What Orchestras Can Learn from Kodak. That’s Right, Kodak.

Posted on March 5, 2010 by Bruce Robinson

A few days ago I heard a terrific speech by Kodak’s CMO, Jeffrey Hayzlett. If you watch it, you’ll find that it starts 14 minutes into the clip.

Jeffrey Hayzlett of Kodak

Jeffrey Hayzlett

Hayzlett is perhaps the most prolific Twitterer of all Fortune 500 CMOs, and he had much to say about social media. But it was Kodak’s attention to market strategy that turned my head. Orchestras have feared irrelevancy for decades. But how do our challenges stack up against Kodak’s? Five years ago Kodak sold $15 billion of film. This year consumer film sales will be less than $200 million.

Leaping Over Hurdles

Yet Kodak has reinvented itself as a digital imaging firm which is now 80% business-to-business.  Sales are now $10 billion, with record profits and double-digit growth. That’s a heck of a turnaround. And that’s in a brutal economy. Continue reading →

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How the Orchestra Marketer Can Choose Target Segments

Posted on March 2, 2010 by Bruce Robinson

We can integrate consumer marketing and orchestra marketing language with a unified view of market segments. That puts us in position to select target segments and to allocate resources to marketing tasks.

How Does It All Fit Together?

When I entered orchestra marketing several years ago I was mystified by such language as “outreach,” “audience development,” and “retention program.” In my earlier packaged goods experience we’d typically talked about segments and targets, trial and repeat. I also agonized over where to put our limited resources. New subscribers? Lapsed subscribers? First-time ticket buyers? There were so many choices.

A Map of the Landscape

I created a chart to frame these issues. It didn’t give me the answers. Rather, it enabled my inquiry. Click Here to View an Adobe Acrobat pdf of the Chart.

  1. The gray bands stand for market segments—that is, potential target markets. The segments at the top are deeply involved in classical orchestral music, those at the bottom the least.
  2. The vertical green arrows are the movements between segments we seek to stimulate through our marketing. I’ve called them Marketing Tasks.
  3. The words in red describe these Marketing Tasks in consumer marketing language. Words in blue describe them in orchestra marketing language. Continue reading →
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It’s the Music, Stupid!

Posted on March 2, 2010 by Bruce Robinson
Follow the music. That’s a guidepost for us orchestra marketers, for musicians and for orchestra administrators. It cannot be, follow the revenue. Audiences already follow the music. They listen to that music which has meaning to them.
Last night I heard a remarkable concert, a partnership of a local chamber orchestra, two young professional musicians and a local musical club. Chopin Society of Houston, a 10-year-old organization led by Anna Golka, celebrated Chopin’s bicentennial, with the climax of the weekend being a gala concert.

How the Music Happened

Why is there a Chopin Society of Houston? Because Anna’s energy, commitment and charisma have drawn together pianists, friends, teachers, students and the Polish-American community. The audience filled Rice’s Stude Hall for this one-time event, a performance of the two Chopin concertos. I tip my hat to such superb marketing. Anna loves Chopin. She follows the music.

River Oaks Chamber Orchestra

Alecia Lawyer and River Oaks Chamber Orchestra

Alecia Lawyer, Oboe, and ROCO, Photo by Frank White

River Oaks Chamber Orchestra (ROCO)provided the bulk of the musicians. Five years ago oboist Alecia Lawyer assembled 40 or so excellent musicians from the Houston region. That’s speaking loosely; Continue reading →

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How to Design a 6×9 Postcard for $100

Posted on March 1, 2010 by Bruce Robinson

We want to help you grow sales as well as decrease costs. Therefore we’ve created a template for a postcard promoting an upcoming concert which reduces design costs to an absolute minimum. The sample shown here for a mythical Orchestra of the Spheres features one upcoming weekend and previews two others. Would this work for you? Read on!

How We—and You—Make This Possible

Postcard Template Back

This template relies on you the marketer to write all the copy, select the images, and provide everything in a fashion that minimizes our handling. The layout and the use of Helvetica Neue Condensed font are fixed. Slight changes or corrections to your input will require modest charges at our normal hourly rate. In any case you’ll get professional design at the least possible cost.

How to Save Money While You Grow Revenue

Today’s economic challenges demand efficiency as well as effectiveness. The $100 Postcard Design is not for everyone. Most marketers will want our assistance writing copy, developing offers, searching for images and then creating a custom piece. And most orchestras will want to use their own graphic identity. Our objective will always be to deliver these services at an extraordinary value.

Let’s Start

To proceed, fill out an Adobe Acrobat form and submit your copy. And call us at any time for help.

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