ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
Credits Conceptualisation
Published by:
ARTerial Network
ARTerial Network Union House Second Floor 25 Commercial Street Cape Town 8001 South Africa www.arterialnetwork.org
EDITOR Sharlene Versfeld
Researchers and Contributors Noji Gaylard, Thomas Blaser, Aimee Joseph, Karen Brusch, Noni Ngwenya, Oageng Tsatsi, Sharlene Versfeld, Ijeoma Loren Uche-Okeke
Project Manager Ijeoma Loren Uche-Okeke
Layout and cover design: OffCentre Design Printed by: RSALitho
January 2012 ISBN: 9780986990007 Disclaimer: While every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of this document, the owners and publishers do not guarantee the validity of its contents, and will not be held liable for any losses incurred by users thereof. Creative Commons License The toolkit will be distributed under a creative commons license agreement: Arterial Network remains the owner of the publication but the contents may be shared, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes only. Clear acknowledgement of the source: i.e. ARTerial Network Arts Marketing Toolkit must be supplied at all times..
Foreword Over the last 25 years, there has been a significant rise in the appreciation of the contribution of creative industries to national economies. However, the primary players in the global creative economy are the major economic powers – Germany, Japan, China, the USA, United Kingdom and France between them accounting for more than 50% of imports and exports of creative goods and services annually. With the 2015 deadline for the Millennium Development Goals fast approaching, the creative industries are being examined as a means to reduce poverty, create jobs and empower women in the developing world. Meeting under the auspices of the African Union in Algiers in October 2008, African ministers responsible for arts and culture adopted the “Plan of Action on Cultural Industries”, which, among other things, commits governments to greater investment in these industries, the empowerment of artists and the building of regional markets for creative goods. ARTerial Network is a civil society initiative that encourages relationships with governments in order to create optimal conditions for the creative sector, but more particularly, it is about the African creative sector taking charge of their own destinies. The emphasis on creative industries has shifted language away from “audiences” for the arts to “markets”. Many arts practitioners, while incredibly skilled and talented in creative production, have little expertise and experience in marketing themselves or their work to build paying audiences (or markets) and so ensure sustainable livelihoods for themselves. While some have taken a pragmatic decision to work within this paradigm, others have continued to resist “selling out” to the market, believing that their primary
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
role as artists is to pursue truth and beauty in their work, whether there is a market for it or not. Whatever the philosophical beliefs of artists, having tools that help them understand their audience or market, will enable artists make more informed, strategic choices about how to diversify their sources of income to ensure that they are able to make a living as creative practitioners. The aims of this arts marketing toolkit are two-fold: 1. To provide African artists, cultural NGOs, creative companies and arts events with tools, resources and strategies to market their work more effectively within their countries and regions, and 2. To facilitate networking among those active in the African creative sector, in order to regularly share successful arts marketing practices. There are many arts marketing manuals and materials from other continents. This toolkit tries to take into account the highly varied conditions on the continent and to provide case studies of successful marketing strategies for the African creative sector. It is a beginning. Future editions will celebrate further ideas and case studies from the continent. We invite you to comment on this toolkit and to provide ideas, strategies and case studies for future editions by sending these to info@arterialnetwork.org. Finally, we thank the National Arts Council of South Africa for the generous grant that made this toolkit possible.
Mike van Graan, Secretary General, Arterial Network
MESSAGE FROM THE NATIONAL ARTS COUNCIL OF SOUTH AFRICA It is an honour and privilege for me to present this marketing toolkit as part of the National Arts Council’s efforts to support the artistic community in creating value out of their artistic products. This toolkit would not have been possible without the efforts and dedication of ARTerial Network, African Arts Institute and Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA). A two day workshop was held in Zimbabwe during HIFA in April 2009 to allow arts practitioners from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and Botswana to participate in the development of the content of this marketing toolkit. The marketing toolkit will serve as a guide to assist arts practitioners to reference and develop marketing plans to support their artistic products in accessing local and international markets especially across the borders of the African continent but also to guide arts practitioners on how to develop collaborative ventures to improve efficiency in the implementation of their artistic programmes. Arts funding is increasingly dwindling as a result of governments focusing their efforts more towards other
social priorities such as education, housing and job creation which suggests that the arts need to increasingly demonstrate their relevance in order to remain sustainable. This toolkit provides appropriate guidelines in developing marketing strategies suitable to the social and economic conditions of many African countries. It is envisaged that the toolkit will continuously be updated as arts practitioners continue to apply its principles while archiving success and challenges in the process. This will ensure that the arts sector is not left behind within the globally competitive environment of technological innovation which is crucial in positioning the arts as a vehicle for change. I would like to thank all the delegates from the SADC who contributed by providing practical case studies of the experiences within their respective countries which really made the process fulfilling and empowering.
Goodwin Mnsini Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) National Arts Council of South Africa
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
Contents Introduction 7 Section 1 Marketing and Arts Marketing.................................................................................................................................................................................. 9 1.
