Archive for marketing
Arts & Cultural Community Reaches Out to School Teachers
Posted by: | CommentsArizona has more than 36,000 school teachers and they are a population that arts & cultural organizations especially appreciate welcoming as audiences. Despite the job’s low pay, school teachers are particularly well educated, engaged and curious – and they hold the key to introducing arts & cultural experiences to new generations.
The arts & cultural community has long looked for a way to connect more closely with educators and, though it’s not one of our most ”publicly visible” services, I’m delighted to inform you of a nearly 2-year old initiative of Alliance for Audience that we call ShowUp for Fun. It’s a DIRECT CHANNEL to make DISCOUNT TICKETS available to Arizona school teachers.
The Arizona Department of Education maintains an “eLearning Platform” which they call IDEAL (www.ideal.azed.gov). That’s a service that offers Arizona teachers on-line access to innovative curriculum resources. IDEAL is administered jointly by Arizona State University and Arizona Department of Education.
Alliance for Audience has established an on-going technology link to IDEAL that provides school teachers access to ALL the discount tickets available in ShowUp.com’s popular Chase Ticket Marketplace – but at a deeper discount.
Here’s how it works:
- You authorize discount tickets for sale via the Chase Ticket Marketplace on ShowUp.com.
- We maintain a live “feed” of ALL Ticket Marketplace inventory to IDEAL – which displays those tickets for sale to school teachers who log-in to the secure IDEAL website. (The Department of Education is responsible for assuring that ONLY qualified educators are provided access to the site.)
- We REMOVE the service charge that Alliance for Audience adds to discount ticket sales offered to the public. That savings of $1 to $8 per ticket is how the teachers receive a “deeper discount”.
- Organizations that sell discount tickets through ShowUp.com’s Chase Ticket Marketplace receive the same amount REGARDLESS of whether that ticket sells via the public Chase Ticket Marketplace or thru the private ShowUp for Fun relationship.
- Can arts & cultural organizations make SPECIAL offers to school teachers that are NOT offered to the public at all? YES!
- Does this project sell school matinee performances and field trips? NO – this is for admission to public performances, exhibitions and events.
The entire purpose of ShowUp for Fun is to directly invite school teachers to attend your performances, exhibitions and events – and make them feel welcome and familiar with your offerings.
ShowUp for Fun – for Teachers is supported by the Arizona Community Foundation and Wells Fargo Bank who are delighted to help connect educators to the arts & cultural community. And we are very grateful to the Arizona Department of Education and Arizona State University for their willingness to partner with us in this creative way.
Want more information about how to extend special invitations to teachers? Please contact Veronica at VMartinez@allianceforaudience.org.
Going Mobile!
Posted by: | CommentsExciting news today from the world of technology that powers ShowUp.com! New MOBILE technology has just gone live – so you can visit ShowUp.com from your iPhone and smartphone.
On your mobile device, simply enter www.ShowUp.com and you’ll arrive at the Greater Phoenix content. What also works is: www.Phoenix.ShowUp.com.
Also visit:
and your mobile device will take you to those cities’ mobile sites as well.
Access ShowUp.com anywhere & everywhere! Please, just don’t do it while you’re driving!
Finding Inspiration at Childsplay’s Campus for Imagination and Wonder
Posted by: | CommentsYesterday, your Alliance for Audience/ShowUp.com staff team held a day-long retreat to coordinate plans for the coming year.
We spent the day at Childsplay’s Campus for Imagination and Wonder – in one of their classroom spaces where we could SPREAD OUT, TAKE TIME & THINK DEEPLY about how we do everything we do. (By the way, their spaces are available for rental!)
2 quick observations:
1) Childsplay’s offices & classrooms are housed in a former elementary school in Tempe. They call it a “Campus for Imagination and Wonder.” How wonderful to have a place whose very name speaks to the highest aspiration of the organization – as well as of the people who work and visit there. (Just curious: does any other Arizona organization have such an inspiring subtitle for their space?)
