Over the weekend, I saw a very cool band play. They had a slightly unique “shtick” that I’d never seen anywhere else. To not embarrass them, or single ’em out, I’m not gonna say who they are. Anyway, at times, their shtick began to take away from their music. It was as if they had to make sure they got the gimmick represented at every opportunity. Soon enough, you weren’t paying attention to the music.
As marketers, we’re all very quick to talk about branding and consistency. While they’re totally valid concepts, too often we let them get in the way of our real goal — sales, revenue, message, product. So as this band over-displayed things that did nothing for their sound, the crowd began to lose interest and focus. At that point, you’ve lost the fans.
And when you lose the fans, nothing else matters …
Hey Scott,
Can you give us an idea of what the “Shtick” was? And an example of what they were doing that over-presented it?
The band’s shtick was to play multiple and random stringed instruments (6 string cello, violin, bouzouki/mandolin) — and to totally “rock out” during the performance. After a couple songs, the stage show took away from what was extremely impressive music.