everyone wants in on and it’s born from
Miranda’s passion. Sure, he created a powerful movement based around a show,
but the level of engagement he has with his fans, and that they have with each
other, is unheard of.
Ladies and
gentlemen, THIS is how you master a differentiated customer experience and turn
it into something with major impact. Miranda has literally changed the game and
shown how creating a differentiated experience can build emotional connections,
devotion and an unstoppable movement. I love everything about Miranda’s story
and how it validates the power of customer experience.
P.S. Anyone
have an extra ticket?