ARTSblog

Laura Kakolewski

As an arts marketer, I made sure to pay particular attention to the commercials during the Super Bowl.

Although a few stood out from the rest, Twitter helped me discover what I believe to be the smartest Super Bowl commercial that (unfortunately) only aired in Canada.

Before reading any further, take a few minutes to watch this matchless Canadian Budweiser commercial that I found straight from the twitter feed of Scott Stratten (@Unmarketing), author of UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging, and keynote speaker at the 2011 National Arts Marketing Project Conference:

In my opinion, Budweiser Canada deserves a standing ovation from the world of marketing and advertising. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 4%

Rick Lester

When I worked as an arts manager, the election season—-particularly presidential years like 2012—-was a time of fear and loathing. Why?

First and foremost, ticket sales and admissions soften or die immediately before and on Election Day. At TRG, we’ve watched this trend play out across the U.S. over the past two decades in client sales results from markets of all sizes.

An inescapable consequence of major election cycles is campaign advertising—-a driver of America’s economic engine that is bad for arts and entertainment.

The flood of campaign advertising every other October sucks opportunity out of our promotional campaigns. (Just ask anyone in Florida right now where the Republican primaries alone are having a major impact.)

Campaign advertising drives up the price and limits—-in some markets eliminates—-the availability of advertising time on radio and TV. Email inboxes, postal mailboxes, Facebook pages, and Twitter accounts are stuffed beyond capacity. The normal roar of media clutter hits overload.

It becomes nearly impossible to create a viable marketing message capable of cutting through. No matter the quality of what goes on stage or in the gallery, patrons are less likely to hear about it. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 10%

Will Maitland Weiss

Anyone still reading this on a desktop computer?

Even you—along with the smart phone and smarter tablet readers—know that the tsunamic trend of digital communication will continue to roil how we deliver art (and get money to do so) in 2012.

You certainly aren’t reading this in one of the printed “newsletters” of my (distant) youth. Those, and brochures, and posters, and postcards, and print advertising—which used to take up so much of our time and of our paltry budgets–are going, going, gone.

We tell the stories of our art differently now. We sell our tickets differently; our tickets, which will soon be pieces of cardboard as often as our subway fares are paid in metal tokens.

C-R-M! C-R-M!

Variable pricing—which got a passing shout-out in a recent Sunday Times Magazine (page 11), kind of in the context of “Duh? Some people aren’t doing this?!” Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 7%

Stephanie Spalding

For someone who is employed by an arts organization and considers herself an arts advocate, I sure question my ability to think creatively.

Am I thinking outside of the proverbial box? Do I read enough blogs and take in enough industry research to resourcefully solve problems and suggest new projects or strategies?

In an effort to address this issue — I am taking a cue from the inspiring presentation of Oliver Uberti, design editor for National Geographic, who I had the pleasure of listening to during the National Arts Marketing Project Conference.

It was time to geek out and make a chart.

I needed to take an inventory of something sort of concrete, sort of reflective and personal and sort of plain fun. And he seemed to have gained insights into an alcoholic beverage consumption chart, so why not?

Question: Who feeds my inspiration and what qualities do they possess?

Goal: By creating a grid to chart out who challenges me and what type of “thinkers” my challengers are, I will better understand where to look for insight and maybe even where I am lacking. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 9%

National Arts Marketing Project Conference opening keynote speaker, Scott Stratten, told the more than 500 attendees of NAMPC about his problems with using QR codes:

Do you agree with Scott’s assessment? Have you seen any awesome examples of QR code usage?

Popularity: 12%

Jarin Hart

Throughout the weekend of the National Arts Marketing Project Conference, several people tweeted about experiencing conference withdrawals, or unmarketing withdrawals, etc.

I didn’t experience this as I felt my head nearly exploding from all the information I was dutifully scribbling down as fast as arm could push my pen. Armed with page after page of notes and new, exciting ideas to share with my co-workers, I left NAMP feeling inspired and empowered.

