The Mission Paradox Blog

The best of infinity

Here's the core marketing problem both in the arts and damn near any other field:

How do you get people to chose you when the number of options approach infinity?

That's what technology and globalization has done.  It has created multiple options AND has made people aware of those options.

Because of this a simple question like "what do you want to do tonight?" opens up a ton of possibility.

How do we manage this explosion of possibility?

We start to filter our options.  We are looking for the best of our infinite options.

Of course the word "best" is relative.  My best isn't your best.  For example, for many people best equals well known.  That's a prime reason why some invest so much time and energy into visible, loud (and often very expensive) marketing.  The theory is that if you know about it, there must be something about it worth knowing.  

For some, it's the exact opposite.  The more famous/popular/rich/well known something is, the more they try to avoid it.  

The point is we are all looking for some version of the best.  It's our way of surviving infinite choice.

So here's the question:

What best is your work serving?

Is your work the best for a particular, tightly defined, audience?

Is your work the best in a defined geographic location?

Be honest.

If the honest answer is that your work doesn't reflect the best of anything in particular then consider how you can redine the work, or the audience, or the delivery method in a way that will achieve some version of best.

In a world of infinite choice, it's best or nothing.  Which way do you want to go?

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Note:  Time for a little blogging break.  I'll be back on Dec. 12

In the meanwhile, subscribe to the newsletter and consider following me on Twitter (@missionparadox)

 

 

 

A clear, but different, agenda

The agenda for most arts marketing is very clear.  The agenda is to get someone to buy a ticket, come to the exhibition, donate, volunteer, etc.

My theory is that the best way to achieve that agenda is by using your arts marketing to do something else first.

Make your audience better patrons of the arts, then ask them to buy.

Deliver interesting content via every available platform, then ask them to come to the opening.

It's time to move from a marketing that asks/sells to a marketing that educates, informs and entertains. 

It's time to move from a marketing that pitches art to a marketing that makes the receiver feel like they are part of something special.

That's what people need.  Education.  Information.  Perspective.  Content.  That is their agenda.  That's the agenda that we need to serve first.

If we don't serve their agenda they will never help us with our own.

 

 

Two powerful rules

I learned these at the poker table:

1.  Pay attention - Most of the mistakes that happen at the poker table happen for a very simple set of reasons.  You got bored.  You got distracted.  Important information is flying around you but you are too busy checking out the cocktail waitress.

Distraction is a big issue in the arts as well.  It's so easy to get buried in the small things.  Why sweat the future of the field?  Much easier to keep track of office gossip, or who is having more/less success than you.

This is dangerous.  Pay attention to what is happening in the world.  Be curious.  Not just about the "arts" but technology, pop culture, current trends and anything else that may impact your world.

2.  Know your limits - The easiest guy to crush at the poker table is the pretender.  He acts like he can afford to lose when he can't.  He thinks he has more skill then previous history has demonstrated.  He's not in the game to succeed, he is in the game to LOOK successful.  Big difference. 

Being humble is important.  It's important to acknowledge what you do and don't know.  It's also important to acknowledge when you are in over your head.  That doesn't mean you withdraw from the situation.  Sometimes being in over your head is the only way to grow.  But if you don't acknowledge that you may not do the work necessary to get the skills/strategy you need to be compete.

If you get those two things right life as a gambler (and all real artists are gamblers) will be much easier.

The future of arts marketing is journalism

We have become very good at marketing.  

We have a grasp on social media, some more than others.  We know how to buy ads.  We know how to maintain websites.  We know how to do promotion via email.

In fact, we have become so good at those things that we have gotten the max out of them.  We all feel the diminished returns.  It's so hard to break through the clutter.  All the arts marketing out there is so clean.  So competent.  

In fact, our arts marketing has become so good that it's damn invisible.

The issue, of course, is that the needs that created marketing in the first place still remain.  Tickets still need to be sold.  Exhibitions still need spectators.  The market still awaits.

To go from invisible to visible we have to go to the future.

The future of marketing is storytelling.

Wait.  Did you just roll your eyes?

Can't blame you if you did.  I know you've heard that marketing is storytelling stuff before.  Now every product you see is inviting you to "join our journey" and "hear our story". 

That's because we are still learning the difference between storytelling and spin.

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Let me tell you a story.

Those are powerful words because they make you want to know what happens next.  If you already think you know what's going to happen next, you aren't interested in the story.

So if your story is about how great every show is, how wonderful all your artists are and how beautiful life in the arts is . . . that's not a story.  That's spin.

For a story to work, the storyteller has to have some credibility.  I think the way to get that credible space is by adding a journalistic element to your marketing.

