Longevity Isn’t an Accident

New productions constantly arrive on Broadway and in the West End with incredible automation, interactive projections and wrap-around LED environments. So how does a show stand out when spectacle is everywhere?

Wicked’s iconic moments still make people gasp: Defying Gravity, the Time Dragon Clock, Chistery’s first flight. But what keeps people coming back again and again is the heart of the show and its world-class craft. It’s the human connection, the soaring live vocals, and an enduring narrative of friendship, prejudice and power.

For our campaigns, we explore modern storytelling formats across short-form video, immersive audio and social-first content, finding the best format to serve the show and not the other way round. We aim to evoke the unrepeatable sensation of 2,300 people sharing that experience together. Spectacle can date quickly, but the experience and the memories are what people remember years later, and that has to drive our campaigns.

The same goes for the company. The brand itself is the star, and audiences know that whoever steps onto that stage, whether principal, alternate or standby, is performing at the top of their craft.

Wicked also has a long history of creating stars, which allows our storytelling to celebrate the company itself. When you showcase the transformative process of being greenified, the athleticism it takes to do eight shows a week, or the debut of a Glinda whose comedic timing brings down the house, you build real trust with the audience. The brand becomes the guarantee, and the stage is where new stars are found.

With a UK tour and two momentous global feature films, Wicked now lives far beyond the theatre. It’s on screens and in home towns everywhere, so the question became how the stage show stays the place people want to be.

Scale expands the cultural universe, because the live experience offers something singular. The films have created incredible velocity for the stage show, and Wicked is now a household name to people who have never stepped into a theatre.

The trickier part is helping that new audience understand what makes seeing it live on stage so special. Watching at home is easy, so the live experience has to overdeliver.

The films have also started new conversations. Certain characters are getting more of the spotlight, and Fiyero is having his moment. One unexpected curve ball — some people now think the stage show is only part one. Twenty years on, explaining the story is still part of the job, because so many people are discovering Wicked for the first time.

That reframes how you think about the digital journey. Every touchpoint has to be a further invitation into the world of Wicked rather than a one-off impression. We are introducing a brand-new generation to Oz, and they will then crave the electric energy of the stage production.

The longer a show runs, the harder it can be to bridge the demographic divide. How do you remain culturally vital to a 16-year-old discovering Elphaba on TikTok without alienating the loyal theatregoers who bought the original cast recording on CD twenty years ago?

Social and brand have to be a two-way conversation, moving away from top-down broadcasting to more shared cultural ownership. We have to give fans the opportunity to express what the show means to them, and then listen back.

You cannot build an enduring cultural brand through pure advertising. We have fans who fell in love with Elphaba and Glinda as teenagers now returning to the theatre with their own children. Serving them means amplifying their stories, creating spaces for fans to gather and connect, and engaging with new voices such as content creators. Wicked20 this October was a three-day fan extravaganza.

Looking for a quick conversion is short-sighted. We nurture and reward those who are on the journey with us. When audiences feel genuinely seen and respected, their advocacy becomes more powerful than a paid media campaign could ever be.