Digitize and keep your audience involved

SHN San Francisco, the Broadway touring platform for San Francisco, is doing something new and digital with the usual dance party that occurs at the end of the musical HAIR, which is currently playing in San Francisco. SHNSF decided to record the parties and make them available online for patrons to enjoy and share. Patrons can share videos, tag themselves in specific moments of the videos, and comment on the videos (and comments are posted to Facebook). The website also includes easy to use links for buying tickets.

SHN obviously knows how to get the word out, and its tactics are keeping patrons involved online, which keeps SHN on their minds until the next touring show comes around.

How have you used the internet and other digital methods? Do you have any specific tactics for keeping your audience involved?

Where to draw the line with benefits: Audience is number one

We all know that fundraisers are important parts of keeping businesses alive, but what about benefits for outside causes?

A few months ago, Whoopi Goldberg gave away all the money from one performance of Sister Act the Musical to President Obama's reelection campaign. For me, this felt a bit off the right track. If I were a patron, I wouldn't want to give my money to a political cause. I'd be going to the show for pure entertainment. But then again, it is Goldberg's money to be giving away. But considering where that money came from, she had better be sure all her patrons that night and her cast actually support Obama. And if you bring politics into a show, that may affect what patrons are willing to give you their business in the future.

Next month, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is doing a similar benefit for the non-profit Trevor Project, which "saves the lives' of LGBT youth considering suicide. It's a little less political of a cause, it has a good front of saving lives, and How to Succeed star Daniel Radcliffe has been supporting the project for some time, but it's still controversial.

Then there's Broadway Cares - Equity Fights AIDS. A yearly time during which stars collect donations from patrons after each show to go toward fighting AIDS.

These are all causes that could have a negative or positive spin depending on your political and moral beliefs. Is there a line you cross that could affect your business more negatively than positively? Obviously, you can't please everyone. A newspaper will choose to front one political candidate, but not all of the newspaper staff will support that candidate.

From a business perspective, the number one thing you can do is consider who your audience is and how they will respond to the cause you are collecting money for. If you're doing a benefit for personal reasons, then I suppose you have to stand up for what you have to stand up for, but if you're going to consider how it will affect your business, look for the benefits and causes that will give you a positive spin with your audiences.

Instant is Golden

Despite Netflix's recent mistakes, Instant is still in style. Many Netflix customers are now switching to Amazon Prime or Hulu Plus. And now the Metropolitan Opera is offering instant operas and concerts, streamed over the internet for one of several price options.

The basic truth is - people like things to be delivered instantly. It's all about convenience, today. Even if you're not a streaming service, you can think about ways to make your information, to make what you have to offer more accessible and instant.

The Met is also capitalizing on being the first to offer a unique kind of streaming - streaming of operas. So, think about how what you can be first in.

How have you made your organization more accessible?

Hollywood Bowl Part 2: How Open Should We Be With Social Media vs. Copyright

My recent troubles with the Hollywood Bowl (which I wrote about yesterday) have led me to wonder how relevant and important copyright rules are these days. They're greatly needed in a lot of ways, but when it comes to allowing photos and video at, say, the Hollywood Bowl, or allowing people to tweet and Facebook from their phones at a performance (like Broadway/L.A. recently did for a performance of Shrek the musical), should we allow it or should we say no no? Or maybe we could just beat them to it?


The way things are so open today, it's probably a good idea to have some leniency. And if you beat the customer to it by providing your own media (i.e. videos, photos, etc), maybe people won't be as inclined to break the rules. So point number 3 from yesterday's post is Get Involved and Be Modern!


There's a similar controversy over whether fans should be able to write fan fiction because fan fiction infringes on copyright.

Thoughts? What is your opinion on the great copyright versus social media "war"?

Lessons from Hollywood Bowl Part 1

On a recent visit to Southern California I decided to go with a friend to the Hollywood Bowl. I was excited because I had never been to the SoCal landmark. I was just as excited to take pictures of the place. One problem: No professional cameras allowed. I don't know why I thought it'd be any different than an indoor concert at... say... the Walt Disney Concert Hall where photography of any kind is not allowed. Maybe I thought it would be OK because it was outdoor.

Turns out, I had to check my camera in with Security. This worried me because I was not sure if I would have enough time after the concert to pick up my camera and get to the park-and-ride bus before it left. I was also irritated because there were plenty of point and shoot and iPhone cameras allowed in that could take just as good of pictures as my SLR depending on how close you are to the stage.

A few take-aways:

1. Make your policies as clear as possible - don't save them for the fine print, and organize them clearly on your website. On this point, the Hollywood Bowl fails.
2. Follow the example of Hollywood Bowl: If you have customers complaining, handle them calmly, refer them to a customer service line, and offer a secure place for them to take their things.
3. Read tomorrow's post for point number 3 on social media and multimedia.

