I’ve attended a lot of ad meetings in my couple of decades workin’ on The Great White Way, and they can be quite a party, let me tell you.

One show I worked on had about seventeen different types of Producers, from investment bankers to movie moguls to a dude who invented a household item you use everyday and probably say, “I wish I thought of that,” every time.  Add to that, a fleet of marketing teams and management teams who ranged from 19 years of age to one octogenarian.

With that kind of diversity, and the sheer number of people in the room, getting a consensus on a logo can be harder than getting a ticket to The Book of Mormon . . . on the day after Christmas . . . if Justin Timberlake and Barack Obama were starring.

But to me, even more interesting than the volume of people in the room and the diversity of those people. . . is the perspective of those people.

I remember being at a meeting a few years ago and as I sat back and listened to a heated argument about the shade of a certain logo’s background color (“More pink!  Less pink!  What about Pink-ish?”), I looked around the room and wondered, “When was the last time any of these folks actually paid for a theater ticket?”

See, the room was filled with Tony voters, people on opening night lists, and the upper echelon of the Broadway community.

Now, don’t get me wrong, a lot of the people in these rooms are super duper smart and have eons of experience in all sorts of businesses, including ours.

And their opinions mean a heck of a lot.

But because the majority of these folks in the room aren’t families of four from New Jersey that know what it’s like to pick out a show that the whole family will enjoy, a date when everyone can attend, a babysitter for the newborn, a place to eat and a place to park, etc., how can they really know what goes through that consumer’s mind when faced with our marketing materials?  (And by the way, I include me in this somewhat ignorant group.)

Sure, I have insight, experience, and so on.  But I’m just not the typical consumer.

That’s why it’s essential that I talk to typical consumers . . . so I can add their opinion to those heated arguments that take place during those ad meetings.

It was this epiphany years ago that got me using focus groups (and now, dial testing) on every single show I do.  I want to hear what the consumer thinks.  I want their voices heard.  I want them to help settle those arguments in those ad rooms.

And it was this epiphany that led me to today’s blog . . . which is me asking you to add your voice to my process . . . and help me pick the logo for Gettin’ The Band Back Together!

Gettin’ The Band Back Together, my new musical that debuted last year at George Street Playhouse, is on its way to Broadway.  And as I wait for the right theater to open up, I’m prepping all of the marketing materials and campaign now, so I can be ready when that call from a theater owner comes (because most likely it will come with less notice than I’d like).

We’re in the logo development phase now . . . and at our last meeting, a heated discussion started to break out about which of the several logos we were considering was right for the show.  And there wasn’t a consensus on what logo we wanted to use.

And that’s when I thought, “It’s time to ask actual consumers.”

Sure, we’re doing some controlled focus groups to help get more answers, but, since I know I have the smartest readers around, and since a lot of passionate theatergoers read this blog, I thought, “Why not ask you?”

That’s right, welcome to the first ever crowdsourced Broadway logo!

Or, as I like to think of it  . . . it’s the first ever online Broadway ad meeting!  🙂

Here’s how it’s going to work.  Click the link below to get to the official logo survey.  You’ll see three different logo treatments for the show.

Pick the logo that gets you most interested in buying a ticket.  Not the one that you think is the smartest or the prettiest.  Pick the one that if you saw it on a billboard or a website you’d say, “Oh, I’m intrigued by that.”  Oh, and don’t say none of them.  Pick the one that gets you the most.

And that’s it!  The survey will be open until 11:59 PM ET on Wednesday, September 3rd.  After that, I’ll tally the results and announce the winner right here on this blog!  That will be the logo that we use to roll out the show.

Now, one disclaimer . . . the three images you are going to see are not “finished” art.  It costs a lot to develop finished logos for Broadway shows, which is why during the art development process, the ad agencies present you with “comps” or mock-ups of the general concept which will be more fully realized later.  So, when you see the logos in this survey, remember, they are not “done.”  You need to use your imagination to see what they will be.  Also, because they are not finished, after we announce the winning concept, we’ll probably make some more little tweaks here and there to get to the final art.  In other words, it will continue to “grow” a bit.

Ok?  Make sense?

And thanks for being a part of the first ever crowdsourced Broadway logo!

(Got a comment? I love ‘em, so comment below! Email Subscribers, click here then scroll down to say what’s on your mind!)
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