1: Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
Posted: 02/07/02 12:15 AM
What do we believe about folk audiences? Are we acting on our "knowledge"
in ways that limit the growth of folk audiences in our communities? Do
we hold beliefs that are, in effect, self-fulfilling prophecies?
Here's an example:
The old joke says, "How do folkies retire with a million bucks?"
Answer: Start with two million bucks.
It's a great joke, and it stems from a self-fulfilling belief that a lot
of us share: there's no profit in folk music (I've even heard it said
that folk shouldn't make money). The joke works because, unlike venues
and artists in more "commercial" genres, few of us in folk music
expect to make much money. If one believes one's project isn't likely
to make much money, one isn't likely to organize one's project with the
intention to make much money (why bother?!!) -- so the expectation is
likely to be met. We come full circle, and our belief is reinforced. We
have lots of these beliefs; that's just one example.
Let's look at the larger questions. We all hold beliefs that we have:
a) extrapolated from our own experience, b) absorbed from things others
have told us, c) based on our intuition, and so forth. Many of these beliefs
are useful guidelines in our individual situations, but some may be in
the way. Some of these beliefs may be real obstacles, preventing us from
exploring and expanding in a way we might otherwise wish we could.
Think about your own beliefs. Are any of them keeping you from doing what
you want to do? Ask yourself: Who comes to your concerts? Who doesn't
-- won't -- come to concerts? Write it all down; make a list of your beliefs.
Focus particularly on beliefs that include the words "can't,"
"don't" or "won't." Are these beliefs 100% valid?
Can you think of exceptions? Focus on each exception: can you imagine
ways to encourage more? Can you imagine what it might take to entice an
exception for each "don't" and "won't" on your list
-- ultimately, to rephrase your audience beliefs as "dos" and
"wills"?
2: What Is This About?
Posted: 03/09/02 10:08 PM
In order to successfully market intangibles -- such as "fast food"
service (or concert programs) -- corporations have learned to focus on
selling desirable experiences more than product descriptions. McDonald's
was a pioneer in this strategy -- and Burger King never caught up because
they've been intent on convincing people that they actually make good
hamburgers. (See "Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern
Marketing" by Harry Beckwith for details).
It's a principle directly applicable to marketing folk music. We know
that, in general, people tend to attend concerts by artists with whom
they are familiar -- they have confidence that their money and time will
be invested in an experience that they will enjoy. Conversely, it's hard
to get even our regular attendees to come hear an artist that's unfamiliar
-- they're not convinced they'll be happier with the experience than with
other things they might choose to do.
What more can we communicate to increase confidence in our "new artist"
concert programs? What "experience" information do we need to
communicate to people who have not yet attended any of our concerts?
Try focusing on what YOU want as a music consumer. Make a list: When you
pay the price of a ticket, what makes a fabulous concert experience for
you? What do you want to hear, see, and feel during the show? What do
you feel afterwards? Who makes you talk about their concert for days?
Why? What happens during that concert? This is the kind of information
that your potential audience needs to know: communicate an experience
they understand and want.
We invite you to add your thoughts to the Marketing Folk Forum for further
discussion of the "What Is This About?" topic. What strategies
do you use to communicate "experience" information to potential
concert ticket buyers?
3: Who Is This About?
Posted: 04/11/02 10:10 AM
Last month, Marketing Folk discussed "What Is This About?" We
concluded that successful promotion is a process of marketing the "experiences"
our concerts offer.
This month in Marketing Folk , we want to address who our marketing (and
all communication with customers and potential customers) needs to be
about. Whose desires are being attended to?
Me, Me, Me!
We are each enmeshed in our own needs, processes, and projects, and it
is very difficult to extract oneself from that orientation. That's the
context from which we most often speak. But consider the effect of this
recent marketing experience my husband and I had as we shopped for a new
car:
* Salesman (uttering the very first words we heard spoken as we walked
in the door): "Are you looking for someone?"
* Me (startled): "Uh, no. We're shopping for a new car."
* Salesman (his second utterance): "What do you want on it?"
I was mightily annoyed, thinking: "I'm not here to buy a frigging
$30,000 hot dog." That conversation actually happened twice, at two
different dealerships, and it took only those two sentences to guarantee
that I would not buy a car from either one. They lost me. Why? Because
they were speaking to me from their context -- it was about what they
needed (they were asking us "does another salesman already have dibs
on you?" and "where do I start my sales pitch?"). When
I pay $30,000 (or even $10 and three or four hours), it better be about
ME goshdarnit!
We all struggle with the same self-focus issues as those salesmen in marketing
our own projects. We address our stuff from our point of view -- who we
are, what we know, what we're passionate about, what our issues are. But
when I do that about my venue or my music, on whom is my attention focused?
Just like those salesmen: Me me me!
Some folks get what we do -- even share our passion. They overlook our
faults, forgive us, and attend our shows whether we're paying attention
or not. However, there are great multitudes of new and potential customers
who are focused into their own "me, me, me," and they aren't
listening to ours. They certainly aren't going to be attracted by (and
could even be actively annoyed by) a self-oriented marketing presentation.
