Notes from NAMP #1

Well I got back from the NAMP conference almost two weeks ago, and I was planning on blogging about all the exciting things I learned. Then I realized I had to move into the house that I closed on three days before the conference. I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to switch jobs and buy a new house all at the same time!

Things are starting to get back to normal so I wanted to share some of the notes I took at the 2007 National Arts Marketing Project Conference in Miami. Below are my notes from the Keynote Speech from J. Walker Smith:

Keynote Address: J. Walker Smith
President, Yankelovich, Inc.
Chapel Hill, NC

• Check out http://www.gethuman.com/
• Marketing is now shifting to the intangibles—you can’t market the product, you have to market the experience. Loews theatres has a program for moms and children to see a movie in a movie theatre. They lower the volume and keep the lights on because its not about the movie, it is about the mother/child experience.
• ¾ of Americans say that they are time starved and the average consumer says their time is worth $1.25 per minute. If you keep them on hold, they will get upset and expect to be compensated. If you keep them on hold, then give them something worth a $1.25 per minute. Try to make all interactions “zero time interactions” with instant gratification. Telemarketing calls better be worth their time otherwise just the act of hanging up the phone on the caller will be deemed as 60 cents worth of wasted time.
• We live in a world where everyone is different. Being different is “cool” because there is no longer anything to conform to. By 2030, 40% of our population will either be Asian, African-American or Hispanic. White people are going away because their birth rates are lower than their death rates. Everyone will be different.
• The control has now shifted to the consumer. If you try to force them into something they don’t like, they will just fix it and then post the solution on the internet. A great example is 20 year old George Hott who figured out how to modify the iPhone to work on platforms other than AT&T, all because his family had a T-mobile family plan and didn’t want to spend more money. He then posted his solution on several websites.
• In 1960, ¾ of people by age 30 had left home, finished school, married, had children and were financially independent. By 2000, only 30% of the population had done these things by age 30. Difference is the only common value today. People want to be treated like individuals and differently. People want intangibles (the experience) to be tailored to them in the marketing and execution. People now expect to be treated as differently as they are.
  Put your consumers in the loop—in 2006, 56% of consumers spent more than 2 hours researching purchases over $100. They want to know all the behind the scenes information.
• One of the reasons that traditional print newspapers are declining is that you can’t get a customized newspaper tailored only to you. But with RSS feeds, you can set up interests and only get information you want and it is sent to you. Put your consumers in total control (chad’s note—is this why subscriptions are failing?). The car manufacturer Scion now manufactures cars that are built to individual and unique specs that consumers send to them via the internet. They will build you a car like none other. Their tagline—“we relinquish all power to you.”
• Meyer Gas sends their consumers a text message to their phones alerting them when gas prices are going to go up so that they can drive down to the station and purchase before the prices increase.

The Power of Print Media (or lack thereof)

TCG is holding a monthly teleconference for marketing directors from their member theatres. It seems that everyone is talking about how major daily newspapers are losing power with their declining number of subscribers. Lately, I have been noticing something similar in the Washington, D.C. area. The major daily paper is The Washington Post, and according to our sales reps, it is the fifth largest newspaper in the world when looking at circulation. So, you would think that a strongly positive or negative review could potentially determine the success of a production (much like how New York City waits for Ben Brantley to send his word from on high).

To be honest, I have seen the exact opposite since I have been at Arena Stage. Arena Stage opened its season with Moises Kaufman's world premiere 33 Variations. The show got a lackluster review from the Post critic but was an immediate hit with our audiences. The second show of the season was Lisa Kron's Well which got an amazing review from the Post critic, but didn't seem to have the word-of-mouth that 33 Variations did. From a financial point of view, even with a not-so-positive review, 33 Variations performed very well. In years past, I have heard that if a show didn't get a positive review from the Post, it was very unlikely to succeed at the box office. However, that isn't the case today. So if potential audiences are no longer being influenced by reviewers from the major dailies, who are they listening to?

30% of 0ur audience when asked states that their decision to purchase a ticket was influenced by word-of-mouth from a friend. That is way above any other factor. So I have started to concentrate on how word-of-mouth travels, especially as it relates to new technology. New technology allows discussions to happen instantly. Audience members can text their friends from intermission, giving either a thumbs up or thumbs down. These are the people who have the real power -- the audience members themselves. And that is how it should be. Empower your audiences to be your advocates and sales will increase.

I would also pay attention to a relatively new website called Yelp. Yelp.com allows the average person to experience an event and then review it online (much like a travel website). However the Yelp community is growing very rapidly. Recently I invited several "yelpers" to attend a performance of a show and asked them to honestly review the production. We treated them exactly like a member of the press. I would encourage you to do the same. The power now resides in the hands of "citizen reviewers" instead of the reviewers from the major dailies.

