One girl seriously wanted to be Sherry and wanted to know her chances of getting the part. I think we should let Kerry Butler do the job first.

We are doing a tweetup tonight for the fans of Rock of Ages at 5:30 at B. Smiths.

I wonder if the girl who wants to be Sherry will be there. I wonder if her dream will come true of being Sherry? Hey, Don’t Stop Believin’, right?

1. Buy domain names. You can do this cheaply through godaddy.com or Network Solutions. If you can, buy as many variations of the domain name as possible. Do this before the show is announced to avoid squatters. Remember to get the domain name of the show and also reserve ‘nameofshowTICKETS.com’ – Domize is a great site to help you get started.

2. Reserve your Twitter name. The popularity of the tweet has caused a lot of the Twitter user names to be taken. Read my earlier post about this.

3. Create a splash page and add some content, be sure to add the title of the show to this page for search engine optimization.

4. Add a mailing list. There are a lot of free services that allow you to host the collection of names and it’s easy to set up. Try Vertical Response, iContact, PatronMail, Campaign Monitor or even Feedburner.

5. Add Google Analytics to the site and track how many people have come to the site.

1. Avoid pesky spam filters by avoiding trigger words like “click here,” “once in a lifetime opportunity,” and “free.” Spam filters assign points to “dangerous” words and suspicious punctuation and formatting.  The more points you accrue, the more likely it is that your email will get thrown into the recipient’s spam file.

2. Underline all links for easier identification by users, and DON’T  underline anything other text.

3. Dont send an eblast that is one big image, since many email clients, including Gmail and AOL, don’t automatically load images. Your message won’t even by seen by the user.

4. Avoid large fonts and the colors green and red.  (Sorry Christmas shows!)

5.  Do create a good subject line that makes the reader curious to open email (name the discount, use names of stars in the cast, etc) and, remember, urgency drives action: if a show is closing in two weeks, put that fact in your subject line. Don’t, under any circumstances, use three exclamation points in a row!!! Your message will be flagged and sent to spam.

6. Keep your offer clear and simple and don’t hide your black out dates and other restrictions in the mice type at the bottom of the blast. Users don’t want surprises once they click on the buy tickets link.

7. Keep the entire eblast under 150 kb. Larger messages take too long to load: If the user waits as little as 8 seconds for your email to appear, you will lose them.

8. Avoid using CSS, image maps, javascript, flash, animated gifs and background images or white-on-white text.

9. Have a clear and precise call to action. Spell it out and make it easy:  “Click here To order your discounted tickets.”

10. Do not use all caps. This is like YELLING. Don’t do it. Ever.

For more info on best email practices go to email-standards.org and clickz.com.

Platforms like Facebook and Twitter are an extremely effective way to not only capture a fan base, but also to start a dialogue between your fans and the product associated with your fan page. For example, Rock of Ages (full disclosure: Art Meets Commerce runs the fan page) posts new status updates like  YouTube videos of old 80s commercials, and other similar articles to keep fans entertained and informed. Posting song lyrics, fun facts, etc. creates an instant conversation. That interaction not only occurs between fans and the show, but between fans themselves: some ask questions, others answer. The goal is to create a sense of community with the show and let people voice their thoughts and views. In addition to a lot of fun–and positive–comments about the show,  people also talk about things they didn’t like (an understudy played in the performance they saw, for instance). Although we have the opportunity to delete posts at will, we don’t. The point is to facilitate conversation, not control it.

I bring this up because I am a fan of  a lot of pages, many of them theater related. One, The Tony Awards, posts videos, links, articles, anything and everything relating to the awards and theatre. It really is a great resource. I noticed  something recently, though, that gave me pause.

The Tony Awards page posted an update announcing that the touring companies of Jersey Boys, Legally Blonde and Mamma Mia would be performing on this year’s show (along with the currently nominated musicals). Several people commented negatively, asking why Jersey Boys would be performing once again at the Tony Awards or saying that Mamma Mia is “stupid.” All negative comments were deleted.  In my opinion, unless a commenter makes a threat, engages in hate speech or posts spam, the post  should be allowed to stand. To use social media well, you must be authentic, open and transparent. Deleting negative (but not harmful) posts sends a message to users that they are partipating in a “canned” discussion, i.e. an extended advertisement, which not everyone wants to do. This kind of Pollyana editing will, in my view,  ultimately diminish the brand and will cause users to turn away.

Who could blame them? The number is prominently displayed, it’s understandably a bit of an ego boost when a new person signs on to receive your updates (let’s call it the “You Like Me, You Really Like Me” syndrome) and bigger numbers just look cooler (case in point: infinity+1). But if you’ve got something to market, it’s a big mistake to focus on this.

It’s about goals, really

If your goal is to get a ton of followers, well, that’s easy. There are dozens of services that create fake Twitter accounts to follow yours, and you can reach 10,000 followers in a couple of days without breaking a sweat. They’re reprehensible, and not worth linking to, but you can find them if that is truly your goal (and if it is, you can stop reading here).

But why the heck would that be your goal? Don’t you, uh, have something you want people to buy? Isn’t that the point? If it is, and your follower list looks remotely like this, you’re doing it wrong:

If you’ve got a show to market, a product to sell or a site to promote, millions of fake followers will be just as effective as never joining Twitter in the first place, and every minute you spend getting fake followers is a minute lost from focusing on the bigger picture. In Machiavellian terms, Twitter is not the end, it is the means. What you want is to cultivate a highly-interested, dedicated and engaged group of followers—real people who will interact with your brand, spread positive word of mouth, participate in contests, respond to requests to rate your stuff and vote for you in polls, and, more than anything, actually buy whatever it is you’re selling.