This is not to suggest that our programming should change to meet "popular"
expectations -- only that we need to be sure our interactions with customers
and our marketing are focused on each customer's experience, needs, questions,
and desires.
Want to build your audience? Always remember, it's about them.
4: Creating Your "Brand"
Posted: 05/27/02 9:27 AM
How do we fill more seats? How do we convince people to come to our shows
instead of doing something else? "People choose what's most familiar"
says Harry Beckwith in "Selling The Invisible." So, what's most
familiar to the folks in our neighborhood -- "Friends" reruns
or our coffeehouse concerts? A rented video or the fabulous singer-songwriter
we've got scheduled tonight? (There's a no-brainer. . . .) So, how do
we compete with PR-blitzing TV networks (or movie producers or even superstar
bands) to expand our share of our neighbors' discretionary dollars and
time?
We can focus on the same thing the big guys do. The PR blitz for a new
TV show is designed to create familiarity -- a "brand" that
is easily identifiable and that people will be able to name accurately
when they chat about it with their friends and colleagues (it doesn't
help as much if they can't name the show). Yes! Word of mouth. TV's best
friend is our best friend. Who'd a thunk it? So, how do we create a "brand"
for our concerts?
Think about the brands you purchase -- maybe you like a particular cleanser
for your kitchen counters, or maybe you're excited about your sound system
speakers. Do you prefer a brand of gas for your car? Perhaps you have
a favorite clothing store or restaurant -- think of products and services
that you've developed some loyalty to. Most likely, you prefer these brands
because of your experience with them (see Topic 2: What Is This About?).
You can describe your experience succinctly, and you trust that the experience
will be consistent when you return, so you recommend the good experience
to others.
But wait -- you can imagine that those products are very complex from
the providers' point of view, right? Jillions of important and interesting
choices were made to define the content, color, scent, packaging, display,
pricing, staffing, logistics, procedures, customer relations, etc., etc.
Yet as the customer, you can say "oh yes, I like that cleaner best
because it smells fresh" or "Capt. Dan's has the best crabcakes
anywhere." Simple: "Choose Capt. Dan's for seafood -- great
crabcakes." Are there other great things about the place? Sure --
or you wouldn't go -- but you've picked out the thing that makes Capt.
Dan's (and your counter cleaning product) stand out from the crowd of
other adequate choices.
What do you want your loyal customers telling friends tomorrow morning
when they describe your venue? Step number one in creating your brand
is to focus on the succinct description of the thing that makes you stand
out from other adequate entertainment choices. What unique experience
do you provide? When they're chatting at the water cooler tomorrow, you
want them to say (fill in the blanks): "Have you ever been to _________?
It was great -- we __________________________________."
Try asking your attendees what they actually do say to their friends about
your venue!
5: Getting Great Print Publicity
Posted: 06/17/02 9:58 PM
"If you want editors to help you, help them. Give them something
interesting. Give them a story." (Harry Beckwith, Selling the Invisible)
So, what does your local editor think is a good story? Where do you find
good stories to give to the editors?
Try looking at your local papers in a new way. Study the content detail
in the articles about movies and plays, concerts and local features. Is
the newspaper coverage focused on an artist's resume and hype (and if
so, do you really want to finish the article)? Or are they telling stories
-- stories about things the editor thinks his readers will find to be
clever, informative, fun, intriguing?
Oh, great (we hear you . . .). Like you have time to create that for your
concerts on top of everything else. Of course you don't. The story that
will excite your potential customers about the performance experience
that will take place in your venue -- the intriguing story information
-- has to come from the artist (or rep).
Look at your local paper -- the movie coverage comes from Hollywood, not
from your local theater. (Other analogies: General Motors sells Chevies,
Chevy dealerships sell the attractions of their individual Chevy dealerships.
Kellogg's sells cereal, supermarkets sell the deal they're offering on
Kellogg's cereal.)
How can you get great print publicity (more than just those calendar listings
that don't add to your audience)? Keep sending out your venue press to
promote the venue, but make sure the artist is on your PR team, too!
* Send artists (or artist reps) a Venue Press Page with the gig contract.
Include your correct venue name, concert street address, phone, website,
and other contact info as you want it to appear in print. Also include
the date and time of the concert, pricing info, and any other details
about the venue that your artists should include in their marketing efforts.
Sure, maybe much of that is in the contract, but the PR person and the
person who handles contracts may not be the same. Make it easy for the
artists' PR folks to help you.
* Give the artist (or rep) complete and current information about your
local print and broadcast media. Send it with the contract mailing, and
encourage artists to use it. Include press contact names, organizations,
addresses, phones, emails, fax numbers. Deadlines. Any hints about who
likes to be called; who prefers email? Who wants CDs to review? Who does
interviews? Also include contact info for the DJs that your audience listens
to. Do they do live interviews? Phone interviews?
Getting great publicity -- putting people in those seats -- takes both
the artist and the venue. Hopefully, you've developed a relationship with
those media contacts -- they're familiar with your program -- so you don't
have to bug them relentlessly. And isn't this fabulous? A job where yours
is the easy part and somebody else gets to make a bunch of phone calls!