What is Marketing?............................................................................................................................................................................................ 9
2.
What is Arts Marketing?.................................................................................................................................................................................. 9
3.
What is Marketing Management?................................................................................................................................................................. 9
4.
Evolution of Marketing .................................................................................................................................................................................10
5.
What is the Marketing Mix?..........................................................................................................................................................................10
Tool: Example and Template of the 6 P’s of the Marketing Mix ......................................................................................................12
6.
The Marketing Management Approach....................................................................................................................................................12
7.
Creating the Marketing Strategy................................................................................................................................................................13
8.
The Marketing Planning Process.................................................................................................................................................................13
Section 2 Analysis and Research...............................................................................................................................................................................................15 1.
Vision and Mission Statement.....................................................................................................................................................................15 1.1. Vision.........................................................................................................................................................................................................15 1.2. Mission......................................................................................................................................................................................................15
2.
Tool: How to Write a Vision and Mission Statement.................................................................................................................16
Case Study: Setting Objectives........................................................................................................................................................17
Example: Vision and Mission Statement .....................................................................................................................................18
The Marketing Audit........................................................................................................................................................................................19 2.1. The Internal Audit..................................................................................................................................................................................19 2.2. The External Audit ...............................................................................................................................................................................19 Tool: PESTLE Analysis.....................................................................................................................................................................................20 Example: SWOT Analysis ...............................................................................................................................................................................22 Case Study: The Marketing Audit...............................................................................................................................................................23
3.
Defining the Market: Who is the Market?................................................................................................................................................24 Advice: Target Markets also include Funders and Sponsors............................................................................................................24 Tool: How to Identify Your Target Market................................................................................................................................................25 Examples: How Some Arts Organisations in Africa Define their Markets..................................................................................25 Case Study: The Role of Market Research .............................................................................................................................................26 Example: Marketing Research Questionnaire........................................................................................................................................28 Tips For Conducting Market Research.....................................................................................................................................................29
Section 3 Planning...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................31 1.
Marketing Objectives and Strategies.......................................................................................................................................................31
Example: Setting Your Marketing Objectives using a Mind Map....................................................................................................31
2.
The Strategic Marketing Plan......................................................................................................................................................................32 2.1. Writing your Marketing Plan..............................................................................................................................................................33
3.
Case Study: Marketing Plan...............................................................................................................................................................33
Strategic Decisions: The Marketing Mix..................................................................................................................................................34 3.1. Product......................................................................................................................................................................................................34
Advice: Some Ideas to Consider When Making Decisions about Product........................................................................34
3.2. Place ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................35
Tool: Checklist When Making Decisions on Place......................................................................................................................35
3.3. Price...........................................................................................................................................................................................................36
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
3.4 Promotion.................................................................................................................................................................................................36 3.4.1. Advertising...................................................................................................................................................................................37
Selecting the Media for the Advertisement.....................................................................................................................37
Tool: Creating an Advertisement..........................................................................................................................................38
Posters...........................................................................................................................................................................................39
Tips For Distributing Posters................................................................................................................................................39
Pamphlets, Flyers or Brochures............................................................................................................................................39
Tips For Creating a Pamphlet, Flyer or Brochure...........................................................................................................39
3.4.2. Public Relations..........................................................................................................................................................................40 3.4.3. Publicity.........................................................................................................................................................................................40
Media Liaison...............................................................................................................................................................................41
Tool: Example and Template of a Publicity Plan .............................................................................................................41
Developing Relationships with the Media.........................................................................................................................42
Tips On How to Handle the Media........................................................................................................................................42
Press or Media Releases and Press Packs.......................................................................................................................43
Tips On Writing a Press Release...........................................................................................................................................43
Example: Press Release ..........................................................................................................................................................44
Tips on Writing a Biography ...................................................................................................................................................45
Example: Writer’s Biography..................................................................................................................................................45
Press Launch / Conference.....................................................................................................................................................46
Tips For a Press Launch or Conference..............................................................................................................................46
Interviews.....................................................................................................................................................................................47
Tips For Interviews....................................................................................................................................................................47
Publicity Stunts..........................................................................................................................................................................47
Listing Services and Public Service Announcements...................................................................................................47
Photography.................................................................................................................................................................................47
Tips For Good Publicity Photography.................................................................................................................................47
3.4.4. Direct Marketing........................................................................................................................................................................48
What is Direct Marketing?......................................................................................................................................................48
Building a database...................................................................................................................................................................48
