New Facebook Page

I've been consulting various gurus about the different approaches to marketing concerts on Facebook. Short of using Facebook Ads which require money and so would not fit in to my new crusade:

Marketing Concerts Online FOR FREE! (All in the spirit of the free lunchtime concerts you know.)

My first queries have been around the difference between Groups and Pages. I think I'm correct in saying that pages are a more recent phenomenon and presumably therefore, grew out of necessity. Groups were found wanting. We (as I hope you're aware) have a nice Music at St Martin's Group which allows us to message some of our closest affiliates, give them special offers, release tickets to them before others and so on. However, the Facebook Group is by nature exclusive and the Facebook Page has a much more open and inclusive approach. While members only can write on the Group's wall (the main arena for the sharing of ideas, opinions, comments etc.), absolutely anyone can contribute to the page's wall. I've decided to make life difficult and have both. It seems to me that there are bound to be those people who prefer the privacy of the Group and others who wish the relationship to remain an uncomplicated casual and prefer therefore to 'like' or page.

Having reached this terribly unscientific conclusion, our intrepid intern has set up the new Music at St Martin's page. What I didn't realise (and what is the most difficult thing about any social media) is that setting the thing up is easy - what is tricky is to keep it going. We all of us have to strive our entire lives to be witty, charming, cheerful, helpful, empathetic and smart and here all of a sudden we have to do so in writing in the public domain where everyone everywhere can see it. It is not unlike that dream where you show up to work only to realise you've forgotten to put any clothes on. You feel - exposed!

I suppose, like the emperor and his new clothes or even like Adam and Eve, a certain level of embarrassment demonstrates a healthy level of modesty and self-awareness (interesting that the social media phenomenon now requires the use of such terms when referring to a business or organisation). It would seem to say "Bear with us, we're only human and we doing our best which means we'll sometimes do something really naff. Hopefully it will be naff and amusing and go down in the category of lovable faults."

So, at the risk of exposing myself further - here is the new 'Info' section from the Music at St Martin's page on Facebook:

When you stand on Trafalgar Square with your back to Nelson and look up at the grand frontage of the National Gallery, you may notice the Church just to the gallery's right. Nothing too ostentatious, just the Royal Parish Church, founding place of the world-famous Academy of St Martin in the Fields and one of the country's most prolific concert venues.

With over 380 evening, lunchtime, afternoon, children's, jazz and late-night events we keep busy. In the concerts department working alongside the Cafe in the Crypt, the Gallery at St Martin's, Shop at St Martin's, Brass Rubbing Centre and of course the church itself, we are dead proud of making the most of an extraordinary acoustic and exceptional location.

We are entirely self-sufficient with no government or private funding of any kind for our concert series. All our profits go toward the work of the church which naturally includes contributing to our community through supporting young and emerging talent in our Lunchtime Concert Series and the renowned St Martin's Chamber Music Competition.

Everyday is an adventure at St Martin's, you wouldn't believe the half of it and working in the Concert Department is a challenge and a pleasure from trying to get your head around auditioning and programming 150 lunchtime concerts to moving harpsichords and our beautiful Steinway concert grand to chatting with visitors and welcoming guests from around the world through the ever-open door.

We share this adventure through this page where you can see updates, latest news and offers, performers can post about their concerts and other can post their reviews. We welcome all contributions and feedback. We also share the adventure via our blog 'Ear to the Flagstone' our website and our Twitter account @stmartinsmusic.

Would you like to be part of our story?   

New Marketing Trends: Online Marketing Show at Kensington Olympia

There is always something a little bit naughty about being somewhere other than the office on a work day, or is that just me? I certainly felt that way when the train to Olympia finally arrived at Earl’s Court. I stuffed my badge and Online Marketing Show Quickguide into a pocket and suddenly felt a little self-conscious about my flip-flops and singlet. Everyone else on the train was heeled and suited, laptop bags over the shoulder and filo-faxes bulging in hand-bags. “No-one knows where you’re going” I assured myself. They won’t mind that you’re not really dressed for the occasion, didn’t bother blow-drying or straightening your hair this morning and may or may not have remembered to put on mascara.

Have you ever been to Kensington Olympia? It was my first time (obviously, otherwise I’d have known). There is only one reason all those people got on to that particular District Line train – to go to the Grand Hall – to the Online Marketing Show. Bother.

Cool as a cucumber, I flip-flopped my way out of the station and through the barriers where crowds of corporate types were waiting for the doors to open. Still cool as the proverbial cat I tossed my un-washed locks and sauntered up to a man with a large banner sticking out of what looked like a child-carrier backpack.

“I’ll take on of those programmes, thanks.”

“Oh great, so are you interested personally or for marketing and professional purposes?”

