Why does everyone in classical music look and sound the same?
If we’re being honest, when it comes to marketing in the classical music industry we all look and sound the same. Whether it’s the same copy-and-paste “delighted to announce” text, unimaginative event posters, or slide show season announcement videos, very little differentiates us from each other.
This is something that affects the entire industry, from music students to international soloists, from amateur groups to professional orchestras. It’s the same template-style promotion that fails to showcase who we are, why we do it, or why it would be of interest to anyone.
I have a bit of a weird hobby. It’s taking photos of “bad” concert adverts. I’m aware that “bad” is a very subjective term, so here’s my definition: adverts fail to show a value proposition to customers, don’t seem interesting, and just list the event. Here are a few recent ones:
These adverts are all meant to be marketing - but, are they actually marketing? A definition I love is “marketing is the process of creating and delivering value-based arguments for your offerings”.
Just saying the concert that you are doing is not marketing, it’s an event listing. There is no value-based argument for the offering. Event listings aren’t unique, so by taking this approach we all look the same.
The world we live in is busy, digital, and full of exciting things to distract people. As a result, people are used to being bombarded with adverts and those adverts have had to adapt. The most successful adverts deliver a strong emotional connection and a value-based argument for purchasing.
The result of this new approach to marketing, is that people are used to seeing emotive and value-based adverts, which means that ineffective adverts that just announce the product become less effective. As time goes on, this cycle will continue: more discerning people will expect increasingly savvy adverts, which creates increasingly discerning people… and so on.
Our existing approach is becoming more and more outdated. Just writing “Bruckner” in giant letters isn’t enough to turn heads, let alone convince someone to come to our next concert.
Another great example of us looking and sounding the same in our promotion is season announcements – something I am fascinated by and have already written about (Season launches are boring… but they don’t have to be). Despite new seasons being the most interesting and unique thing an orchestra does each year, 99% of season announcements use the same format.
“We’re really excited to announce our [insert year] season!
Priority booking is now available to our Friends. Find out how you can become a friend on our website
Browse our season here: [link]
General sale opens on [insert date]
[use really boring slide show video that lists some concerts – text only, no talking]”
This format fails to say anything about why it’s exciting, there isn’t a clear voice or brand, it doesn’t show the musicians or why they’re excited, it totally fails to include the audience, and you certainly don’t feel anything after seeing it. There is definitely no value-based argument for coming.
I’ve used this example before. Both the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra announced their seasons in 22/23 on the same day at exactly the same time, they’re based in the same city, they’re both resident orchestras at the same venue (the Southbank Centre), and they have similar-ish names that has caused confusion in the past. With these challenges it’s really important for them to have clear and distinct season announcements. So, how did they do it?
Almost identical!
Although I’ve looked at orchestras, the same can be said for musicians. The same template album launch that labels roles every timeout and musicians lazily posting “I’m delighted to announce” and just listing concerts without making the case why anyone should care.
So how do we avoid this formulaic one-size-fits-all all marketing approach, differentiate ourselves from each other, and cut through the noise of the modern world to connect with our audiences? The answer is putting our purpose at the centre of our marketing, and we can do that with the Golden Circle.
The Golden Circle is a fantastic framework created by Simon Sinek in his book “Start With Why” to explain how organisations market and help them do it more effectively. You can watch his talk here (5 mins) but this is the summary.
Golden Circle - Simon Sinek - “Start With Why”
The Golden Circle looks like this. Every person and organisation on the planet knows what they do. Some, know how they do it (their USP). But very few know why they do it, what’s their purpose, why does their organisation exist, and why should anyone care.
The majority of organisations communicate from the outside in. If Apple were like this, their marketing material would sound like:
“We make great computers”
- What“They're beautifully designed, simple to use, and user friendly”
– How“Want to buy one?”
Meh… uninspiring.
The reason why Apple have been so successful is that they stary with “why”.
“In everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo, we believe in thinking differently”
– Why“The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use, and user friendly”
– How“We just happen to make great computers”
– What“Want to buy one?”
Much more compelling and it shows that people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.
We can see this in action. This is their campaign, “Greatness”
It’s all about why and it’s all about creating an emotive connection. It doesn’t talk about the product, tell you how much it is, or even where to buy it. At the end of it, you feel something, and you have a connection! It also demonstrates value as the connection shows how customers not only could use their product but how they would feel using it.
Orchestras market from “what” to “how” and in most cases they don’t have a “why”.
“We put on great concerts”
– What“With amazing composers and world-class musicians”
– How“Want a ticket?”
The result is still “meh”. For example, let’s compare Apple’s advert to the season launch video from the New York Philharmonic.
“We have a concert season”
– What“13 world and New York premiers, Dudamel, Yuja Wang, other musicians, and some film music”
– How“Want to buy a ticket?”
The lack of a clear why in this means that it fails to connect with audiences and make them care about the product which is needed in the modern world for effective advertising. It also means that the orchestra looks exactly the same as all the other orchestra adverts at the same time, like LA Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and PLENTY more.
So what would it look like if we were to do something different and start putting “why” at the centre of our marketing?
“We believe in music as transformative power good that can challenge the status quo and be at the centre of our community, for our community”
– Why“We do that with amazing composers and world-class musicians”
– How“We just happen to be putting on a concert”
– What“Want a ticket?”
MUCH more emotive. A few years ago, I decided to remake Apple’s advert to see what it the BBC Proms advert took this approach… how does this compare to the other orchestra adverts?
By putting why at the centre of our marketing, we can create much more evocative and effective adverts that connect to audiences. In an age of information overload, it is vital to use this approach as 20th century methods no longer cut it. Whether you’re a music student or an international soloist, an amateur group or a professional orchestra, this approach will work for you and is something that is free to do. It’s time to stop marketing badly, demonstrate value, and start with why.
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