Last week, Steve Jobs announced details about the new iPhone due out next month. In a nutshell, it’s going to be faster, cheaper and have advanced functionality making it the one device that ultimately has the most potential for marketers looking to target consumers. We are expecting more people to browse the web ‘on-the-go’ using their phone. We are expecting more consumers to use applications that utilize the GPS locator functionality, which may then allow advertisers to target consumers based on their physical location. We are expecting consumers to watch richer, longer-form video content as connectivity speeds increase.We are huge fans of the mobile market opportunities and kudos to Apple for continue to pave the way in the space.Read more about the new release here and potential opportunities for your brand.
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So, MySpace just unveiled its redesigned home page. And, at first glance, it looks like Batman now owns Myspace. They made the home page one big eyesore of an advertisement. How’s that for community!?!? It’s clear that they are now in “make freakin’ money” mode.This is the same old story that continues to repeat itself online. A company pops up with a free, functionally kick-ass website. They get tons of visitors. They then sell that company and the new owners want to make a profit. They then take that kick-ass website and start shoving some form of advertising in the face of consumers (or charge them for the same service they were getting for free) and it then scares them away. Will this happen to Myspace? We will have to wait and see but according to a recent New York Times story, revenue is proving hard to come by. According to the story, they are going to miss their target revenue for the year by about 25%.I encourage you to visit the link to the story listed below. It’s an interesting read that talks about the economics of the social networking space which I highly suggest you all read. This space will continue to change rapidly and I think the way those changes occur will be directly impacted by the revenue they are able to generate. As a social networking user – it depressing to know that the experience will only continue to become more advertiser-driven. As an advertiser – I guess there could be an upside. We’ll see.
I’ve received over ten emails about Broadway ticket discounts during the 4th of July weekend. It’s probably safe to say that somewhere between five and ten million emails were sent about Broadway offering ‘special’ discount offers over the 4th of July. Now, I totally understand why the emails are sent out and I can see why email marketing would be the channel of choice. But it feels as though there has to be a much more efficient way. As an entertainment ‘category’, 95% of Broadway shows will clearly have availability over the July 4th weekend. Instead of using discount codes, couldn’t we just slash the prices for the weekend at the box office and use publicity as a way to say ‘now is the time to experience Broadway’ just like NYC does with Restaurant Week? I’m sure this has been talked about a million times, so I’ll shut up now. To put this together is obviously a pretty big undertaking but I hope the conversation is had so next year (and other periods similar to July 4th) can be addressed in a more efficient way. In the meantime though – if I get one more email about a 4th of July discount, my head might explode. For inspirational thinking, take a look at what Restaurant Week looks like this summer.
Here is a great story (thanks Roger G for the lead!) that speaks to the fact that the overall effectiveness of direct mail continues to remain strong. According to a survey released at a fund-raising conference presented by the Greater New York Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, “direct mail is thriving and will probably do well for another 10 years or more.”Read the following excerpt from the article that I think offers some very important marketing insight for live entertainment marketers: “Mark Mellman, a pollster for liberal causes in Washington, and Charles Pruitt, a marketing consultant for liberal charitable and political causes, said the results of their most recent survey surprised them. A 1995 survey by Mr. Mellman predicted direct-mail solicitations would receive lower response rates as older generations of donors who were used to relying on the mail died.Instead, Mr. Mellman said he found in the new survey that response rates have remained about the same, and that older generations are being replaced as direct-mail givers by baby-boomers — people born between 1946 and 1963 — as those Americans enter retirement. It turns out, he said, that the generation of the donor doesn’t matter nearly as much as whether or not they have the time and the discretionary income to respond to direct-mail solicitations. 'Direct mail seems to be a lifecycle phenomenon, it’s more efficacious with older donors,” he said.Not only are direct-mail campaigns still getting similar response rates, but in both surveys 68 percent of direct-mail respondents were aged 60 and older. The percentage of donors aged 40 to 59 years who responded to direct mail remained the same at 23 percent, Mr. Mellman said. The average age of direct-mail donors has increased slightly, he said, from 65 in 1995 to 68 in the new survey.” As for younger audiences, the Internet is clearly their medium of choice. But if this data has any truth to it, this shows that direct mail could remain a channel of choice for targeting the key Broadway demographic (women, 45+) for some time to come.