What customer service issues have you had and how have you dealt with them?

In times of trouble, make your policies clear

Lesson #1. When a customer complains, apologize, but make your policies clear.

Lesson #2. When making your policies, do your best to be reasonable. It will avoid a lot of problems and a lot of complaining customers.

Back in March, I wrote about a bad experience I had at a Carl's Junior. I later learned that the problem wasn't that the people at the restaurant were being rude, but that CJs had a certain policy that the restaurant managers were going by. Rather than just outright demanding I return the food when it was their fault their ATM machine was not working and they hadn't warned me, they should have told me the corporate Carl's Junior policy. Then, I would have been fine with what was happening and taken my concerns to the corporate offices, rather than yelling at the nice people at the restaurant.

I thought about this more after a recent interview I had for a position at a local theater. My interviewers asked me what I would do if a customer at the box office was complaining or asked for something I couldn't give them. I replied that I would stay calm, say what I could, and bring in my supervisor as a last resort, if it came to that. Upon further consideration, I realized how important it would be in a situation like this to make the theater's policies clear. For example, if it was concern over a ticket, I would tell the customer the policy and point out that it was made clear on the theater's website and when the patron bought his tickets.

Of course, some companies just don't think when they create their policies. So, once again, the two lessons here are:

1) When a customer complains, apologize, but make your policies clear.

2) When making your policies, do your best to be reasonable. It will avoid a lot of problems and a lot of complaining customers.

Giving your organization a face

Customers like organizations and businesses to have morals, personality - to have a face to them. This applies to a website just as much as it applies to the need to provide good customer service.

I've been doing some work for Hillhouse Opera Company, a new opera company in Connecticut. Currently, their website is not attractive. The colors aren't engaging. There's no logo. And the website has no production photos. Playhouse Merced, which has a lot of good information on its website, has a similar problem. It is missing a face, as well. It has a logo, but the photos are old and are only on one page.

Think of logos and pictures as a major part of your branding. In many ways, they are your face. They set the atmosphere of your website. And, aside from this, they wet the appetite of your customer. If a customer sees something they like, they'll be more interested in buying your product. But if the customer doesn't even know what your product looks like, they'll think it a risk to try your product.

You have to earn their trust. You have to own the right impression in their mind.

What are some other ways you "brand" your company?

Why e-blasts don't work

To please the modern customer, you need to make your product and your marketing strategies personal and convenient for your target audience.

A lot of e-blasts do not succeed in attracting customers for the very reason that they are not personal. If all you are sending are event or promotion reminders, if there's nothing more interesting or useful for the customer, your e-mails will be labeled as spam and deleted without a second thought.

Joanne Scheff Bernstein writes in her book "Arts Marketing Insights,"

"E-mail, like all other marketing tools, requires strategic and creative planning. Sending out an occasional e-mail message or blasting patrons with a series of frequent e-mail promotions when, for example, the organization wants to announce a special program or sell a large number of tickets to a production that has not sold well to date will not sustain interest and loyalty for very long. Each organization should develop an overall plan for e-mail marketing, just as it does for advertising, regular mailings, public relations, and other marketing efforts."

Besides being more personal, what are some of your plans for successful e-mail marketing?

Tips for best e-newsletter practice

E-mail newsletters are about more than making customers aware of events. You need to personalize them and send them out on a regular basis in order to make them feel genuine and to keep them from making it to the SPAM folder. Use intriguing headlines, but short headlines, and put the most important information "above the fold." Provide features and stories, how-to's, anything that isn't just boring events. Give readers a reason to open the email, and give them an even better reason to read the email and click on its links.

Harmony Wheeler would like to share a passage from Breaking the Fifth Wall: Rethinking Arts Marketing for the 21st Century "If you're really committed to building a relationship with your patrons, you've got to send them engaging, relevant, and timely information that will grab their attention and bring them closer to your organization. You're going to need to think beyond the common practice of sending "e-mail blasts" that go out at the last minute to drive ticket sales"

Excitement is key to success

Harmony Wheeler would like to share a passage fromBreaking the Fifth Wall: Rethinking Arts Marketing for the 21st Century "People connect emotionally with what you do because arts organizations fuel their passions. Approach them with this in mind. Your appeal to get them to sign up should be, "We're so excited about our upcoming events and we want to share this information with you on a regular basis."

