Here’s a couple of summarized takeaways from the article, The Business of Phish:

Over the past 4 years Phish has generated $120 million in ticket sales, yet by more typical measures of a band’s success (album sales – Phish’s are minuscule, Billboard Top 10 rankings – none, radio airplay – limited, hit songs – out of the 883 songs Phish has performed none have been hits, and music videos – they only have one and that was heavily mocked)  the band isn’t popular at all.

“Phish doesn’t make money by selling music. They make money by selling live music, and that, it turns out, is a more durable business model.”

The lessons that Phish’s success offers to business owners, CEOs and Marketing professionals are fundamental, yet brilliant.  Their success as a band and as a profitable enterprise should be discussed in every business school in the country; it’s pure genius.

Here are the 10 business lessons that Phish’s success teaches us:

1. Don’t be afraid to build a business or revenue model that plays to your strengths, even if it’s non-conventional.

2. When opportunities don’t present themselves in a timely manner take calculated risks.

3. Slowly, organically build your audience. Be willing to gain a following slowly, steadily, one fan/customer a time.  Look for a place to start your business where it will be relatively easy to get it going.

4. Bootstrap if you can.  Don’t be in a rush to get third-party investors.  You will have more control over things and can do things your own way when you don’t have to please others.

5. Work harder and create a superior product.  As Malcom Gladwell notes: “Deliberate practice” to achieve virtuoso status explains genius.

6. Take the time and put forth the effort to learn how to work together effectively as a team.

7. Don’t just deliver content, engage your audience with it.  Create opportunities for your fans/customers to get together and have fun.

8. Create unique, not boiler-plate products, services and experiences.  When your fans/customers realize that they could miss out on something unique and special they won’t want to miss it.

9. Encourage and reward fan sharing.

10. You will be more profitable if you maximize the value of your existing fans/customers rather than always having to chase after and depend on new ones for your ongoing success. Cater to your existing fans/customers.

“Phish is wildly eclectic, endlessly resourceful, and ever unpredictable, They were at the forefront of a movement, an organic alternative to the mainstream status quo that caught the imagination of millions.“

Now wouldn’t you like to say the same for your company?

For more on how Phish lived and prospered from these lessons, be sure to check out the complete The Business of Phish article.

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“Advertising has always been putting the general public in buckets. Women 25-34 this and men 35-55 that. Advertisers put us in buckets, too. They do some quick demographic research on my target consumer and think they know my business. They throw out some slick, fancy artwork with clever words on it and think Iâ€m impressed.”

His chief complaint was the agencies heâ€d dealt with failed to accomplish what smart agencies consider perhaps the most important step: getting to know the client.

Last week I accompanied several members of Doe Andersonâ€s creative team and client services staff on an outing designed to get to know one of our clients. Weâ€ve had the pleasure of working with Knob Creek, one of the Beam Global brands of spirits, for several years now. A new creative project is coming up and was ready for kicking off. Perry Baldwin, our Sr. VP and strategic planning guru, decided the project was the perfect opportunity to haul everyone down to the distillery for a reminder (and for a couple new creatives, a primer) of exactly who weâ€re representing.

So, instead of sitting in a conference room going over a creative brief with the Knob Creek brand manager piped in over the phone, we all took a little field trip, the lovely Paige Guzman (Knob Creek brand manager) included, toured the distillery and met in the Knob Creek House, a guest house/meeting facility on the Beam property.

During our lunch break, I asked Perry and Ray Radford, our resident expert on just about anything having to do with marketing, whiskey or both, about the importance of such a visit.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHbDK7vgCxE[/youtube]

You can also check out some pictures we took below or on Flickr.

The end result of the day wonâ€t come to fruition for a while, but weâ€re more apt to get it right the first time if we capture the soul of the brand at the onset.

As for my friendâ€s notion, I only told him one of the first things Ray Radford ever told me about advertising. “Youâ€re a lot smarter if you start out with the belief there does not exist a 25-34-year-old anything.”

[tags]marketing, advertising, Doe Anderson, client, client service, effective marketing, how to[/tags]

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