The launch rules

A single show or a short run is planned from the show date back. These are editable defaults, not facts, and none of them is specific to Nigeria.

• On sale. General on sale opens about 4 to 6 weeks out for a comedy night, 6 to 10 for an independent concert and 2 to 4 for a club night. Theatre and screenings were not researched, so you give the window and the plan marks it as yours.
• Pacing. Sales are back loaded: about 6 percent of a comedy night sells in the first week and about 75 percent in the last, and across events about 57 percent sell in the final week. The target is always yours.
• Presale. It opens 3 to 7 days before general on sale behind an access code, registration stays open 4 to 7 days, and it always has an end date.
• Budget. 40, 20 and 40 percent across announce, middle and final push; 50, 10 and 40 for comedy and last-minute shows. The final push is always held back.
• Final push. People who clicked a purchase link and did not buy, then people who opened earlier messages or registered, then the core audience. Ticket holders get show information, not sales messages.

Every full plan has a content calendar, worked back from the date on each territory’s lead channel. Film and music follow blog-level guidance, one source for each point, so treat them as direction. Books, podcasts and games were not researched: their rows follow the launch beats and state no post counts.

Put about 80 percent of paid spend behind creative that has already worked, and about 20 percent into testing new creative.

Run three to five ads in each ad group.

Judge a winner by its conversion count, not by how many days it has run.

Big brands plan annually, and specialists advise starting about 18 months before release. Big franchises attract the big brands.

An independent release usually has no franchise behind it, so lead with tier B and tier C partners.

Barter and in-kind deals are common: a venue, product or reach in place of cash. Never assume a cash sponsorship.

A solo launch has no company behind it, so brands do not take it on as a partner. Lead with local partners and in-kind help, and leave out national brands.

Partners are found from what your audience likes in Qloo, then ranked beside what the city likes on its own. A tier is set by what Qloo says about a brand: a flagship name or a brand ranked at the top of its popularity is tier A, and only a launch with the budget and the standing to approach one is offered it. A partner that does not fit the content, or that could draw fan backlash, is flagged beside the name. The pitch leaves the partner room to shape the idea.