Pic Tip Friday: Where the action is

Pic Tip # 4: Put yourself or your product or service in the middle of where the action is (like TKTS in Times Square).

Branding Tips: Be the original

I recently reviewed Riverdance. It was a spectacular show, but not nearly as mind blowing as I expected. So why has it been so successful? Far more successful than all the knock-off dance shows it has inspired? Because it is the original!


Be the first to establish your brand, and you'll live long and well.

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?

Get your audience involved part 2

Yesterday we discussed the importance of getting your audience involved. Let's take that one step further.


If you want more followers.... get your audience to relate.
If you want more customers... get your audience to relate.
If you want more results......... get your audience to relate.

Think Broadway.com's "Word of Mouth" videos. The Broadway news site takes everyday people of all ages, sends them to shows, and then has them talk about the shows in a candid way. Because these people are not your typical New York Times reviewer, viewers can relate to them and trust them more.

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"?

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.

Exclusive rights equals great publicity

Sometimes the best way to get the word out is to gain as much publicity as possible. Other times you can build excitement for your product or service by offering something exclusive to one media outlet.

Take The Book of Mormon musical, for example. The cast recording comes out in June, but the entire recording has been made exclusively available at NPR for your listening pleasure. This has subsequently gained the show publicity for its recording via publications like Playbill.com reporting on the exclusive release.

What's the better route? Aiming for wide publicity? Or offering something exclusive?

Interaction is key: Shrek answers your questions

Broadway in San Francisco illustrated the importance of interacting with customers via social networks today. They hosted an interactive session in which Facebook fans could ask Shrek (of Shrek the Musical) any question, and he answered. View the conversation here.

Creating a Wonderland for your customers: Simplicity and Creativity

The (so far) hit musical "Wonderland" is coming to Broadway in the spring. The modern take on the classic Alice in Wonderland is beginning to brand itself, not only with its regular website, but also with a simple, enjoyable, interactive story book that allows viewers to flip through a few pages that tell the basic premise of the show and that give viewers a preview of the show in pictures.

The show has also come up with a clever tag line: "A New Alice. A New Musical."

The story book certainly has my attention, and I look forward to seeing how the show markets itself in the future. The musical is one of the first Alice in Wonderland musicals, but Alice in Wonderland has been rehashed in film many times, so it should be interesting to see how this takes on.

How To... Play on Words

When you have an interesting title, it can be fun to do a play on words in your marketing material. The upcoming Broadway show, "How To Succeed in Business without Really Trying" has mastered this technique. They make the revival interested, not only by hiring Daniel Radcliffe to play the lead, but by using the "How To" part of the musical's title to sell the show.

The show's website features several "How To's." Viewers can learn "How To... Get Tickets," "How To... Get to the Theatre" and "How To... Tell Your Friends." Not only is this creative, but it allows users to interact with the site through social media and ticketing services. It attracts attention.

The website also features a recently released commercial for the show with "How To Succeed on Broadway."