“Oh both.”

“Great!” He handed me what I imagined was the day’s programme and airily I moved on to the doors. It wasn’t until much later once inside and hunched over a safe cup of filter coffee (£2.40, seriously?) that I glanced at the ‘programme’.

"NOT THE PERSON YOU SEE IN THE MIRROR? YOU CAN ESCAPE THIS MORTAL COIL!"

Announced the cover. What on earth is a sex-change clinic doing handing out leaflets outside an online marketing show? The day had not started quite as it perhaps should have.

By the time I had obtained the actual programme and deciphered the key to the map of the exhibition hall, it was nearly 10am and the first presentation was about to begin. When you’re just starting out, a good place to do so is with an over-view: “Key trends in online marketing” sounded very promising with Justin Pearse, editor for New Media Age. The following are the notes I made from his presentation which I hope you too will find useful.

ONLINE MARKETING SHOW – June 2011

NOTES:

Session One: Key Trends in Online Marketing with Justin Pearce, Editor of New Media Age

Marketing is all one big family; there is no point in having a campaign which focuses exclusively on the following: website, search engine optimisation, content, social media, blogs and micro-blogs. They must all work alongside and support one another.

Four main components discussed are:

Website
Blog
Micro blog
Social media

First – it is important (following the point above) to note that the majority (98%) of visitors/readers/audiences for these categories do NOT want to buy your product or donate or join etc. They want information first. The third/fourth/fifth time they return is when they’ll do that. The trick is to a) provide them with the information they require so that b) the return and c) become valued members/customers/audience.

Once you pop, you can’t stop – once you launch any of the above, YOU CAN’T STOP, updating is mandatory otherwise it can have a hugely adverse effect on the brand.

If you are not a big brand like Starbucks, Levis etc. then don’t try to do what they do. They have people looking at them because they know them – people buy Levis not because they’re a great product but because they have a Levis label on them. Small brands should concentrate on becoming of value to their potential customers and slowly build up that brand reputation.

OVER VIEWS
Website:

-          Main online hub and essentially a ‘broadcast media’ i.e. Information going out from one organisation to many individuals and organisations.

-          The key is information not selling. Your website HAS to be useful and easy to use for visitors or they will not stay. Carefully consider all ‘landing pages’ (pages pointed to from any other source) – Website are multi-entry – they don’t just have one main front door, people come in to them from all directions so the virtual signage needs to be comprehensive

-          Content is key. Style, design etc all very nice but content will link to search engine optimisation etc. There is also no limit to what you can have on there – carefully organised a website can have an entire public-library worth of knowledge and detail but not be cluttered – it is just there and easy to find for anyone who needs or wants it.

Blogs:

-          Essentially ‘opinion’ broadcast. If internet were a newspaper, blogs would be the editorial or letters to the editor – opinion not necessarily fact.

-          Again blogs like website are inherently broadcast media and should complement content of website.

-          Blogs need to work closely alongside social media so that discussion can be easily taken up – that’s the point of having an opinion.

-          Drawbacks: open to criticism, not directly commercial (there is no way of measuring the direct commercial benefit from blogging) they require media support and to work alongside website/social media – not at all effective stand-alone.

Micro blog: eg. Twitter, FourSquare, Google Buzz etc

-          This is a peer to peer media – mostly it is about people talking to each other about you.

-          Limited revenue generation (as above with blogs)

-          Once started there is no stopping – it is completely ineffectual to have a twitter account you don’t use – you will lose followers very quickly.

-          Most effective if time is spent interacting with other users – re-tweeting  etc. Concentrate on the competition and their followers.

Social networks: eg. Facebook, Bebo, LinkDin, Webspace, Ning, Plaxo etc.

-          Very much a two-way medium

-          Great for customer feedback and the chance to respond accordingly

-          Integrates well with other media – websites, blogs and micro blogs

-          You can get a lot of user info through Facebook – ages of fans etc

-          There is definite potential for snowball effect with Facebook through viral (one recommends to many who recommend to many etc)

-          Facebook is NOT TO BE USED FOR DIRECT PROMOTION – it is ‘about’

-          Again, once started, can’t neglect or stop.

-          Most effective way is to put useful content on but to spend as much time commenting on other people’s content, liking, linking etc to be seen on others’ pages.

-          Target the competition’s fans! Easy place to start – you already know what they like.

Next step is where, how and why you want to engage with customers – the answer is through all mediums at all times. Everything has to be linked and promoted, each through the other.

