What physics taught Dan Cobley about marketing

One of the things I love about working at our agency is the cross-pollination of ideas we have from working in different industries. Working for our higher education clients improves the ideas we give our arts clients, which in turn improves the ideas for our health care clients. And the cycle is endless.

Maybe that's why this presentation by Dan Cobley appeals to me. Cobley is Google's director of marketing for central and northern Europe. Back in July he gave a presentation at the TED conference titled "What physics taught me about marketing".

Try this at your own risk

The Addison Theatre Center in Addison, Texas takes an interesting tact on promoting their upcoming show Thomas Pain (based on nothing). The lead character posted the first of a series of columns on Theatrejones.com ahead of the show's opening this Thursday. Here's an excerpt of his "plug" for the show:

So, why am I writing to you, Dear Reader? Well, apparently, one evening, in a drunken state, I was coerced into signing a document. And according to one of the subsections of this document, I am legally bound to participate in something this silly, fledgling little organization called Second Thought Theatre refers to as “Marketing.”

So, here goes:

Come and see Thom Pain (Based On Nothing), opening Jan. 13 at the Addison Studio Theatre. Or don’t. Or have every intention of going and cancel at the last minute. Or bring a date and use it as an opportunity to show her how sensitive and cultured you are...

Here's the full column is you want more Pain.

Susan Medak and NAMP

Susan Medak, Managing Director at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre talks about balancing the needs of an arts mission and maintaining commercial viability. This was her presentation at last month's National Arts Marketing Project plenary luncheon.

Susan Medak: National Arts Marketing Project Conference from Americans for the Arts on Vimeo.

Broadway taps into Black Audiences

Interesting article appeared Monday in the Times looking at how the producers of the musical "Memphis", "Fela" and other shows are trying to engage African-American audiences.

Producers of these shows believe the black audience hasn't been “tapped out” and are using more research and targeted marketing techniques to capture it. The efforts have become more important with general show attendance down. Producers hope they can offset those trends by diversifying the audience mix. African-Americans normally make up around 25-30 percent of Broadway show audiences, but for the shows that are reaching out to minority audiences the attendance increase is noticeable.

Check out the full article here.

Kaiser's tour winds down

I've talked about Kennedy Center president Michael Kaiser a number of times on this blog. An update on Michael Kaiser's Arts In Crisis program appeared today in the NY Times. Since starting last year Kaiser has visited all 50 states and has had more than 800 groups apply for his free counseling. He'll finish his tour of arts groups later in July.

More info from the article is here.

Kaiser's website for the program, is artsincrisis.org

But is it Art?

The Guggenheim has announced a partnership with YouTube to review user submissions on a channel called YouTube Play. Professional artists will judge the videos posted and the Top 20 will appear in an upcoming Guggenheim exhibition.

As a marketer, I admire the genius of the idea. It combines technology, current culture and makes the exhibition accessible to a much younger audience. And if you have any doubt about the exhibition having a PR hook, well the Washington Post did a full write up on it. read here

I'm not an art historian or a curator and have never claimed to be. Aside from the marketability of the YouTube exhibition, I have some reservations. I enjoy full dance numbers for weddings and watching Charlie bite his brother's finger too. But frankly I'm not expecting to see them on framed screens in the Guggenheim. Here's hoping that in attracting new audiences, the museum doesn't dilute it's brand at the same time.

Check out the submission so far and decide for yourself. http://youtube.com/play

The State of Arts Funding

Excellent article in The Art Newspaper on the future of funding as we begin to recover from the economic crisis of last year.

Writer András Szántó makes one particularly interesting point about the effects of a "great outcomes" pitch for arts philanthropy. After years of claiming that cultural investment leads to economic growth for cities and towns, governments and community organizations are asking to see the payoff for their funding. He argues that it has been difficult to show those direct links and it may have a long term effect on funding for the arts.

The full article is here.