The fall issue of Listen magazine arrived in the mail with a major feature on the condition of American Symphony Orchestras. If you have not been following the issue the Detroit Symphony Orchestra has just come off of a long strike, The Philadelphia Orchestra has filed for bankruptcy protection and the Honolulu Philharmonic closed up shop. Other orchestras are also on life support and yet they like many organizations continue to operate the same old way, or better stated the old same way.
Many of you know of my love of baseball and its history. You may also be aware of how big a fan I am of the late, great Bill Veeck. Veeck is known as baseball’s PT Barnum. He owned the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns (now doing business as the Baltimore Orioles) and the Chicago White Sox twice. While the Indians won the World Series under his stewardship and the White Sox won the pennant in 1959 while he was the owner he faced great adversity with the Browns (usually called the hapless or moribund Browns) and the late seventies incarnation of the White Sox.
Veeck realized that keeping himself afloat financially centered on putting fannies in seats. The first team that he owned was the minor league Milwaukee Brewers, one of two minor league teams that he operated. They were in last place with no prospects when he bought them. Add to that he had only $11.00 in his pocket the day that he took ownership he realized that if the product on the field was not drawing fans the ball park experience would have to. He instituted promotional giveaways, nuts and bolts day, morning games for war time factory workers (who got hot coffee and donuts at the turnstiles) and more. He was able to raise enough money from ticket sales to buy better players so that the last three years of his ownership the team finished first.
His time at the Browns was immortalized when he signed 3’ 7” performer Eddie Gaedel to pinch hit in the first inning of a meaningless second game of a double header for $100.00 for the day. Gaedel walked and was replaced by a pinch runner, who managed to advance to third. My favorite story is when he was manning the phones in St. Louis a fan called asking what time the game started. “What time can you be here?” was Veeck’s legendary reply.
Veeck did not suffer fools or stuffed shirts lightly. This may have been the cause of his relationship problems with organized baseball. But he went his way and thought outside of the box long before the box was ever conceived. He would patrol the stands talking baseball with fans and drinking beer with them. Getting to know them and what they thought and felt. He was making it a point to know his customer.
Orchestras today find themselves in the same boat as the Browns, Indians, Brewers, Miracle or White Sox: fewer fannies in the seats! Declining attendance for the same old venues & repertoire plus there is a ritual of behavior that eludes the casual concertgoer (I can’t clap between movements?) that alienates many potential customers.
So what would Bill Veeck do if he operated a symphony orchestra? Here are some lessons that could be applied:
1. Listen to the fans. Ask your customers what they need, want, and aspire to. Bill Veeck did this and made a business out of it.
2. Know the score. Veeck realized that the media could make or break his business; he played the game with them and made certain that they had good stories to write and good times to write about.
3. Be seen and be accessible. Spend time with your people. Veeck watched games from the bleachers with the fans, the people who paid his bills and those of his enterprise.
4. Give back something. Leaders need to show their appreciation for their stakeholders. Veeck gave the fans something of himself—a sense of surprise, showmanship, and fun.
5. Have fun. Life can be deadly serious, but that doesn’t mean we should be. Veeck knew how to have a good time and invited everyone along for the ride.
6. Live your message. Bill Veeck lived life to the fullest. His business philosophy flowed from his core values; he adhered to them faithfully and in the process delighted, excited, and entertained generations of loyal baseball fans.
Now did Bill Veeck make a ton of money operating baseball teams? No, but he made a ton of money selling them. And he was able to improve the value of that entity by creatively putting fannies in the seats. Being aggressive and creative helps put a product or organization in the top of people’s minds; we wouldn’t be talking about Eddie Gaedel 67 years after his lone at-bat. Thinking the same old way, or the old same way does not work in today’s marketplace.
Maybe had the Philadelphia Orchestra looked at the natural synergy present with one the major sports teams in town they could have cross pollinated that audience, that was not considered ‘dignified’. But now they are bankrupt and are reduced to doing pop-up concerts at train stations they hope and pray will end up on YouTube to get attention. Maybe if they played the national anthem for the Eagles or had a half court shot in the lobby of the Kimmel Center they might have gotten some press and awareness and new perception by the citizens of Philadelphia, sold some more tickets, and not be operating out of bankruptcy.
© 2011 Steve Wehmhoff
Thursday, August 18, 2011
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