Tool: Template of a Database ................................................................................................................................................48
Maintaining the Database ......................................................................................................................................................48
Telemarketing..............................................................................................................................................................................49
Tips For Telesales.......................................................................................................................................................................49
Newsletters..................................................................................................................................................................................49
Tips For Creating a Newsletter.............................................................................................................................................49
Word-of-Mouth...........................................................................................................................................................................50
Tips To Stimulate Buzz.............................................................................................................................................................50
On Site Promotion.....................................................................................................................................................................50
Case Study: Direct Marketing ...............................................................................................................................................50
3.4.5. Digital, New or Electronic Marketing..................................................................................................................................51 Email...............................................................................................................................................................................................51
Tips For Using Emails to Market...........................................................................................................................................51
Websites .......................................................................................................................................................................................51
Tips For Developing Relationships with Customers on your Website....................................................................52
Tool: How to Set up a Website...............................................................................................................................................52
Social Networks .........................................................................................................................................................................53
Facebook.......................................................................................................................................................................................53
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
Twitter............................................................................................................................................................................................53 Blogs...............................................................................................................................................................................................53
RSS (Real Simple Syndication) Feeds................................................................................................................................53
Wikis...............................................................................................................................................................................................53 Mobile.............................................................................................................................................................................................54 Texting............................................................................................................................................................................................54
Mobile Applications (Apps)....................................................................................................................................................54
Example: Mobile Application.................................................................................................................................................54
.mobi Sites ...................................................................................................................................................................................55
Podcasts........................................................................................................................................................................................55
Case Study: Promotions using Electronic or Digital Marketing Tools ...................................................................55
Case Study: Digital Marketing ..............................................................................................................................................56
3.4.6. Sales Promotions.......................................................................................................................................................................56
Case Study: Sales Promotion................................................................................................................................................57
Tool: Checklist for Decisions on Promotion.....................................................................................................................57
3.5. Positioning...............................................................................................................................................................................................58
Case Study: Brand Identity ...............................................................................................................................................................58
3.6 People........................................................................................................................................................................................................59
Tips For Creating Enthusiastic People..........................................................................................................................................59
Case Study: Marketing Mix ...............................................................................................................................................................59
Case Study: A Marketing Campaign ...............................................................................................................................................60
Tool: Template to Create Your Own Strategic Marketing Plan.............................................................................................63
4. Budgeting............................................................................................................................................................................................................64 4.1. Building a Budget – some central steps........................................................................................................................................64
Example of a Budget............................................................................................................................................................................65
Section 4 Action...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................67 1.
Implementation and Action...........................................................................................................................................................................67
Tool: Template for a Strategic Marketing Action Plan........................................................................................................................67
Tool: Template for a Communication or Promotion Plan ...................................................................................................................68
2.
Monitoring and Evaluating............................................................................................................................................................................69 2.1. Monitoring................................................................................................................................................................................................69
Methods to Gather Information.......................................................................................................................................................69
Tips For Monitoring..............................................................................................................................................................................69
2.2. Evaluating...................................................................................................................................................................................................70
3.
The Evaluation Report.........................................................................................................................................................................70
Tool: Writing a Evaluation Report....................................................................................................................................................70
Tool: Template and Example of Evaluating Marketing Success...........................................................................................71
Case Study: Strategic Marketing Plan...........................................................................................................................................72
References and Additional Reading..........................................................................................................................................................79
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
INTRODUCTION
Anniranou al kabira tabdaou bi sharara Great fires erupt from tiny sparks.
This Arts Marketing Toolkit is one of a series of toolkits designed to offer practical tools to strengthen resources in African civil society arts organisations. Some of the others are the Arts Advocacy and Networking Toolkit, the Project Management Toolkit, and the Arts Fundraising Toolkit.
Case studies from various countries in Africa and different arts sectors are used to embed this marketing philosophy into practical examples. Worksheets have been developed to encourage readers to participate and reflect on the toolkit information with evidence from their own precise contexts.
If the cultural sectors on the continent are to be inspired towards wealth creation, they need empowered practitioners and relevant knowledge. These kits aim to contribute to this continuous process by offering information and case study examples drawn from contemporary African situations.
The Project Management Toolkit provides theoretical insights and practical tools to use in managing projects within the creative sector. These insights and tools may be applied to all disciplines and to projects ranging from organising a festival, setting up an exhibition, managing a conference to staging a play. Case studies from the African continent along with worksheets are incorporated in the Toolkit to further assist practitioners in the effective management of arts projects.
There are many common problems facing African cultural practitioners to which varied solutions have been found. These toolkits offer some of these solutions in the spirit of sharing lessons learned and techniques successfully practiced. The Arts Advocacy and Networking Toolkit provides information about what networking, advocacy and lobbying for the arts is actually all about, with examples of how collaboration can positively and professionally draw attention to those issues that concern artists and cultural workers. Information on how to structure a network and develop a campaign of action is supported with examples and tips for efficient planning and implementation. Samples of a constitution, a formal letter, a petition and a budget and action plan for launching a campaign are also provided. The Arts Marketing Toolkit explores different ways of building and sustaining public identity for individual artists and arts organisations. Constructing a sustainable arts livelihood is about understanding perceptions of power relations in economic contexts, and being able to make the appropriate choices in these environments.
