Dance and Marketing
Jessica Jackson - 05.01.2011
What does advertising have to do with dance? On the surface, nothing.
But on closer examination, they have more in common than one may think.
Professional ballerina Lenore Pavlakos once said:
"After I perform, I hope the audience is excited, inspired, and taken away from their everyday grind or work. Perhaps even inspired enough to get up and dance themselves."
Dance is infectious, inspiring and invigorating.
Done right, so is advertising.
Great advertising excites our audience, moves them, and captures their attention enough so that they are taken away from their everyday grind—even if only for a minute. Both advertising and dance, when done well, tug at the heartstrings, invoke emotion and leave you feeling like you've experienced something beyond a choreographed salsa dance or well-written commercial.
So as an advertising professional, what can we learn from dance?
1) Be sincere
No one will trust something that isn't authentic. An audience can recognize when you are genuine, so believe in yourself and your product.
2) Know your audience
You wouldn't perform ballet at a hip hop venue—that's not what people are there to see—so when marketing to your target audience, treat them the same way. Get to know them, figure out what they can relate to, what they enjoy, and what makes them tick.
3) Do something different
Excite and surprise your audience, do the unexpected, slay some sacred cows. Make them remember you.
4) Be afraid to fall, but do it anyway
It's ok to stumble when you're reaching for new heights. It's when we push beyond fear that we accomplish greatness.
Reflecting on the similarities between dance and advertising opened my eyes to what drives me in my career; it was a reminder that I should face my day with passion, and if nothing else, have fun!
