NYU Stern Students Help The Book of Mormon Reach New Audiences

By Alan Richmond

With a show that set the bar in just how outrageously offensive and surprisingly sweet a Broadway musical could be, the marketing team behind Broadway’s Tony Award-winning The Book of Mormon set a new challenge for themselves: how to introduce the show to audiences whose first choice for entertainment isn’t necessarily Broadway.

To accomplish this goal, the show’s lead producer Anne Garefino and general manager Adam Miller of TT Partners, took an unusual step – they contacted an entrepreneurship professor at the NYU Stern School of Business, the prestigious institution known for educating some of the most successful and distinguished CEOs of corporate America.

Garefino is the Executive Producer of the long-running Emmy and Peabody Award-winning series, “South Park” with creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. She helped lead Parker, Stone, and Robert Lopez (the double EGOT-winning songwriter behind Avenue Q, Frozen, and Coco) through seven years of development of The Book of Mormon to its eventual triumph and record-breaking run, now in its 15th year on Broadway. Miller is a veteran Broadway general manager with almost 25 years of experience, and he oversees all worldwide productions of the hit musical comedy.

Garefino explains how the collaboration with NYU Stern undergraduate students came about. “A friend’s son was in the Stern program and participated in this class, where they are assigned to work with start-up companies. Obviously, we aren’t a start-up, but I was intrigued with how these students approached new projects, and I wanted to see what they would do with The Book of Mormon,” she says. “So, I called their professor, Ashish Bhatia, who is Clinical Associate Professor of Management & Entrepreneurship at the NYU Stern School of Business.”

Garefino and Miller wanted to explore ways to work with Bhatia’s students to attract potential audiences who do not have Broadway on their radar.“Entrepreneurship education isn’t a spectator sport. In my classroom, students take on real challenges with real companies,” Bhatia says. “As a long-running musical on Broadway and international stages, The Book of Mormon is not facing the issues of brand introduction and definition that a start-up must overcome, but it faced the same uncertainty: how to connect with a new generation in a changing world.”

Earlier this year, over a period of four months, an intrepid group of Stern students embarked on an ambitious research-driven project, conducting over 100 interviews, and analyzing extensive data on the show’s previous ticket buyers. The team sought to uncover not only how audiences perceived Broadway, but what a younger ticket buyer wants from a night out. Key insights emerged around humor expectations, brand perception, and barriers to accessibility. These findings informed every phase of the project — from survey testing and creative concepting to campaign development and activation planning.

“One of the great advantages of working with the students at Stern was their ability to discover how much is known about the show outside of the traditional theatergoer,” Garefino says. “Many of us who have been around this show for so long were surprised to find out that some people didn’t know it was a musical comedy, and others thought it was a historical depiction of Mormons. We also found that some of the demographic would have no issue buying tickets to a show at a comedy club at a significant ticket price but didn’t think of a night out on Broadway in the same way.”

The resulting campaign executed by the students focused heavily on out-of-home placement, particularly an eye-catching series of four wild postings and subway ads, utilizing and emphasizing the show’s irreverent humor, including some of the show’s iconic lines, including “I can’t believe Jesus called me a dick!” and “I’m wet with salvation,” among others.

The final creative work, created in partnership with BLT Communications, which developed the show’s visual brand identity, underwent multiple rounds of iteration before being presented to the show’s entire Broadway marketing team.

“Working with Anne and Adam was like a masterclass in entertainment marketing,” said NYU Stern undergrad student Vivienne Bersin. “Their sharp insights, fearless approach, and deep love for the show pushed us to create something both strategically smart and laugh-out-loud bold. So, if you’re walking through SoHo or waiting on a subway platform and a poster catches your eye — maybe makes you chuckle, or even question your moral compass — chances are, it’s part of this campaign.”

Miller summarized the experience with the NYU Stern students by saying, “Working with the students was a revelation. Their fresh perspectives and creative marketing ideas challenged us to think differently about how we perceive our show and how to connect with potential audiences. I learned as much from them as they did from the process, and their insights have absolutely helped shape our ongoing strategy for The Book of Mormon on Broadway.”

“At the end of the day, it was an eye-opening experience,” said Garefino, “and I wish I could put them all on the payroll.”