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Type ‘Diet Coke’ into Google - you can't miss the listing of ‘Diet Coke Sucks’ three listings down the page. Brands of all shapes and sizes are continuing to have major challenges arise in the primary search engines when consumers are searching for their brand. A consumers see your TV spot – they run to Google. Aside from your paid search advertising, what comes up in the organic listings ultimately plays a large role in defining your brand to consumers. For Broadway productions, the usual suspects include everything from a link to the NY Times review (hope it’s good), a Broadway Box discount for your show (selling a discount ticket to a full price buyer), a ton of brokers selling your tickets (at much higher than what you are selling them for) and a Wikipedia listing (what people other than your marketing folks are writing). How’s that for a lack of control of your brand? What’s quickly becoming a reality is the basic fact that brands must begin to shift their focus from selling the sizzle – to focus on better selling the actual steak (a chris powers classic line). Every interaction consumers have with your brand brings an opportunity for them to voice their opinion – both good and bad. How do you combat this? Deliver a good experience that begins from the ticket purchasing process all the way through to the ‘thank you’ and follow-ups the consumer receives when they return home after seeing your production. You can scream your ‘funny’, ‘exhilarating’ and ‘enthralling’ in advertising – but, the reality is, conversations about your brand are happening with or without you every day and are based on substance and the real interactions consumers are having. I wish, as an industry, we spent more time talking about those interactions - the ticket buying process, customer service (in and out of theatre), the follow-up messaging, consumer reviews and ticket prices. I think shifting from us talking, to us really listening and acting, new audiences will come and our current audiences will stay. Here’s an interesting article on the issue’s Dell faced when they lost focus on the customer experience. Very interesting.
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So, it’s old news that print advertising is rapidly on the decline. At least the NY Times can begin charging admission for people to climb the Times building if things get ugly (full page rates get you a camera crew with helicopters.) So, publishers need to identify ways to distribute their content to be relevant and useful in the daily lives of consumers. Below is a link to an interesting story in how the Washington Post is aiming to adapt its strategy towards creating hyperlocal content. The idea – “pair a journalistic powerhouse with a dream team of Internet geeks to build a virtual town square for one of Virginia's and the nation's most-affluent and fastest-growing counties.”The story goes on to say: “Like hundreds of other hyperlocal sites launched in the past few years, LoudounExtra.com reflects a basic premise: Metro newspapers probably can't compete with the Internet or cable TV in covering breaking national and international news, but they can dominate what happens in their backyards. LoudounExtra.com offers detailed databases including every church, restaurant and school in Loudoun County, about 25 miles west of Washington, D.C. It embraces the idea that a high-school prom is as newsworthy as a debate over where to build a hospital, and that Little League deserves major-league attention. And it promises to let visitors to the site shape the news through blogs and photo and video submissions.”The results have been significantly less than impressive. They have yet to attract an audience and any real ad revenue to support the venture. Personally, I applaud the effort and I don't think they should throw in the towel yet. The market for localized news and information will only continue to climb - so, if they can figure out a way to provide that information in a meaningful way, there is money to be made.The newspaper industry is in for some rough times ahead and I think the Washington Post is smart for at least testing some new initiatives.
Here is a chock full of interesting points that I highly recommend all entertainment marketers dive into a bit more. According to a recent article in Mediapost, “YouTube is having trouble attracting as many female African-American and Hispanic adults as their male counterparts. And MySpace and Facebook are having a tough time appealing to Hispanic females.” I found the information specifically about the Hispanic market the most interesting. So, Hispanic females are significantly less likely to visit YouTube, MySpace and Facebook compared to their counterparts across race and gender. I hate putting these three sites into the same category as they offer very different experiences but it’s fair to say there is a theme of building connections and networks across all three that clearly is not connecting with Hispanic females. If you’re a Broadway or Las Vegas production, it’s something to keep an eye on since the target market is consistently women ticket buyers that make the buying decision. A couple of other interesting points. “The differences in online behavior are especially prevalent with online shopping. Among general market consumers, 57% have made a recent purchase online, while only 42% of African-Americans and one quarter of Hispanics have done the same. The gap is apparently even larger with eBay visits. Less than three out of ten African-Americans and Hispanics have visited eBay in the past six months, versus 41% of the general market population.” What do we take away from all of this? Don't underestimate the importance of customer service and ease-of-use when positioning your brand online.
Considering we are an industry that sends a ridiculous amount of email to the same people every day – the topic of subject lines is a very important one. According to a new study by Alchemy Worx, “open rates climb when the subject lines are in the 50-character range or 80-character range. But, perhaps counter intuitively, they fall in the middle when the length is 60 or 70. Research culled from 250 million messages sent over the past two years, with 660 different subject lines, has led them to believe that a 50-character subject line touting a ‘powerful’ offer is appealing (30% off Spring Getaway flights to Florida on Delta). And a longer 80-character-plus line describing a newsletter in enticing fashion works (Find out Secrets to Spice up your Barbecue this weekend and all Summer Long and enter to win a New Weber Grill.) Somehow, in the 60- to-70-character middle, the subject line is either too long or not long enough.” As for the ‘why’ – they believe it could be that the longer the message, the more opportunities you have to hit key selling points. Personally, I think your focus should always be getting the value proposition in the email out as quickly, understandably and efficiently as possible. We are currently in the process of creating an agency based email efficiency report, headed by Lisa Cecchini in our office, looking closer at how, where, why and when people engage in email marketing. Should be ready this summer. In the meantime, read the following story for more information.
