Advertising pays for art. In return, art propels the industry. Often times these artists push not only the limits of artistic expression, but also the way advertisers should think about an audience.
Tangent: If you don’t believe there is a symbiotic relationship between art and advertising, explain why the term for “people you’re selling to” is referred to as an audience. It’s not a coincidence.
So maybe your business doesn’t have the budget to execute guerrilla tactics like Nine Inch Nails or have the desire for your CEO to do lunch with every fan like Josh Freese. Or maybe you have too much overhead to give your album away like Radiohead. Regardless of where your company is financially, there are still ways to apply these entertainment marketing mindsets to your business.
1. Develop Your Sound
Recently, Green Day opened American Idiot on Broadway. What’s interesting is the success of the punk-to-musical theatre crossover. I attribute it to brand – or band – consistency. Since making it big in the mid-’90s, fans have always known what they can expect from Green Day – three chords, a catchy hook and raw energy.
The same principle can be applied to your business. Develop your sound. Know what your business does and does well. People talk a lot about branding. But I think branding commonly gets confused with putting a logo on everything and making ads that don’t come with coupons. That’s only a sliver of what branding is. Branding is understanding who you are as a business and delivering a consistent product, image and attitude. It’s developing a sound and honing your skills within that genre.
2. Know Your Fan Base
The Trans-Siberian Orchestra probably doesn’t care they haven’t won an MTV Award or graced the cover ofVibe. And why should they? In 2009, they grossed more than ‘Lil Wayne, Toby Keith or Coldplay. Not bad for a group best known for covering Christmas tunes.
The key to success is knowing your fanbase. Music is subjective. And with the proliferation of brands and products, I say business is subjective. Connecting your strengths with the needs and wants of your customers matters most. The numbers will come if the product is solid, the need exists and the company puts the customers’ desire before fame and fortune.
3. Have A Vision
Lady Gaga has vision. The look. The sound. The style. These are not accidents. They are carefully constructed ideas turned into actions. Gaga is known for doing things on her terms. What a great lesson for business.
All too often, a business vision consists of a target number – sales, market share, profit, growth percentage, etc. When was the last time you saw your company as an entity? Certainly you got into your craft for something other than the bottom line. You do something better than the competition. You have an opinion. Make a rock star statement – “At Barb’s Bakery, we make breads we guarantee you’ve never tried before. We’re kneading the envelope.”
4. Be Fearless
If you want to see an entertainer be fearless, click this classic. Hello bikini wax!
I think it’s easier for artists to be bold. Standing on stage in front of a crowd that expects to be entertained is terrifying. But when it works, it’s exhilarating. Apply that adrenaline to your company.
From a business standpoint – especially from a marketing standpoint – companies that make bold choices and take risks succeed. Companies can take these if they heed the previous three items in this article – product development, customer understanding and a clear vision of their image. If a particular risk fails, they have enough to draw on and try again.
5. Don’t Sell Out
Let’s take a look at two band from the same genre, Dave Matthews Band and O.A.R. I don’t really want to know how many games of beer pong I played in college to O.A.R.’s underground hit, “Crazy Game of Poker”. What I can’t deny is how popular this band was. Equally popular was Dave Matthews Band. They continue to make great music and even greater sums of money – over $50 million in 2009. O.A.R. go radio play and booed into oblivion.
Why do some bands “blow up” the charts and make it while other make the charts and blow apart?
I argue retention. Plenty of stats indicate how much more energy it takes to obtain new customers rather than keeping old ones. It’s the same with music. Loyal fans keep entertainers afloat – see Jimmy Buffet. Fans of your business deliver priceless word-of-mouth advertising, reuse your products and make up the bulk of your revenue.
“Selling out” means an audience feels abandoned. Talk about a band selling out and you’ll hear the same story about how the band gave into the “corporate machine”. What this tells me is the artist spent more energy trying to appease a new audience than they did appreciating its current one.
Don’t let this happen to your customers. Retain to gain. Keep your fans happy.
Absolute Marketing Group specializes in kick-ass. If you’ve got the cajones to do something special with your company, call us. There’s no obligation, just conversation.