The Create Your Own Phenomenon

Arena Stage is in the middle of a rebranding campaign in preparation for the opening of the Mead Center in 2010. The first part of the rebranding campaign is finished, and we now have a new brand platform.

The new brand platform embraces the fact that our audience's purchasing behaviors are very different then they were ten years ago when our last brand refreshment occurred and this was a little alarming for some of the Arena Stage staff.

Thanks to the amazing work of Danny Newman, many marketing professionals have been trained since day one that the goal of any cultural institution is to design a complete season that can be packaged and sold as one product -- a complete cultural sampling if you will. Arena Stage operated under this belief for a long time, and only recently started selling subscription packages that didn't contain the entire season.

We now recognize that although our full season subscribers are incredibly important and valuable to us, our acquisition campaigns rely almost fully on our mini-packages. Even up until last year, our subscription brochure primarily pitched full season subscriptions. This year, full season subscriptions are only mentioned once--on the order page. Instead, when a customer opens our subscription brochure, on the inside front cover in large text, they see the following line: "Pick the shows that are the most exciting and meaningful to you!"

We aren't the only industry to notice this trend. In fact, customization is one of the hottest trends on the market today. Check out the following examples:

Capital One: Create Your Own Credit Card
Alltel: My Circle
Burger King: Have It Your Way
Scion: Build Your Own Car

However, even some of the most inventive and cutting-edge companies don't seem to be grasping this concept. Consider Apple's launch of the iPhone. The iPhone was supposed to be one of the hottest developments in cell phone technology, but they made the critical mistake of trying to force people to use AT&T as a wireless carrier by signing an exclusive deal with them. Then in walks George Hotz, a 17-year-old that dealt Apple and AT&T a lesson in marketing to millenials. He and four collaborators spent their summer devising a plan to unlocked the iPhone so that it can be used with any wireless carrier, and then posted the plan on the world wide web. He gained instant fame for teaching a world-wide leader in technology that they can no longer dictate to the customer, and that the customer now is in the position of dictating to them.

Why does someone have to tell us not to lie?

Several months ago I had the pleasure of listening to Ben Cameron speak at the National Arts Marketing Conference in Miami. If you haven't had the opportunity to listen to Ben speak, jump at the chance if you get it. One of the points he made was that potential audiences no longer believe the fake hype that marketers use when designing their advertising campaigns for productions. Seriously--if you listen to some of us, every show that we promote is going to be a life altering event. There are some of us that make promises that we cannot deliver, and our potential audiences are seeing through these promises.

Arena Stage is in the middle of a rebranding campaign, and I have been clear that we need to stick to brand promises that we know that we can deliver. If you are doing consistently good work, then it will speak for itself. We need to be mindful to not "over promise."

So I found an article on Playbill today that I found fascinating. British authorities have now made it illegal to pull a couple of words out of context from a review in an attempt to deliberately mislead consumers. We have all been tempted after unfavorable reviews to use a reviewer's words against them, but once again we would be lying to our customers. The times have changed. Information flows too quickly for us to falsely spin or hype a show that doesn't merit it. Be strong. Don't give into temptation. Or else you will pay for it later (literally if you live in Great Britain).

CAVE People

If you have been living in a CAVE you don’t know who Hanna Montana is, how she’s related to Miley Cyrus and what the Disney Channel has to do with all of it. You probably haven’t opened a checking account online, read a blog, or landed a HUGE account without taking the new client golfing.

I was talking with a colleague the other day and he was filling me in on the incredible marketing conference his company hosted for the eleventh consecutive year. The final session of the conference featured a presentation by Brian Grubb of the Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center. In his presentation, Mr. Grubb introduced the CAVE people, and in my humble opinion (I was going to write IMHO until it occurred to me that I have a job because not everyone understands that yet) these are the most dangerous group of people. CAVE people are to us marketers what Lord Voldemort is to Harry Potter, Kryptonite is to Superman and Jessica Simpson is to the Dallas Cowboys.

