State of drum corps manifesto

[atlvalet]

Ask any Bluecoats from '92 that performed the Beatles show. They didn't particularly believe in it or like it, but it was more about what they could acheive than anything else. The people that marched in '92 would say they got more out of that summer than any other, but everyone will tell them to this day, the show sucked. I'm still envious of everyone in the '92 'Coats.

It was a great experience. But I hated the show even then. Ok, hate is a strong word...severely disliked.

The most fun (for me) that summer was playing the streetbeat. The show, eh, not-so-much.

I think drum corps jumped the shark with narration. But hey, that's just me.

Edited July 12, 2010 by atlvalet

[atlvalet]

I would hope that all drum corps fans would not forget that entertainment is indeed an important goal, but maybe not the most important one.

Personally, for me, I got the biggest rush as a marching member when the crowd responded to our show. In 1992, that wasn't very often, but it happened on occasion. I mean, if you're going out there busting your ### all summer, taking cold showers and eating mediocre food, the last thing you want to hear after all that hard work is a polite golf clap. Oi.

[atlvalet]

Survival is not keeping the same fans year after year, it's bringing new ones into the fold.

Perhaps you're not familiar with how much retaining customers costs versus attracting new ones. While getting new customers is important, the lifeblood of any business is in getting old customers to make repeat purchases.

[ChicagoFan]

Maybe the "average fan" is lost in today's drum corps. But if a person has any artistic sense whatsoever, and appreciates the work that goes into this activity, they will LOVE THESE SHOWS. Personally, I'm glad that corps of today strive for new levels of abstraction. I can only take F Sequence for so long...isn't 30 years enough?

I'm going to have to disagree with this. I have three degrees in music and teach at the college level. I think that would qualify as having "artistic sense." And for the record, I well appreciate the work that goes into this activity and am fully capable of recognizing and understanding the complexities of what I see/hear on the field. Nonetheless, I'm often bored. What I feel for many of the shows this season is anything but love.

Like the OP, I've recently begun to question why I feel this way. Am I too old? Has drum corps passed me by? Am I stuck in the past? I was somewhat heartened (or disheartened depending on how you look at it) on Saturday in Kalamazoo after talking to several friends and corps alums who expressed similar feelings. Among the group were former Cavaliers, Scouts, Cadets, Crossmen, and Troopers and, to a person, all of us felt that something is missing -- that the excitement we once felt for and about corps isn't there. I'm saddened by this.

[oldschooldbc]

Perhaps you're not familiar with how much retaining customers costs versus attracting new ones. While getting new customers is important, the lifeblood of any business is in getting old customers to make repeat purchases.

Plus, obtaining new customers is expensive. Really expensive. Some businesses have to spend up to a year's worth of revenue, in marketing and advertising costs, to get a new customer to commit. If that customer is only with you for say, 4 years, then you've blown 25% of your revenue on marketing and advertising costs. Unless you have a business with very, very high gross margins, you are not going to stay in business for long - certainly not in this economy.

(There's a company called Vonage, that pionered the voice-over-internet telephony business, often referred to as VOIP. It had a great product, but its business could never get off the ground. Why? It had extraordinarily high costs, for customer acquisition and retention. They had to pay through the nose, for marketing and advertising. Cable companies, by contrast, have a captive audience, and don't have to pay, to advertise to customers. They grabbed the lion share of the VOIP market, which Vonage created.)

This is essentially the economic model that the drum corps activity is facing right now:

1) Costs of acquiring customers. DCI has precious little marketing dollars; much of its marketing is really done by word of mouth. (I only found out about the Pittsburgh show last Monday, by reading an article in the local newspaper.)

2) Margins are continually being squeezed, by costs that DCI can't control, such as food, fuel, and housing.

3) Revenue is being hampered because of the inability to retain customers.

So what's the solution? If you're in a bind like this, facing multiple threats to your business, you should work on the problem that you can fix - the one that you can control. The problem, in this case, is #3 - customer retention. Put a more exciting, dynamic show on the field. That will help you retain customers, who will eventually become loyal, over time. That will give you the revenue streams, to cope with #2 (margin squeeze), and eventually work on #1 (customer acquisition cost.)

Darn, with ideas like these, I should become a business consultant! Hold it, I just looked at my business card - that is what it says...............

Edited July 13, 2010 by oldschooldbc

[garfield]

Plus, obtaining new customers is expensive. Really expensive. Some businesses have to spend up to a year's worth of revenue, in marketing and advertising costs, to get a new customer to commit. If that customer is only with you for say, 4 years, then you've blown 25% of your revenue on marketing and advertising costs. Unless you have a business with very, very high gross margins, you are not going to stay in business for long - certainly not in this economy.

(There's a company called Vonage, that pionered the voice-over-internet telephony business, often referred to as VOIP. It had a great product, but its business could never get off the ground. Why? It had extraordinarily high costs, for customer acquisition and retention. They had to pay through the nose, for marketing and advertising. Cable companies, by contrast, have a captive audience, and don't have to pay, to advertise to customers. They grabbed the lion share of the VOIP market, which Vonage created.)

