All Entries in the "Marketing" Category
An Ugly War Of Words
No, this isn’t about any of the current labor disputes. Instead, this is about an online feud between Greg Sandow and Heather Mac Donald. If you aren’t aware of what’s going on here’s the 10 second synopsis: Mac Donald wrote an article titled Classical Music’s New Golden Age (meaning now) but Sandow didn’t like what she had to say so he wrote 5,413 words (most of which were entirely unflattering) over five articles to explain why. Shortly thereafter, Mac Donald fired back with a scathing retort… (more…)
Two Google Items You Should Know About
Undoubtedly, Google products and services are a wonderful asset to any nonprofit performing arts professional. Each year, they seem to add some new app that makes us wonder how we ever got along without it. Likewise, upgrades and enhancements to current offerings make good apps even better but there are two Google related items that should be on every arts manager’s radar… (more…)
The Love-Hate Relationship With Email Marketing
Dale Fisher posted a great little blurb about email marketing HTML at The Revolution Starts…Now? last month that reminds all of us why we love to hate email marketing. Compared to mailers, they have a number of strengths but one of email marketing’s shortcomings is how difficult it is to create a simple, HTML message that function properly in the vast array of email client delivery platforms… (more…)
How NOT To Use New Media
If you’re looking for a good example of how to use a new media platform in the worst possible way, American Federation of Musicians (AFM) International President Thomas F. Lee provides the best example I’ve come across to date with a series of videos the AFM released on YouTube. Everything in this video from the complete absence of production qualities, patronizing tone of his voice, ill-fitting suit, and circa 1962 copy (that’s only cool in Mad Men) is a gruesome train wreck of a product. But wait, there’s more… (more…)
Tasty Transparency Treats
The 2010 Orchestra Compensation Reports are only two weeks away but that doesn’t mean you can’t get in on some of the data goodies ahead of time. Following in the successful footsteps of the 2009 Orchestra Website Report pre-publication tweets, I’ll be tweeting an ongoing string of compensation review tidbits along with a number of miscellaneous facts that rarely make it into the regular reports due to lack of space. Thankfully, Twitter serves as an ideal medium to dish out these tasty treats, the only thing you need to do is follow @Adaptistration… (more…)
Seattle’s Pay-For-Play Trickle Down Effect
Seattle playwright Paul Mullin has been weighing in on the Pay-for Play scandal within the Seattle’s arts community that was examined here on 5/4/2010 (and even earlier @ Scanning the Dial). To paraphrase Mullin’s perspective, the decision by larger arts orgs to buy into the pay-for-play model as embodied by King5′s New Day Northwest program is ultimately self defeating but it’s the small budget groups who will suffer the initial brunt of diminishing returns… (more…)
Coattail Advertising: Good Or Bad?
Brian Sacawa posted an intriguing piece at his Sound Directions blog on 5/4/2010 about a Cleveland Orchestra radio spot for a Carmina Burana performance that ties directly into the Cleveland Cavaliers playoff bid. Sacawa wonders if this sort of coattail advertisement is ultimately worthwhile via a thorough and thought provoking piece… (more…)
Desperate Stage-Right*
Marty Ronish over at Scanning The Dial posted an article on 4/30/2010 that brought a pay-to-play scandal in Seattle to my attention. Marty’s article was, in turn, based on an article in The Stranger that reports local Seattle television station KING 5 developed a segment for their New Day Northwest program that has the appearance of a spontaneous arts related morning show segment but is, in fact, a paid advertisement… (more…)
How Satisfied Are You With Your Ticketing Software?
Thanks to Joe Patti over at Butts In The Seats for posting a link on 4/6/2010 to the Center for Arts Management and Technology’s Ticketing Software Satisfaction Survey report (pdf). It is filled with an enormous amount of useful data by way of a comprehensive cross-section of arts orgs and ticketing software platforms in the study. Of particular interest are the sections devoted to identifying ticketing needs… (more…)
I’m Not The Only One Paying Attention To Orchestra Websites
I was thrilled to see an article in the 3/29/2009 edition of the Chicago Sun-Times by columnist that examines the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s (CSO) new website. By and large it is a very complimentary article but one item of note is the attention focused on how important usability is to revenue performance. In the article, CSO vice president for sales and marketing, Kevin Giglinto, emphasizes that every effort was made to make the online ticket buying process as streamlined and easy as possible… (more…)
Uncovering Hidden Value
In last week’s article, The Three Keys To Social Media Marketing For Orchestras, I asked readers what else of value, besides the actual music, do orchestras have that is interesting enough to potential ticket buyers and donors that it can be given away as a free gift. The responses were thought provoking and I want to use those suggestions as a starting point for continuing the discussion… (more…)
The Three Keys To Social Media Marketing For Orchestras
Hugh MacLeod published an article at his blog on 2/14/2010 entitled “the three keys to social media marketing.” If MacLeod’s name is familiar, that’s a good thing. He’s the author of one of my favorite books, Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity, which serves as source material for the series of articles here under the tag keys to creativity. In his blog post, MacLeod suggests that sincere gift giving leads to successful social media marketing. In his case, the gifts are his cartoons but that got me wondering how this could apply to the orchestra business… (more…)
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Adaptistration is authored by orchestra consultant Drew McManus and since its launch in 2003, the blog has become standard reading for arts administrators and arts administration programs throughout the world.