The Arts Fundraising Toolkit provides a broad spectrum of fundraising know-how. The toolkit provides information and resources about fundraising as well as templates and worksheets to assist arts organisations in the practice of fundraising. Common mistakes in fundraising are highlighted and you will also benefit from the top ten fundraising tips of African arts practitioners. The Arts Marketing Toolkit, the Arts Advocacy and Networking Toolkit, the Project Management Toolkit and the Arts Fundraising Toolkit are interconnected threads of the same cloth. Marketing today is often referred to as communication; networking is the essence of communication practice and fundraising is successful because of clear and purposeful identity building for all partners concerned, and good project management underpins all of these. Used together, it is hoped that these kits will be the sparks that will ignite further ideas and increase confidence as the creative sectors realise their potential.
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 7
Section 1 The aim of this section is to introduce the key definitions of marketing and specifically arts marketing and to contextualize marketing in the arts. There are many concepts associated with marketing and these are often confused. These concepts are clearly and concisely explained here so that they can be easily understood. The fundamentals of marketing are introduced with a brief background and history on marketing. The section also introduces the concept of the strategic marketing process and how to lay the foundations of a marketing strategy. In this toolkit, reference is made to the “arts organisation� but the indvidual artist, perfomer, musician, dancer as well as the arts collective or network can simply apply the principles to their own situation.
MARKETING AND ARTS MARKETING 1. What is Marketing? Marketing is a term which is used in many facets of life but often is not entirely understood. That does not mean to say it is a highly complex subject and out of reach of the ordinary layperson who has never studied it formally. Not at all. In fact marketing is not complicated, it is simple common sense, and uses logical processes and systems in order to achieve its goal. So do not be intimidated by all the terms and jargon. Over the years there have been hundreds of definitions given for marketing and they continue to evolve. Marketing theorist Philip Kotler describes marketing as “the set of human activities directed at facilitating and consummating exchanges.” It is essentially the organisational activities that guide how goods and services move from the producer to the consumer or customer. This Arts Marketing Toolkit will look at these “human and organisational activities” and how they are used to “facilitate” or “guide” and complete the movement of the
Art Product
arts products (the goods or services) from you, the artist or your arts organisation (the producer), to the people (the consumer or customer or user) who buy or use this art product. BUT… Herein lies the confusion for artists and arts organisations: Today’s marketing is essentially a method used to segment people into recognisable groups, identifying their needs, desires and wants and then creating and producing goods that will fulfill these needs and wants. Now, as a producer of the arts, you are mostly driven by the creation of the art and not by what you perceive your market to want or what they actually want. Artists are not driven by the need to satisfy the consumer. They are driven by the creation of the art or the product. So how does one navigate this fundamental difference when it comes to marketing the arts?
Marketing Activities
Customer
2. What is Arts Marketing? Of course, there are very few artists who would forsake their art to create work that was entirely influenced and informed by the consumer. The good news for the artist is that “marketing, as it relates to the arts, is not about intimidation or coercion or abandoning an artistic vision. It is not “hard-selling” or deceptive advertising. It is a sound, effective technology for creating exchanges and influencing behaviour that, when properly applied, must be beneficial to both parties involved in the exchange.” (Kotler et al 1997: 30) “Arts organisations that compete successfully for funding are those that produce great work and that build visibility
for the work necessary to attract both earned and unearned income. All arts organisations must explicitly address the need to build visibility in their strategic plans… The most appropriate method for building visibility, is to produce superior artistic programming on a sustained basis.”( Kaiser et al 1995: 75) Many arts marketers are not only concerned with selling their products, but are integrally involved in creating marketing strategies that attract funding. For an in depth study of arts fundraising refer to the ARTerial Network Fundraising Toolkit.
3. What is Marketing Management? Marketing management is simply the management of all the processes that ensure the successful and satisfying transfer of the goods or services to the target audience. These processes include research and analysis, planning and implementation with the arts organisation’s overall objectives in mind. Godin (2007: 13) reminds us that “Successful organisations are built around successful marketing
tactics. Without the tactics, there’s nothing.” Arts marketers have to plan and examine these tactics and not simply wait for consumers to come to them to buy their art. You do not stage a production and hope that people will come see it. Or create a beautiful piece of artwork, and leave it in the studio in the hope that someone will walk in off the street wanting to view it. You need to put strategies in place that help get the product to the consumer.
