So, what do restaurants have to teach those of us in the DJ/entertainment industry? Here are a few things:

Define your (unique) brand

All successful businesses have a strong identity surrounding their product and their means of service delivery. Think of how friendly most cashiers are at Whole Foods, or the portion sizes of the entrees at Chuy’s. When you go to certain businesses, you’ve been taught through past experiences and explicit marketing strategies to understand certain things about that business. Because you (sometimes even unconsciously) expect those things and value them, you return. Moreover, it’s not just important that any brand has been established, but that a unique brand has been established. If every grocery store had cashiers as friendly as Whole Foods, that component wouldn’t be as powerful to Whole Foods, and if every restaurant had portion sizes as large as Chuy’s, Chuy’s wouldn’t benefit as much from their enormous portions.

Those booking DJs should be equally concerned about brand uniqueness in the music department. How are they differentiating themselves with their musical product? How are they standing out compared with the millions of other bars/clubs/promoters in this city? What value is there to a DJ that plays the same music as every other venue? How does that help teach patrons to remember their venue?

Golden arches

Once you’ve established your brand, be consistent with it. It doesn’t do any good to book a great DJ once a month, and the rest of the time offer pizza, because that doesn’t teach patrons anything about what to expect when they show up. In the sociology world, there’s actually a term called McDonaldization, which refers to several things, but in large part has to do with consistency/availability of their product. They don’t just make cheeseburgers people love, they make the same cheeseburgers over and over again. People don’t go to McDonald’s most of the time because someone from McDonald’s invited them to go. They go because they’ve been, they liked it, and they want to return. Think of how much easier promoting would be if it happened the same way.

One of the common pitfalls I see with folks who book DJs is that their product varies so much that their customer base has no sense of what they’re providing. My favorite bars tend to be the ones that I know no matter what day I go, something good is going to be happening. I don’t have to check their schedule, and the business doesn’t really even have to market to me. I just know. For example, The White Horse on the East side – you know regardless of when you go, it’s going to be a certain thing. You know the band is going to be within certain parameters, and the vibe consistent. I’ve never checked the schedule or seen a flyer and then gone to The White Horse – I just go. And if you’ve been The White Horse and get what they’re doing, you probably have the same sense as I do that they’ll be there for a while.

Here’s a fundamental point I’m trying to make: Not everyone likes the kind of music that is played at the White Horse, but some people do, and enough people do to make it a successful business. Maybe more people like rock, maybe more people like hip hop, but they don’t have to just play the most popular genres to get a crowd. In fact, they were more likely to get a consistent crowd because of the fact that they decided to serve a niche market.

Vary the menu

Even if you have a different product than other folks, keep people interested. Have daily specials, seasonal menu items, late night menu items, and otherwise change the menu routinely, of course staying consistent with your brand. The same goes in the DJ world. No matter how good a DJ is, I don’t want to see you play every Saturday, much less every Thursday, Friday, Saturday Brunch, Saturday Night, Sunday Funday, Sunday Night, etc. While residencies can be valuable for sure, variation is good as well. Just the other night I saw a fellow DJ post about a gig he was playing at a very well known West 6th bar. I’ve been to that bar – not excited about that bar. I’ve heard him as a DJ – love him as a DJ, but what really got me excited to go see him wasn’t that he was DJing, but that he was DJing at that particular venue – something I had never seen.

Somewhat of an extension of this idea, variation and novelty (in order to be considered such) necessarily need to go beyond extending the same guest DJ invites to the same DJs. There are some DJ circles/bars that – while they do in fact have guest spots – they are the same guest spots over and over. Sometimes I find myself reading Facebook posts like, “Tonight! DJ XXXX at YYYY bar!!!” I can’t help but think, why the exclamations? Not that that DJ is bad, but that DJ always plays that bar, or always guests there. When booking, why not go out of your way to find some random DJ with talent that’s never played at that venue. Then you can use the exclamation points.

Why don’t people switch things up and provide variation? I think fundamentally we do what’s comfortable and easy. We invite X DJ because they’re our friend and it’s not hard to call them up, or because we want to give them a chance, or because we know exactly what product they’re going to provide. Successful businesses, though, take chances and attempt to innovate. They stand out from other businesses by trying to offer a product that no one else is providing. This doesn’t mean they can’t recognize that they have a signature dish, but comfort & innovation can often play well together. So, book that standard DJ who you know will deliver, but book someone random too – add a new twist on your favorite dish.

More thoughts and the conclusion in Part III coming up soon on The Feedbak.

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