Results tagged “Renée Fleming” from Life's a Pitch

I was nosing around the New York Philharmonic website just now, trying to figure out how many tickets they had left to sell for opening night next week, when I was distracted as usual by something totally ridiculous.

September 16, 2009: What a truly magical night for The Big Apple! Not only is a New Yorker finally leading the Philharmonic again, but the orchestra will perform at two major New York cultural institutions--Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall--at the same time. This will mark the unveiling of the New York Philharmonic's extremely-under publicized American Orchestra Cloning Initiative, and promises to bring the city's leading interpreters of 20th century music, Trey Anasastio and Renée Fleming, together in song, albeit not on the same stages. From the homepage of the Philharmonic's website:

The following image was sent out this morning to publicize the Washington National Opera's upcoming production of Lucrezia Borgia with Renée Fleming (by an indy publicist, NOT the opera company, and NOT Renée's publicist, that's for sure):

I mean....

As one journalist pointed out, is she an action figure, now?? ((stocking stuffers for the whole family!))

Is this image "on message" for any of the parties involved? Who or what does it seek to represent? And it was sent to east coast classical press? Y-i-k-e-s. Yikes.

Tip of the iceberg, but the "F" in Fleming could at least be capitalized.

With a major production like this, it is interesting to think about the different publicity agendas involved; I, as an independent publicist, could not pitch Eric Owens at the expense of the larger picture of Doctor Atomic, for example, and similarly, The Met could not ignore his role in the production in their marketing and publicity efforts. It's time consuming to get all the parties for any given artist or production on the same proverbial page, but when you don't, this jpeg is the "page" you end up with. And when you do, of course, it can be quite powerful; we are all, in theory, working toward the same goals after all.

Who knows: maybe this image was approved by all parties involved. Somehow, though, I doubt it. I leave you with this:

Update 9pm-ish, same day: It seems the Fleming/Xena image is actually one of the costume designs for the production and not, in fact, a flyer or poster. I'm told that as the opera progresses, Fleming's costumes will become more and more masculine as part of the director's vision for the character. That would be an interesting pitch, actually, if publications were allowed to print all the sketches. Too bad it wasn't mentioned, and the warrior princess jpeg was e mailed out without context or explanation.

It's that time of year: the city is completely covered in Metropolitan Opera opening night ads. Buses, bus stops, banners, phone booths...you can't swing a dead Venus worshiper without hitting one. This year, the campaign has a slogan: "Let yourself go", which I think is rockin'. It paints going to The Met as a guilty pleasure, a message that the sultry Renée Fleming Thaïs photo completely supports.  "Come on, you know you want to...buy tickets to the opera," Ms. Fleming seems to suggest with the one eye that isn't covered by kinked blond hair.

I've been thinking a lot about how, when a blockbuster movie comes out, you see imagery and actors from the film everywhere. If there is a feature on the movie in a magazine, there are also ads in the magazine. If an actor from the movie is on Letterman, the movie is advertised during the commercials of that broadcast.

Until recently, I thought that ads and press were interchangeable; that is, if we can get a feature on an album in this publication, we should put our ad dollars elsewhere. I don't think that's correct, though. Better to advertise in the publication in which the feature appears, so when readers flip the page, they see the ad and feel familiar with the product. The same is true in reverse: if they've seen an ad and then see the profile, readers/viewers feel like they "have seen that somewhere" and actually read the piece.

In classical music, we don't always (*ever?) have the luxury of ad dollars, but this can and should be done in some places. Local (and some national) blogs, student newspapers, etc. all still offer ad space within most presenters' and labels' budgets. Pitch stories to the outlets at which you can afford advertising, and also run ticket/CD giveaway contests. That way, your product will be visible in at least three spaces, so even if the publication or blog is not uber high-profile, you build a consumer base that recognizes your brand and is exposed to it repeatedly.

The unnervingly lovely Renée Fleming releases her newest album next week, and combing through her press materials to promote it, I stumbled upon this:

Master Chef Daniel Boulud has created the dessert "La Diva Renée" (1999) in her honor, and she has inspired the "Renée Fleming Iris" (2004), which has been replicated in porcelain by Boehm.

She also has a Coty (synonym for "fancy") perfume coming out if/when The Metropolitan Opera Gift Shop reopens this winter called  "La Voce". My Coty perfume, "Life's a Spritz" (2008), will be coming out around the same time, and will be exclusive to The Metropolitan Opera marketing department offices. You'll have to submit a proposal and go in for a meeting to design their banner ads or whatever to buy it.

Anyway, the iris, etc. got me thinking: Stephen Colbert prides himself on his many namesakes, but Renée Fleming, a mere opera star, is a surprisingly strong competitor:

Renée:

• Daniel Boulud dessert
  
• Iris
• Porcelain Iris copy
• Perfume

Stephen:

• Flavor of Ben and Jerry's ice cream
• Bald Eagle
• Aptostichus stephencolberti (a "trapdoor" spider)
  
• Leatherback Turtle
  
• Ontario Hockey League mascot

Both Renée and Stephen have their own desserts, but while Renée-influenced species seem to stem (...zing!) from the flora arena, Stephen has focused his efforts on fauna. If interested, her fauna solicitation efforts would involve birds, one presumes, because they...sing. Insofar as hockey team possibilities for Ms. Fleming, might I suggest approaching the Potsdam Bears or the Potsdam Junior Hockey Association, since SUNY Potsdam is her alma mater. The Aria Readies, perhaps?

It's really too bad Stephen Colbert isn't popular enough to have his own flower or cologne. He's young, though. There's still time.