So I’m late in getting to the widely panned Philly marketing campaign Unexpect Yourself. Now to their credit it has created a lot of buzz in the blogosphere but whether it translates into sales and repeat business….well time will tell. What marketing in general seems to lack is creating a connection to relevancy with this and many other tag lines going for a just try it kind of E Harmony vibe. There is an incredible study out there that marketers should take note of that is not sexy but is relevant and might change the philosophy of sending out the message into sending out the messenger(s)…..
Ron Spigelman
Even More STATisfying! – part 2
Yesterday I wrote of our 80%+ concerts that are free of charge, today I want to take my hat off to the biggest donor group (outside of our board) so far this season. This is another stat that made us very proud, and it was also a surprise to them! They are……..
Very STATisfying! – part 1
It’s about Artistic excellence, We want to be the best orchestra this side of the…(insert iconic river or Great Lake here!), We’ve practiced, practiced, practiced…now we want to go to Carnegie Hall. How many times do you hear how great an Executive and/or Music Director wants their orchestra to be, but what does great actually mean. I contend that for an organization to be great it is others that need to bestow that adjective upon us, not ourselves. After all Olympians never judge themselves. I contend that the goal should always be Organizational Excellence, I want to share a stat…you be the judge….
Lest We….Lebrecht!
I have always been a fan of Norman Lebrecht. His book Mahler Remembered is an anthology of recollections from friends, colleagues, observers, critics and the like. The personal nature of the book drew me in giving me some sense of Mahler the man along with the times he lived in, going beyond his musical prowess. It therefore puzzled me to read his blog post dismissing 10 or so current conductors personal takes on Mahler…..
Quick Takes: Putting your mouth where the money is!
We have all heard it word of mouth is the best form of advertising, and who would doubt it? Problem is it is both hard to quantify and to come up with data to prove its effectiveness, or so I thought……
Quick Takes: And for the Record(ing) we need to go more “GaGa!”
While the rest of the universe is scratching their heads and debating how Taylor Swift won the Grammy for album of the year, the Internet broadcast of the Classical awards from earlier in the day on Sunday left me perplexed…and the sad thing is, it’s maybe just me who is. It seems not only are precious few Classical recordings being sold (very scary numbers below), but most of the winners for the Classical awards did not attend….and for crying out loud Roberta Flack, a living legend was handing them out!….
Quick Takes: How transparent are we?
We all make a big deal sometimes that as an organization we are transparent, see through, nothing to hide etc…but is there a test out there that determines just how transparent we really are? It is more relevant that with transparency someone can see, “who you” rather than see “through you”! Recently at the Springfield Symphony we were tested, but we didn’t realize it until we were put on the spot…..
Adjusting the Seasonings in Salt Lake! – Time to Make a Play!
The Utah Symphony and Opera have been rescued by a very large gift which is great news. A couple of articles about their situation got me thinking more about community outreach and how the tangible resonance of a hall needs to be matched with the resonance felt within and even beyond our communities. More importantly though, it’s now time for Orchestras to stop playing defense in this recession and start to become a player in getting America out of it!……We are faced with possibly the greatest opportunity ever to become relevant, so it’s time get off the bench and fight!…..