The messages that resonated the loudest for me were:

1. Remarry your audience — A simple, albeit brilliant concept, don’t you think? Scott Stratten reminded us all that we must honor and respect our current audience. We must ask, “What can I start doing? What can I stop doing? What can I continue doing?” We must take the time to listen to our current audience member and long-standing supporters, because too often we unwittingly take advantage of them. We abuse their loyalty whether or not that is our intention. “Make new friends, but keep the old, for one is silver and the other gold.” Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 11%

Jarin Hart

Thirty minutes into the 2011 National Arts Marketing Project Conference and listening to keynote speaker, Scott Stratten talk about unmarketing, I suddenly became aware of 2 things: 1) Scott Stratten is a genius  and 2) I was in the right place at the right time.

Being new to the arts world as well as the nonprofit world, I had no idea what to expect to gain (or lose) from attending the NAMP Conference. I recently landed a job with a small, nonprofit arts organization in Fort Wayne, IN, where I continue to encounter challenges with discovering effective methods of marketing for a unique, niche performing arts organization. Scott’s speech could not have come soon enough!

What Scott said, (though dripping with sarcasm), resonated in me, and judging by the tweets throughout the day, my mind wasn’t the only mind being blown!

I think sometimes we forget that marketing is a verb, and depends on our ability to engage our audience in fresh, new ways. Scott suggested we can maintain a successful relationship if we simply choose to “remarry” our current audience. I believe I heard an audible click in the minds of those around me as Scott nonchalantly suggested the concept of honoring our relationships with our current patrons. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 11%

Stephanie Spalding

Day One at the National Arts Marketing Project Conference (NAMPC) and I am drinking coffee “for two” in order to keep up with the flurry of questions and concepts oozing out of the mouths of my fellow attendees during the preconference.

This is my first NAMPC, by the way, but who has time for a learning curve? I am barreling through and keeping my ears open. There were inspiring anecdotes, fascinating case studies and fresh ideas coming in rapid fire during the Marketing Masters Think Tank.

In the interest of word count, there is one concept in particular that resonated with me. During a small group discussion about audience development, many in the group agreed that marketing departments often become the curator for an organization’s programming, often the ones taking enrichment to the next level (or any level). Okay, so people have heard this before. It was when the idea that we (read: the organization) curate an audience too. We do? We do.

Audience development comes in many shapes and sizes, and the commitment level from an organization can run the gamut. But if you or someone you love is considering a serious commitment to audience development  beyond the occasional event or focused ticket deal, then it is time to commit to knowing and serving the community. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 10%

Whitney Miller-Brengle

A first-time National Arts Marketing Project Conference attendee can sum up day one of the conference with the following experiences: hearing and sharing new ideas, developing a camaraderie with fellow attendees, diving into the Twitter conversations going on throughout the day (with the appropriate corresponding #hashtags, of course), and—at least for this first-time attendee—ending the day with achy feet and a fresh outlook on arts marketing. I was thrilled to participate in my first NAMP Conference, and honored that my hometown served as host for the conference this year.

I’ll admit that prior to the conference, I was unfamiliar with keynote speaker Scott Stratten and his book, Unmarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging. Therefore I went into his presentation with no expectations, though a little weary of someone who describes his techniques and practices as “unmarketing.” To my delight, Scott went above and beyond the duties of a keynote speaker. Not only was I thoroughly entertained (who doesn’t love to start the day off with several good laughs?), but I left that room with several key take-away ideas.

Perhaps what stood out to me most during the presentation were the points that supported Scott’s suggestion to “stop marketing and start engaging.” Our audiences and potential audiences are already expert engagers. They’re religiously reading their Facebook newsfeeds, tweeting up a storm, checking in, commenting, tagging, blogging…you name it, they’re all over it. And as arts organizations, if we aren’t right there with them—starting conversations, listening and responding to their feedback, sharing photos and videos—we are doing ourselves and our patrons a huge disservice. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 10%

Scott Provancher

My colleagues and I at the Arts & Science Council (ASC) have been closely following the national and regional trends that affect the health of the arts industry.

