Club Promoter Ivan Kane Explains What Makes Cool

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This is a conversation with club promoter Ivan Kane, dubbed by The New York Times as “the night-life guru of Hollywood” about what makes something cool.

The secrets behind his success are insightful to marketing and public relations professionals tasked with launching destinations, products, brands or services to a young, elusive urban demographic.

Ivan Kane, a native of New York, is the owner of the three successful Hollywood clubs Kane, Deep, and Ivan Kane’s Forty Deuce, the last of which he has taken to Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. This “back-alley” striptease lounge has redefined burlesque and put it back on the map.

SHOW NOTES

1:25 – Ivan Kane talks about how to create a “hip and cool” nightclub. 2:10 – Kane on choosing a name for a venue.

2:55 – Kane discusses the relationship between celebrities and “coolness.”

4:41 – Kane on how the celebrity world hears about his clubs: “It’s word of mouth, it’s the oldest form of technology there is…”

5:20 – Kane on the science of making something cool: “I think the science of what defines cool is something that is the antithesis of the word science…”

6:30 – Kane gives advice to marketing and technology companies, businesses, and advertising professionals on how to promote their products and services in a way that is cool.

7:24 – Kane talks about what he thinks is cool.

8:36 – Kane talks about how he got involved with the nightlife entertainment industry.

9:13 – Kane discusses the evolution of the Hollywood club industry and his decision to open up his first club in Hollywood in 1997.

11:12 – Kane on how to balance generating sales with maintaining exclusivity and a cool reputation: “…how do you balance that? Well it’s tricky, but you know, that’s what separates the men from the boys I guess.”

13:50 – Kane on using press releases and mass marketing as promotional techniques.

15:22 – Kane talks about his burlesque club and why it appeals to women: “What they [the dancers] do on stage is empowering to women…”

17:40 – Kane talks about his female clients dancing on stage with the professional dancers.

18:24 – Kane on how he came up with the idea of his club Ivan Kane’s Forty Deuce.

20:14 – Kane talks about how nightclubs and bars offer an escape destination for customers during difficult times: “At the end of the day what I do is try to make people smile.”

27:12 – End.

Photo by raymondclarkeimages