235 stories from Mission Paradox
Want to learn one more arts marketing lesson from the WWE? Then let's explore the idea of rebranding. Let's start by defining our terms. A brand is a promise. There are obviously a lot of wa…
If all goes as planned, four weeks from now I'll be flying to Portugal to do two marketing workshops with artists in Lisbon and Porto. When I first got the invite, I did the natural thing: I…
Go to any arts conference and you can hear the chatter. How can we build new audiences? How can we embrace technology? I want to move the art forward but the current audience will not allow …
Roger Ebert looked at the tools almost all of us have, social media and the internet, and had a choice to make. He could have used it the way many of us do. He could have numbed himself out …
Yesterday, everyone clearly had their guard up. The more incredible the story was, the less likely they were to believe it. Here's what you have to remember: People are like that EVERY DAY, …
Behind all great marketing there is a promise. The promise of a great cup of coffee. The promise of fast delivery. The promise of great design. The promise of low prices. The promise of conv…
It was my second year of law school. I was preparing to do oral arguments for a mock trial. A mix of laziness and arrogance caused me think that the case was open and shut. I believed that t…
You can't market what you don't understand. You may have misread that sentence. You may think I was saying that you can't market what they (the public) doesn't understand. That's true. But c…
Marketing is about leveraging assets. The trick is that in order for something to be an asset, you have to own it. For example, you own the emails and direct mail address that were given to …
. . . never existed. The days when people had fewer options for their time and attention were not better days for the arts. Easier days, maybe, but not better. The days when you could market…
I'm very fascinated by the recent discussion of working for exposure/free that has kicked up. This is a particularly vital conversation for the arts because so many artistic fields rely on a…
Arts marketing plans have their purpose, but I have found that having a set of specific marketing principles is much more useful. For example, at my day job, here are our some of marketing p…
Plans (marketing plans, business plans, etc.) are useless. Yet, you must plan. Let me explain both those statements. It is cliche, but true, no plan survives contact with the real world. At …
Here's my the video of my TedxBroadway talk. Reminder: The early bird deadline for The Gift Sessions my arts marketing workshop in Chicago, ends tonight at midnight. Use the promo code Parad…
Here's my #1 rule when it comes to market research: Never ask a question if you aren't willing to accept AND act upon the answer. This is a particularly relevant set of criteria for those of…
This is one of the most subtle, and difficult, parts of the marketing process. A key to success is not only knowing your audience but also knowing if that piece of audience you selected is w…
As we move into the spring, a few recommendations for you: 1. Uncommon Service - I truly believe that the ability to define and deliver superior customer service is going to be the thing tha…
This week I'll be down in Philly at the Audience (R)Evolution Convening which is presented by The Theatre Communication Group (TCG). The focus of the convening is audience engagement. One de…
What's happening around you? What's happening within the community you call your audience? What is your competition doing? Those are marketing question. They don't feel like marketing questi…
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The rich and well established have always expected superior service. When they stayed at the Four Seasons or shopped at Nordstrom they expected to be treated with care. They expected their i…
What you are trying to do is damn near impossible. You are trying to get people to leave their warm, comfortable, connected home and come to see a piece of art they have to experience, not c…
Earlier this week I had the honor of being a part of TedxBroadway. The video from the event is still forthcoming but for now I wanted to share the text of the talk. It's called the The Power…
No one cares that you can't make a full time living from your art. No one cares that technology has segmented audience and made it incredibly difficult for even well made art to achieve crit…