Virginia is for lovers...

First off, my apologies again. I have been on sabbatical from my blog for a little over a month. Soon after coming on board as the Director of Marketing & Communications at Arena Stage, we announced our groundbreaking on the Mead Center for American Theater. The company is in an amazing place in its history, and has raised over $100 million towards its $125 million goal for the new complex. But with growth comes growing pains. With that said, when we announced that Arena Stage would be breaking ground on the Mead Center in January, we also announced that the company would cease to operate in southwest DC for 2 and a half years while the building was being built. Instead, we would transfer our main headquarters to Crystal City (a section of Arlington, VA) and perform at a newly renovated, underground theater and at a separate DC location called the Lincoln Theater. And all of this would happen in a matter of months in the middle of our 2007-08 season. So how do we move a quarter of a million people annually to a separate location, across the river in another state from a place where people have been going for fifty years?

Over the next two months, I will be blogging about what we at Arena affectionately refer to as the "transition." For an arts administrator and arts marketer, the "transition" is incredibly complex, and therefore very interesting. I love taking on projects which I know will push me. So far I have become much more adept in city zoning and sign regulations than I ever thought I would be.

One of the goals of our transition communications strategy is to make the move as easy as possible on our long time subscribers and supporters. The new location is only three miles away from our permanent home, however in DC, the Potomac River serves as a physical barrier. In my eyes, we have one shot at getting our subscribers from Maryland and DC over to Virginia. If their first experience is difficult and aggravating, they won't return. So we have developed a reasonably extensive campaign to alleviate the stress on these folks.

Part of this campaign involves using PURL technology. I first learned about PURL technology when I was working as the Director of Marketing and Communications at Americans for the Arts. PURL stands for personalized URL. A direct mail piece is created for each individual with their own personalized website landing page. When they visit the landing page, they find information specifically tailored to them. A personalized website might have an address like this: http://www.chadbauman.arenastage.org/. We are sending all of our subscribers and ticket buyers a personal note from our Artistic Director with a PURL listed in it. Recipients will then go online, type in their personal website address, and will find the following: step by step directions from their house to the new theatre, a seating diagram showing them the location of their new seats, promotional offers from local restaurants, and an opportunity to sign up for our e-newsletter. I at first was a little concerned that some of our long-time subscribers wouldn't be on the internet, however Arena Stage conducts annual market research that shows that a huge percentage (over 95%) of our total audience is on the internet.

Hopefully the PURL campaign will be one tool that eases the transition to our temporary location.

The Marketing Silo

First off--apologies for not writing much lately. As you know, I am in the middle of transitioning jobs which put me in a place where I was working two jobs at the same time for a period of three weeks. Needless to say, that didn't give me much free time (or sleep). Now that I am settling in to my new position at Arena Stage, I am happy to say that I would like to concentrate a little more on writing.

Today's topic: the Marketing Silo. I find it interesting the more I work with large organizations, mostly from a consultant stand point, the more I find marketing departments which are functioning almost as a separate entity from the rest of the organization. For some organizations, the marketing department is somewhat of a mystery for people who don't have an external relations function in their job.

For most arts organizations, marketing is a critical function. Due to tight cash flow situations, marketing departments are expected to consistently hit their goals while reducing expenditures. To accomplish this, marketing must be looked upon as a central decision-maker for almost all operational decisions, not just the ones that obviously affect external affairs. For example, a shift in valet parking companies might cause longer waiting times resulting in unhappy customers and subscriber attrition. Although valet parking might not be viewed as a marketing function, it definitely affects the customer. I would encourage marketing directors to become involved in all decisions that affect or touch the customer.

With that said, marketing directors need to become ambassadors, especially at large organizations. Go out of your way to meet everyone, and encourage everyone to give you feedback on the activities of the marketing department. Yes I know, you might get that person who is incredibly nit picky and will visit you every week trying to convince you that if you increase the point size of the text in your ads one point that you will bring in exponentially more income. However, I have been incredibly lucky to work with brilliant people who came up with amazing ideas whose job function has nothing to do with marketing.

Marketing departments are being taxed with becoming more creative as budgets are cut and sales goals increase. If you work at an arts organization, you have a wealth of creative people just outside your door--reach out to them. Share your marketing plans. Invite feedback. Give thanks and recognize all contributions.

In just my very short time at Arena Stage, I have been visited by our Producing Artistic Associate, Master Sound Engineer, Director of Audience Development, and several others who have floated some absolutely fantastic marketing ideas my way. So if you by chance are working in an environment where marketing is consider an island to itself, break down those walls and eliminate the silos, and I guarantee you will be happy with the results.