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 9
4. Evolution of Marketing We interact with marketing everyday of our lives: from purchasing fruit on the roadside, listening to the radio, catching a taxi to applying for a new job, creating an artwork, or writing a new song. We are constantly interacting as either the consumer or the producer in these exchanges. Marketing however is more than just about the exchange that takes place, it’s about the processes and decisions that are made to allow for this exchange. Marketing, the exchange of goods and services has been around forever, but modern marketing, according to Kotler (1997: 32-37), has three orientations: Product Orientation, in which the “managers are caught up in a love affair with their product and fail to appreciate that the market may be less ‘turned on’ and may even be moving in a different direction.” This is quite often the case with the arts, where goods are produced irrespective of the customers’ needs or wants. Sales Orientation, where the emphasis is on selling, which assumes that customers have to be coerced into buying through assertive sales techniques. Customer Orientation, which acknowledges that the customer is the key that unlocks the exchange of goods and services. It is the customer who ultimately chooses to buy. This orientation implies that the marketing process begins with the customer and not the organisation. The marketing approach that follows this customer orientation says Kotler, “requires that the organisation.. study customers’ needs and wants, perceptions and attitudes, preferences and satisfactions….(and) act on
this information, to improve its offerings to better meet its customers’ needs.” It is the idea of the customer deciding on what must be produced, that is viewed with great suspicion by artists and arts organisations, who are mostly productorientated and not marketing- or customer-orientated. Kotler goes on to explain that organisation-centred marketing orientation is not customer-centred. The organsiation considers its offerings to be inherently desirable, there is minor research and marketing is defined primarily as promotion. However the customer-centred organisation always asks: Who is our current audience? How can we define and categorize them? Who is our most likely potential market for future development? What are their current perceptions, needs and wants? How satisfied are they with our product and how can we improve? They do extensive research, creatively and strategically segment the audience into target groups, broadly define competition, and develop strategies using all elements of the marketing mix. The thrust of this modern marketing era for the arts, is that artists and arts organisations develop strategic relationships with their customers and “help maximize exchanges with the targeted audience.” (Kotler et al. 1997: 32-37). It does not mean that art has to pander to the needs of the customer, but it does mean that the artist and arts organisation should consider to whom, why, how, where and when they are marketing their art.
5. What is the Marketing Mix? Marketing academic E. Jerome McCarthy originally named the components or pillars on which the marketing efforts are based, as the 4-P’s which make up the marketing mix: product, place, price, promotion and more recently marketers have added in positioning and people to this mix. ¬¬ Product: This is the actual work of art; such as the painting, music concert, dance or theatre piece, craft fair, literary festival or exhibition; or the organisation or group: such as the band, community arts centre, theatre complex. It could also include products within the organisation such as a children’s theatre club, senior members’ group and community programmes, or especially-created marketing events such as watching rehearsals, seminars with curators, or walkabouts with artists. ¬¬ Place: This is the location of the art product and the various “places” that the customer comes into contact with the product. This could be, for example, the studio, exhibition hall, gallery, theatre, craft market,
10 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
ticketing outlet and even the organisation’s website where customers can purchase art or tickets online. ¬¬ Price: This is the price of the art product whether it is the price of the craft, theatre ticket, artwork, concert programme or exhibition catalogue. Pricing is influenced by, for example, the size of the work, the popularity of the artist, the abundance (or lack thereof) of seats or the time of the year (in holiday season or out of season) or the cost of printing a catalogue. ¬¬ Promotion: This is essentially the methods or tools used to communicate to the customer. These could include some or all of the following: advertising, publicity, public relations, direct selling, word-ofmouth or publicity stunts. This is what people often incorrectly refer to as “marketing” but is in fact the final step in the whole process. ¬¬ Positioning: This is about the image or brand of the art or arts organisation. This is the “promise” that you make to your customers. It’s how you define your
product. For example, are you a community-based arts centre with fine artworks aimed at exclusive wealthy collectors who want to support grassroots organisations, or an exclusive art gallery catering to niched middle-income buyers in a city centre.
This deals with how these people begin, develop and maintain relationships with your customers to ensure continued business and loyalty. These 6 P’s of marketing will be dealt with in more depth in Section 3.
¬¬ People: These are the artists themselves or the organisation’s staff who interact with customers.
Product
People
Place
Customer
Positioning
Price
Promotion
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 11
T ool... Example and Template of the 6 P’s of the Marketing Mix for the Poetry Africa Festival, organised by the Centre for Creative Arts (CCA), based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa Product
Poetry Africa is a festival of poetry featuring poets from around the globe, with a focus on African poets. The festival takes place in October each year for six days, but has in recent years toured to Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa and to Nairobi (Kenya), Maputo (Mozambique), Medellin (Colombia), Harare (Zimbabwe) and Blantyre (Malawi) Poetry Africa comprises evening showcases in a theatre where poets perform their works, as well as a schools’ poetry competition, school visits to develop young writers and audiences, book launches, seminars and workshops.
Place
There are evening showcases and book launches in a theatre, visits to schools, and seminars and workshops in community venues. Tickets for the evening showcases are purchased through an online ticketing agent – Computicket.
Price
As the CCA is a not-for-profit organisation and Poetry Africa is funded by a host of funders including the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund and in order to encourage wide public access, the ticket price for evening showcases is kept low at R30. The other events are all free of charge.
