Making Jazz: Marketing Lessons from Duke Ellington

St. Charles, IL (PRWEB) September 17, 2013

Marketers have long understood the power of the creative process, improvisation, talent and performance.

On Thursday September 26 at Noon EDT, in a Webinar presentation for the Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG), marketer and business strategist Chuck Thomas will draw on these connections with a unique look at jazz great Duke Ellington and the seven principles he applied to get the whole world dancing to his music.

In this session, "Making Jazz: Marketing Lessons from Duke Ellington, Thomas—president and managing director of The Valcort Group—will show how Ellington used "shared values, shared vision, creative innovation, leadership, performance and refinement to establish a new category of jazz – swing and his brand within it." It will highlight leadership fundamentals, identifying and showcasing talent, creative expressions that build a unique end-user experience, and the importance of the leader to create, inspire, promote and maintain one’s vision and values.

Thomas segues easily between the professional worlds he has mastered during a unique career. He began his career as a professional composer and schooled jazz musician and later worked with major national advertising agencies on the musical elements of brand presentation. For the last 15 years Thomas has developed marketing and business strategies for some of the largest corporations in the country as president of The Valcort Group.

"I’ve always believed that good marketing is a lot like good jazz. I see jazz as a unique environment for collaboration, innovation and engagement," said Thomas. "A great jazz musician has highly developed skills for listening, responding and interacting with peers and the audience. And, of course, the old adage that you want everyone playing off the same piece of music couldn’t be a more apt metaphor for this session."

"We hope this session will get people to think differently about what they do in business to engage stakeholders to drive success," Thomas said. "Creating engagement with stakeholders requires both art and science. There’s a creativity and a discipline about it that delivers results. This session won’t be typical because it will challenge attendees to think differently about their organizations."

The Art of Engaging the Audience
In a world with plenty of noise, where distractions abound, and where people are skeptical and trust is broken regularly, making a personal and powerful connection with one’s audience is not just important, it’s essential. Whether you’re a jazz musician or a great brand, knowing how to touch and engage the audience is an art. This seminar explores what can be learned from jazz musicians about creating engagement and making a memorable, emotional connection with one’s audience.

The Webinar is free to MENG members. There is a $49 Webinar fee for non-members.

About Chuck Thomas
Chuck Thomas is a right brain – left brain marketer. Starting with a degree in business and music, Chuck learned the importance of aligning creative to strategy by working with the world’s biggest brands and the world’s foremost agencies. A recognized innovative strategist and award winning creative for top B2B and B2C brands, he has shaped over a hundred market leading brands from Toyota to AT&T, McDonalds to Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, from B2B giants like YRC and Illinois Tool Works to innovative mobile apps, digital startups, and global manufacturers. Over the past 15 years, he has focused on creating, nurturing and measuring customer trust quickly and efficiently by building innovative diagnostics, tools and techniques. He is a trained jazz musician, composer and arranger, having studied at Anderson University and the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester.

About The Valcort Group
The Valcort Group is a leading Chicago-area management consulting firm focused on helping organizations reach their full potential by creating innovative business development strategies and strong brand foundations. Its VALCORT® strategic process helps clients identify obstacles to growth and creates a strategic plan to improve customer engagement and increase sales. It is based on three principles – 1) truth builds trust; 2) values drive choice; and 3) people seek purpose. Valcort’s Outside7 agency is a creative marketing and communications firm designed to meet the needs of business and organizational clients.

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