Talk to me about…all-things performing-arts?

This week, veritable performing arts marketing *celebrity* Thomas Cott on what it’s like to work for one of the few international dance brands, the when and where’s of publicist self-promotion, and being a jack of all trades.

Thomas Cott is the Director of Marketing for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, currently celebrating its 50th Anniversary. He has worked on approximately 120 plays and musicals for Broadway and Off-Broadway houses, as well as on 40 opera productions in New York. He is a founding staff member of Lincoln Center Theater, working there for its first 18 seasons. Similary, Cott recently consulted for two other Lincoln Center constituents: The Metropolitan Opera and New York City Opera. As an independent producer and management consultant, he has worked with The New 42nd Street, New York City Ballet, the New York Public Library and Paper Mill Playhouse, among others. He distributes a daily e-newsletter on arts marketing called “You’ve Cott Mail“. Additional information can be found on his website.

When someone told me about your newsletter, I was first struck by the fact that you have a website. Not a website advertising your services as an independent publicist/consultant/producer (though I’m sure it also serves that purpose), but an informational website like an artist would have. You even have a press clippings! So meta. Do you think, ideally, all industry professionals should have websites? Something I’ve also been thinking about a lot: should critics have websites?
 
Actually, when I first set up my website back in 2004, its sole purpose was to be an electronic resumé.  I was looking for work and thought having a website would be more effective than a paper document to show the full breadth of my experience.  I ended up consulting for the next four years and I kept adding information and even press clippings to keep track of the projects I did.  Although I never advertised my services as a consultant, I did tag the bottom of each day’s edition of “You’ve Cott Mail” with my web address to help drive traffic to my site and I definitely got some consulting work as a result. 
 
However, I don’t think most industry professionals need a personal website–it’s useful for an artist or other independent contractor looking for work and it can also be a platform for arts professionals with something worthwhile to say.  I personally enjoy the blogs created by critics–who are already writers by trade–such as Chris Jones of The Chicago Tribune, Alex Ross from The New Yorker, the London-based Mark Shenton or The Wall Street Journal’s Terry Teachout.

What are the most effective ways independent publicists and PR people at arts organizations can market themselves and advance their own careers?

I don’t think PR people who are full-time employees of an arts organization should be in the business of marketing themselves.   Their business is to promote their organization.  That said, because this is a relatively small world, if someone does a great PR job as a staffer, their industry colleagues will undoubtedly know who is responsible. 
 
Independent publicists are in a different position.  Since they constantly need to look for their next assignment, creating a website to showcase successful campaigns and client testimonials is an easy and inexpensive way to self-promote.  Or they might do something less hard-sell, like networking through LinkedIn and Facebook or by writing a blog like yours about industry news and trends (and become a valued resource in the process).  
 

How is a successful publicity campaign different from a successful marketing campaign?  What’s more important for an organization: good publicity or good marketing?

The impact of a successful publicity campaign is harder to measure than a successful marketing campaign, but that doesn’t make it any less important to an arts organization or individual production.  While they’re both hard to do well, I think it may be a bit more difficult for publicists, since there are fewer traditional media outlets than there used to be and less space available in the mainstream press that still covers the arts. 
 
When I first started out 25 years ago, PR and marketing were often done by the same person.  These jobs now require separate skills, although both have had to adapt to an era in which the audience plays a more central role in disseminating the latest news, reviewing productions and even generating direct ticket sales.  The most successful publicists and marketers are the ones who have moved on from ‘this is the way we’ve always done it.’
 

On your website homepage, you define yourself as a “producer, artistic director, marketer, fundraiser, strategic planner, writer, editor, graphic designer, event planner, arts educator and management consultant”, and you actually have extremely prestigious credits to support each of those labels (and you don’t look 95 in your photo!). In 2009, is it essential to have a wide-range of specialties? Have people been equally successful in the marketing/PR realm with just one X-Man skill?

Well, thanks for saying I don’t look 95.  (Ah, the magic of Photoshop.) 
 
I do not think it is essential to have had the wide range of jobs I’ve had to become a successful marketer.   I realize I’m a bit of an oddity, because I’ve done nearly every kind of job in the performing arts.  I just never thought of myself as solely a marketing guy, and I’ve been fortunate to have had lots of different opportunities.
 
Don’t get me wrong.  I think arts marketing is a great gig, and it’s a job I’ve done many times.  But I like to take a more holistic view whenever I can.  Also, because I started out on the artistic side, my orientation has always been to put the art first and figure out how to sell it second.  While I agree filling every seat is important, I think filling them with an audience who is connected to the work on stage is even more valuable.  It’s the best way I know to build brand loyalty, promote repeat business and solicit financial support for the arts.

