June 2, 2008

A Vertical Marketing Strategy for Dance Companies

One of my aims for The Kinetic Interface blog is to highlight interdisciplinary dance performances that integrate movement with developments taking place in many fields such as architecture, design, science, technology, medicine, the environment and other disciplines.

From a marketing standpoint, these interdisciplinary dance performances offer unexplored opportunities for reaching out to new dance audiences -- people who may have had very little or no exposure to dance before.

Consider the Armitage Gone! Dance program at the Guggenheim Museum this past weekend (my preview post). Here was a wonderful program where Karole Armitage choreographed a series of dance sketches that were inspired very directly by Brian Greene's popular book "The Elegant Universe." Armitage briefly introduced each new section of the program and Greene offered the most concise explanation imaginable of the guiding principles of theoretical physics. The simple fact that Armitage is exploring quantum mechanics, the curvature of space time and string theory means that there is a new gateway through which non-dance audiences with an interest in cosmology can connect to her work.

I admit upfront that reaching out to non-dance audiences can be challenging. At the "Unlocking Creativity" panel I attended Thursday (my write-up), I tried to talk to a guy about Bill T. Jones, who was on the panel. This audience member's eyes had this glassy, uncomprehending look that I've encountered before when discussing dance with people not familiar with this art form. It's hard to nail down the sources of this disconnect. So I just share this story of one of many examples of the challenges of reaching new audiences even when a direct connection between dance and other fields is made in a fairly concrete manner.

Vertical Marketing for Interdisciplinary Dance Projects

What would a marketing program look like for an interdisciplinary dance program? One that sought to grow audiences and financial support by reaching out to new and larger dance audiences? A marketing program that devoted significant efforts to connecting with people and organizations that were currently not dance-goers or supporters?

I'm going to offer very brief answers to these questions here. I plan to expand on these ideas and I look forward to the thoughts and recommendations of readers.

The driving premise behind this vertical-focused marketing campaign is that dancers and dance companies, especially modern and contemporary, need new revenue streams and larger audiences. (Read "How do we market artistry without losing the art?" post on the Dance Theater Workshop blog in which Megan Sprenger writes that ticket sales are down 15% and alternative approaches are needed to reach new audiences.)

By "vertical marketing," I mean a marketing campaign that is based on the content, theme, ideas and explorations of a dance piece. And that this focus of a dance work becomes the basis for reaching out to new audiences with whom these ideas are familiar and are likely to resonate. So returning to Armitage, just for illustration purposes (I have not spoken with her about these ideas and I don't know if she'd be interested), the audience for the sketches her dancers performed at the Guggenheim would be any and all audiences with an interest in theoretical physics: theoretical physicists, scientists colleges, universities, research organizations, associations, corporations, high schools, bloggers, discussion groups and the science-reading general public. This vertical market is quite large when you consider all of people and groups that might comprise this segment.

Gameplan

I'd pursue both an online and offline strategy:

- Online

The goal is to reach out to as many people and organizations who are influential in your target vertical market. This would include bloggers, websites, community forums, social networking sites, topic-specific video channels and, possibly others. You want to form relationships with these people and groups and encourage them to cover and promote what you are doing. (More about how to specifically generate this coverage in the tactics and implementation section that follows.

- Offline

While there's some overlap here, you definitely want to pursue the creation of partnerships with associations, universities, research organizations and corporations who may be interested in supporting what you are exploring in your dance piece. You might decide to target organizations in a specific geographical area or target possible partners on a national or international level - it depends upon your overall goals.

Tactics and Implementation

For the online component of your marketing efforts, a strong social media presence will almost be a necessity. In other words, you'll have a blog, video accounts on the large video sharing sites, social networking profiles on, at least, Facebook and LinkedIn, and the possible use of other social media tools such as micro-blogging, photos and bookmarking.

The creation of engaging dance videos that speak in a very compelling manner to members of your target audience will consume a large part of your efforts. Effective videos are by far the best way to make dance meaningful and accessible to non-dancers. And while it is tricky, it is definitely doable.

At the heart of this social media campaign and video-making initiative is this basic question:

"How do I present dance in a manner that will enable non-dance audiences to connect with it, and derive meaning and enjoyment while not creating content that is so watered down that it compromises my artistic aims and sensibilities?"

I don't have a magic answer to this question. It's just a topic that most artists will probably want to address.

The successful implementation of a social media campaign means that your videos, in particular, will have large-scale viral success. That bloggers and others in your vertical market, will embed and share your videos with their colleagues and friends and you will generate large-scale interest in your upcoming dance performances and related programs.

Here's just one specific idea. Take a look at this YouTube video of physicist Brian Greene talking at a Ted conference. Why not upload a dance video that touches upon string theory and post it as a response to this Greene video and other videos that deal with similar topics? You will instantly be creating a new audience for your dance.

I've only provided the most cursory overview of a possible implementation plan. I could elaborate on many fronts. But the general idea is to create content and connections that will generate interest in your dance that leverages all social media channels that are at your disposal. And then work toward converting these initial conversations into long-term relationships that can help grow your dance company and success.

Vertical Marketing Opportunities

As a result of implementing this vertical marketing plan, you might benefit in the following ways:

- Larger audiences: As a result of targeting non-dance audiences, you may be able to sell more tickets. And as a result of cultivating new dance audience in different geographical areas, you may be able to perform your work in new cities and towns where you've already created a following.

- New performance opportunities: As a result of building relationships with associations, universities and other institutions, you may find that there are opportunities to perform and conduct workshops at the conferences and events of these groups.

- Content creation: Many organizations and associations are involved in public awareness and educational campaigns. Your dance work, in video format and in live performance settings, may prove to be an excellent way for these organizations to highlight what they do and thus can be integrated into their public awareness campaigns.

- Corporate sponsorship: By reaching out to new partners both through online and offline channels, you are likely to find new corporate sponsors to help support and underwrite your performances that deal with topics related to this companies.

Conclusion

I think that the vertical marketing plan I outline above for dance companies can help address some of the serious funding challenges faced by the dance community.

This marketing approach won't work for all dance companies, but for those who take an interdisciplinary approach to art-making and are willing to jump into embracing an aggressive social media campaign, I think there are some very worthwhile avenues to explore.

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