It’s hard enough trying to stand out in the crowd in a typical B2B industry, but standing out in the crowd in an industry full of creative, over-the-top competitors is decidedly difficult. Many of DMG’s entertainment clients face this very dilemma. While many clients seek exciting, innovative promotion or attention-getting brand building, our entertainment clients need something more mundane…structure, financial and marketing discipline, investment rationale.
In fact, combining strong business sense and marketing savvy allows DMG to create truly outstanding results for companies that need to stand out distinctly in crowded fields. Marketing success in the entertainment industry, like in many others, can be attained by focusing on three core things:
· creating a unique product/experience;
· identifying its unique selling points; and
· using that uniqueness to create a sustainable brand experience.
How? Consider these:
1. Create a Unique, One-of-a-Kind Product: This seems like a no-brainer, right? Easier said than done. Look carefully for gaps in the market, gaps in pricing levels and integrated offers (product+service+product) that can meet expanded needs. One of our clients, an entertainment producer of nationally reknown bands, did just that. He combined unmet demand for high-end entertainment—especially in the price gap between recording artists ($300K+ per performance) and local artists ($10K per performance) – with the novel idea of a party band which would play for 3 hours straight, never allowing that party “dead zone” to occur. The result? A portfolio of in-demand party bands, of multiple genres, priced at premium levels for optimal profitability.
2. Carving out a Market Niche: Once your product is set, it’s time to identify your target market and key competitive differentiators. Think hard about core selling attributes – be honest with yourself – and focus all your messaging on the quantitiatve and qualitative benefits of those attributes. As you develop your target market, don’t fall into the trap of “the whole world is my potential market.” Even if you have invented the next zipper or paperclip, you can’t reach the whole market—you’ll have to focus. Be disciplined about asking “Whose world will change for the better with my product?” “And, how?”
3. Stay Ahead of the Curve: Developing a unique product and creative, one-of-a-kind market niche will provide success – but for true sustainability, you’ll have to be three steps ahead, thinking about the “next big thing.” If you sell to consumers (and who doesn’t, really?), you’ll need to stay as current on your product as you do on your marketing, promotion and selling. At DMG, we help our entertainment clients stay ahead of the curve by assessing, recommending, executing and evaluating integrated marketing programs. We experiment freely with new technologies, we constantly scan the market for innovative ideas and we integrate the old tried-and-true into the new seamlessly. If your marketing partner is old hat, your market’s perception of you will be the same. Be bold.
If you are in the entertainment industry and feel yourself drowning in a sea of creative competition, try some of these ideas. And, if you need a savvy business partner, consider the team at DMG. We can take your business - no matter how entertaining—to the next level.
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