Marketing Challenge

[deano6410]

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I recently told a story about Joshua Bell (one of the world's greatest classical musicians).

I have even been speaking to many of the major marketing gurus to get their input on it, and I would love to hear peoples opinions on it from a4u as well.

I ask that you try to find the morals of the story and apply them to the world of marketing and business.

They can help drastically increase sales, profits and conversions.

Here is the story.....

Joshua Bell is one of the worlds most talented classical musicians. He makes millions from his appearances, and tickets to see him play are like gold.

Yet Josh recently did an incredible experiment in the hotel lobby of a Washington hotel. Despite playing with a $3.5 million dollar violin and playing music that has been described as “the reason for living”, Joshua only made an average of $40 per hour.

My question to you all is....

Why did the world’s best musician get ignored by over 11,000 people? Why did his earnings go from over $1,000 per minute, to $40 per hour? And what morals can we take from this story to improve our own sites and businesses?

If you have a spare 10 mins, then here is the full story from The Washington Post: Joshua Bell goes busking

[krush]

Perhaps the hotel clientele were busy, and his music was overpowered by various background noise i.e. people talking, traffic nearby, lifts etc..

Another point, the clientele in a Washington hotel probably don't carry much change.

I can see where you're coming from though, there must be something to learn from this interesting experiment.

[deano6410]

There is one lesson that I took from the story, and I have seen it put into practice with incredible results.

I will eventually give my answer and details of how using it helped increase sales on a friends website by over 160%

But I am keen to get this going as a discussion, there are loads of theories that I have already heard, and I believe there are numerous right answers.

[Hero]

my view is that from all the people that go to see him when he does a concert very few actually can appreciate his music and offer. Probably the same people that gave him the money in the lobby.
Furthermore, it's all about choice & demand - people who choose to come and hear you play will pay more than those you impose on. My neighbour might be Charlotte Church, but if she starts signing at 2 in the morning, I'll freaking kill her, you know? If I don't like the music, I'm not going to pay him for it either.
Then, it's about being in the right mood - you prepare for a concert by letting all other thoughts go. In the street, you are probably thinking of that presentation to your boss who you can't stand the sight of.
And, lest we forget, it's about presentation - did you see how this guy looked like when he was playing in the lobby? Far from the well groomed image in a tux. Preconceptions are very strong and difficult to beat - a guy performing in a lobby cannot help being looked upon as a beggar (excuse the generalisation here).

I would actually say that he did well with those 40 bucks considering the above

Oh, yeah, and he did try it in the US...

[wwwb]

...it just goes to show you can't always make a fortune when you're on the fiddle

Jude

[beejeebers]

It's all about target market and perception.

He wasn't playing to his target and by playing in a hotel lobby, the perception of him was very low.

There's a lot to be learned from that, but nothing new.

[Anyanka]

There was no pre-sell, nothing to announce this 'great musician' would be in the subway. His standard of playing may be great but people part with cash in advance of expecting something they normally cannot see in their everyday life. Something of benefit. If this was publicised I am sure his fans/ others who enjoy such music would have turned up and contributed. Therefore this performance was just an offchance in routine - the money raised is playing on so, so many variables. It's a 'push' rather than a 'pull'.

To pay for something (generally) means there is a desire and an expectation of a wanted product. It may be a treat, a social pleasure etc. People buy because they have a need. I'll put more into this tomorrow.

[hpops]

Perceived versus actual value
Image creation and reputation management allow for higher margin business.

[axod]

I saw this on reddit, and in that story he was in a subway station.

1. People are busy on a subway - they are going somewhere. Why would they stop anyway.
2. The demographic that appreciate classical music may not necessarily travel on the subway much.
3. Maybe people did appreciate the music, but chose not to stop/give. Maybe they never give to buskers.

I'm sure it was a really interesting experience for him having to really work hard to get any sort of recognition.

Not sure what else can be taken away from the experiment though, other than target your product to the right audience at the right time I guess.

It's like if you installed some adware on everyones computer to pop up a video of the best film ever made at random times and saw how many people watched the film - It's obviously the wrong time to show them the film, and trying to show it to everyone is probably wrong as well.... most people would just close it and not watch.
A far better approach would be to find people who are interested in films, or are looking for films, and invite them to see the film. Just like usually, you would advertise a classical violin recital in places that likely interested demographics go/read/watch, and invite them to buy tickets.

[Anyanka]

Yes. You cannot apply this 'experiment' to any kind of marketing/ advertising campaign measurement. I suppose it's a bit like taking a display advertising page (without much text) in a general high circulating magazine with a one off donation form - expecting to measure results against a limited awareness of the cause.

[wwwb]

A strange man fiddling in a hotel lobby AND a subway- i'm suprised no-one called the cops!

[Aceicol]

My neighbour might be Charlotte Church, but if she starts signing at 2 in the morning, I'll freaking kill her, you know?

Totally unrelated to the thread, but my neighbour does happen to be Charlotte Church.

Well if you can count 100 yards down the road as neighbours.

[3wdl]

Totally unrelated to the thread, but my neighbour does happen to be Charlotte Church.

Well if you can count 100 yards down the road as neighbours.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Charlotte Church



Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[deano6410]

You cannot apply this 'experiment' to any kind of marketing/ advertising campaign measurement.

Nor is that the purpose. I simply said that there are morals to the story from a marketing perspective that can help you convert more business.

[krush]

Lets have your perspective then Deano!