MARKETING

The Marketing Department has offices on the Third Floor of the Normal School.

The Marketing Department functions like the festival’s in-house marketing agency. The team consists of experts in segmentation, research, above-the-line advertising, direct marketing, publications (such as the house program and Visitors’ Guide), and web content. They collaborate to meet and surpass the annual box-office targets. In 2026, the goal is 455,409 tickets or $36.373 million. 

Besides marketing productions to meet targets, the team promotes the film content (Stratfest@Home and Stratfest+), the educational offerings for Groups and Schools, and The Meighen Forum. Simultaneously, the marketing team supports the Advancement department by building relationships with current and prospective donors to the festival.

The festival attracts audiences from three main geographic regions: Southwest Ontario, the GTA, and the US (primarily Michigan, Illinois, and Upstate New York). Within each of these regions, different target segments and sub-segments exist, characterized by factors such as genre preference, loyalty to the festival, duration of attendance, travel time, length of stay, group size, and similar qualities.

Marketing budgets are limited, and investments in various campaigns are carefully and deliberately made. The aim is to surpass box-office targets by strengthening connections with our existing patrons and engaging likely Stratford Festival attendees to expand our audience. 

The content above was provided by Trudy Watson and updated by Anita Gaffney, December 2025