2) Something that has always impressed me about Childsplay is the sense of deeply shared commitment among its staff. The word “teamwork” just doesn’t do justice to the feeling. I’ve always thought of them as being more like ”invested.” Looking at Childsplay’s website this week, I happened upon the secret of that success:
“One of the underlying core values of Childsplay is the notion of ensemble. There is a resident group of theatre artists (our Associate Artists) who, in collaboration with the Artistic Director, are responsible for planning and creating the artistic products that illustrate Childsplay’s mission. But these artists do not create in isolation. Everyone who works at Childsplay — other artists, technicians, educators, administrators and trustees — is a part of this resident ensemble. This mindset guides the way our work is created, the way it is marketed and the way it is delivered.” - 2012 Strategic Plan
If you’ve interacted with anybody from Childsplay, you may have sensed this all along. I just never before realized it was so, well, purposeful. That’s truly inspiring! You’ll find it here: http://www.childsplayaz.org/company-staff.php
Cézanne – A Brilliant Example of Arts & Cultural Advertising
Posted by: | CommentsConsider the Phoenix Art Museum’s 1-minute Cézanne video REQUIRED VIEWING for everyone whose responsibilities includes the marketing of arts & cultural activities: http://www.phxart.org/cezanne/
It is profoundly simple – and stunningly effective. For 3 reasons, I hold this up as a BRILLIANT example of arts & cultural marketing:
- It speaks to prospective audiences regardless of whether or not they’ve ever heard the artist’s name.
- It doesn’t merely announce the exhibit – it advances an INDEPENDENT and COMPELLING reason to experience it.
- It pursues just ONE objective – that the viewer should know Cézanne as a “Great Innovator” in art – akin to the great innovators in society, music, literature, science.
Think that’s easy? With all due respect, take a look at how another museum presented their recent Cézanne exhibit: http://www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/312.html. Typical. BORING.
Think that’s expensive? That they must have had a big ad agency produce this for them? Think again. Mark Patel, Phoenix Art Museum’s Director of Marketing & Public Relations tells me that this was written and produced internally – using on-line templates and royalty free images - on an incredibly modest budget. (How would you like it if we scheduled a “study session” with Mark to talk about WHERE TO FIND and HOW TO ACCESS such cool resources? “Leave a Reply” to this post and let us know if that’s something you’d value!)
Remember this exchange between Curly (Jack Palance) and Mitch (Billy Crystal) in City Slickers? It’s not just the ”secret of life” – it’s also the secret of truly effective advertising – which the Phoenix Art Museum has clearly grasped and from which we ALL can learn a lesson:
Curly: Do you know what the secret of life is?
[holds up one finger]
Curly: This.
Mitch: Your finger?
Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don’t mean sh**.
Mitch: But, what is the “one thing?”
Curly: [smiles] That’s what *you* have to find out.
Prescott Museums Offer “3-for-1″
Posted by: | CommentsNEW THIS WEEK on the Prescott homepage of ShowUp.com look for the ”Prescott 3-for-1 Pass” that invites guests to visit the Phippen Museum, Sharlot Hall Museum, and Smoki Museum all for just $12.
Creating such a collaborative pass had been the subject of discussions among these museums in the past, but became actionable with the arrival of Alliance for Audience’s in Prescott last Spring.
Let’s applaud Cindy Gresser, Executive Director of the Smoki Museum, Kim Villalpando, Executive Director of the Phippen Museum and John Langellier, Director of the Sharlot Hall Museum for their creative leadership and collaborative spirit.
Finally, let me acknowledge Margaret Fallon, Alliance for Audience’s Director of Services, who worked with the museums to put Alliance for Audience resources in service to their objectives - and who would be delighted to hear from other organizations with requests to support YOUR collaborative endeavors.
Ecstacy
Posted by: | CommentsThese are the kind of ”highs” that audiences crave:
- When the script, acting and set merge into an absolutely perfect DRAMATIC moment.
- When an ideally-situated work of art leaves us BREATHLESS with its full force impact.
- When we find ourselves PLUNGED into an immersive music experience.
- When we just can’t stop SMILING.
- When a child is CAPTIVATED by an experience that will surely be a cherished lifetime memory.
Artists, curators, crews and artistic directors devote themselves to the CREATION of such moments (and manymore.) It seems like the ENTIRE arts and cultural sector exists to support their efforts – for we know how challenging, elusive and truly extraordinary such moments are to achieve.