On a personal note...New Job at Arena Stage

After almost a year as the Director of Marketing & Communications at Americans for the Arts, I will be leaving the organization to become the new Director of Marketing & Communications at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. Arena Stage is the largest of the six major non-profit professional producing theatres in the metropolitan area. They currently operate three venues under LORT "B+," "B," and "D" contracts and see roughly 275,000 patrons per year. They are very close to finishing a $120 million capital campaign to build the Mead Center for the American Theatre, a 250,000 square foot, three-theatre complex to be opened in 2009-10. I will be responsible for leading their marketing, communications and public relations teams. Most exciting to me is the opportunity I will have to work on some amazing projects at a truly legendary theatre.

This is a bittersweet moment for me because I love Americans for the Arts. The organization does some amazing work on behalf of artists in the United States, however my heart belongs to the theatre. Americans for the Arts will always have my support and I will continue to assist the organization in any way that I can. I will continue to serve as a trainer for the National Arts Marketing Project including previously scheduled sessions in St. Louis and Delaware.

Future Speaking Engagements...

In the next few months, I have a couple of speaking engagements lined up. If you are in the area, I would love to see you at one of these events:

2007 Delaware Division of the Arts "Arts Summit"
October 1, 2007
Keynote Presentation: "Communicating in a Whole New World," Chad Bauman, Americans for the Arts
Other Speakers: Elena Park, Metropolitan Opera; Mark Brewer, President of the Community Foundation of Florida; JD Hixson, Patron Technology; The Honorable Ruth Ann Minner, Governor of Delaware

St. Louis Regional Arts Commission Marketing Training
August 31, 2007
Presentation: "The Role of Technology in Reaching Generation X & Y"

Artists in Second Life...

By now, most people have heard of Second Life, the virtual world sensation that is sweeping the whole world and has attracted millions of visitors. It has also attracted the attention of some prominent artists, including Molly Smith, Artistic Director of Arena Stage, who spoke about Second Life at the TCG National Conference in Minneapolis this summer. The past couple of months have seen some really exciting projects come to "life" in this virtual reality:

Second Front Performance Art Group

Jeremy Owen Turner, also known as Wirxli Flimflam, is an online performance artist and a front man for Second Front, a group that stages events and performance art pieces in Second Life. Second Front is a pioneering performance art group in the online avatar-based VR world, Second Life. Founded in 2006, Second Front emerged as the first performance art group in Second Life and quickly grew to its current 8 member troupe with artists from around the world including Italy, St. Johns, Canada, and the United States. Second Front found its roots in the theatre of the absurd movement, and currently stages performances that challenge notions of virtual embodiment, online performance and the formation of virtual narrative. Second Front is perhaps best known for their performance piece Breaking News, a text-based performance in which Second Front stormed the Reuter's building in Second Life announcing 'Breaking News' headlines about Second Front's “clandestine operations and notorious affiliations in-world.”

Artropolis

Artopolis is an artist colony like no other in Second Life. This tropical paradise hosts fifteen studios scattered around a flourishing jungle environment, with tons of places to sip a virtual Mai Tai with your closest Avatar friends while enjoying the sights. The goal of this simulated island is to promote all of the arts, which includes art, music, poetry and theater. This sim was created by the combined efforts of Filthy Fluno (Manager), Esch Snoats (Builder), Xtasy Veil (Terraforming and Landscaping) and Maxim Deharo (Financial Management.) It took about a month and a half to complete and is still considered a work in progress as the sim will always adapt to accommodate the community of artists who call it their home. People are encouraged to visit the artist colony, and while you're at it, you can also support the artists by purchasing their work. One of Second Life’s most influential artist-celebrities, Filthy Fluno (real name Jeffrey Lipsky), has a high profile gallery established on Artropolis.

Mixed Realities & the Andy Warhol Foundation

In the art world, the Andy Warhol Foundation has helped fund exhibitions and projects in Second Life, including the well-know exhibit “Mixed Realities.” "Mixed Realities" was an international juried competition that resulted in the commissioning of 5 networked art works to be exhibited/performed in 2008 at Turbulence.org; Huret & Spector Gallery; and Ars Virtua, a gallery in the online 3D rendered environment, Second Life. Each commission is $5,000. "Mixed Realities" challenges artists to created simultaneous exhibits in three distinct environments: the Internet (Turbulence), an online 3-D rendered environment (Ars Virtua), and physical space (Huret & Spector Gallery). The works will evaluate the concepts "virtual," "simulation", and "real" and will feature a series of experiences in which participants connect with one another and contribute to the creation of the work.