marketing | Basement Light Design

June 28, 2013July 25, 2013

“Most Awesome Brochure”

I’m totally stoked to announce that a brochure designed by Basement Light Design for the Austin Symphony‘s 2013–14 season has been awarded the honor of “Most Awesome Brochure” for 2013 by the League of American Orchestras. I am proud of the work that ASO Marketing Director Jason Nicholson and I continue to produce over the past five years. I urge every Austinite to support this wonderful musical institution as often as possible!

Brochure design by Scott M Deems, Basement Light Design; principal photography by Kenny Trice

—Scott

The following story is reposted via Trevor O’Donnell, who regularly blogs about marketing the arts

I’ve written before about the great work Jason Nicholson from the Austin Symphony is doing. Today I’m delighted to let you know that his 2013/14 season brochure has been recognized by peers at the League of American Orchestras as the “Most Awesome Brochure” in his category.

You can see the complete brochure here.

Early reports suggest that the brochure is pulling ahead of last year’s, but we’re waiting for overall results. What we insiders like and what works aren’t always the same thing, of course, so we’ll have to hold off on making judgements until the numbers are in. (Surprising as it may seem to some veteran arts pros, sales results are the only reliable indicators of an orchestra brochure’s quality.)

From a strategic perspective, however, I can identify several elements of this brochure that make it worthy of its awesome designation:

It’s based on research into audience motivations. Jason learned from audience members on the outer fringes of his support system that the experience of enjoying a night out was as important as the content of that night out, so he created a brochure that focused on the customers’ experience.
It’s as much about the customer as it is about the product. Commercial marketers know that one of the best ways to sell a product is to show happy people who represent their target demographic actually enjoying the product. This does that beautifully. (Larger orchestras that use their promotional real estate to talk exclusively about how wonderful and important they are could learn a thing or two from this.)
It tells a story. Rather than simply presenting sequential product information, this brochure tells a compelling emotional story about a couple’s night at the symphony. It uses narrative to draw consumers in and help them identify more personally with the product. That last shot of the happy couple walking hand-in-hand up the aisle under the words “Subscriber Information” is priceless.
It breaks the fourth wall. I could write a lengthy treatise about the rhetorical impact of that shot of the patrons and musicians in the same hallway.
It meets the audience where they live. Arts institutions often maintain a philosophical belief that audiences should aspire to their level, which is fine and may be true, but allowing that philosophy to spill into marketing messages can be suicidal. This brochure avoids condescension by saying, “This is about you,” which is exactly what it is.

I’m a huge fan of the work the Austin Symphony Orchestra is doing and I look forward to seeing great things coming from Jason and his team in the future.

Congratulations, Jason. Can’t wait to hear how the campaign works.

February 4, 2013July 6, 2017

Nonprofit communication trends

Curious about how other nonprofits are communicating? Want to see where the trends are? You can download your free copy of the Nonprofit Communications Trends Report now. The trends you’ll find in this report come from an online survey of 1,435 nonprofits. We asked a variety of marketing questions: In what shape is your marketing plan? Which communications tools do you see as very important, somewhat important, and least important to you? Which social media channel are you most likely to add or experiment with? Which types of content do you expect to spend most of your time producing? What are your biggest marketing challenges? How often do you plan to email the typical person on your email list? How often do you plan to send direct mail? What excites you about your work? What scares you about your work? We also break down the data by nonprofit size, mission, and region of the U.S.

Infographic source courtesy Nonprofit Marketing Guide

Nonprofit communication trends for 2013 infographic by juliareich.

December 6, 2010July 16, 2013

Jameson Whiskey “juice box”

While I have not yet viewed the Fox tv biker program, “Sons of Anarchy,” San Francisco “hipster” blog Uptown Almanac reported a case of product placement on the show. A recent episode of the show, which airs on Fox TV’s FX cable network, shows a rectangular container—similar to the juice box containers parents force their wee ones to drink instead of soda pop. But instead of juice, the product appears to contain Jameson Irish Whiskey. (Click above to enlarge the video capture image that clearly shows a Jameson Whiskey “juice box” next to one of the actors.) Fans of the show, searching online for the product, were annoyed to discover the product does not exist.

Jameson—a major advertiser on the series—claims the product does not and will never exist, and was a prop produced by Fox’s art department. Many would hope Jameson would consider bringing such a product to market. After all, wine in paper cartons has already proven to be popular with those on a budget.

Until then, fans are left to dream…

September 6, 2010July 16, 2013

Does AT&T “rip off” artist Christo?

