Dossier

Truth in Advertising: The Emotional Promise | Drew Hodges | TEDxBroadway

The speaker argues that successful marketing relies on creating and delivering a powerful "emotional promise" to the audience, citing experiences with shows like *Rent* and *Chicago*. He defines the "event" as how a guest recommends a project in positive terms and warns that if this promise is not true, word-of-mouth will fail, causing consumers to default to the negative "non-event."

## Speakers & Context
- Speaker: Unnamed individual, an expert in entertainment graphic design and marketing.
- Context: Reflecting on the evolution of theatrical marketing, particularly the power of emotional connection over mere factual selling points.
- Specific Context: The speaker cites the period after 9/11, where Broadway was used to send a message of resilience to the public.

## Theses & Positions
- The primary goal of advertising is to sell an *emotional promise*, not just a product or show itself.
- A successful show's advertising must deliver the same emotion the show itself provides night after night.
- The "event" is defined as how a guest recommends the project to another potential ticket buyer in positive terms.
- The most critical rule in marketing is that the advertised promise *must* be true and deliverable by the show.
- The "non-event" is the lowest common denominator—the worst thing people will say about a project—and marketers must actively prevent this by crafting a true "event."
- Marketing to everyone is marketing to no one.

## Concepts & Definitions
- **Emotional Promise:** The core feeling or experience that advertising must capture and that the show must ultimately deliver to the audience.
- **Event:** The metric by which a guest recommends a project (show, story, etc.) to another potential ticket buyer in positive terms.
- **Non-event:** The lowest common denominator; the thing a marketer would least like someone to say about the project.

## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Marketing process:**
    1. Know the specific audience.
    2. Define the selling point by listing all existing assets.
    3. Re-arrange assets in order of strength.
    4. Consider built-in negatives from the start.
    5. *Most important step:* Ensure the promise is true and deliverable.
- **The "Emotional Heat" Capture:** The goal when designing branding was to capture the intangible emotional energy rather than just visible elements (like the cast).
- **The Failure Case (Big Fish):** Analyzing what *could* have been marketed (great reviews, specific characters, love story, Tim Burton film adaptation, etc.) versus what was chosen, and concluding that none were quite right.

## Timeline & Sequence
- **High School:** Memory recalling visiting the local library in **1977** to look at *New York Times* ads for concerts, which represented an *"emotional promise"* of communal excitement.
- **1996:** Received calls after working in entertainment graphic design for clients including **Swatch**, **Watts**, and **MTV**; began working on the *Rent* logo.
- **Pre-*Chicago* Marketing:** Faced the challenge of marketing *Chicago* with outrageous Broadway ticket prices of **$75** during the era of "swinging chandeliers and gondolas in the fog."
- **2011:** Standing with producer **Margo Lion** while watching a run-through of *Catch Me If You Can*, leading to the speaker becoming obsessed with the term "event."
- **Post-9/11:** Collaborating with colleagues to create a television commercial for Broadway to signal that "business was alive and well."

## Named Entities
- **Wendy Wasserstein** — Playwright who was present when the speaker got tickets for *Rent*.
- **Jeffrey Seller, Kevin Macomb** — Producers involved with the marketing and creation of *Rent*.
- **Barry and Fran Wiesler** — Producers invited the speaker to work on *Chicago*.
- **Jonathan Larson** — Figure whose sudden tragic loss was mentioned as a potential marketing angle for *Rent*.
- **Margo Lion** — Producer with whom the speaker was watching *Catch Me If You Can* in **2011**.
- **Tim Burton** — Mentioned in relation to a potential film adaptation of *Big Fish*.
- **Michael Adler** — Broadway marketing friend who advised that marketing to everyone is marketing to no one.

## Tools, Tech & Products
- *New York Times* — Source for concert advertisements.
- *Swatch*, *Watts*, *MTV* — Clients for graphic design work prior to *Rent*.
- **Black-and-white fashion photography** — The chosen visual marketing style for *Chicago*.
- **Television commercial** — The final marketing effort after 9/11 for Broadway.

