glory Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 I find it pretty funny to see everyone here running so freaking hard from the label. Hilarious. Tragic. HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 Which label, my friend corpsband? For decades, persons who did drum corps regarded the word "band" as a cancer. They always felt we were much more than that, and we ARE! However, that word "band" is much more meaningful to the masses than drum corps, Drum Corps International, Drum Corps Associates, or drum anything. We simply are NOT capitalizing on what we have to offer to what people already think they know. Does this make sense? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpsband Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 (edited) Which label, my friend corpsband? For decades, persons who did drum corps regarded the word "band" as a cancer. They always felt we were much more than that, and we ARE! However, that word "band" is much more meaningful to the masses than drum corps, Drum Corps International, Drum Corps Associates, or drum anything. We simply are NOT capitalizing on what we have to offer to what people already think they know. Does this make sense? "Marching Band" As for the rest, we agree. Edited April 3, 2013 by corpsband Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielray Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 ULTIMATE BAND I'd pay to see a clarinet match in The Octagon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 (edited) BRASSO, You are correct. The "band only" emphasis has not worked as well as planned. I'm not surprised. Band kids have no money, and their parents have no real interest in their kid's band, other than their own kid being involved at the moment. It's like the ever-changing school cafeteria staffs. Who was the Cub Scout den mother, etc. The mom's who just can't let go. New money needs to come from someplace else. Hopefully, our product becomes generic, and appealing enough to bring that in with less effort. This must NOT be just about us. I do think that DCI would have few problems marketing themselves as " Marching Band " to most school's High School and College Music and Marching Band community. It might even be a beneficial thing as a matter of fact. This is because this community has a confident self image of itself that on the whole is a positive one. On the other hand, when DCI markets itself to the public at large as a collection of shows by " Drum Corps ", the public generally has a bewildered look, or perhaps a slightly less than positive initial reaction to what a " Drum Corps show " is. But in my opinion, when the unfamilar hear that they'll be a show near them comprised of an assortment of " Marching Bands " the visual image to the unfamiliar becomes much more complete, but unfortunately its not generally a a good one. The alarm bells regrettably go off with many of the unfamilar that Nerd Central, and " Bandos " are about to converge in multiple busses around them and the image now becomes MUCH more negative, imo... and this becomes counterproductive to generating curiosity to go take a look. Busses of local area middle school and high school band kids might show up at the show, and thats all well and fine. But it does little at all to attract more interest on the part of the general public. Its the general public where DCI has its best marketing opportunities for future attendance growth in my opinion. But the more it becomes " Marching Band " and if marketed as " Marching Band " then naturally this becomes fraught with huge challenges for opportunities for future growth, imo. The Grammy Award winning theatre show production " Blast " became a long lasting commercial international success because it crossed over from appeal to primarily the School Band community to a much more diverse demographic that included more of the general population than simply the School Band community. Additionally, and not surprisingly, the creators of " Blast " took a much more decidedly fan friendly approach to their creation too, as they set out to design, and then market their show to what they ultimately correctly envisioned would appeal more to the general public at large, and not to the much smaller, and limiting community of the School Bands. Edited April 3, 2013 by BRASSO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 "Marching Band" This IS marching band! Now, let's promote this as the ultimate marching band experience. It is that, of course, but who would know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpsband Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 (edited) ...But it does little at all to attract more interest on the part of the general public. Its the general public where DCI has its best marketing opportunities. But the more it becomes " Marching Band " and if marketed as " Marching Band " then naturally this becomes fraught with huge challenges for opportunities for growth, imo You're seriously deluded if you think the general public won't (and doesn't) think "marching band" when they see a drum corps. The Grammy Award winning show " Blast " became a long lasting commercial international success because it crossed over from appeal to primarily the school Band community to a much more diverse demographic that included much more of the general population than simply the school Band community. Blast! was successful because it packaged surprising excellence on the part of young performers with familiar music and an innovative visual presentation (and it had solid financial backing). While the TOC has tried to bring some of the Blast elements to the field, there's a very hard limit to how far any outdoor performance can emulate that sort of production. If you think Blast! is the future, DCI is doomed. Edited April 3, 2013 by corpsband Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 (edited) BRASSO, You said . . . "The Grammy Award winning show " Blast " became a long lasting commercial international success because it crossed over from appeal to primarily the school Band community to a much more diverse demographic that included much more of the general population than simply the school Band community. " But, why was that? What did Blast do in its promotion to the "regular" folks that worked to cause those "regular" folks to attend as they did? In my mind, most of their direct appeal was that they were "on Broadway." Anything Broadway must be of high quality. It's also something to brag about. You know, one goes back to work and tells others they saw a Broadway show. Didn't really matter what show. They don't go to work and boast they went to an event at Lower Podunk Middle School Stadium! Blast also had massive promotional investment through paid advertising and "insider" paid for influence. It was what it was. It worked. It also delivered at a "generic" level. It was NOT just a display of some instructor's profound statements that only served that single person's ego. There was color, lighting, simple to understand forms, personality, and familiarity. Everyone "got" it. Not just music majors and purists. Edited April 3, 2013 by Fred Windish 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 (edited) You're seriously deluded if you think the general public won't (and doesn't) think "marching band" when they see a drum corps. If you think Blast! is the future, DCI is doomed. " You're seriously deluded " if you read into my remarks that I believe, or support the proposition, that " Blast " is the future of DCI Marching Bands ( or Drum Corps for those here that still prefer that moniker ). You're likewise " seriously deluded " if you believe that more of the general public will be be prompted by curiousity into perhaps taking their first look at a DCI show in their region if advertised as a " Marching Bands show " than as a " Drum Corps show ". Without my being repetitive, the unfamiliar may not know what " Drum Corps " are, but most ( but certainly not all ) of the public has an image in their head of what " Marching Bands " are, and lets be frank and honest here, that visual image is a decidely unappealing one for most of the unfamiliar public at large. If you believe that DCI should scrap the marketing of their units from that of " DCI Drum Corps " to that of" DCI Marching Bands " ( even should we agree that this is what the units are ), then you are " seriously deluded " that this will help its marketing with the general public at large. Future growth attendance, and with it, its increased revenues for DCI and its units, needs to come from the product being designed and marketed with better appeal to the public at large.... no mattter what we decide we call ourselves now. Edited April 3, 2013 by BRASSO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 (edited) corpsband, I think we have some agreement. That is, outdoor entertainment has FAR too many impediments than people are willing to pay for today. There is so much more potential available in some different setting. All this incredible talent does deserve better packaging. Edited April 3, 2013 by Fred Windish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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