 
You distribute a free daily newsletter – You’ve Cott Mail – which I enjoy very much, and which now has thousands of readers. When did you start the newsletter? Where did those readers come from? Have you considered selling ads?

The roots of “You’ve Cott Mail” go back about a decade.  I’ve always been a media junkie and so when I found interesting stories I thought my friends might have missed, I would send them around via email.  As often happens with these things, they would forward my emails to their friends or colleagues, and some of those folks would email me and ask to be added to my distribution.  Like that old shampoo commercial, they told two friends and they told two friends and suddenly I had hundreds of people on my list.  I began to do these emails on a daily basis, and the sheer volume of emails (I used to send each story out individually) became too much.  So I switched to the current format: one email each weekday with usually 4-5 stories in a digest form plus a hyperlink to the full text of the articles. 
 

I’ve never charged for the service and I’ve never considered selling ads — although if the list grows too much bigger, I may have to rethink that!  (The cost of this little hobby has grown now that I’m using a commercial email service to deliver YCM.)  That said, I don’t have a need for it to become a business; I like the fact that I’m doing it because it’s fun for me and I can walk away if that changes. 
 
Nevertheless, people do become attached to these daily emails.  When I took short breaks in the past, I would get worried messages, asking if everything was okay when they hadn’t heard from me.  Now when I take a vacation or work intervenes, I make sure to send out a notification to the list as to when they can expect the next edition of YCM.
 
I’m fascinated by how the readership has grown, especially in the last year or so.  It used to be just a small number of New York theater people.  Now the list includes people from every aspect of the performing arts–in places around the world, from Australia to Europe.   Because of this, I have expanded the scope of the articles I send around, but the essential nature of YCM has never changed: it’s still just me at my computer in the morning, looking to share interesting stories about the arts I think most people on my list would not have otherwise seen.

What was it like to go from being a freelance consultant to having a day-job at Alvin Ailey?

Oh, I am so much happier at Ailey.  I never wanted to be a freelance worker.  I much prefer having a staff job, to have the chance to build relationships with a board, staff, artists and audiences (something you rarely get to do as a consultant) and invest in one company’s mission.     
 
One of the things that drew me to Ailey is its mission to use the beauty and humanity of the African-American heritage and other cultures to unite people of all races, ages and backgrounds.  Even before I arrived at the Ailey organization, I marveled at the company’s ability to affect the lives of a huge, diverse audience through its performances by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Ailey II, the professional training offered by the Ailey School, the adult classes at the Ailey Extension, and arts-in-education programs and summer camps for underserved youth. 
 
And I feel lucky to have joined Ailey for its 50th Season, which has been marked by so many memorable celebrations.  Our golden anniversary has been given even deeper resonance with the election of the country’s first African-American president.  We were honored that, on his first night out since arriving at the White House, Barack Obama brought his family to see the Ailey dancers perform at the Kennedy Center a few weeks ago.

I saw a photo of Alvin Ailey himself dancing the other day, and I had this rather embarrassing personal moment of “Oh, right: he was a real person.” It was very odd, but in my mind Alvin Ailey, as in, Alvin Ailey Dance Theater is such a brand now, that it’s easy to forget its origins. How is having international brand recognition like that a blessing? A curse?

The Ailey ‘brand’ is indeed known internationally, but even as it has grown from a small company to become a leader in its field, the organization Mr. Ailey started in 1958 has never strayed from his core beliefs.  We still adhere to his credo that “dance came from the people and it should always be delivered back to the people.”  Having brand recognition only makes it easier to make his vision a reality.

As Director of Marketing, are you responsible for worldwide marketing as well when the Company is on tour? If so, what is it like to market a commodity you know extremely well to a consumer-base you may not be as familiar with? Are there local marketing/PR consultants on the ground, so to speak?

In addition to all of our New York-based activities, I am responsible for making sure that all of the venues where Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Ailey II perform around the world adhere to our general practices and use our approved marketing materials.  Likewise, Ailey’s Director of Public Relations, Christopher Zunner, coordinates with local presenters on their PR activities.  There are a handful of cities where we have direct involvement in the marketing and PR campaigns but, everywhere else, these efforts are managed by the local presenter, who knows her or his community best.

When you took the job last summer, what were your goals for Alvin Ailey? Without revealing you own X-Man skills, how have you set out to achieve them?

I can tell you what my goal wasn’t when I first joined Ailey.  I didn’t see any great need to reinvent the wheel at Ailey.  The company has been well-marketed in the past and my chief goal was to sustain their high level of achievement.  Of course, the battered economy has made it a harder environment for all arts organizations, but so far, the Ailey audience has rallied behind us during these difficult times.  Of course, there is always room for growth and improvement.  One of my big projects right now is overseeing a new company-wide plan to make better use of technology to engage and serve our audiences.  That project is going to roll out over the next four years and I’m excited about all the possibilities.