Are you wondering what a CAVE person is and why the letters are in all caps? C.A.V.E. people are those people who are Consistently Against Virtually Everything. Do you know any? Think harder. I have never stepped foot in a bank that didn’t employ at least one CAVE dweller. So how do you overcome that? Simple. Here are three ways to help the dark dweller overcome their fear of the light:

1. Get him/her involved. If you have a marketing team in place (the kind that consists of leaders from each department) make him/her the leader of the team. Help them develop ideas, implement a few of them and make sure that he/she is recognized PUBLICALLY for their outstanding participation and idea generation.

2. Try to understand why they hate the world. Do they subscribe to the theory of “if it isn’t broken, don’t try and fix it?” Or perhaps they have been around the block a time or two and believe there is no other way to do things. Try to learn what makes them tick and why they don’t want to try new things.

3. Embrace those things you cannot change, rise above, and move forward. Sometimes gently carving your path rather than blazing the trail will lay the footwork for others to follow your lead. Accept differing opinions—never dismiss them.

As you find creative ways to deal with your CAVE people, remember that while they may be against everything, they probably stand for something. Learn more about their passion and try to appreciate it…it will probably provide great insight into their negativity. You know, mutual respect while working with others goes a long way in many different aspects of the day-to-day work.

Here's to seeing the light!
Jenna

Another American Idol Blog?

So what does the mot popular television show in recent history have in common with banking…A LOT! I am going to make some generalizations that are backed up by fact.The objective of American Idol is to find the next Top-40 superstar that can rival Beyonce, Matchbox 20 and Miley Cyrus. I am not sure about you, but my baby boomer parents wouldn’t know who Miley Cyrus was even if I called her Hanna Montana (OK, bad example…they haven’t been hiding under a rock for the past year, but you get the point.). It is safe to assume that the target audience for American Idol are teens, tweens, gen Y and maybe a few young Xers.
Demographically speaking, American Idol is drawing viewers significantly outside their target audience. The Neilson Television Ratings were released a couple of weeks ago and here’s we’ve learned…

According to The Nielsen Company, 29% of the audience (audiences average more than 30 million viewers each week) is between the ages of 35 and 49. This is the single largest group of viewers.

How does this relate to banking, you ask? I’ll make this easy…just because you INTENDED to appeal to a specific audience doesn’t mean that you won’t experience GREAT success with a different group incidentally. American Idol is setting viewership records left and right. Hopefully the executives at the record labels are learning to be prepared to cut records that reflect the buying behaviors (or listening behaviors) of those who cast their votes for the next Idol…keeping in mind that that they are not necessarily those you intended on appealing to.
What I am trying to say is that if you have an amazing promotion that is aimed to get lots of stable, reliable deposits (probably from those that have been in the workforce for 10-15 years), be prepared to attract smart Generation Y kiddos who have a good college job and want to open an interest bearing checking account. They are a smart, savvy and very thrifty group those GenYers!

So maybe it’s a bit of a stretch…but it’s important that you think about it. They may not be your target market but they are your inevitable market. As bankers, we need to think differently about the way we do things. What we did 10 years ago that attracted the savvy generation X will not work for this new group. Their expectations are higher, their reliance on technology to accomplish most tasks is unprecedented and they have grown up in a world where it is easy to jump a fence if the grass is greener on the other side.

I suggest your start watering your lawn.

Happy Monday!
Jenna

Energy

Greetings...

May is officially 1/2 over...which means the year is nearly 1/2 over, too. So, what does that mean? It is (again) time to evaluate where you stand in relation to your goals, expectations, and planning.

I say it is again time because evaluations of your position and progress should be ongoing and constant. Check in with yourself on your personal progress, bank progress and progress toward your year-end strategic planning goals.

This past week, I had the pleasure of once again being part of the faculty for the ABA School of Bank Marketing and Management. I am continually energized by the quality of the student, focus, and effort that is displayed during the week. The school is an intense experience that is a vital step in any ones financial marketing career. Tip of the hat to the Class of 2008 (what an amazing group of talented individuals!) as they graduated from the school. The Class of 2009 is an energetic, inquisitive group that will, undoubtedly, leave their mark on the school, too.

The school is a stepping stone in a progression of personal and professional growth. The school, the ABA conference, Stonier Graduate school (where I also teach) and more...all geared to deliver you to the Senior Management team at YOUR bank.

So....as we near the mid-point of the year, check in with your goals, evaluate your progress, make changes where needed, and explore outlets for professional growth for yourself!

Cheers!

Bruce