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Pro-Audio Pro-Motion

What all winning studios have in common is an intense desire to serve their clients. Some use advertisements to spread the word to potential customers about their individual services. Some use direct mail to explain why their studios are best. Others utilize public relations strategies or are adept at socializing and promoting their facilities personally to likely clients.

All agree that once they attract clients, they want to provide them with full service—everything necessary to keep the customer happy, from digital editing to duplication. They are willing and anxious to subcontract those services that they are not prepared to provide, so they can be a “one-stop shop” for their clientele. One studio owner I discussed this with said: “Our goal is to attract and keep customers by doing things that will make them want to come back—and also to refer others to us.” Another said, “From the beginning, we learned that word of mouth would be the backbone of our studio's growth.”

A sharp businessman once said: “Marketing is really a collective understanding of the four P's: Product, Price, Positioning and Promotion.” “Product” is the output of professional audio services. “Price” is the studio's challenge to analyze the project correctly and then charge a price that adequately rewards for work well done, as well as providing a fair profit for the facility. “Positioning” is the studio's search for its product niche to provide specific services to the marketplace, of a higher quality and/or at a better price than their competition. Last, but not least, is “Promotion.”

When looking at a studio in its particular market sector, consider the image that it sends out to clients. Is the studio professional? Is it top of the line or a discount bottom feeder? Do they charge a fair price for their services? Do clients have fun when they work there? Is there adequate parking and 24-hour access for picking up and delivering materials, as well as a congenial staff ready to answer questions and receive information?

Promotion is the activity of making potential clients aware of the studio's special value (equipment and environment), its personnel, and its latest hits and the clients who produced them. This is accomplished through advertising in its various forms, publicity in all applicable media, and one-on-one verbal communication—that is, “hanging out” with the client base or anyone else who may lead the way to customers.

One simple tried and true promotion is giving out T-shirts, hats, and other “swag” that has your company logo emblazoned on it. When clients wear what you have given them, it becomes an implicit endorsement for your company. I will never forget seeing a Rolling Stones live television concert where Mick Jagger wore a Record Plant T-shirt. The telephone did not stop ringing for weeks!

Why not hold an open house in conjunction with local trade groups and associations such as NARAS (the Grammy people), MPGA (the Music Producers Guild), SPARS (Society of Audio Recording Services), and the AES (Audio Engineering Society) for conferences and tours? Even an open house for friends, personnel, and their family and neighbors provides excitement—everyone is curious about what goes on inside a recording studio and wants to personally see the action.

You can be a hero by having your open house presented by a local charity, which will then make all of the arrangements so that you and your staff are not burdened with that task. Also, new product introductions and demonstrations with local pro audio dealers and national manufacturers are a very effective way to show off your facility and personnel. By boosting the guest list with your clientele, you will show everyone the excitement of your facility.

Understanding how the four P's work together to create greater possibilities for your facility provides the cohesive factor for success. You might look at it as not selling studio time, per se, but instead creating an environment for original music and other audio services to fit your clients’ specific needs, with the studio acting as a means to accomplish that end. Every time a potential client calls your studio and asks for information, you should consider it an opportunity to market your business.

Differentiate yourself from other studios by emphasizing how you can solve problems and fulfill your promises to provide the finest services available. Your goal is to end up giving your clients more than they expect. That is how you keep them coming back. Do not try to convince clients that they want what you sell; instead, strive to provide the audio services that your clients are seeking. Our industry is without doubt a highly competitive “buyer's market.” If you want to be a winner, you must approach your promotional efforts with that in mind.

Many studios rely heavily on their reputation and their strong belief in the value of customer service. Some employ an outside salesperson who is responsible for making contact with potential clients and convincing them that their studio is the place to do the clients’ projects. Most pursue their client contacts by telephone, in person, and by means of a color brochure showing the attributes of their facility, which they distribute to potential clients. They also advertise and publicize themselves and their clients in local and national music business trade publications, as well as utilizing the local telephone company Yellow Pages. In the past few years, a stylish Web site has become an important marketing tool.

Many successful studios have developed mailing lists that encompass their geographical market area, culled from their client list and trade publication directories of clients and individuals who might wish to utilize their services. This is followed by regular mailings of photographs and news from the studio about who is working there (never publicized until after the client has completed the project), new equipment purchases, and so on. Don't forget, the recording and music industry trade magazines are always hungry for news. Make it a point to send out news about what is going on at your studio.

To win the race for the best clients and the profitability that follows, you must consider yourself to be equal to or better than the competing studios in your area. Many studio owners feel that diversification is the key to marketing success. They consider the sound of their studios to be their competitive edge in marketing, because of its effect on the quality of the client's product.

I found when I started the Record Plant that the internal environment of our facility was almost as important as acoustic design. Back then, studios were white walls, hardwood floors, and fluorescent lighting. When you walked into one you might as well have been at your local hospital. We decided that our promotional advantage would be to present an environment so comfortable that the client would not want to leave at the end of his session. The “look and feel,” the pastel colors, exotic materials, dimmers on almost every light, elaborately furnished private lounges, beer for 25 cents from a vending machine, fish tanks, pinball games, and video machines welcomed the client to have some fun. We even had a Jacuzzi and a basketball court to take the clients’ minds off their work between performances. Interns, “gofers,” and “runners” ensured quick service to provide any type of take-out food and other requested amenities. Twenty-four-hour reception maintained a healthy “We are always here to serve you” attitude.

Private meeting rooms with free telephones for performing artists, management, creative contributors, and corporate clients were taken for granted. Our mission statement was clearly communicated. We believed that if we had the finest equipment, acoustics, and environment, then the performer and client had no excuse not to do their best possible creative work. The proof of that philosophy was the Top 100 Billboard chart in each control room, which rarely showed less than 10% having been recorded at Record Plant. We accented that feeling with the motto: “If you want to make a hit, record at the Record Plant.” It worked. Our walls were covered with Gold and Platinum Record Awards and other memorabilia dedicated to the Record Plant, which provided a recognized comfort level and presented a challenge to new clients to meet the test of peer success—getting their award on our wall next to the others.

All studio owners must be promoters. They are out there all of the time hanging out, selling their studio, and explaining why it is the best available spot in town. Yes! Nothing beats personal contact. A studio owner must get out of that chair in his comfortable office and talk to his present and potential clients wherever he must go to find them. He is the reason they are at his studio instead of the one down the street. His driving personality and the unbeatable energy of his staff are the beacon that keeps the clients coming back—and maintains the studio's success. Marketing works.