Matt Lehrman on Audience Building
Do empty seats make you angry? They should! They should make you BOILING MAD. Each empty seat represents a direct cost: the wasted expenditure of advertising, the loss of immediate cash flow, pressure to increase ticket prices and/or spend even more on marketing, a diminished pool of future donors. Each empty seat also carries the indirect cost of the APPEARANCE OF FAILURE to artists, audiences, members & donors, … [Read more...]
"Sometimes, We Want Prices to Fool Us" is the title of today's New York Times article that notes that "...most shoppers, coupon collectors or not, want the thrill of getting a great deal, even if it’s an illusion." You want proof? The article reports that J.C. Penney suffered a whopping 25 percent drop in sales over the last year due to its decision to stop promoting sales and offering coupons and instead focus entirely on offering … [Read more...]
The word rolled off his tongue so easily, I almost didn't catch it. Steve Martin is the Managing Director of Childsplay, the renowned professional theatre company here in the Phoenix area whose chosen audience is children. We were discussing the evolving nature of the cause of “audience development” and the various implications of its growing number of metaphors – pathways, on-ramps, entrances, channels, passages, approaches, avenues, … [Read more...]
Kerry Lengel is the Arizona Republic's theatre critic. His articles are most readily found HERE: Recently, I invited Kerry to address the Seminar on Arts Entrepreneurship that I am teaching at Arizona State University this semester. In preparation for that class, we got together for a lengthy (and lively) discussion about the nature of arts & entrepreneurship. The discussion was so fascinating and insightful that I asked Kerry to … [Read more...]
You serve an audience but you don't "have" an audience. An audience is not something you own. Your venue is the shore. It's a place where an audience washes up to connect with your arts & cultural experience. Your organization is a beachfront property. You stand on the deck and watch as the audience tide periodically surges in attendance. And as it ebbs. You may own a property "on the shore" but you do not own any particular … [Read more...]
Do you hear the people sing? I really want to. I absolutely loved the new Les Misérables movie. In fact, I just returned from doing something I have NEVER done before: saw the movie again while it is still in the movie theater. I wanted another opportunity to drink in in the film's visual richness. I wanted another injection of the emotional heroin that literally left me sobbing. I wanted to wrap myself in the virtuous flag … [Read more...]
Crista Cloutier travels the globe teaching her original workshops, The Working Artist, The Working Creative & The Writer’s Life. More than a teacher, Crista is a nurturer, emboldener and coach to career-focused individuals engaged in all sorts of artistic and creative pursuits. Her website is: www.theworkingartist.info. In this interview we explore how the “marketing” and “audience development” challenges of individual … [Read more...]
I have the greatest respect for Adrian Peterson, the Minnesota Viking's running back who improbably returned from major knee surgery to complete an incredible season in which he fell just 9 yards short of the all-time rushing record for an entire season. Oh so close. It made me recall my closest brush with marketing "perfection." As the marketing director of the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts in the late 1990's, we had the … [Read more...]
New Years Day is an excellent time to reflect on the beliefs we choose to carry forward into the new year - the pillars upon which our future efforts will be based. Here are my TOP FIVE. I welcome discussion - and would love to hear yours, too! --- An empty seat never recommended anything to anybody. Arts & culture is a business driven by word of mouth. Every empty seat (or whatever that looks like for your type of … [Read more...]
One of the great honors of running an organization dedicated to "audience development" has been the privilege to meet and work in partnership with the dedicated leaders of the Veteran Tickets Foundation - which is best known as VETTIX.org. (And imagine my delight to discover that this national 501c3 non-profit organization is based here in my hometown of Phoenix - less than 3 miles from my office!) Their mission: "Give without … [Read more...]
Through his AUDIENCES EVERYWHERE workshop, organizations of all sizes & missions learn strategies and skills that build new pathways to audience engagement in ways both respectful of mission and embracing of entrepreneurial opportunity.
www.AudienceAvenue.com [Read More …]
For too long, arts & cultural marketers have operated under the premise that the key to their organization's success is to "pick the low hanging fruit.” I have come to reject that premise. Fundamental changes in personal interests & … [Read More...]
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