How Handel’s Messiah Can Inspire Your Business’ Brand

How Handel’s Messiah Can Inspire Your Business’ Brand—With A STICKY IDEA

Years ago I had the pleasure of attending a Friends of Chamber Music program called, What Makes It Great with the Kansas City Symphony Chorus—conducted by high-energy music professor, Rob Kapilow (I swear he could be Opie Taylor’s double!) Kapilow and the chorus performed several versions of the Messiah, Hallelujah Chorus to demonstrate what makes it great—-and what makes it not so great. Handel wrote the Messiah near the end of his life as he was broke and his health was failing. But what does this have to do with building your business’ brand?

Just this…Kapilow demonstrated how Handel “could have” had the chorus sing, “Hallelujah”. They sang it in a monotone…”Hall-Le-lu-jah….with equal inflection on each phrase. It sounded like a droning and boring. But, in Handel’s time—a composer had ONE SHOT to make his reputation, his brand known. Kapilow called it the STICKY IDEA.

So, Handel—just like a business brand had to come up with something that would STICK. He had one opportunity to convince the king, audience, etc that his work was insanely great.

How did he do it? He had the chorus put quick—emphasis on the phrasing…”Hal-le-lu-jah! He then had them pause on the first phrase. and hold it out.”Haaaallllll….” with quick equal follow up…”le-lu-jah”. This added a quirky, choppy phrase that people could remember.

Then, he had the soprano’s sing…..Hallelujah….Hallelujah..Hallelujah…. while the basses sang, King of Kings….and Lord of Lords…..

Then, he had them switch! The quick choppy phrasing and switching parts amongst the chorus made the chorus sound quick paced and brought it to life. It provided a pseudo stereo effect.

Those two techniques made the Hallelujah Chorus stand out—AND STICK! People remembered it. It hung around in their subconscious and became a “tune” that hummed around and they couldn’t get out of their heads.

When building your business “brand”, what sticky idea will you create? How will you create an “aha moment” that will impact your customers? I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments.

If you enjoyed this post--please follow me below and share with your friends. If you would like more advertising and marketing ideas, CLICK HERE and subscribe to our FREE monthly Marketing & Business Update e-newsletter.

Comments

Million-Dollar $ecrets To Getting New Customers--Dean Blay, Mr. Remodeler

"John...the ad ain't drawin' flies..." Dean...what happened this time last year? "The ad didn't draw flies.." Then what happened the following month? "Well...we did get more sales..." For over twelve years I worked with one of Kansas City's best-loved home remodelers', Mr. Remodeler, Dean Blay. Dean had voiced his own radio ads on our classical station, a music of your life station and several newstalk stations. Sadly--his voice was silenced this past July due to his death. But Dean Blays' memory and radio ads will long be remembered. Dean had a deep...slow delivery and country accent when he read his radio ads. When I first started to work with his advertising--he would give us a cassette tape from his Phone Mate machine with his ad on it. He was too nervous to record in our studio! When he finally did come to our production room, we turned on the reel tape recorder and left the room so our engineer wouldn't mak

Have Marketers Put Too Much Emphasis on The Benefits of Social Media?

Is it me...or I'm I confused as to how a business that predominantly caters to 15-30 year olds can be worth $13 billion? That's one suggested valuation of Twitter heading in to their IPO. What's more--as they begin to add advertising popping up on their Tweets and Tweeters--how can I, as a potential investor know what kind of revenue they can produce to justify their valuation? What's more--what kind of sales can I expect from that age demographic? Granted, that age demographic probably Tweets more than the rest of us--but can the advertising investment be justified considering their disposable income? If I sell cars to the 18-34 year old crowd--are they really going to Tweet their best friend at the moment the test drive ends and ask if they should buy it or not (according to one posts' theory)? Surely, we all want advice from our friends in the purchase of certain items--but have marketers over-emphasized the benefits of using social media

Million-Dollar $ecrets To Getting More Customers--Dick Ray, The Master Plumber

"In order to do it right--you'd have to get a backhoe and dig up a ten foot section of the front yard...remove the pipe and replace it with a new section. Or...you could hire a guy like me to do it. And I'm not cheap..." I'd come to know Dick Ray Jr. through handling his father's advertising account on our classical radio station back in the 80's. Owners of Shawnee Mission Plumbing, Heating & Cooling since the 50's--their quality service and reputation are unmatched by many competitors in the Kansas City market. Today, Dick Ray Jr. continues that quality since his parents passing years ago. What distinguished their advertising--was the familiar voice that intro'd all of their ads...."This is Dick Ray the master plumber..." In a casual midwestern drawl , he'd meticulously talk about his time in the Navy, the quality of products they carry--and the fact that nobody...BUT NOBODY has more parts on his truck, than Di

Search This Blog