As an example, let's look at what Coca Cola (!) has planned.  Check out this article in the NY Times.  They are revamp their web site and restructuring their digital marketing team to look "more like the editorial team at a long lead magazine".  They have even expressed a willingness to publish content which may not look upon the brand favorably, i.e. an article by NYC Mayor Bloomberg talking about his size ban on cola.

They are hiring 40 freelance writers and journalist and telling them to act as "newshounds".

Now maybe this will not all pan out.  Maybe they will not gain the credibility they need to pull this off, but we should all look carefully at what they are saying.  It goes back to the point at the beginning of this post.

Coke is great at marketing.  Hell, they damn near invented modern marketing.  And they are saying that it isn't enough.

They need journalism, storytelling and credibility to sell sugar water.

Maybe we need more of it in the arts.

 

Can't get enough

We have enough stuff.

Enough TV, enough plays, enough museums.  No one is clamoring for one more thing.

What we need is more meaningful experiences.  There is always room for that.

Always. 

We can never get enough of stuff that matters.

We need more things that actively create community and give people a sense of belonging and purpose.  If your art does that then you'll have a chance.  If it doesn't then you will eternal struggles.

Getting along fine without you

In most of the arts world, but particularly in my world of the nonprofit arts, there is an understandable desire to bring in a new, more diverse, audience.

The events of the past few days have bought that need into sharp focus.  We know that demographics is destiny.  We know that any industry that doesn't embrace the full picture of America is headed toward a dead end.

So I wouldn't be surprised if the "diversity" talk in the arts picks up steam in the next few months. Allow me to weigh in.

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Last night my day job did an arts performance.  Since the venue only holds 250 people and a lot more people that that read this blog it's very probable that you missed the show.  

How do you feel about that?

Do you feel like you missed out?

Probably not.  That's because you are probably ok with whatever you did last night.  Maybe you watched TV, maybe you read a book, maybe you got drunk and did lines of cocaine.  Whatever you did, you were ok with it.

What's my point?  The point is that you got along fine without what the art I offered.

That new audience your looking for?  The younger one?  The more racially diverse one?  The one with more (or less) money?  The one from the other part of town?

They are doing fine without you.

Arts audience outreach efforts fail because of what I call the explorer/savage problem.  The arts organization or artist sees themselves as the great explorer filled with knowledge and wisdom.  They see the new audience as the savages huddled by the fire in dire need of their theatre, dance, classical music, medicine and blankets.

The reality is that if these audiences never come your way they will be fine.  You, on the other hand, will be in serious trouble.

You need the new audience more than they need you.

Any diversity, or audience development plan, that doesn't start with that idea in mind is destined for failure.  You can have the best tactics, executed by the best team, but if they approach the audience as if they are doing them a favor . . . things will not go well in the long term.

Of course it's hard for some to reach that level of humility.  It's hard to accept that you have backed yourself into a tough demographic spot and now need to build coalitions and relationships with different sorts of people.

It's easier to imagine that you are doing them a favor.  It's easier to imagine that you are delivering "real culture" into their life.

That's arrogance.  Arrogance, by itself, is a problem.  Arrogance directed toward people who have a ton of other viable options, is deadly.

The good news is that change is possible.  You mix some humility, a sincere desire to deliver quality work, a good plan and a willingess to work over the long haul and you can bring in any sort of new audience.

I truly believe that.

But it starts with the right perspective.  It starts with understanding that the desired audience isn't coming for a specific set of reasons and that is your problem to solve.  It starts by honoring the fact that they haven't been coming, but still have embraced other forms of art/culture, and probably had a good time doing it.

If you start with that perspective things will be fine.

If you don't you may end up with that same stunned look Karl Rove had at about 10pm on Nov. 6

 

Who are you trying to please?

If you learn anything this political season, learn this.

To win, you've got to please somebody.

The good news is that you get to choose that somebody.  You get to choose the group of people that matter.  You also get to choose the people you ignore?

So, who are you trying to please?

Yourself?

The people above you on the org. chart?

Your audience?  All your audience, or just a small subsection of your audience?

The critics?

The easy answer is that you are just trying to please yourself.  It sounds like a sound artistic answer.  But if you're honest about it, you'll realize that there are a lot of people you are accountable to and thus a lot of people that you may want to keep happy.

When I'm in a situation where I'm trying to please a lot of people, I always remember this saying.  Everybody can be served.  But everybody can't be served at the same time.

There will be times when making yourself happy is paramount and times you are trying to keep your employees motivated.

There will be times when you are trying to get the market's praise (and money) and moments when you are looking for respect from your peers.

You can do all these things as long as you know what's important AND as long as you don't try to please everyone at once.