So, having just encountered this video of one person’s “exquisite moment” – a hiker encountering a full double rainbow (click the link for the 3-minute video). It sure gets my vote as the BEST ENDORSEMENT EVER for our National Parks.
I’m left wondering: What similar evidence exists that shows any audience member’s genuine, profound and personal joy with the kinds of experiences
they find in arts & cultural experiences?
Can you share an example that doesn’t just TALK about “transformative experiences” but ACTUALLY DEMONSTRATES it as vividly and honestly as this hiker’s video? Please post your comments/links here: http://notes.allianceforaudience.org/2010/07/09/ecstacy/
Chase Ticket Marketplace Scores a Hit!
Posted by: | CommentsAZCentral.com just recently awarded a “Critic’s Pick” to ShowUp.com’s Chase Ticket Marketplace as the BEST PLACE FOR DISCOUNT SHOWS.
Of course, we love the recognition! But there are a couple of “behind the scenes” statistics that leaders of arts & cultural organizations who care about audience development should find even more interesting:
- Within the last 12 months, the Chase Ticket Marketplace has filled over 18,000 seats that would otherwise have gone empty – and generated more than $270,000 in revenue for participating arts and cultural organizations that would otherwise have been lost.
- Since ShowUp.com’s launch in November, 2004, the Chase Ticket Marketplace has generated nearly $900,000 in ticket sales for the arts & cultural community and attracted audiences who filled over 63,000 empty seats.
Going forward, let’s note that there remain two very profound questions (and not just here in Arizona, but in EVERY community that has a collaborative discount ticket-selling function.) During the next 12 months, we look forward to working with member organizations to research what’s going on here in Arizona – aiming to address two key questions:
- What % of discount ticket buyers are NEW to the organizations that sell them? Clearly, we are all more interested in attracting NEW audience members than in ”cannibalizing” full price ticket sales; and
- Should discount ticket buyers be expected to “evolve” into full-price ticket buyers – or is the discount market a distinct and persistent sub-market?
Do this right now: Apply for a Google Adwords Grant
Posted by: | CommentsThis week, the Business Journal reports that Google has generated $1.2 Billion in value to Arizona businesses thru its adwords services; and contributed over $1.7 million to Arizona non-profit organizations (including Alliance for Audience & www.ShowUp.com) via the contribution of Google Adwords Grants.
Google Adwords Grants deserve to be the WORST kept secret in on-line marketing for non-profit organizations. Tell everyone! Complete information about Google Adwords Grants is here: http://www.google.com/grants/#
Want to see what I’m talking about? Go to Google and enter the name of your favorite Arizona city/town PLUS the word ”theater” or “art” or “museums” or “fun” or “concerts” or any other word that you think should/could lead someone to discover Arizona’s arts & cultural community. Thanks to the Google Adwords Grant, we have, literally, hundreds of words registered – so the chances are excellent that you’ll see an advertisement for ShowUp.com at the top/side of your Google search results.
Our Google Adwords Grant directly drives over $100,000 of in-kind promotional value to ShowUp.com annually. And it’s not just the dollar amount that’s important – we’re able to track total impressions, ”click-thru’s” and the all-important “click-thru percentage” ratio. Reviewing the detailed monthly reports we receive from Google (which, coincidently, we just did at this past Tuesday’s staff meeting) has given your AFA/ShowUp.com team an incredible education in ”search engine optimization.”
If you’re not already taking advantage of this great resource, please let me enthusiastically suggest that there’s nothing more powerful that you can do for your organization TODAY than to apply for a Google Adwords Grant: http://www.google.com/grants/#
And Google, if you’re reading this… THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
“Good Art; Marketed Well”
Posted by: | CommentsSome quick notes paraphrased from Michael Kaiser’s informative ”Arts in Crisis” talk today at Phoenix Theatre:
1. It’s a better marketing strategy to continually make new people feel welcome than it is to try to hold on tight to those you have.
2. The best marketing starts with an artistic program that is vital, important, exciting and surprising.
3. Marketing needs to work at two levels (and we all too often neglect the latter):
- “programmatic” – which is about selling tickets; and
- “institutional” – which is about creating a significant presence for your organization.
4. More resources from Michael Kaiser (including his FREE downloadable book about strategic planning) are available here: http://artsmanagerfba.artsmanager.org/common/Pages/Welcome.aspx