Selling the Sizzle: The Magic and Logic of Entertainment Marketing

M. Wayne Cunningham is a past executive director of the Saskatchewan
Arts Board and the former director of Academic and Career Programs at
East Kootenay Community College.

Despite the impact of 9/11 on the entertainment industry, writes the
author of Selling the Sizzle, “North America still creates a product
that is essential to life: entertainment and the dreams it inspires us
to have.” Adopting a popular-magazine style of writing, and
incorporating quotations from such luminaries as Woody Allen, David
Ogilvy, Gerry Rich, and Alexander Woollcott, Avrich presents practical
marketing strategies for the entertainment industry. He provides a
checklist of criteria for determining which media to use for
advertising, definitions of advertising and media terminology,
descriptions of different formats, and discussions of the benefits and
drawbacks of using various media—all with a view to getting the best
return on the advertising dollar.

In addition to discussing the “art” of media buying, the author
describes the role of the ad agency and how to select the agency that
best meets the client’s needs. Specific guidelines for the marketing
of movies, events, legitimate theatre, and concerts are included as
well. Particularly interesting is Avrich’s overview of event profiles
for Nike, Coca-Cola, Visa, Mattel, among others. The several full-page
reproductions of posters would have been more interesting in their
original colors. The glossary helps readers to interpret the
entertainment marketer’s unique vocabulary and jargon.

Selling the Sizzle will appeal to up-and-coming marketers and general
readers interested in finding out what makes the entertainment marketer
tick.