624 Marketing and the age demographic
Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2002 11:50:33 -0400
From: Robinne Gray <rlg2@CORNELL.EDU>
Subject: Marketing and the age demographic
Thanks everybody. Good discussion, very interesting and helpful. I liked
Trini's summary of marketing, which helps me to remember that not all
marketing/advertising is about manipulation and unmitigated
gall. ;-) Still, one has to decide how much one is willing to modify
the "product" of tango in order to attract "customers."
Trini also asks:
>Who do you want to attract (young, old, others like you)?
Jai brings up the possibility of attracting younger students, guys in
particular. I have a mixed reaction to this. As a woman, of course I want
to attract scads of talented male dancers to our community--young, old,
short, tall, fat, thin etc. But I'd be ambivalent about a youthquake in
the tango community. Our local swing community went through that a few
years ago. The puppy-like energy of the high school aged dancers filled
the room with exuberance and talent...but it alienated many of the older,
more experienced dancers. Now the high schoolers are going off to college,
the college dancers are graduating and leaving town, many of the old core
dancers have moved on for good, and the swing community is bending over
backward (marketing surveys!) to get people to come to the weekly dances,
which were formerly thriving.
But Jai's point about age and learning is well taken. Teachers want to
attract students old enough to have some worldly experience, but youthful
enough to physically integrate and mentally retain the material. People in
their 30s and 40s would be great, but the bulk of people in that age
bracket have young children, and tend to orient themselves around the home,
or at least around activities that include children. (Please don't suggest
that people start bringing their kids to milongas; let them go to
Chuck-E-Cheese).
Ultimately it's not the dancers' ages that matter. We all, I expect,
want to draw people who would enjoy tango for its particular musical,
physical, & cultural qualities--thus we DO want to reach "others like
us". So again, the question is: How do we reach more people like
us...especially if they haven't been exposed to tango before and may not
yet KNOW they are like us? :-)
~Robinne
Ithaca, NY
Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2002 11:39:43 -0700
From: Jai Jeffryes <doktordogg@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Marketing and the age demographic
Thanks, Robinne, for the generous things you said
about my post about getting boys to dance. I had a
variety of responses.
I had a lovely response from some teachers who teach
high school students. They said that word of mouth
between the students has sustained interest in dancing
for them.
A lot of women commented to me that they don't want an
invasion of boys and a singles scene, they want more
men of integrity. Well, where are they? I maintain
my original suggestion, namely that worthwhile things
can be cultivated if you cultivate them.
--- Robinne Gray <rlg2@CORNELL.EDU> wrote:
> But I'd be ambivalent
> about a youthquake in
> the tango community. Our local swing community went
> through that a few
> years ago. but it
> alienated many of the older,
> more experienced dancers.
> (Please don't suggest
> that people start bringing their kids to milongas;
> let them go to
> Chuck-E-Cheese).
I find the tone a little bewildering. The discussion
began with wondering how to attract dancers. It
continues with concerns about how to exclude
"undesirables"... before they've even been attracted.
How can anyone not want to have kids involved in
anything that is healthy for them?
I think a "youthquake" in tango in New York would be
GREAT. I would love to see burgeoning numbers of
dancers being turned on and having fun. Of course you
can't bring youngsters to a lot of the events we have
now. They shouldn't be out late and can't go to bars.
That's why I originally proposed youth-oriented
activies with more fitting hours, no alcohol, and
chaperones. The teachers who wrote to me told me that
they had great success in organizing activities at
school.
> we DO want to
> reach "others like
> us".
Naturally. Don't stop that. I'm not talking about
getting high school kids to dance in order to supply
new dancing partners to adults who are already
dancing. I'm observing that those poor kids are gonna
be just like us in another 20 or 30 years! (Sorry,
kids.) How nice would it be if they could grow up in
a vibrant, lively dance community. Hopefully when
they're older, the scene will be more developed than
it is now.
Jai
Date: Thu, 27 Jun 2002 17:53:34 +0200
From: Eero Olli <eero.olli@ISP.UIB.NO>
Subject: Marketing and the age demographic
I would start with thinking through what is the goal of the classes (and
teaching people to dance is not good enough):
- largest possible number of people in classes? NO.
- a few but good dancers? NO.
- people who stay in the tangocommunity. YES.
- people who have time to help to build a tangocommunity. YES.
- teach as much tango as possible in as short time as possible. NO.
Our club has previously marketed towards the general non-differentiated
public in our town. And we have been happy and proud to have a wide variety
of people. Last winter we noticed though, that we have lost many of the
hard core organizers. They were students who left town after graduation.
There were a few students in each of our beginners classes, but they did
not stick to tango, even if they were the ones who learned fastest.
Based on observation and I would postulate that people who make social
bonds in the class are more likely enjoy and stay at social events. In
addition we have observed that very few couples continue after a class. In
our club we have only 3 original couples who are regulars. It is difficult
to find two people who are equally attracted to tango. So it seems to be
that people who arrive alone are more likely to stay. Most of the couples
in our club, who are regulars, have actually met through tango (but they
tend to get children and reduce time spent in smoky milongas...).
The solution we came up with was to start to differentiate marketing of our
beginners classes. We arrange one 12 hour beginnersclass every month. We
targeted the one starting in february towards students and academic staff
at the University (students are in town for a few weeks, but they still
have their schedules open). We spent money on advertising in the
University News Paper and made sure that the posters were hanging on
visible spots.
This one class was filled, and the stayer-rate is higher than usuall. We
have also had a higher number of students coming to the classes later on. I
guess that they saw the ads (and since it was a student paper, tango must
be something that students do). We did not make any money, since our
profits were used on the ads, but in the long run it probably is worth while.
But what I consider the most important, is not marketing through media but
the word of mouth. Our club works well, our classes are good, and we make
sure that all our members know about the upcoming beginnersclasses. And
given this postulate about about social bonds and sticking to tango, the
people who know somebody in the club before they come, know what they are
coming to and have already these sosial bonds that make it easier to stay.
("haven't seen you at tango in a long time, are you coming tonight?")
So my advice would be:
1) make sure that people have good time socially. If the club is good,
people will want to bring their friends there too.
2) Do not market tango as sexy or exotic. This is done enough by
journalists. People will get disapointed, and you probably do not want to
attract those people who come to tango _only_ to get laid.
3) Try to market the social side of tango, unless you are running a
showtango group. The social aspect is actually quite facinating, and many
journalist get a kick when they 'discover' a new side about tango, because
it gives them something to new write about. (the journalists love personal
stories, so try to think of some: find a member who has has a nice
experience to share.) This will help you to attract the people you want.
4) In the class: spend time on the social skills (asking for a dance,
finishing a dance, refusing an invitation, making comments, setting
boundaries for intimacy etc). Tango is a social dance, and it is the
teacher's responsibility to socialize the beginners into good habits. In
our club we measure a teachers success in his students long-term
stayer-rate. (the goal is 2 out of 10 couples)
5) After the class: Make sure that the beginners meet the other
dansers. Make sure that the rest of your tango community is looking
forward to meet these beginners.
sincerely,
eero@bergentango.no
https://bergentango.no/festival
