Managing Price Isn’t Enough. You Need to Manage Demand.

There’s no escaping it: financial pressure is tightening across the arts sector. From rising production costs to declining public funding, the squeeze is real, and it’s hitting just as many organizations are still rebuilding teams and reconnecting with audiences.

And yet, too many are still treating pricing as a gut decision - or worse, not making any changes at all.

TRG’s Brad Carlin summed it up in our recent webinar, Inflation-Busting Pricing Strategies for Your Next Season:

“Price is the visible piece. But what we’re really managing is demand.”

What Is Demand Management, Really?

Demand management means understanding your audience demand, and adjusting inventory, messaging, and price to match that interest.

It’s not about pricing for revenue targets alone. It’s about shaping behavior and sustaining income. That includes:

• Protecting high-demand performances and seats
• Encouraging early and full-price purchases
• Making access affordable where demand is softer

Why It Works: The Numbers Don’t Lie

TRG’s Benchmark data shows:

• Organizations using dynamic, demand-based strategies recover up to 15% more per seat on popular performances
• Early and mid-sale activity improves with real-time adjustments—not just big launch pushes

Rescaling the House: One of Your Most Underrated Demand Tools

When demand isn’t uniform across your seating inventory (and it rarely is), one of the most effective steps you can take is rescaling the house.

This means rethinking how you assign price zones; not based on tradition, but on actual buyer behavior and demand trends.

Here’s what that can look like:

• Moving high-demand sections into higher price zones based on consistent early sell-through
• Shifting less-demanded areas into lower zones to stimulate sales and protect access
• Reducing the number of price points to simplify decision-making and support conversion
• Aligning pricing tiers with purchase timing (early vs. late buyers)

When you rescale the house, you’re not just setting a price—you’re shaping demand. You're telling your audience what to value, what to buy now, and what to expect.

Managing Demand and Access: This Isn’t Either/Or

One of the most common fears around dynamic pricing or rescaling is that it might reduce access, that pricing strategy somehow means pricing people out.

But the opposite is true when demand is managed intentionally.

“Managing demand is not about making tickets expensive. It’s about making pricing purposeful. You can’t subsidize your mission if you don’t understand your market.”

Access and revenue can co-exist, when demand strategy is balanced.

Here’s how:

• Entry-level price points are preserved for price-sensitive audiences, especially in lower-demand sections or early in the sales arc.
• High-demand areas carry more of the yield burden, allowing access prices to stay stable elsewhere.
• Discounts are used to target behavior, not blanket gaps, incentivizing early booking or group attendance without devaluing the product.

If You’re Ready to Lead With Demand, We’re Ready to Help

Pricing is just the tip of the iceberg. Managing demand well means more revenue, more predictability, and a team that feels equipped to lead.

Our Demand Management Sprint is designed to help your organization move past pricing anxiety and into action. Whether your team is newer, leaner, or simply uncertain where to begin, this sprint builds internal muscle through.

Talk to a TRG strategist