Promotion
Posters and A4 folded flyers are distributed to libraries, tourist offices, schools, and other venues on a large database. Posters are erected on lamp-posts in targeted areas. Small print adverts are placed in select media. Letters are written to schools. The CCA’s website www.cca.ukzn.ac.za hosts the Poetry Africa site, which has information and biographies of poets. The site is regularly updated and the web address is used on all promotional material. The site also links to a Facebook page, Facebook group and Twitter. The festival also has an affiliation with the World Poetry Movement,which sends out press releases, as do many of the festival’s Facebook and Twitter followers and partners. Over 15 years the CCA has developed a strong email database that is sent information, however it monitors the number of emails sent so as not to overload the recipients with information.
Positioning
Poetry Africa is positioned as a serious and respected poetry festival that challenges 21st century political, environment and social justice issues.
People
The CCA has core staff who are sent on regular trainings, and uses ad hoc workers such as drivers, poet hosts and co-ordinators who are trained internally by senior staff. Staff are knowledgeable about the product, have good skills and are able to handle the dynamics of a big festival. www.cca.ukzn.ac.za
6. The Marketing Management Approach “Marketers run things. They always have. Sometimes, though, the people running the things don’t realise that they are marketers.” (Godin. 2007: 10) Marketing is not something which is ONLY done by “the marketing department” or marketer, but is a management approach to the way in which the artist or arts organisation exchanges their art with the consumer. Marketing overlaps in many ways with all different functions of the organisation. For example, in a large Performing Arts Organisation in a multi-venue complex: ¬¬ The artistic director will need to make choices about the PRODUCT or the performance that will be staged;
12 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
¬¬ The PLACE or venue in the complex will be decided by the artistic director and the complex manager; ¬¬ The financial manager will have to align the PRICE with budgets available, potential sponsorships, and projected ticket sales; ¬¬ The marketing manager who would be involved in all these decisions would focus a team to PROMOTE the performance; ¬¬ The CEO and management team would make institutional decisions on the POSITIONING of the organisation; and
¬¬ The human resources manager would ensure that staff or PEOPLE are appointed and well-trained. The marketing manager would brief staff about the show, especially frontline staff who interact with customers or the audience, so that they are best able to represent the organisation.
¬¬ Define who you are and the purpose of your organisation, as well as your vision and mission; ¬¬ Set objectives, aims and goals; ¬¬ Analyse your existing situation and how you are currently positioned in the market; ¬¬ Conduct research with existing and potential customers (target market);.
This is a very simplistic way of describing it, but it demonstrates that marketing is much more than just promotion, it’s a holistic philosophy, and an understanding of how the artist or organisation can complete the exchange between themselves and the customer.
¬¬ Use all this information to plan your marketing strategy with your 6’Ps of marketing in mind; ¬¬ Implement the strategy; ¬¬ Monitor and evaluate the marketing plan.
For an artist or arts organisation, a marketing approach requires you to:
7. Creating the Marketing Strategy To avoid confusion around the use of the term Marketing Strategy, let’s clarify the differences in the various strategies your organisation may be called upon to develop: According to Kotler et al (2004) there are three levels on which strategies are made: Corporate/ organisational strategy, which involves decision-making to:
Functional level strategy, which involves decision making to develop: ¬¬ Marketing strategy - marketing goals and objectives, marketing strategies (customer, product/services, pricing, promotion and distribution) ¬¬ For arts organisations – the funding/fundraising strategy ¬¬ Product development.
¬¬ Define the corporate/organisational mission and vision
¬¬ Production and Operations strategy
¬¬ Set objectives
¬¬ Human resources strategy
¬¬ Define business portfolio strategy
In this toolkit we are looking at the functional level strategy to market the art product or organisation.
¬¬ Deploy Resources ¬¬ Establish corporate values Business strategy, which involves decision making to: ¬¬ Define the business ¬¬ Set objectives ¬¬ Choose the product/market portfolio ¬¬ Establish competitive strategy ¬¬ Allocate and manage resources
¬¬ Finance and Administration strategy
Creating your marketing strategy is really a way of bringing all the elements of the organisation or your work as an artist together so that there is a plan that takes you from where you are, to where you want to go. Think of it as a route map that takes you and your arts product to the customer and purchaser of your art. The process of developing this plan or map is called the Marketing Planning Process.
8. The Marketing Planning Process The diagram below illustrates the process that needs to be followed in order to develop your marketing strategy.
Analysis and Research Vision & Mission Statement and Objectives Marketing Audit, Situation Analysis and SWOT Analysis Market Research and Defining the Market
Planning Strategic Marketing Plan using the 6 P’s of Marketing Budgeting
Action Implementing the Plan Monitoring and Evaluating ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 13
Section 2 In this section we will look at how to lay the foundations of a marketing strategy through analysis and research. We look at how to create a vision and mission statement, explore analysis and research methods, and how to define a target market.
ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH You start the marketing planning process by finding a focus for the strategy through defining who you are and your purpose. To do this you need to have a clear understanding of your vision and mission.
