While our colleagues at Ravinia and the Grant Park Music Festival are busy working eighteen-hour days, those of us with September – June seasons are in the throes of subscription sales, sponsorship and fundraising work, and a host of other activities. Our opening nights will be here before we know it, and yes, the temperature may even dip below ninety again as fall approaches.
This is the time of year when we are getting a good sense of how our season is faring with subscribers and new ticket buyers. It’s also a time when many orchestras roll out their season marketing campaigns.
I read about an especially fun campaign that the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted last year. Their opening weekend featured Beethoven's Ninth, Beethoven bobbleheads, and a 'Get Your Beethoven On' marketing campaign.
It was their best-attended opening weekend in recent history and is indicative of how things continue to change in the orchestral world.
Single ticket sales are increasingly important as a way of generating income, and more importantly, providing an entrée to becoming a subscriber. On-line ticket sales are also increasing despite the belief that older concertgoers aren’t “net-savvy”. They are. I love the idea of a Beethoven bobblehead. I want one for my desk.
Do any of you have some creative orchestral campaigns that you have run across that you could share? Or how about some fun ideas that we could bat around? What would catch your attention? I reserve the right to steal any good ideas that are generated by this blog and use them immediately.
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