I tend to receive many emails with the hope of me writing something on my blog about their service, new book, etc. Most of the time the hopeful content has nothing to do with audience development. Normally I just junk mail most of them. Today, I could not ignore what was in my email box.
Betabrand’s Podcast Theatre: A Sound of the Times?
Maybe you are familiar with Betabrand – they sell dress pant yoga pants. This however, is not about the pants (although I admit they look comfortable). It is about their retail location in San Francisco. Every Thursday they remove the products and instead turn it into something completely different, a Live Podcast Theatre.
Each Thursday, the retailer rolls away displays of its mainstay Dress Pant Yoga Pants to create San Francisco’s premiere stage for live podcasts.
Company founder Chris Lindland says, “The podcasts and related social posts introduce Betabrand to an audience 100 times the number of shoppers who’d visit the store on any given evening.”
“Podcasting is the new blog, and everyone either has one or is considering launching one,” says Chris Lindland. “We put out a call for performers on Facebook and had three months of shows booked in under 10 days — with some traveling from as far away as New York to perform.”
Since many of their customers are online, this digital outreach format makes perfect sense for them.
Betabrand has become known for their more weirdly creative marketing, such as when they posted a billboard for their lost cobra mascot.
However, the Live Podcast Theatre seems to be a win-win for both reaching their local and out of the area customers (new and old alike). This is pure audience development gold. They are building a more substantial connection to their audiences (customers) and providing additional involvement and engagement for them.
I know podcasts are all the rage these days. As you know, I have my own ADS Podcast, but what makes this Live Podcast Theatre more unique is that it is so unexpected.
Lately I have launched back into looking for amazing Guerilla Marketing and different outreach programs that are noteworthy. I think collectively, our arts industry can do better with producing the sublime and unexpected.
So let me know if you have come across audience development or arts marketing that is fancily fresh. I’d love to share it here as well!
Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,
Shoshana
Shoshana Fanizza
Chief Audience Builder, Audience Development Specialists