Lead, Don’t Follow

Rock of Ages (a Broadway client of ours) has seen incredible success from the Twitter account we created for the show. When we pose a question to our followers, we get dozens of responses. When we post a discount, we sell dozens of tickets. When we hold a contest, we get hundreds of entries. And yesterday, when we expressed (faux) outrage over being tied with Shrek The Musical on this NYTimes poll of Tony Award Nominees, the vote total in all five categories shot up dramatically (and ROA now actually leads several of the categories!). No hacking involved, simply motivating the most dedicated fans to spread the love on behalf of the show.

It’s a lot harder to build a community like that, which is why so few are doing it—especially in the marketing world where it’s relatively easy to impress clients with big numbers that mean nothing. But the payoff is real. Focus on leading, sharing, communicating, teaching and learning, and actual live people will find you and start to make your job easy.

Winner 2009 Lortel Awards
Outstanding Musical
Outstanding Choregrapher: Bill T. Jones
Outstanding Costume Design: Marina Draghici

Drama Desk Award Nominations
Outstanding Musical
Outstanding Actor in a Musical: Sahr Ngaujah
Outstanding Choreographer: Bill T. Jones
Outstanding Orchestrations: Aaron Johnson and Antibalas

Drama League Nominations
Distinguished Production of a Musical
Distinguished Performance: Sahr Ngaujah

New York Magazine: Best Play 2008

TONY Award Nominations
Best Musical
Best Actor in a Musical: Constantine Maroulis
Best Direction of a Musical: Kristin Hanggi
Best Costume Design: Gregory Gale
Best Sound Design: Peter Hylenski

Outer Critics Circle Award Nominations
Outstanding New Broadway Musical
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical: Wesley Taylor

Drama League Nominations
Distinguished Production of a Musical
Distinguished Performance: Constantine Maroulis

]]> http://ibroadway.net/blog/2009/05/05/awards/feed/ 0 http://ibroadway.net/blog/2009/05/01/cat-on-a-british-tin-roof/ http://ibroadway.net/blog/2009/05/01/cat-on-a-british-tin-roof/#comments Fri, 01 May 2009 14:55:23 +0000 Jim Glaub http://artmeetscommerce.net/blog/?p=629

We are so excited that the sold-out Broadway run of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is headed to London. We’ll be handling internet marketing and spreading the word to fans that the show is coming to the UK. This marks AMC’s first West End show, and we couldn’t be more thrilled! Check out the website and join the email list!

Twitter is here to stay. It will probably evolve, but “micro-blogging” is the perfect communication tool for our A.D.D.-hyper-media-driven culture. Everybody—not just kids—uses Facebook, Twitter, imeem and the hundreds of other networks to communicate. Plus, how many teenagers actually email anymore? Way too old school! They’ll send you a Facebook message, then tweet about how you didn’t get back to them immediately.

I tweet for Rock of Ages and it’s pretty much the most addictive thing there is. Who knew it would be more habit-forming than Facebook . . .  or meth?!?!?

And I’m happy to announce that Rock of Ages Twitter has more followers than any other Broadway show. (And by “show” I mean production.  Actor/Celebs have it easier: Jane Fonda has more than 13,000 followers, Dolly Parton has about 5,000, but at 1,300 followers,  Rock of Ages has surpassed all the other current shows and it’s growing every day.

Three of us in the office run it, as well as Lauren Molina from the cast, and whenever we see a cool fact or awesome face-melting video about the show or the 80s, we post it. The more interesting the tidbit, the more likely it is that others will re-tweet it. If a user re-tweets your message, then it posts on their page, it attracts more “followers” for you, i.e. your updates go directly to their pages, right alongside Starbucks and Whole Foods. If you aren’t sure how it works yet, see the video below.

Bottom line: Twitter is great for your brand. It adds a level of transparency and authenticity and it allows the everyday person to engage in your show in a real and personal way. Check out the Rock of Ages website and see what all the tweeting is about.

Another reason I’m reluctant to jump onto this particular band wagon is a sort of vestigial suspicion I have about people knowing too much about me and my business. It all just seems a little big-brothery to me. I think it’s the pseudo-privacy of the medium: You know you’re communicating with your Twitter followers, however many they may be, but the experience is still solitary, like whispering into a microphone that is broadcasting to the world. You don’t really know how many people are tuning in, and probably more importantly, who they are. Just skeeves me out a little.

BUT! I am fascinated by the fact that Twitter is changing how business is done. Check out this NY Times article about the ways that companies are “listening” to customers to not only learn about their preferences, but also to tap into the nuances of the marketplace.

I’m just more than a little ambivalent about Starbucks, Whole Foods and Amazon sniffing around my virtual self to find out how I take my coffee, buy my groceries and read my books.

What? You haven’t read the reviews? Click here

(Hey, the critics aren’t the only ones who are loving on ROA right now. Check out the fan testimonials that we taped after a recent performance.)

Night Ranger (yes, THE Night Ranger!) played a smokin’ all-acoustic set, Survivor’s Jim Peterik gave a the whole crowd a Rocky (III) moment when he had us belting out Eye of the Tiger, and the girls swooned en masse when Constantine and his band took the stage.

It was, to date, the best opening night party anyone at AMC has ever attended. And the stupendous reaction from the critics was the chocolate on the cherry on the top!