What are they doing? They’re doing a Twitter Opera!
The London Royal Opera House is asking Twitter users to help develop the libretto (the words) for an opera it commissioned to be performed live in September.
Why is this newsworthy? Because it is brilliant online business competition. Competition for Audience, Money and Creative Creds.
Courtesy: maelstrom4ever
They primed the pump with this beginning: “One morning, very early, a man and a woman were standing arm-in-arm, in London’s Covenant Garden. The man turned to the woman and he sang…”
Twitter users are requested to suggest the rest. In case you are interested in participating, you can contribute via the Opera House’s Twitter Feed.
So — What’s the Online Business Competition Angle?
- Audience — the arts have been hurt, along with the rest of the world, in this “recession.” Folks are just plain cutting back and someone has to lose in a category. Yet “the show must go on.” Stiff Upper Lip and All That Rot. How interesting that an organization as traditional as the Royal Opera has found a way to get a leg up on their competitors by broadening their audience appeal.
- M-O-N-E-Y — budget cuts galore in all organizations and yet the Royal Opera has rather brilliantly come up with an online viral marketing tactic that costs them, let’s see… nothing? No doubt it is also stimulating ticket sales, too. Cheerio!
- Creativity Creds — Well, it was pretty daggone creative but not original — Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra tweeted Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony a few weeks ago. I also read accounts of at least 7 other Twitter operas documented on YouTube. Nonetheless, it is pretty creative and tremendously engaging. I think they’re onto something that clearly differentiates from their competitors.
What’s this have to do with your business? You’ve got me — but surely this gives you some food for thought to prime your creative pump and build competitive advantage. Put another way — get there before your competitors do.
