I’m in the midst of preparing the upcoming season’s promotional materials for two of my clients. Each one has called for release dates to coincide with the final performances of the 09/10 season. (Well, as their marketing guy, who am I kidding? I called for it.) It just makes sense to hand someone material about next season as they are leaving the final show of the previous season – especially if you’re selling season tickets.
Timelines
Effective PR is all about time lines, none moreso than when prepping an upcoming season. There are myriad details to work out, and thankfully I’m not responsible for all of them. Before I really get going, concert titles and themes have to be developed (usually 90% of this part is done by the artistic director), dates and venues chosen and booked (often handled by a production manager or business administrator).
Once those ducks are all lined up and quacking in time (easier said that done!) I get to writing. I start with a basic 50 word description that will appear in brochures and on web calendars. Once everyone involved is happy with them and they have been thoroughly proofed, we’re ready for the next step: images!
This is the fun part. One of my clients works with an amazing designer. He’s known
Slices of the images for Chor Leoni's 2010/11 seasons
about the themes of the upcoming season for awhile now, so for the past couple of weeks we’ve (artistic director, myself, and designer) been batting things back and forth by email. I’m happy to say that we’ve settled on imagery for Chor Leoni that is going to be stunning. (No, I won’t give you a preview.)
My other client, Elektra, goes another route, equally as much fun, but much more “hands on.” We cruise through istockphoto.com, looking for images that fit the concert themes. I usually choose half a dozen for each concert, then whittle that down to my top 3 picks before sending them off to the artistic director and manager for input. Here again, these decisions are made by 2 or 3 people, max.Keeping that initial committee involved with image choice down to a minimum is crucial, because the more a committee grows the slower it moves!
Elektra's teaser ad for next season
This year both promotional pieces will include mention of each client’s social media contacts, and tellingly, Chor Leoni will also use this piece to announce the end of the analog (snail mail) version of their twice-yearly hardcopy newsletter. I think this is a great move by the organization; It makes sense both economically and ecologically.
Due dates are June 6 for Elektra (to be handed out at their Romance concert and Simply Elektra fundraising dinner that happen the same day), and June 21 for Chor Leoni, which is the opening of CL’s insane and completely fun take on country & western: Chor Leoni Country.
UPDATE!
Elektra’s new season is now live! Check it out at the Elektra website.
