Who buys perfume on HSN?

Well…apparently I do. It’s hard to explain. I’m not a big infomercial shopper and I’ve never purchased anything off HSN. Well…until last Friday.

It’s so random. I came home from an early dinner and started flipping through the channels. This was strange way to start the night because I rarely watch live TV. There’s always something good in my DVR.

I flip to HSN and Kate Walsh is on promoting her perfume. I’m a big fan of hers. Loved her on Grey’s Anatomy, I follow her on Twitter and Facebook and her video blogs are really funny. Why would any of this make me think she knows anything about perfume? I don’t know but apparently she was very convincing.

She was so excited about all the notes and the high quality ingredients and how she didn’t just put her name on a perfume she started her own company and how the bottles are like little pieces of art and how it was such a great deal since it came with a little roller-ball, pressure-point applicator bottle thingy and free shipping!

So I bought a new perfume without trying it on or even smelling it. It’s called Billionaire Boyfriend which, if you know me, is even funnier that I bought it!

And yes it smells great! No buyer's remorse.

Facebook saved this kitty

This beautiful baby wandered into my yard one Saturday night during a party. She was super sweet and friendly and did not seem like a stray. I put food and water out for her. She came back Sunday and then disappeared Monday. My fellow cat owner friends thought she might be an indoor-outdoor kitty (a concept I don’t understand at all!) But then she returned on Tuesday.

It’s so easy to change the channel when the commercial comes on playing Sara McLachlan’s Angel and show’s all the homeless animals. It’s not so easy to ignore the sweetest kitty camping out on your back porch. I put out a kennel so she had a place to sleep, kept her in fresh food and water and spent time petting her each day.

I posted this picture on Facebook on multiple friends’ and neighborhood group sites. A girl in my neighborhood offered to foster her. She took her to a local vet and found out she was not micro-chipped, she fostered her for a few days and a friend ended up taking her. Facebook saved this kitty. How cool is that?

Idina Menzel Rocks Powell Hall!

So this past weekend I was lucky enough to have tickets to a sold out concert at Powell Hall featuring the amazing and stunning Idina Menzel performing with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. I’m sorry for everyone who missed this while watching the Bears and Packers.

She has a remarkable voice with unmatched power and range. She sings with every cell in her body. Plus she’s spunky, charming, funny and gorgeous.

You may have seen her in Glee, playing Rachel’s egg donor mom. She won the Tony Award for playing the green witch in Wicked. In her first big gig she originated the part of Maureen on Broadway in Rent. She was nominated for a Tony and then years later returned in the movie version. She also performed with Josh Groban in “Chess The Concert” in London. (I recommend all of these be added to your iTunes!)

She literally brought me to tears with “No Day but Today” from Rent and “Defying Gravity” from Wicked. The show stopper caused a standing ovation that easily lasted a minute. She told the audience how grateful she was for buying the tickets, selling out the show, all of us coming out in a snowstorm on football Sunday so she could live her dream of singing for a living. Then proceeded to sing “For Good” from Wicked with the line “But because I knew you, I have been changed for good.” Bawled again.

Clearly I am a huge fan of Idina Menzel and would have been devastated to miss this concert. This is a marketing case study for the value of social media, particularly Facebook.

To set the stage…I am on the SLSO’s mailing list. I’ve purchased individual tickets in the past, and I am a season ticket holder for the Maryville Speaker Series which is held at Powell. I seek out theater and live events. In the last four months I’ve seen Kathleen Turner in a play at the Rep (which is now headed to Broadway), seen Kathleen Madigan (the comedian from STL) at Ameristar, and my friend Lindsey Jones performed her own cabaret show at the Bistro Cabaret. In addition I was at Powell three times in Oct-Nov for the speaker series.

I have discretionary income that I actively seek to spend. I’m the perfect target audience for this kind of concert but I never noticed it promoted or advertised via traditional methods of signage at Powell, direct mail, print ads in the program books, online or e-mail. I have XM radio so missed any radio promo as well.

I had front row tickets to her concert at the Pageant a couple of years ago. Is it taboo for the SLSO to ask the Pageant for their mailing list? I’m sure there’s some way to cross promote. SLSO is running the Lord of the Rings movies with the orchestra playing the score live. I bet the Pageant has featured a band that appeals to the same LOTR fans, why not work together?

Luckily a friend posted in her Facebook status that she was so excited she just bought her tickets to the Idina Menzel concert. I immediately went online and bought my row E tickets. It was that simple. Who knows how much they spent advertising and promoting messages that I never saw! And a free FB post made the sale.

Before I started this blog entry I looked to see if SLSO or Powell had FB pages and immediately “Liked” them. In any of the mailings (e-mail or snail mail) I’ve received from the SLSO or the Speaker Series, I have never seen them ask to ‘follow’ them on FB! Every show includes a printed Play Bill or program. Nothing in there to ‘follow’ them either. (or if it’s there, I’ve never noticed!)

As a marketer, I am more and more fascinated by the power of social media and how we all connect. Personally I posted several times on Facebook about the concert and about the “Chess” CD I was listening to in anticipation of the concert. This triggered a friend to buy tix for the concert and buy the “Chess” DVD. I also found out, via my FB post, that another friend was going to the concert so we could meet up in person. I Tweeted about the concert and the SLSO began following me! And the photo above is from a FB post from this excited, nerdy girl!

Facebook, Twitter etc. only increases the thousands of distracting messages, ads and marketing we are exposed to so it’s even harder to ‘break through the clutter.” The power of word-of-mouth via social media can drive ticket sales, revenue or brand awareness. It’s a jackpot…if it gets through.