## Examples & Cases
- **Initial Inspiration:** Buying *New York Times* tickets in **1977** for concerts, representing the *"emotional promise"* of the big city.
- ***Rent* Marketing Decision:** The speaker successfully argued against marketing to the rock and roll fan, insisting *Rent* was a true Broadway musical needing an emotional appeal to existing musical lovers.
- ***Chicago* Marketing:** Successfully countering the potential narrative of "the Jailhouse plot" by focusing on the aesthetic and glamour, ultimately settling on black-and-white fashion photography.
- **The Event Definition:** *Catch Me If You Can* in **2011** provided the clarifying moment for the speaker regarding the term "event."
- ***Big Fish* Marketing Analysis:** Examining potential angles—including reviews, anger, death, leading performances by **Norbert Leo Butz**, and a love story—and recognizing the failure to define the core draw.
- **The Broadway Resilience Campaign:** The effort to film a commercial in **Times Square** with all Broadway performers dressed in full costume, signaling that the art form was alive after the attacks.

## Numbers & Data
- Year of initial observation: **1977**.
- Year of *Rent* work: **1996**.
- Broadway ticket price cited for *Chicago*: **$75**.
- Year of *Catch Me If You Can* observation: **2011**.
- Performance run length cited for *Big Fish*: **132** performances.

## References Cited
- **Broadway** — The overall industry/place of work.
- **Broadway marketing friends** — Colleagues/peers in the industry.
- **Lynn** — Person quoted regarding the hip-hop/history divide.
- **Fran Weisser** — Person who said, *"charm equals boring."*

## Counterarguments & Caveats
- **Potential *Rent* market failure:** The risk of selling *Rent* to the rock and roll fan instead of the dedicated musical theatre audience.
- **Initial *Chicago* advertising suggestion:** That the show could be marketed as "the sexy black of the overall show" or the revival of a flop.
- **The *Big Fish* ambiguity:** The realization that many potential marketing angles (like the leading performance by **Norbert Leo Butz**) were insufficient on their own.
- **Michael Adler's advice:** *"marketing to everyone is marketing to no one."*

## Methodology
- **Observation and Analysis:** The speaker builds his argument by analyzing past marketing campaigns (Broadway ads, *Chicago*, *Rent*).
- **Definition Crystallization:** Defining "event" through direct interaction with industry peers (*Margo Lion* in **2011**).
- **Elimination/Synthesis:** Systematically ruling out weaker marketing angles (*Big Fish*) to arrive at the core principle of emotional fidelity.

## Conclusions & Recommendations
- The ultimate goal is to create an "emotional promise" that is authentic to the art form and that the advertising *must* sustain night after night.
- If this promise is executed, the resulting word-of-mouth will be strong.
- The speaker recommends the theatrical community (and by extension, any endeavor) build its narrative around a verifiable, positive, and emotionally resonant core "event."

## Implications & Consequences
- In the wake of disaster (like **9/11**), the cultural spectacle of Broadway could be leveraged as a powerful, highly visible symbol of national and civic resilience.
- The longevity of an art form depends on its ability to transfer a consistent, positive emotional promise across time and varying cultural contexts.

## Verbatim Moments
- *"These ads held for me what I like to haul call an emotional promise."*
- *"let's not sell rent to the rock and roll fan because that's not what rent is rents a true Broadway musical."*
- *"what is the question that you are left with? What is it that you want to know?"* (Implied moment of revelation, asking what the underlying question is.)
- *"an event is how a guest recommends your project your show your visiting your story to another potential ticket buyer in positive terms."*
- *"if you don't create your own event one that is true powerful delivers an emotional promise and it's easily transferred from one person to the next then your consumer will default to the non-event."*
- *"Broadway was the face of New York City if not the country and the best way to send a message that business was alive and well here was to bring a message of a resurgent Great White Way."*
- *"a promise of truth and advertising"*