When We(r)ber picks up the guitar
How the concert label Blue Balls Music, part of the Weber Hodel Schmid holding company, got off the ground
How the concert brand Blue Balls Music of Holding Weber Hodel Schmid got rollingBy Ernst Weber If only Urs Leierer could do something for blues, jazz and rock: Eight years ago, the then 28-year-old organized the Lucerne Blues Session for the first time. Today, the native of Meggen heads the concert agency Blue Balls Music.
It took the former advertising consultant just under two years to turn Reinhold Weber's idea into a brand, and thus into a company with a turnover of 3.5 million Swiss francs.
In May 1998, the head of the WHS Group, Reinhold Weber, had the idea that he could organize concerts under the Blue Balls Music label. Not even a month later, on June 3, the first of meanwhile ten Blue Balls Nights took place. Weber, who plays the guitar himself, had brought the American blues guitarist David Lindley onto the stage of Zurich's Kaufleuten restaurant.
Encouraged by the response of the blues evening, Reinhold Weber sat down with the organizers of the Lucerne Blues Session, Urs Leierer and Martin Vokinger, in August 1998 to discuss the foundation of a concert agency. The trio agreed to register Blue Balls Music as a GmbH (limited liability company) in the commercial register.
Weber contributed 51 percent
of the necessary capital and integrated the company into the WHS holding company. Leierer and Vokinger each took a 24.5 percent stake in the project. "But it's not capital but competence that sets the tone for us," says Urs Leierer, Managing Director of Blue Balls Music GmbH, domiciled in the WHS building in Zurich, since November 1998.
In the meantime, under Leierer's leadership, Blue Balls Music has developed into a concert brand in its own right: the public associates the label with coherent live acts by international blues, jazz and rock legends and by musicians who are known in insider circles as insider tips. The two blue spheres of the signet are reminiscent of the cosmic dimension, the infinite womb of the muse, in which they are embedded like planets in outer space. And
the shadow symbolizes the moment of inspiration: where the spheres touch their shadows, the muse kisses the world, so to speak.
Without sponsors no sound from Blue Balls Music
So far, the focus has been on making the brand known. The promotion of Blue Balls Nights was therefore limited to anchoring the brand and its logo. "The name Blue Balls meets with a musical ear: although young promoter companies like to be overheard, the name has quickly proved itself with the public and agents," notes Urs Leierer.
After a successful introduction, an emotional component was added to the appearance, which consists of the basic advertising media flyer, poster and advertisement: a photo of the star on stage is intended to get the viewer in the mood for the upcoming concert.
For the first time, a TV commercial flanks the print advertising. The 3D-animated 15-second film was produced by Primetime. The spot runs on TV 3. TA-Media AG has been a media partner of the concert agency since the early hours. The publishing house also supports the Blue Balls Festival, which takes place in Lucerne from July 21 to 29, by providing the organizer with advertising space and airtime. The spot for the Blue Balls Festival will also be seen on MTV.
"In this context, I have to say for once that we rely very heavily on in-kind sponsors. Without the goodwill of our media partners and the goodwill of our printers and lithographers, neither the Blue Balls Nights would come about nor would the Blue Balls Festival exist," says Urs Leierer, who in the same breath also mentions Swisscom, which has been the presenting sponsor of the Blue Balls Nights since the beginning of the year.
Taking the company in new directions
In order to increase the presence and consolidate the image of the concert brand, the previously independent, self-contained Lucerne Blues Session was renamed Blue Balls Festival. Sacha Huber, art director at WHS, Zurich, brought the nine-day, important European music happening under the visual hat of Blue Balls Music.
"The Zurich event now benefits from the awareness of the Lucerne event, and the Lucerne event from the awareness of the Zurich event," says Urs Leierer. As a further, less brand-related but more practical reason for combining the performances, the organizer cites the immense workload that could no longer be handled by a single person. Although the music fan can count on numerous volunteers, the Lucerne Blues Session association, support from WHS, Zurich, and Martin Vokinger, who does the booking, he still manages Blue Balls Music largely as a one-man show.
Furthermore, the merger took place in view of the increased commitment that Blue Balls Music wants to make in peripheral organizational areas. Leierer will use the capacity he has gained, for example, to include more events on the concert fringe, such as the world premiere exhibition "Dick Polak's Photography of The Rolling Stones Rock'n'Roll Circus," which can be seen during the Blue Balls Festival. However, Urs Leierer wants to earn the butter on his hard-earned bread by organizing customer concerts and touring projects. First events of this kind are a closed concert for Swisscom in September and the Swiss tour of the upcoming New York blues guitarist Popa Chubby.
Blue Balls Music does not intend to compete with the lions of the concert business, such as Good News. Rather, the marketing objective is to bring the biggest possible artists to the smallest possible audience.
In line with this credo, the Blue Balls Festival takes place in the suitable ambience of the Culture and Congress Center Lucerne, among others, but the Blue Balls Nights in the "Kaufleuten". Locations like the impersonal Zurich Hallenstadion are out of the question, although it could probably be filled with names like Peter Green, Robert Plant, Billy Cobham, Johnny Winter, Robert Cray or John Mayall.
"The Blue Balls Festival, which has been extended from six to nine days, has reached its optimum size," says Leierer, who expects 45000 visitors this year. And promises, "I will not expand it any further even if success demands it. The Blue Balls Festival should not become like the Montreux Jazz Festival."