This is essentially the economic model that the drum corps activity is facing right now:

1) Costs of acquiring customers. DCI has precious little marketing dollars; much of its marketing is really done by word of mouth. (I only found out about the Pittsburgh show last Monday, by reading an article in the local newspaper.)

2) Margins are continually being squeezed, by costs that DCI can't control, such as food, fuel, and housing.

3) Revenue is being hampered because of the inability to retain customers.

So what's the solution? If you're in a bind like this, facing multiple threats to your business, you should work on the problem that you can fix - the one that you can control. The problem, in this case, is #3 - customer retention. Put a more exciting, dynamic show on the field. That will help you retain customers, who will eventually become loyal, over time. That will give you the revenue streams, to cope with #2 (margin squeeze), and eventually work on #1 (customer acquisition cost.)

Darn, with ideas like these, I should become a business consultant! Hold it, I just looked at my business card - that is what it says...............

All right Mr. Business Consultant (BTW, )

Which is a more productive means to effectively boost the marketing budget of DCI? A) Decrease the size and expense of DCI, or B) Demand a smaller cut of the DCI proceeds if, and only if, those dollars are used to market the activity?

With more than 25% of income being paid out to the corps I often wonder if the right solution to the marketing problem is to cut back by 50% the corps payouts and use the savings for marketing. And remember: the corps get paid off the top of the income statement. DCI pays the bills with what's left.

If DCI is there to promote and manage the activity, and the member corps pay so much to themselves that it leaves DCI impotent, isn't the solution to give the org. more money?

I'm sure there are lots of armchair "Mr. Business Consultant's" out there but I'd like to hear from the official one, too.

BTW, Oldskooldbc, do you consult to the non-profit industry as well?

Edited July 13, 2010 by garfield

[atlvalet]

That's just ridiculous; everyone knows pancakes are better! Waffles waffling shape distorts the denture line when biting and thus prevents a complete and healthy chewing experience one gets from pancakes.

/insanity of this thread

Actually, it kind of illustrates the point. When does a waffle stop being a waffle and turn into a pancake?

[ReformedDCFan]

for years and years people have been talking about drum corps and marketing and growing the audience -

get real -

the only people who enjoy drum corps are people who march, people who used to march and the parents of people who march.

Drum corps is an extremely small musical niche market - it's never going to be popular outside the immediate band/drum corps community

[oldschooldbc]

All right Mr. Business Consultant (BTW, )

Which is a more productive means to effectively boost the marketing budget of DCI? A) Decrease the size and expense of DCI, or B) Demand a smaller cut of the DCI proceeds if, and only if, those dollars are used to market the activity?

I would say that a mixture of A and B are needed. You could certainly cut expenses many ways. I would start by hosting events in less extravagant venues, as a start. (I would definitely find a way out of LOS contract, for multiple reasons, if there is indeed a loophole in that contract.) I would also increase the marketing and promotional budget significantly, even if it means I need to cut some of the funds paid to the individual corps. I would not cut funds to struggling or marginal corps, however.

But again, all this will be for naught, unless we find ways to retain customers. And for that, we must put a more entertaining product on the field. Even if we had the marketing machine of Coca-Cola or Nike, the customers will not stay, if they do not like the product. That is where change has to happen first.

That is why I so strongly believe that this activity needs outside administration. The current inside administration does not appear committed to this. Outside administration should have full control - including artistic control. And that should be with one goal in mind: improving customer satisfaction. They need to do this by making the product more appealing to customers.

Notice, I did not say that they need to make a better quality product. They need to make a more appealing product. There is a difference. The product DCI puts out onto the field is top-quality - the very best that the pageantry arts has to offer. But is it really appealing, to audiences in general? (Audiences would be customers, by the way.)

Here's an analogy, to show my point. What vehicle would you rather use, for your commute to work tomorrow? 1) The best-engineered riding mower in the world; or 2) a cheap import sedan, that may break down after 20,000 miles? I would pick option 2 every time, because I don't want to drive down the Interstate, choking on bugs and exhuast fumes, thank you.

============================================

There's two ways to measure product quality: a) how well a product conforms to specification, and b) how well it meets customer wants and needs. I think DCI does a really good job at meeting the first definition, and a really poor job at meeting the second definition. I don't think the current board gets that, and that is why I think they should be replaced, with new leadership, that does grasp these concepts.

(p.s., I would give my advice to DCI for free - that is exactly what I am doing here. But no, I do not typically perform billable work for non-profits.)

[Mello Dude]

I'm going to have to disagree with this. I have three degrees in music and teach at the college level. I think that would qualify as having "artistic sense." And for the record, I well appreciate the work that goes into this activity and am fully capable of recognizing and understanding the complexities of what I see/hear on the field. Nonetheless, I'm often bored. What I feel for many of the shows this season is anything but love.

Like the OP, I've recently begun to question why I feel this way. Am I too old? Has drum corps passed me by? Am I stuck in the past? I was somewhat heartened (or disheartened depending on how you look at it) on Saturday in Kalamazoo after talking to several friends and corps alums who expressed similar feelings. Among the group were former Cavaliers, Scouts, Cadets, Crossmen, and Troopers and, to a person, all of us felt that something is missing -- that the excitement we once felt for and about corps isn't there. I'm saddened by this.

I agree with you 100%. It reminds me of the "Emperors New Clothes".