1. The Vision and Mission Statement 1.1. Vision Statement The vision statement is a statement of the reason for arts organisation’s existence and its underpinning values. It is often called “a picture” of your future, and is the inspiration for your strategic planning. It is how you define the dreams of your work or organisation. The vision statement is the answer to the question, “Where do I/we want to go?” This then becomes the reminder of why you do what you do, and where you want to be in the future. It does not tell you how you will get there.
1.2 Mission Statement The mission statement essentially describes the processes or steps that you will follow to realise the vision (or the dream). The mission contains the aims and objectives of the organisation. The Aim is the ultimate goal or result that you would like to attain. The Objective is the short-term goal that will help you reach your aim. Activities are the actions taken to achieve your objectives. Your vision and mission statements should clearly communicate: ¬¬ Your principles and values. ¬¬ Who you are and why you exist and what makes your unique. ¬¬ What your goals are and what you want to achieve. Adapted from ARTerial Network’s Arts Advocacy & Networking Toolkit. 2011: 19-21
T ool... How to Write a Vision and Mission Statement
The Vision Statement ¬¬ Get together with staff/management team and brainstorm important words or ideas that best describe your organisation’s purpose and dreams and record these on a flipchart. ¬¬ Go big and be bold. ¬¬ See how themes emerge as this process happens. ¬¬ Underline key words, for example: • The purpose of our theatre-in-education company is to teach a variety of important life skills to schoolchildren. • We want to promote self-esteem amongst children in a vibrant and dynamic way using theatre as a means of communication. • We believe that increased self-esteem empowers young people to resist peer pressure that leads to unwanted pregnancy and the risks of contracting HIV/Aids, drug/alcohol dependence, bullying, and other behavioural problems. • We aim to be a support organisation for life skills education. ¬¬ Look carefully at these and come to an agreement on what phrases or words best describe your vision, and ask: • Do these best describe what we do, for whom we do it and how we do it? • Does it set us apart from other organisations? • Is it simple and clear and realistic? ¬¬ Using the example above perhaps this organisation’s vision statement would read something like this: The Vision of Ouagadougou Vibe Youth Theatre is to use drama to support educators across the country in developing self-esteem amongst primary school children by teaching life skills in a vibrant and dynamic way, laying the foundations for them to flourish as functional adults who are able to contribute to society in a meaningful way.
The Mission Statement To create your mission statement, follow the same process as for the vision statement but write down your aims and objectives. For example, using the Ouagadougou Vibe Youth Theatre example above, here are some aims and objectives they may have: ¬¬ Our objective is to become a valuable and consistent partner to educators by providing good quality, wellresearched life skills theatre programmes based on their identified needs within the classroom. ¬¬ We aim to train touring groups consisting of skilled performers , and grow the numbers of groups on tour to ensure more schools are adequately serviced every year through these education programmes. ¬¬ We aim to develop valuable resource material for educators based on assessments of outcomes of performances at schools and research with the audiences and educators. Adapted from : ARTerial Network’s Arts Advocacy & Networking Toolkit. 2011: 19-21
16 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
C ase s tudy Setting Objectives Jant-Bi Dance Company (Germaine Acogny – Ecole des Sables), Toubab Dialaw (Dakar), Sénégal has set clear objectives: ¬¬ To provide dancers from all over Africa with professional training, ¬¬ To stimulate communication and collaboration between African dancers, choreographers and companies, ¬¬ To act as a platform for young African dancers, ¬¬ To encourage dialogue with the dance world outside of Africa, ¬¬ To function as a centre where people from all over the world can discover the diversity of African dance, ¬¬ And to operate as a meeting place where dancers and choreographers can be introduced to their African colleagues so that they can exchange ideas, study the essence of African dance and collaborate on projects. These objectives are clear, concise and encapsulate the vision and mission of Jant-Bi. A brief background on the Jant-Bi Dance Company highlights how its objectives have been integrated practically. The dance project, formed around the Jant-Bi Company, was founded by renowned choreographer Germaine Acogny in 1998 in Sénégal, and includes a dance school. The premises also serve as a meeting place for those who work creatively with body and mind. In many ways, Jant-Bi is much more than a dance company. The premises of the company and the school are located in a picturesque Senegalese fishing village, not far from the capital Dakar. The community of the village is involved in the running of the school which also serves as a conference centre. The dance school includes a music school which also teaches traditional African music and instruments. The Company has created a unique place for dancers in the small fishing village of Toubab Dialaw. There is a long list of partners, resulting in regular collaborations with North American and European choreographers and dance companies. This is an indication of the effective network the company has built over the years. One of Jant-Bi’s key objectives is ‘‘to create dialogue with the dance world outside of Africa’. This has been achieved through dedicated networking that has created a wide net of supporters and sponsors, a very important consideration for an art form that relies heavily on sponsorship. While Jant-Bi’s objectives clearly focus on dance, it has also created a network of supporters and collaborators that are not directly involved in the world of dance; and most importantly the local community of Toubab Dialaw has been integrated into this project and is benefitting from having it located within the community. This highlights the fact that talent and a good reputation are no guarantee for success and longevity. Setting clear, concise, and measurable objectives is a critical step towards realizing your vision and mission. When your objectives are not clear or realistic there is a higher probability that you will not achieve your goals. www.jantbi.org
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Example... Vision and Mission Statement
AFRICAN ARTS INSTITUTE Vision: The African Arts Institute’s vision is for a vibrant, dynamic and sustainable African creative sector that contributes to development, human rights and democracy on the continent, and that projects African aesthetics and intellectual content into the international arena.
