2. Opera Australia has shown us some important marketing lessons that apply to everyone, even now:
Big Ideas:
- Market Orientation has been something I’ve been hammering and it pops up once again.
- There isn’t a one-size-fits-all marketing strategy.
- Doing the basics right is likely to always pay dividends.
I’ll be honest with you, I don’t agree with everything here because I think there is too much emphasis on tactics. But the core idea of putting the customer at the center of your efforts is a definite winner.
I did a podcast with HBSE’s CEO, Scott O’Neil, and we were discussing some changes that we hoped would happen due to the pandemic and putting the fan back at the center of everything was one of the ideas that came up.
Many of the readers of this newsletter will have seen my talk “Fans For Life” or participated in the workshop of the same name. In both of these, I talk about the idea of creating fans for life and the importance of the relationship with the fan. We hit on things like:
- You aren’t your customer so your ideas about what your customer wants are often wrong and dangerous.
- The power of connection and community.
- Focusing on providing value throughout the experience.
Lo and behold, I find this article that highlights Opera Australia and their efforts to grow their audience a very good read to help you think through some different ideas as we move through the pandemic.
In the way that I try to learn something from everything I read, I like to get perspectives and try and apply them in different contexts. That’s what this article has spurred in me. A willingness to look at Opera Australia’s success and find ways that all of us can be more successful heading forward.
First, you need to understand your fans and customers.
Georgia Rivers, who was involved in a lot of this work growing the fan base and customer base for Opera Australia has mentioned how you can’t have the same offer for everyone.
Seems simple enough, but we often see campaigns that are very one-size-fits-all in their approach.
So you have to begin your efforts now by taking a step back, diagnosing the situation, and doing some research to get to know what your customers want, need, and value.
Second, positioning of your offering matters.
The top article talks about “anxiety” and I don’t know if I like that word or not, but I do think you want to position your offering as a solution to some desire that folks want.
But the key idea remains that you need to create some sort of desire to take action in your target market. Positioning is where your research pays off and you are able to shine a light on what you do or how you are better than your competition.
The reality of competition is that we are often unsure about who or what we are really competing with. In the case of Opera Australia, they may not be competing against other culture options. Instead they may be competing against something like dinner at The Butler, my favorite restaurant to go to when I’m in Sydney, or a sporting event, a ride on the ferry, a walk in the park, drinks in the CBD, or something else.
So you have to position in a way that shows your value and makes it obvious that your option is the best option.
Finally, don’t get too caught up on just one way of reaching your audience.
This article puts a lot of emphasis on the advertising campaign and I want to comfort you by saying that there is a huge list of things that you can do to promote and drive business that aren’t big TV ads.
If you’ve done the job of marketing well through a logical pattern of research, strategy, and into the marketing mix, you’ll realize that depending on your target market there are a number of outlets and ways of reaching these folks.
When I did some work on a presidential campaign in 2012, one of the ideas that came out was the use of ads on the sides of buses in certain neighborhoods because the targeting was that good that they knew how to target specific bus lines.
The bigger thing than how precise the targeting was is that bus ads was on the list of potential options.
Your potential route to reach your market is likely only limited by your creativity. When I was working on a project in 2019, on one project we talked about doing direct mail in combination with QR codes. On another, we talked about the effectiveness of online video and public television.
I mean, there’s no limits.
That’s the key here. You absolutely put the customer at the heart of what you are doing. But you don’t stop there. You build a strong strategy with a good position and follow up with the right kinds of promotion.
That worked before the pandemic and has been working for over 100 years. I’m pretty sure it is likely to continue to work. You just have to be prepared to do that work.