Do what you say on the tin.

‘Hands up who has ever been sold something that sounded amazing and then when it actually got to it, was nothing like it said it was going to be?’ - that’s what I asked my Training Program cohort this morning, a bunch of teenage dancers from all across the UK.

Unsprisingly they all came up with something. A couple that stood out were; A European city break that had been romatised on social media. GCSE dance, with the promise of trips that never materialised. There were a couple of masterclasses and workshops mentioned, of course DWC came up but in general they were quite savvy to what marketing was doing building things up to what we want to see and they interestedly mentioned that their parents were the ones who were blind-sighted often.

I have seen two pieces of theatre in the last month.

FYI I enjoyed both.

1 a massive Westend show.

1 upcoming Fringe show.

Both I had been given opinions on before I’d even seen them, and whilst I’m all for people’s reviews, you have to take into account what the purpose/goal of the piece is, rather than saying ‘it’s not this or that’.

One of them did exactly what it said on the tin. Which whilst some people might not have understood for me it was well marketted and I knew what I was getting in for. The other one was garishly marketed and in all honesty, didn’t live up to its highly keywords, professional marketing blurb.

And I think this is the problem with some things in the dance world (and the real world too). Likely with normal people’ having access to using AI.

I put some prompts into ChatGPT.

Can you guess what they are?

‘Meet the one place everyone visits every day. Thoughtfully designed for comfort, style, and durability, it transforms a routine moment into a surprisingly enjoyable experience. Elegant lines. Effortless performance. Pure peace of mind.’

‘A harmonious blend of rich flavours, tender layers, and indulgent textures. Carefully crafted to satisfy cravings and create memorable moments around the table’

‘Designed for accuracy, comfort, and reliability, this grooming essential delivers professional results from the comfort of home’

Go on then?

A toilet, a lasagne, and toe nail clippers.

Now the problem isn’t the blurb. It’s when the product doesn’t match what it’s being sold as.

The toilet may be designed for durability . But if it limescales in 2 years - maybe not!

The lasagne may have tender layers - but if the edges haven’t cooked properly the pasta maybe crunchy.

The toenail clippers might be sharp but will your toes looks like they’ve had a pedicure at the salon?

And the same crosses into the below examples.

Don’t sell your dance event ‘with limited tickets’ and then oversubscribe it. The clients want an intimate experience which they see described, if it’s packed out it’s just the same as all the others.

Don’t sell your junior dance classes with a picture of your most elite dancer yet write ‘super fun’. Whilst some parents know that a baby dance class is skipping and picking flowers, you may attract the crazy dance mom who wants their daughter to train 15 hours a week at 4 and then complain she’s sent an email saying there’s too much play in the class.

And my final example is for competitions, if you are offering novice sections, police them, shift people who don’t follow your rules into open. Don’t pretend your there for the newbie dancer and then let the event turn into an elite event.

I finished my training program with asking the dancers to promise me if they create anything that they will market it accordingly and honestly - and I’d love you to do that today too, when you find you’re self using AI to use buzzwords or keywords to promote your product/class/event. I reminded them that the best form of marketing is word of mouth, and if you do exactly what you say you’re gonna do, people will be happy and tell others!