END NOTES

As you’ll have noticed these are very much in ‘note’ form. I promised in my last blog to share the process we’re going through at St Martin’s in developing how we promote our concerts and here it is in all its gory, incomplete detail. We’ll develop this content, refine it, develop theories (I came up with a rather good fishing analogy which I’ll share with you just as soon as I have it written up) and of course, we’d love to hear yours so don’t forget to comment here, follow us on twitter (@stmartinsconcerts) or like our new Facebook page ‘Concerts at St Martin’s’. Look at me and my integration of different marketing strategies! How am I doing on the helpful front? Any good so far?

You want me to promote HOW many concerts?

I’ve been reading books about marketing recently and they’re full of amusing, if probably useless statistics. I thought it would be entertaining to come up with some of my own:

At St Martin-in-the-Fields we have three lunchtime concerts per week on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays at 1.00pm. The only exceptions are Good Friday which, understandably, is devoted to Church services (we generously allow our concert hall to be used as a church every now and then, you see) and Christmas Day – also for obvious reasons. If I remember correctly, there are fifty-two weeks in a year with three concerts per week that is one hundred and fifty four concerts (less the two dates mentioned above).

*PAUSE*

The lunchtime concert series at St Martin’s has been running more or less in this format since about 1946-47ish. The famous pianist Myra Hess started a series over the road at the National Gallery. Her daily lunchtime concerts ran without fail throughout the Second World War but when the plug was pulled by a forward-thinking Board of Directors, the series took up residence at the big church next door where the Reverend Dick Shepherd (vicar) had flung open the doors to soldiers, homeless and penniless returning from the war. So, if the concert series has been running since 1947, that would be approximately 9856 concerts with 462 of them taking place since I took over their organisation in 2008.

Blimey! (As they say back home.)

Each of these events needs to be auditioned, programmed, promoted, marketed, facilitated, and run. This blog is about that process, about a series of concerts taking place at the heart of London, about the pitfalls and rewards of working in a church, about the performances themselves, the people, the audiences.  I hope it will be useful and that I can learn from you and you can learn from me. Hopefully we’ll both be entertained and educated. Comments are always welcome!

Shall we get started?

WHAT A PERFORMANCE!

Normally the task of dissecting a lunchtime recital is a straightforward task.  Ordinarily I am able to take notes during the performance, and scrutinize the performers as the concert ensues.  But this was no normal lunchtime recital.  And this was no ordinary performer.

When eighteen year old Savitri Grier graced the stage with her flowing dark hair, all smiles, charm and quiet allure, she had the audience gripped.  And this was before she even started playing. 

The recital began with Mozart’s Violin Sonata in Bb K454, which features a notable equality between violin and piano.  With her father, Francis, on piano, they demonstrated a formidable unity in their playing.  The two both displayed incredible chemistry with their instruments: Savitri’s brow furrowed as her fingers glided over the neck of her violin, breathing deeply as she moved with the music; Francis’ head leant back, eyes darting between the sheet music and his daughter, caught between a flux of pride and musical elation.

During the recital I was overwhelmed by the musicality of Savitri’s playing:  her lightness of touch, her melodic lyricism, her sweeping vibrato, and the tonal colour that shone in her music throughout.

The duo moved on from the Classical Sonata, to the Impressionism of Debussy’s final composition, his Violin Sonata in G minor.  The varying style of composition gave the opportunity for Savitri to display previously concealed strengths.  The work presented bitonality in certain passages, unsuspected modulations, and a peculiar juxtaposition of melancholy and humour that demanded a fiercer, yet simultaneously subtler style of playing.

Spawned from the French aesthetic of Debussy and Satie, Ravel’s “Tzigane” utilises melodies that are built around modal constructs, rather than conventional major and minor scales.  The opening few minutes of the piece are solo violin.  Inspired by gypsy melodies, the opening is an experimental outburst of improvisational motifs.  Savitri’s playing was explosive.  Although the passage was irregular, and to the listener the metre seemed undecipherable, the key indiscernible, Savitri attacked it undaunted, as comfortable in the discordant faux-gypsy modal experimentation as in Mozart’s conventional Classical form.

But words can never do justice to the performance I witnessed this lunch time.  To quote Sinatra, ‘[it was] much too much, and just too very, to ever be in Webster’s Dictionary’... I am unable to articulate the musicality I witnessed in words.  All I can say is, check Savitri and her family out the next opportunity you can!   

Monday 28th March 2011-03-28 ('Harping on about the St Martins Lunchtime Concert Series')

12.55pm, Trafalgar Square.  The sun is shining, the weather is mild and there’s a soft breeze.  I leave the bustle of workers, the mass of tourists, pigeons, sun and the cacophony of central London to enter the serenity of St. Martin in the Fields, where in 5 minutes I am about to witness my first lunchtime concert.  Having found a seat on the front row, with an excellent view of four illustrious-looking golden harps, I wait in the cool tranquillity of my surroundings for the performance.  As four smiling girls grace the stage, followed by their conductor, the congregation erupts in nervous anticipation for the ensuing recital, before a sudden hush, then complete silence...

