Marketing & Public Relations
Director of Marketing & Public Relations – Eric Christensen
Marketing and P.R. [Public Relations] are two very different things even though they are often in the same department. Marketing is selling something. P.R. is creating an image.
What are we selling as Barbershoppers? Think about that for a moment. Sure, we might be selling tickets for a show but that’s not our real goal. That’s not our long-term focus. We’re selling our love of Barbershopping. We’re selling the thrill of a ringing chord. We’re selling a lifetime of harmony in a family of thirty thousand men. We’re selling love and we’re selling it cheap. All it costs is an evening the first time. Once we hook them that evening, they’ll be buying like mad. We all know that feeling or we wouldn’t be here. So let’s share the love. Let’s sell the love. We’ll be doing them a favor. Don’t you agree?
Now, we come to the second part, the P.R. What’s the image we’ve created? Are we a bunch of old guys in striped coats singing hundred-year-old songs under a lamppost? Does the general population of your metropolis know you exist? Are the audiences of your Chapter shows mostly relatives? Do singers of any age actively seek you out on a regular basis? What does Barbershop Harmony mean in your community? Are you out there in snappy outfits doing good music every chance you get? Is your chorus or quartet giving Barbershop a good name and fighting the old stereotype?
Our International Board has decreed that all Chapters of twenty-five or more must have a Marketing & P.R. officer. If your Chapter has less than twenty-five members, you need one, too, if you ever expect to grow. The M&P.R. guy is essential but he’s just the organizer. Your Chapter Board must implement the strategy and every member must become a Marketing & P.R. agent to make it work.
At the District level, we have created a master list of all the Chapters and their M&P.R. officers or representatives. Where no M&P.R. officer is listed, we have used the Chapter President to fill that slot because that’s where the buck stops. We send marketing material to each Chapter via these links as soon as it comes in from the Society. We have also created a Yahoo-based email group specifically for the M&P.R. officers throughout the District. There are over forty of them. The list currently has twelve members including our District President, the Editor of the Sunburst, and myself. That’s not good enough. We have sent invitations to every M&P.R. officer in the District. Maybe that mail got lost in transit? Just in case, we are now requesting that every Chapter M&P.R. officer/rep. in the District join the email group by going to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sunshinemarketing/
and registering. We need your cooperation and your communication and we need it now. Chapter Presidents are also encouraged to join this group list. It is far more effective than direct email blocks where replies become fragmented in a large group like ours.
The group page also offers many features that we can use to share ideas and material. We have already started a collection of Marketing Plans from International and District-level that you can download as reference material or templates to create your Chapter’s marketing plan. Some of this material has come from LEADAC and is quite comprehensive.
We want to ensure that your Chapter is aware of the Singing For Life program. By now you should have selected a manager for your local effort. If you haven’t, it’s not too late. The Society web site is LOADED with material to make this program work for your Chapter. Go to:
and click on the Singing For Life link for timetables, posters, flyers, sample ads, and instructions on contacting radio stations, the list is huge.
This is our chance to let your community know you care and to sell our love of Barbershop to other deserving guys out there who need to know what fun we’re having. Share the love. You’ll be glad you did and so will they.
If you need any help, email me at marketing@sunshinedistrict.org .