The weakening dollar and what may very well be a US recession - the perfect blend of market conditions that make the international tourist a very tempting figure for live entertainment productions. Looking at the New York market, last years jump in international tourism from 9% to 16% shows that this is a market that needs to be paid attention to. Doing that though has proven to be a daunting task to date. Let's start with the basic obstacles. First, there is a communication barrier in that the ticketing systems are not well prepared to deliver the conversion process in their foreign language and currency. So, even if you communicate through your advertising in-language, you are sending them into a conversion process that they may not understand. Second, how do you plan to reach them? We've seen some very targeted media placements work, but finding specific sites in language is a difficult task - simply because of the language barrier. Not speaking the language will make it very difficult for your marketing and advertising teams to identify which websites you should be working with and the types of marketing arrangements you can organize. Next, assume you were targeting the UK and Canada where language wasn't the issue. First problem that often arises for some productions is that when they advertise in those countries (particularly the uk), they are competing with the local production for that show. That has turned into major headaches for us. This is by far one of the most frustrating issues in marketing theatrical productions - there is often not one true cohesive brand. They might share a logo but their business objectives, marketing plans and overall customer experiences are worlds apart. And, finally, you have to look at what you have to offer international tourists. Does your show have a theme that speaks to particular cultures? Do you need to speak English in order to enjoy the show? If so, does your show offer ShowTrans? All of these variables need to be looked at carefully before you create specific international tourist outreach initiatives. Our view on all of this is that you need to set realistic goals and understand that even with the weak dollar, its the domestic tourist who is an easier prospect to engage. Translating content and spending resources to chase international audiences may end up being costly. With shows already on very tight budgets, those marketing dollars are often severely needed towards domestic tourist outreach. Second, don't focus too much on trying to find an advertising solution. There are existing marketing channel relationships with your FIT travel outreach efforts. Expedia and Travelocity are two you should be exploring but there are others beginning to sprout up. These are often commission based agreements which allow you to hedge your risk as you only pay on performance. Finally, I think its a limited view to gauge your international marketing efforts solely by sales. If you can effectively engage international tourists researching what they want to see when they come to New York City, you have to believe this is having an effect on your walk-up sales.In the end, as with all marketing, it comes down to product, price, place and promotion and how this mix matches with your target market. And, when you have a limited budget to spend your resources, only you can tell how your international tourist outreach fits into your overall marketing plan.For those of you haven't seen the recent League report which covers the Broadway industry, definitely order a copy. In the meantime, take a peek a the info from the NYC Tourism Board.
With so much money spent on advertising in print for live entertainment, I saw this article to be particularly interesting.In what I would suspect will be an increasing trend, The Capital Times, one of Wisconsin’s leading daily newspapers, will suspend its daily printed newspaper and move its operations almost exclusively online. According to the article, “the staff will also produce two print products: a free weekly entertainment guide inserted in Madison’s remaining daily newspaper, The Wisconsin State Journal, and a news weekly that will be distributed with the paper.) While the business plan is still really being created for the move, it’s clear that they are proactively trying to address what, to me, seems like the critical issue being faced by daily newspapers - remaining relevant. Let’s start with the basic fact that the news that goes to print is way-too-often old news by the time it hits newsstands. The news (aside from feature stories) has to be posted throughout the day on publishers websites if they expect their editorial to remain relevant. The speed of news reaching consumers moves faster than ever – publications have to break the news on their website first if they expect to survive. In addition, news in print that you pay for is available for free online. Both of these points are, in many ways understandably, self-inflicted wounds. So, when you add up the fact that consumers have less time in their day, more options to consume media and less disposable income why would a consumer pay for a daily newspaper if they can get the same content online when they want it, in a quicker way and for free? I don’t think the distribution channel is necessarily the big issue. I think plenty of people read newspapers (our Dot project showed many Sunday Times readers) – they just don’t rely on it as much for daily news. Same goes for the nightly news on TV - it’s painful to watch as it feels like a wrap-up to news you’ve already heard about from 10 different sources that day. Times are changing rapidly and I think this move by The Capital Times is just the start of what is yet to come. If this is a good thing or a bad thing, I'm not sure.
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