Second Draft of Article
(This is an article for the magazine "Orlando Lifestyles" I have to write due March 20)
SECOND DRAFT:
(Thanks Ed!)
"I just thought there was a better way to get the word out."
Mark Baratelli (markbaratelli.com) gives this as the main reason for creating what he calls a "marketing web" for his entry into the 2006 Orlando Fringe Festival, Improv Cabaret. "Fringe shows usually have a poster, some handbills and word of mouth. I wanted to build the word of mouth before the festival through viral and nontraditional marketing," says Baratelli. The web he refers to includes a blog, podcast and myspace profile, all relatively new and inexpensive ways for a Fringe producer to spread the word about his show.
The show's eponymous blog (improvcabaret.blogspot.com) is a fun, weekly-updated site featuring all the ins-and-outs of constructing a one-man musical show in which Baratelli improvises all the characters, plots and songs, all to a professional pianist's accompaniment.
"I share everything, from the triumph of a really good rehearsal to the disaster of, say, failing to reserve a rehearsal space for a week."
But Baratelli doesn't just type up his weekly show updates, he also records audio versions. …In his car?
"I subscribe to a service that enables me to call in instant audio posts from my car. So whenever I get the itch to share, I can record an update. And yeah, it usually happens in the car. I hate driving."
Ok, so he has a blog with weekly written and recorded updates. But wait… there's more.
Baratelli also posts audio and video clips from his rehearsals on the blog. "The show is hard to explain, so I wanted to show people what it was about, rather than try to describe it." He generally uses a Mac Powerbook with an add-on microphone to make the recordings, but he has other methods to capture the magic.
"One day I didn't have my computer with me, so I improvised. I wore an earpiece connected to my phone, hid the phone in my pocket and recorded the entire scene with the service I mentioned earlier. When I got home I went to the blog and there was the audio!"
"And once you have the audio," Baratelli notes, "you can re-use it forever and everywhere." He turned it into a podcast. Not familiar with the medium? Baratelli: "A podcast is just another way to get audio. You subscribe to a show and receive updates automatically. Download iTunes and try it out. Most of the general population seems to have missed the podcast trend so far, but a growing number of techno-literate young people have embraced it. A large portion SAK's audience is high school and college age. I figured if they catch me at SAK and like what they see, they could go online and find the blog and all and give the podcast a listen."
When Baratelli refers to SAK, he means the Orlando institution known as the SAK Comedy Lab. (sak.com) "I love SAK. And the younger audience members go online after the shows and search for information about the performers. I realized this when I got messages from them on my myspace pages (myspace.com/improvcabaret and
myspace.com/markbaratelli).
Ahh, the ubiquitous myspace. "Myspace is an essential part of the Improv Cabaret marketing web—it's the absolute epicenter of internet life for that young demographic. I have the audio there as well as links to the blog and podcast. Users can place my songs on their myspace pages, and then their visitors can hear them. Total viral saturation."
The blog, the podcast, myspace, saturation...are you keeping up? With all this nontraditional marketing going on, it's surprising Baratelli pursued traditional outlets at all. He explains, "I needed traditional to get the word out beyond the online web I'd created. I sent press releases to newspapers and magazines and placed an ad in a local theater program for their March musical with links to my online presence. And that show is selling out most of its shows, which I expected after seeing the excellent original production in New York City. That was a smart investment for me."
Beyond marketing to potential audience members, Baratelli hopes to reach other improv performers like him. "I definitely want to connect with the national improv community. As far as I know, there isn't any improv show like mine around. There are musical improv shows with multiple cast members; there are one-man non-musical improv shows, but to my knowledge there are no one-man musical improv shows.
Mark Baratelli concedes that all this marketing could add come to nothing if his show is anything less than top notch.
"Beth Marshall, director of the Fringe, told me that in a workshop, and I believe it. My first priority is the quality of the show. The marketing, though important, comes second. But to be honest, the marketing is for me as much fun to create as is putting the show together."
Improv Cabaret plays at the Orlando Fringe Festival in the Blue Venue at the
Orlando Shakespeare Center on the following dates: 5/20-2:25pm, 5/21-5pm,
5/22-8:25pm, 5/24-6:15pm, 5/25-9:45pm, 5/27-3:45pm, 5/28-12noon
SECOND DRAFT:
(Thanks Ed!)