Months ago I began noticing AT&T’s recent campaign, “Rethink Possible.” I was immediately struck by its similarity to the work of environmental artists Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude. In the tv spot, people are seen draping various American monuments with massive sheets of orange fabric. It bears an undeniable similarity to pieces by the artists, specifically their 2005 installation “The Gates” in New York’s Central Park. (In the image seen above, compare the top image from AT&T’s spot with “The Gates” by Christo). The draped fabric was a metaphor for AT&T’s broad cellular phone “coverage” in the United States. (Click here to view the spot.)

Christo and his lawyer filed a complaint with AT&T, and the company has since added a disclaimer to the end of the commercial stating, “The artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude have no direct or indirect affiliation or involvement with AT&T.” (One could imagine the two parties arguing over the type size of the disclaimer; it is indeed rather prominent.)

Christo made a splash in the 1980s while I was a youngster living in Miami. Christo’s “Surrounded Islands”—an installation where the artist surrounded eleven islands in Miami’s Biscayne Bay with giant pieces of floating pink polypropylene—was best viewed by helicopter, and dazzled us for two weeks.

Special thanks to Huffington Post for its assistance with this story.

August 23, 2010July 16, 2013

“I put that $#!+ on everything!”

“I put that [splat] on everything!” That’s the message in the latest tv and radio spots for Frank’s RedHot sauce—its delivery is as bold as the product. The juxtaposition of the typical, bespectacled old gran spewing a barely-concealed, vulgar turn of phrase is the thrust behind a recent campaign for the spicy condiment making the rounds on YouTube. Which, of course, is what UK company Reckitt Benckiser—the current marketer of Frank’s—is banking on.

Using bold language in media is certainly not a new concept, but just how many people are complaining? The Oxygen cable television network presents a series called “Dance Your Ass Off.” One of Oxygen’s execs, Jason Klarman, admits: “The title is a little bit controversial… in cable, almost anything that is successful is usually a little polarizing.”

So in an era of media saturation, branding experts have to be “bold” with hopes of creating a memorable message. But certainly boldness employed by a cable tv network aimed at young women is less risky than doing so with a mainstream supermarket product, likely to be purchased by a wide spectrum of consumers. However, hot sauce buyers seem to be smiling at the message and continue to place Frank’s among the top leading hot sauces in the world.

August 16, 2010July 16, 2013

The logo is (not) in the bag

Are you a patrician, parvenu, poseur, or prole? Old money or new money? A recent study by the USC Marshall School of Business examines levels of wealth, social status, and wealthy consumers’ desire to associate with those in their own caste. After studying preferences of luxury goods, the authors sorted consumers into four categories according to the subjects’ affinity for “loud” goods or “quiet” goods. The categories are:

Patricians — wealthy consumers who prefer quiet goods that only other wealthy can recognize. (The $2,000 Bottega Veneta handbag shown above is an example; the logo appears only on the inside.)
Parvenus — wealthy consumers who desire status and flaunt loud luxury goods in the face of the less affluent. (Many Gucci products sport screaming logos, as do Louis Vuitton’s.)
Poseurs — consumers who can’t afford luxury goods, yet buy counterfeit luxury goods to “emulate those who they recognize to be wealthy” (e.g., that “Rolex” watch offered for sale by the man on the sidewalk.)
Proletarians — those “not driven to consume for status’ sake”

These findings will present challenges for marketers of luxury goods. USC’s study reveals that shrieking designer logos may actually reflect a lower price point than their more subtle counterparts. The authors call upon manufacturers to develop subtle cues to distinguish the brand, such as Gucci’s use of bamboo rather than its insignia. Also, ubiquity may in fact tarnish the brand and promote loss in value. And finally, the study recommends marketers resist the “pyramid” approach to luxury and to consider marketing to all consumers.

August 10, 2010July 16, 2013

Hotel photo fake-outs

Amateur photographers/contributors to the hotel review website The Oyster visit luxury hotels worldwide to serve as consumer watchdogs. Are the hotels’ own websites, public relations materials and brochures accurately portraying their accommodations? Numerous side-by-side photo comparisons prove otherwise.

Some examples are subtle, while other photos clearly appear doctored, are the victim of the stylist, or are shot through the lens of obfuscation. Examples include missing room accoutrements, crashers of “private” beach weddings, rooms with an unintended view, hot tub-sized pools cropped to appear larger, crowded beaches rather than tranquil views, or traffic signals and signposts removed from exterior façade shots.

The point of Oyster’s posts is to keep hoteliers honest, and to provide real-life visual documentation to augment typical hotel reviews, so its members “can see the truth before they book.”