What high school musicals taught me about marketing
Oh, that noble feeling
The actor stepped forward, having commanded the stage for three hours. He smiled and bowed deeply. The audience at Brooklyn’s Edward R. Murrow High School — parents, teachers, fellow students — exploded. Then, as the actor moved back in line with the rest of the cast, I saw it. The look on his face had shifted. Instead of triumphant, he was sullen. Instead of proud, he was crestfallen. As the curtains swept inward, the actor’s face, smack dab in the center, was expressionless, blank.
I know what was going on in his head. I know because I was there — years ago, when I appeared in high school musicals. That’s the look of someone who’s spent eight to twelve weeks rehearsing his heart out, knowing that his moment of glory has come and gone. Spending time on a project, riding an emotional high, only to have it end quickly — at that age, it’s worse than having a rug pulled from under you. It’s as if the rug wasn’t there to begin with. Nothing in our young experience prepares us to soar so high and descend so fast.
Maybe there’s something about that moment, that realization, that’s somehow instructive. Who hasn’t been there, experienced that moment of disappointment when a door closes and what’s ahead isn’t clear?
In marketing, you can’t be wondering what’s next. The work doesn’t end because your campaign or project is done. The fruits of your labor don’t take root without being tended, carefully and strategically. Whether it’s successful or a bust, every project, campaign, or promotion must be nurtured. Marketers build on success and learn from failure.
So you’ve finished promoting the concert, workshop, or artist residency. How are you following up with attendees, to interest them in spending more time with you?
So you’ve decided to try social media advertising, targeting your desired audience by age, geography, and interests. How did it go? Are you analyzing the results? What are you doing with the information?
So you’ve completed the fundraising campaign. How are you translating your messaging into future endeavors? If you had a theme, how is that playing out, making the jump from development to marketing?
So you’ve finished rebranding, or setting up the new website. How will you ensure that your new look, identity, and brand is implemented across your print and digital materials and physical space?
So you’ve completed your storytelling campaign, depicting members of your community discussing what they love about your organization. What are you doing with that media? Are you disseminating it as broadly and strategically as possible?
So you’ve finished… everything. What’s left? Most likely, a lot. Even if you’re bound by time, budget, or bureaucratic headaches, don’t stop dreaming. Having a ‘bucket list’ of projects has served me well over the years, because when it comes to things like strategic planning, pie-in-the-sky marketing ideas may be just what is needed.
The point is this: even if you think it’s done, it’s not. You can rest, but marketing doesn’t. It’s a process of continually pushing forward, ensuring that whatever you spent weeks or months working on doesn’t go to waste. You’ve come this far. Why stop now?
Theater didn’t end for me after high school. I went on to write, direct, and act in college, then the real world, and found remunerative employment for years in the theater business. So does it really end? No. Not unless you want it to. There’s a bootstrap notion to this, of course — you need to make the work come to you, not the other way around — but resourceful folks will always find a way to stay involved.
Marketing is about taking initiative, and moving forward isn’t optional. Thinking ahead is part of the job. For those who execute on follow-up plans, who anticipate what’s next, choose to build on their work and not walk away, the curtain call is only the beginning. You’ve sung, tap danced, and acted your heart out. Now it’s time to take that to the next level.
