June 19, 2006

Spoleto Success

Spoleto Festival USA has recently concluded its 30th season in Charleston, and the Festival enjoyed record box office revenues and generally rave reviews.

There are many components to Spoleto's success. One is certainly context. That is, if many of the Festival's individual events were presented on their own, attendance would not be very strong. But, offered together, in the context of the entire Festival, these events sold extraordinarily well.

It's a wise reminder of the importance of context in all marketing and communications. Our media people are as interested in the program and time placement of a spot as they are in the time period's probable rating. The same obviously goes for a well-placed article or a presence on various websites.

Who are we going to be with? What's the context of our message? And how can we enhance the impact of our message by complementing it in other media or in other ways?

I just read that the new Alka Seltzer spot (with Kathy Griffin reprising the evergreen "Try it, you'll like it" ad concept) will appear on Alka Seltzer's website...along with a bunch of out-takes...which should be very good fun, and help sell the product.

"One offs" simply don't fly any more. Context is everything. Spoleto understands that, and the programming is a brilliant blend, especially well integrated this year as - for example - orchestral concerts reflected themes from operas and the theater.

The arts can teach us a lot...even about marketing.

The Baggage We Bring

We all look at products and people and (probably) situations with prejudice...pre-judgments.

You look at a bottle of Coca-Cola, and you remember a particular time you enjoyed its rich, sparkling taste...probably as a child.

Or you look at actor Jason Alexander, and it's difficult not to imagine him as George Costanza.

We jump to conclusions. We project.

The other day, President Bush chided a Los Angeles Times reporter at a news conference. The reporter, who was wearing sunglasses, sought to ask the President a question. "Are you going to ask that question with shades on?" asked the President. The reporter offered to take them off, but the President chided him again: "I'm interested in the shade look, seriously."

It turns out that the reporter has Stargardt's disease, which is a degenerative disease causing blindness, and sunlight can be especially painful for him.

Ooops.

As marketers, we're challenged to understand and appreciate the prejudices our customers and prospects bring to the table. And then we need to craft our messages not to combat those prejudices but rather to gracefully acknowledge and disarm them. Tricky business.

This Week's "Just Shoot Me" Award...

...goes to People Magazine for its profitable gamble paying $4.1 million (or whatever it was) for the 'first' photos of Bradjolina's baby. The combination of a 50-cent cover price premium and increased sales of the issue provided People with more than $3.5 million in additional revenue. And just consider the free publicity they got.

Eleven million children will go to bed hungry in America tonight.

They are not the only ones here who are starved.