Shawne Borer opens the Blue Balls Festival '00
It took the former advertising consultant just under two years to turn Reinhold Weber's idea into a brand, and thus into a company with a turnover of 3.5 million Swiss francs.
In May 1998, the head of the WHS Group, Reinhold Weber, had the idea that he could organize concerts under the Blue Balls Music label. Not even a month later, on June 3, the first of meanwhile ten Blue Balls Nights took place. Weber, who plays the guitar himself, had brought the American blues guitarist David Lindley onto the stage of Zurich's Kaufleuten restaurant.
Encouraged by the response of the blues evening, Reinhold Weber sat down with the organizers of the Lucerne Blues Session, Urs Leierer and Martin Vokinger, in August 1998 to discuss the foundation of a concert agency. The trio agreed to register Blue Balls Music as a GmbH (limited liability company) in the commercial register.
Weber contributed 51 percent
of the necessary capital and integrated the company into the WHS holding company. Leierer and Vokinger each took a 24.5 percent stake in the project. "But it's not capital but competence that sets the tone for us," says Urs Leierer, Managing Director of Blue Balls Music GmbH, domiciled in the WHS building in Zurich, since November 1998.
In the meantime, under Leierer's leadership, Blue Balls Music has developed into a concert brand in its own right: the public associates the label with coherent live acts by international blues, jazz and rock legends and by musicians who are known in insider circles as insider tips. The two blue spheres of the signet are reminiscent of the cosmic dimension, the infinite womb of the muse, in which they are embedded like planets in outer space. And
the shadow symbolizes the moment of inspiration: where the spheres touch their shadows, the muse kisses the world, so to speak.
Without sponsors no sound from Blue Balls Music
So far, the focus has been on making the brand known. The promotion of Blue Balls Nights was therefore limited to anchoring the brand and its logo. "The name Blue Balls meets with a musical ear: although young promoter companies like to be overheard, the name has quickly proved itself with the public and agents," notes Urs Leierer.
After a successful introduction, an emotional component was added to the appearance, which consists of the basic advertising media flyer, poster and advertisement: a photo of the star on stage is intended to get the viewer in the mood for the upcoming concert.
For the first time, a TV commercial flanks the print advertising. The 3D-animated 15-second film was produced by Primetime. The spot runs on TV 3. TA-Media AG has been a media partner of the concert agency since the early hours. The publishing house also supports the Blue Balls Festival, which takes place in Lucerne from July 21 to 29, by providing the organizer with advertising space and airtime. The spot for the Blue Balls Festival will also be seen on MTV.
"In this context, I have to say for once that we rely very heavily on in-kind sponsors. Without the goodwill of our media partners and the goodwill of our printers and lithographers, neither the Blue Balls Nights would come about nor would the Blue Balls Festival exist," says Urs Leierer, who in the same breath also mentions Swisscom, which has been the presenting sponsor of the Blue Balls Nights since the beginning of the year.
Taking the company in new directions
In order to increase the presence and consolidate the image of the concert brand, the previously independent, self-contained Lucerne Blues Session was renamed Blue Balls Festival. Sacha Huber, art director at WHS, Zurich, brought the nine-day, important European music happening under the visual hat of Blue Balls Music.
"The Zurich event now benefits from the awareness of the Lucerne event, and the Lucerne event from the awareness of the Zurich event," says Urs Leierer. As a further, less brand-related but more practical reason for combining the performances, the organizer cites the immense workload that could no longer be handled by a single person. Although the music fan can count on numerous volunteers, the Lucerne Blues Session association, support from WHS, Zurich, and Martin Vokinger, who does the booking, he still manages Blue Balls Music largely as a one-man show.
Furthermore, the merger took place in view of the increased commitment that Blue Balls Music wants to make in peripheral organizational areas. Leierer will use the capacity he has gained, for example, to include more events on the concert fringe, such as the world premiere exhibition "Dick Polak's Photography of The Rolling Stones Rock'n'Roll Circus," which can be seen during the Blue Balls Festival. However, Urs Leierer wants to earn the butter on his hard-earned bread by organizing customer concerts and touring projects. First events of this kind are a closed concert for Swisscom in September and the Swiss tour of the upcoming New York blues guitarist Popa Chubby.
Blue Balls Music does not intend to compete with the lions of the concert business, such as Good News. Rather, the marketing objective is to bring the biggest possible artists to the smallest possible audience.
In line with this credo, the Blue Balls Festival takes place in the suitable ambience of the Culture and Congress Center Lucerne, among others, but the Blue Balls Nights in the "Kaufleuten". Locations like the impersonal Zurich Hallenstadion are out of the question, although it could probably be filled with names like Peter Green, Robert Plant, Billy Cobham, Johnny Winter, Robert Cray or John Mayall.
"The Blue Balls Festival, which has been extended from six to nine days, has reached its optimum size," says Leierer, who expects 45000 visitors this year. And promises, "I will not expand it any further even if success demands it. The Blue Balls Festival should not become like the Montreux Jazz Festival."
Shawne Borer opens the Blue Balls Festival '00
The wife of the Swiss ambassador in Berlin, Shawne Borer-Fielding, has taken over the patronage of the opening evening of the Blue Balls Festival '00 at the Art and Culture Center in Lucerne. She will personally present world star Natalie Cole (USA) and her nearly 20-piece band on July 21.