In particular, several trends have caught our attention: 1) arts giving in America continues to lose market share to other charities; 2) recent analysis showed that 85 percent of cultural patrons (ticket buyers, visitors, etc.) are not donating to the organizations they patronize; and 3) the traditional fundraising campaigns of the arts community seem to be making little progress in reversing these challenging trends.

A little over a year ago these trends were the topic of ASC’s annual board retreat. As one of the largest united arts agencies in the nation, we owed it to ourselves and the field to be a leader in addressing these issues both at a local and national level. Our board wholeheartedly agreed and we left the meeting with a firm commitment to develop and invest in innovative ideas that could change how the arts engage new donors in the future.

A year and a half later, ASC launched a new website called power2give.org, which we believe will change the way we do business forever. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 20%

David Schillhammer

The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra’s ticket sales are up again this year, shattering local and national sales trends.

With several months left in the year, our box office is already seeing a 10 percent increase in subscriptions over this time last season, and renewal rates for freshman subscribers are over 53 percent and growing. This is the fifth year in a row we’ve had such gains.

Subscriptions to the orchestra’s “Super Series” have been steadily rising over the past five seasons. So far in 2011-2012, the orchestra has sold over 3,432 subscription packages, 300 more than this time last year, and a huge increase over the 1,500 sold in 2006-2007.

Our recipe for success? Marketing, innovative programming and outstanding customer service.

In the fall of 2007, we began working with freelance arts marketing guru Jack McAuliffe, president of Engaged Audiences, LLC, who pushed us to stop devaluing tickets through “buy one, get one” offers, and focus on marketing subscriptions. Specifically, he challenged us to convert one-time concert attendees into two- and three-time attendees, and then into long-term subscribers. So in 2007-2008, we began a targeted effort to grow subscriptions.

Here’s our method: Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 14%

As the orchestrator of this year’s blog salon I had to laugh when a colleague forwarded me the cartoon below:

Fitting right? Yes, my job was to blog, tweet, like, comment, and share as much as possible about this blog salon. But you, our readers, made my job super easy.

On behalf of Americans for the Arts, I would like to thank all of you for visiting our 2011 arts marketing blog salon and adding comments, tweets, questions, and opinions to the conversation.

With almost 7,000 views, 20 bloggers, hundreds of tweets and retweets, and hundreds more of Facebook likes, the Salon was a perfect way to jump start the National Arts Marketing Project Conference: Winning Audiences next month. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 18%

When your fundraising gala includes a silent auction, your “audience” is all of those bidders. You want to love these people, but they get so demanding when it comes to check-out!

While your volunteers are diligently preparing invoices, your gala guests constantly interrupt them, demanding to know, “Did I win anything?”

The easiest way to solve this hiccup in the process is to use signage.

Watch this video to see good and bad examples of winning bidder boards. Your silent auction will never be the same!

Popularity: 16%

Andy Rooney

Remember, you’re a lot more interested in what you have to say than anyone else is.” – Andy Rooney

Are you going into a meeting today to introduce an idea, request funding, or propose a program?

Did you know its success depends on whether you get people’s eyebrows up in the first 60 seconds?

People at many meetings are either jockeying to get THEIR idea heard – or they’re bored, distracted or just waiting for the meeting to be over so they can go back to work on the UPO’s (Unidentified Piled Objects) stacking up on their desk.

The good news is, you can test in advance whether your idea is going to get any traction.

Just ask a colleague for 60 seconds of their time.

Explain your idea/proposal/request to them…using the exact same 60 second opening you’ll use in the meeting.

Now, watch their eyebrows. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 15%

One of the prompt questions for this blog salon was, “What research is affecting your marketing and fundraising strategies?”

TRG’s research on arts patrons by generation has really given me perspective on where the arts are today and what we need to plan for long-term. Right now—even amidst the recession, organizational bankruptcies, and funding pullbacks, today may be the “good old days” for arts marketing.

There are four generations of arts buyers in the market right now. Each cohort is born roughly between these dates:

Traditionalists, born before 1945
Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964
Generation X, born between 1964 and 1981
Generation Y, born between 1982 and 1995 Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 17%