Other than Joanna Newsom’s ‘Ys’ album, I was completely unfamiliar with any music written for harp, so today was an education for me.  The first piece, ‘In Olden Times’, was written by Gareth Wood, and comprised five movements.  In the first movement I was struck by the interwoven textures of melody and counterpoint melodies, creating a contrapuntal effect reminiscent of the baroque style.  As the section developed, the chord structure grew into a rousing pattern, and the melody soared throughout the church – the harps’ soft, nylon (I think?) strings singing out through the excellent acoustics of the venue.  The second movement, a waltz, was more delicate, and the sweet melody leant an ethereal feeling to my surroundings.  The third movement’s dark, minor sentiment was complimented by the following jovial fourth movement.  The fifth and final movement utilized a powerful, lyrical melody, where the players struck fantastical flourishes, their fingers dancing over the strings, until the piece ended in a triumphant fanfare.  The audience exploded into rapturous applause, and the four harpists stood to soak up the congregation’s gratitude, grinning from ear to ear.

Before the second piece the conductor explained that Philip White’s ‘Autumn Rain’, was a musical interpretation of D. H. Lawrence’s poem of the same name.  Out of all four pieces this was the one that moved me the most.  Throughout, White utilised discordant, scalic motifs to conjure a pitter-patter sound reminiscent of the rain.  The dissonant clashes between the harps’ jarring discords, and the lead soprano’s melody in the second movement created a haunting aura that sent chills down my spine.  The climax of the second movement built as Vanessa Bowers articulated D. H. Lawrence’s evocative lines: the sheaves of dead/ men that are slain/now winnowed soft/on the floor of heaven;/manna invisible/of all the pain/here to us given;/finely divisible/falling as rain.  The third movement was a requiem, and the music was simple, bare and gloomy, and seemed to touch a nerve with the whole of the congregation.

Me and My Beast

At six years old

I met a ghastly beast

A hound of hell

At very least

With gnashing teeth

All black and white

Eighty-eight with which to bite.

By seven the beast

Was even worse

Our weekly encounters

A child’s curse

The jaws did snap

The sinews twang

Sending me cowed back home again.

At eight I faced

My childish fear

With heart in mouth

And voice quavering clear

Declared that I was master here

And so for a time

We were doing great

Travelled together

Grades one to eight

Enjoyed successes

Made Mum proud

Played together

Impressed the crowd.

It seemed the beast

Was tamed at last

And people agreed

It had happened fast

Complacency however,

Is a dangerous thing

Learn to talk before you sing!

At sixteen years old

My beast was back

Hulking, crouching

Gleaming black

Glowering from the corner at me

Mocking mediocrity.

“You think you know me?”

It seemed to say

“You’ve barely started,

Hardly under way!”

So much more you need to learn

In order to the beast reform.

And so I locked myself away

Hour upon hour

Day after day

And spent my time

Playing the part

Practising hard

Re-learning my art.

And here I am

Most twenty years of age

My beast and I

On St Martin’s stage

And together we will play us

Beethoven, Chopin and Amadeus.

Undine

In Undine's mirror the cutpurse found
Five candlesticks by magic drowned,
Like boughs of silver . . . and pale as death,
Biting his beard, till the rogue's own breath
Shook all their gourds of fire, he stopped,
Eyed the gilt baskets, gaped half-round . . . .
Then down to the floor his pistol dropped . . . .
No sound in the dark rooms . . . the clank
Of metal and beam died fast . . . and flank
Pressed in strange fear to Undine's bed,
The robber stared long, and bent his head
To that soft wave . . . then hand on silk,
Plumbed the warm valley where nightly sank
Undine the water-maid, caved in milk.
And over those pools, the rogue could smell
Rich essences globed and stoppered well
On Undine's table . . . and row by row,
Jars of green china foamed stiff with snow,
And crystal trays and bottles of stone
Bowed like black slaves to that ivory shell,
The body of Undine . . . but Undine was gone.
Only below the candles' gleam,
In one small casket of waxen cream
With sidelong eyes the thief could follow
That rosy trough, the printed hollow
Of Undine's finger . . . then out to the street
He sprawled and fled . . . but still on the beam
His pistol waited for Undine's feet!

Undine the water sprite who craves a mortal soul has inspired generations of art, poetry and music including Carl Reinecke’s Flute Sonata. The sad story unfolds to an intimate audience at St Martin’s with Claire Overbury’s rich flute tones and Elspeth Wyllie’s delicate touch at the keyboard.

Would we wish an immortal soul on anyone?