"I just thought there was a better way to get the word out."
Mark Baratelli (markbaratelli.com) gives this as the main reason for creating what he calls a "marketing web" for his entry into the 2006 Orlando Fringe Festival, Improv Cabaret. "Fringe shows usually have a poster, some handbills and word of mouth. I wanted to build the word of mouth before the festival through viral and nontraditional marketing," says Baratelli. The web he refers to includes a blog, podcast and myspace profile, all relatively new and inexpensive ways for a Fringe producer to spread the word about his show.
The show's eponymous blog (improvcabaret.blogspot.com) is a fun, weekly-updated site featuring all the ins-and-outs of constructing a one-man musical show in which Baratelli improvises all the characters, plots and songs, all to a professional pianist's accompaniment.
"I share everything, from the triumph of a really good rehearsal to the disaster of, say, failing to reserve a rehearsal space for a week."
But Baratelli doesn't just type up his weekly show updates, he also records audio versions. …In his car?
"I subscribe to a service that enables me to call in instant audio posts from my car. So whenever I get the itch to share, I can record an update. And yeah, it usually happens in the car. I hate driving."
Ok, so he has a blog with weekly written and recorded updates. But wait… there's more.
Baratelli also posts audio and video clips from his rehearsals on the blog. "The show is hard to explain, so I wanted to show people what it was about, rather than try to describe it." He generally uses a Mac Powerbook with an add-on microphone to make the recordings, but he has other methods to capture the magic.
"One day I didn't have my computer with me, so I improvised. I wore an earpiece connected to my phone, hid the phone in my pocket and recorded the entire scene with the service I mentioned earlier. When I got home I went to the blog and there was the audio!"
"And once you have the audio," Baratelli notes, "you can re-use it forever and everywhere." He turned it into a podcast. Not familiar with the medium? Baratelli: "A podcast is just another way to get audio. You subscribe to a show and receive updates automatically. Download iTunes and try it out. Most of the general population seems to have missed the podcast trend so far, but a growing number of techno-literate young people have embraced it. A large portion SAK's audience is high school and college age. I figured if they catch me at SAK and like what they see, they could go online and find the blog and all and give the podcast a listen."
When Baratelli refers to SAK, he means the Orlando institution known as the SAK Comedy Lab. (sak.com) "I love SAK. And the younger audience members go online after the shows and search for information about the performers. I realized this when I got messages from them on my myspace pages (myspace.com/improvcabaret and
myspace.com/markbaratelli).
Ahh, the ubiquitous myspace. "Myspace is an essential part of the Improv Cabaret marketing web—it's the absolute epicenter of internet life for that young demographic. I have the audio there as well as links to the blog and podcast. Users can place my songs on their myspace pages, and then their visitors can hear them. Total viral saturation."
The blog, the podcast, myspace, saturation...are you keeping up? With all this nontraditional marketing going on, it's surprising Baratelli pursued traditional outlets at all. He explains, "I needed traditional to get the word out beyond the online web I'd created. I sent press releases to newspapers and magazines and placed an ad in a local theater program for their March musical with links to my online presence. And that show is selling out most of its shows, which I expected after seeing the excellent original production in New York City. That was a smart investment for me."
Beyond marketing to potential audience members, Baratelli hopes to reach other improv performers like him. "I definitely want to connect with the national improv community. As far as I know, there isn't any improv show like mine around. There are musical improv shows with multiple cast members; there are one-man non-musical improv shows, but to my knowledge there are no one-man musical improv shows.
Mark Baratelli concedes that all this marketing could add come to nothing if his show is anything less than top notch.
"Beth Marshall, director of the Fringe, told me that in a workshop, and I believe it. My first priority is the quality of the show. The marketing, though important, comes second. But to be honest, the marketing is for me as much fun to create as is putting the show together."
Improv Cabaret plays at the Orlando Fringe Festival in the Blue Venue at the
Orlando Shakespeare Center on the following dates: 5/20-2:25pm, 5/21-5pm,
5/22-8:25pm, 5/24-6:15pm, 5/25-9:45pm, 5/27-3:45pm, 5/28-12noon
posted by The Daily City® at
12:56 AM
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