Tupperware, Superpowers, and Marketing Strategy
When my kids were in their superhero phase, they’d often ask me what superpower I wanted. If I was feeling practical, I’d wish for the ability to stop time so I could have more hours in the day. When I was more whimsical, I’d pick flying –because that just sounds fun. In reality, my superpower is far less glamorous. I can always pick out the right Tupperware container for the amount of leftovers we have.
Pretty exciting, right? Well, it turns out that while this skill is useful during dinner cleanup, I cannot make a living off this superpower and movie studio execs are not looking to buy my story and turn it into the next blockbuster. Fortunately, I enjoy my day job.
In its own way, that job – arts marketing – is also about finding the best container for what we have. I could go on and on about the metaphor. In fact, if over-extending a metaphor is a superpower, I’ve got that, too. But bear with me and I promise not to go overboard.
The containers are the elements of our marketing strategy: messaging, ad plan, pricing, target audience, budget, and so on. The leftovers are our “products” – our shows, exhibits, classes, and subscription or membership packages. And just as I am limited each night after dinner by the number of clean reusable containers and the space in my fridge, we, as marketers, are also all limited by the resources we have available – staff size and expertise, budget, and time.
The right “container” for your holiday blockbuster is not the same one you’ll use for your lesser-known two-hander. Those two shows should have a different marketing budget, a different strategy that addresses a different target, and a different pricing plan.
Just as each event within your season should have its own specific strategy, so too might your organization do things a little differently than others. Sure, there are valuable best practices and case studies that we can all look to as a guide. And hearing from peers what they’re up to has always been an indispensable resource for me. But as much as we have in common, a single solution will not work for everyone.
Right now, l have subscriptions on the brain. (It’s that time of year!) and have enjoyed hearing from colleagues about how they approach subscriptions and reading various perspectives on the topic (this one from TRG Arts and this one from Tom O’Connor Group are among my recent favorites). What stands out is that there is no one right answer, and even very similar strategies have subtle differences.
So, maybe I do have another superpower – and so do other arts marketers. Taking all this input – best practices from the field, input from others, and data from prior campaigns – and determining which container is right for the project in front of us.
Unlike superpowers in comic books and movies, this one doesn’t come from the supernatural or by putting on a special cape. Both with leftovers and arts marketing, the skills here come from experience and paying attention to what works and what doesn’t. When cleaning up after dinner, I’m simply thinking back to what container I used the last time we had this much spaghetti and remembering that the stew never takes up as much space as I think it’s going to. Over time, my best guesses became educated guesses, and now I can nail it just about every time.
And the same goes for marketing. We use our resources and our experience, and we create marketing magic.
So maybe it’s not a superpower after all. But if you want to wear a cape while doing the work, I won’t tell anyone. And if someone actually figures out how to stop time, please let me know!
If you think your campaigns could benefit from adding my superpowers to yours, contact me. I’m ready to learn what makes your organization unique and find the right container for what you have to offer.