E-mail versus direct mail

Harmony Wheeler would like to share a passage fromBreaking the Fifth Wall: Rethinking Arts Marketing for the 21st Century "you may find that the direct-mail piece brings in the same amount of revenue as e-mail, but with e-mail your ROI is much higher"

Why promoting events is important

Harmony Wheeler would like to share a passage from Breaking the Fifth Wall: Rethinking Arts Marketing for the 21st Century "Since arts organizations are generally event-driven, it makes sense to dedicate significant resources to tools that can target your marketing effort to reach patrons around your event schedule"

Focusing on current patrons

Harmony Wheeler would like to share a passage fromBreaking the Fifth Wall: Rethinking Arts Marketing for the 21st Century "Audience-development efforts need to recalibrate and move beyond the laser-beam focus of hunting down new patrons. Instead, what arts marketers should be doing is spending at least as much time and money nurturing existing audiences as they do finding new ones. As an example, arts organizations offer benefits to their donors, such as CDs, tote bags, discounts on gift shops, and the like. Why not use these same tactic"

Pros and Cons of SHN Broadway in San Francisco's guess the new season contest

SHN Broadway in San Francisco had a contest to see who could guess the new season. One winner received a free season subscription. They gave four clues, two of them easy, two of them hard. The contest successfully raised hype about the upcoming season. The lack and difficulty of clues, however, as well as the delay in announcing a winner, did not match up with the contest idea when it came to positive marketing. Contests are good ideas, and SHNSF does a great job of interacting with customers on Facebook and Twitter, but as a participant I would have appreciated a personalized email announcing the news season and the winner and pointing me to the website for more information. This is good public relations and it drives sales.

My love-hate relationship with limited video previews of Broadway shows

I know it's a good marketing technique, but I hate that I can't find very much video of new and old Broadway shows. It's all part of equity laws, but it's also a good marketing technique that piques interest and forces the viewer to actually go to the show to see what they want to see.

For example, The Book of Mormon has no video footage of the show available, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying has made an extremely limited amount of video featuring its star, Daniel Radcliffe, available. Radcliffe, also known in Hollywood for playing Harry Potter, is the main star attraction. People go to the show to see him, regardless of whether the show is any good. There has also been a lot of speculation over whether Radcliffe can actually sing, act and talk with an American accent. Therefore, marketers have made very little video of him available, but at same time they have promoted him and used his name to propel the show's success.

What is a reasonable preview of a product?

The importance of family entertainment

I used to think of concerts, shows and other programs billed as "family entertainment" as a way of differentiating them from more adult-oriented programs, but having "family entertainment" is more essential to the success of the arts industry than some of us may realize. After all, it's another way to educate the future generations on the importance and excitement of the arts.

It is our job as theatre administrators to fill the gap left by education cuts.

Reaching the younger audience... without ads

According to "Arts Marketing Insights" by Joanne Scheff Bernstein, Teens are extremely marketing savvy, "having been exposed to more than 1,200 advertising messages per day."

Therefore, advertising needs repetition for the audience to notice, but because there are so many ads out there, advertising may not be your best route. True awareness likely comes from other sources like publicity and branding.

How do you reach the younger generation aside from ads?

Educating students on the arts

An addendum on yesterday's post:

It may seem like education is a completely different department from marketing or public relations, and, in many cases, it is, but when you educate others for the sake of your product, you are essentially performing marketing and public relations.

The Metropolitan Opera is a great example of this. They have several education programs, and they have taken their HD movie theater broadcasts to junior highs and high schools. I remember watching a behind-the-scenes clip on this when I attended one of their HD broadcasts a few years ago. They had interviews with students who originally thought opera boring, but found themselves more attracted when they saw a giant poster of a beautiful Juliet promoting the "Romeo and Juliet" opera the Met was bringing to their school.

Arts marketing and education cuts

I just started reading "Arts Marketing Insights" by Joanne Scheff Bernstein. I'm finding a lot of interesting tidbits in addition to the larger picture presented by Bernstein, and I want to share some of these marketing tidbits and my thoughts on them over the future weeks as I read this book. Here's the first:

"The lack of arts education in the schools in recent decades has created at least one generation of young adults who feel that the arts are not for them, that the arts are elitist and something not easily accessed or appreciated." (page 13)

Educational program cuts seems to be an increasingly controversial topic, and here we find its consequence in the arts industry. Younger people don't feel like they can be a part of the arts because they don't spend as much time around the arts as they grow up. The media portrays the arts like opera as a high and mighty thing not to be shared with the casual, average people.

The problem presents arts marketers with new opportunities, however. It is our job to fill the gaps left by a lack of arts education. Thus, many arts organizations are offering new educational opportunities to parents, schools and their children. Some companies are also focusing on reaching out to the more casual person who would not dress up for a concert.

It's time to adapt.

How are you adapting to the modern trends? How can marketers educate and reach a younger audience?