Mission: The mission of the African Arts Institute is to harness relevant South African- expertise, resources, infrastructure, markets, knowledge and information to help develop and sustain creative practice in Africa, and the protection and promotion of the continent’s cultural heritage and assets in line with our vision.
Aims: ¬¬ Building capacity within the African creative sector and ¬¬ Building local and regional markets for African creative goods, services and artists’ brands
Objectives: Short Term ¬¬ To provide logistical and infrastructural support to arts and culture-related organisations and networks working to promote human rights and democracy – including access to the media and a free, independent press - in South Africa and throughout Africa. ¬¬ To serve as a link between the African creative sector and its international counterparts including donors, promoters, civil society groups, educational institutions, etc. ¬¬ To promote reconciliation, understanding and mutual respect between South Africans and immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers especially from other African countries, and to advance the rights and interests of such refugees – particularly artists and creative practitioners - living in South Africa. ¬¬ To facilitate exchange, co-operation and collaboration between artists, managers, educators, creative industries, etc. from different African regions. Medium Term ¬¬ To provide opportunities for education and training, e.g. researchers, administrators, fundraisers, policy makers, etc. to build the human capital and capacity of the African creative sector; this will include the provision of bursaries and loans for educational purposes, establishing appropriate courses with accredited institutions and workshops to provide in-service training. ¬¬ To undertake extensive research and to collect and distribute data and information relevant to building, promoting and sustaining the creative sector. ¬¬ To serve as, or help to create, a circuit for African artists to tour or distribute their creative products and to undertake cultural tours to help build markets for African arts events and cultural institutions. ¬¬ To develop the arts in their own right and as means to promote intercultural dialogue, mutual respect and tolerance between diverse South African communities. ¬¬ To develop and support a cadre of local and regional experts in various fields to provide input from African perspectives in relevant national, regional, continental and global forums. Long Term ¬¬ To foster the growth of micro-enterprises in the arts and culture sector and to create opportunities for employment in this sector through appropriate training, mentorships, infrastructural support, loans, toolkits and other means. ¬¬ To provide funds, interest-free or low-interest loans and back-end services (e.g. financial management) to organisations, companies and individuals engaged in the development of the African creative sector, including the promotion of African art, culture and an understanding of its customs and traditional practices. ¬¬ To pilot and test projects, practices and organisational models that could be replicated in support of the creative sector elsewhere. ¬¬ To provide appropriate support (e.g. technical and research services) to government, parastatal agencies and international donors active in the African creative sector. ¬¬ To identify partners in neighbouring countries and assist in building their capacity where necessary, and work alongside them in delivering key projects within the region. www.africanartsinstitute.org.za
2. The Marketing Audit Now you have a focus, let’s look at the marketing environment in which you find yourself and see how this impacts on your organisation and how you do business this is known as a marketing audit.
¬¬ What office equipment (computers, telephones, stationery, etc) and creative resources (to make the artwork, stage the music concert, run a festival) do you have?
An assessment of the internal and external environment in which you operate is called a situation analysis. The analysis, which will enable you to plan more effectively, is a scrutiny of everything you know about your situation, how you function, and the elements that can influence or affect how you work.
¬¬ Is the organisation’s vision and mission statement clear? Do you know what direction your are heading in?
When you collect this information you will be able to assess your internal strengths (S) and weaknesses (W) and to identify your external opportunities (O) and threats (T). The summary of these factors is called a SWOT Analysis.
2.1. The Internal Audit An internal audit helps to assess the inner workings of the organisation, and aims to understand how ready your organisation is to implement the marketing plan. These are factors over which you hold the most control; that is, you have a fair chance at being able to alter and develop these to suit your own needs. There are three broad areas to look at when doing this audit: ¬¬ Marketing resources – what you have available to market the artwork/organisation. ¬¬ Marketing activities – actions you have taken to market the artwork/organisation. ¬¬ Marketing achievements – what have you been able to achieve through these actions.
Questions to ask:
¬¬ Are there any organisational challenges that you may be faced with? ¬¬ What marketing objectives have been achieved? For example, how many paintings, tickets or programmes have been sold? How many new people have you been able to get to follow you on Twitter? How many more friends have signed up on Facebook, visited your website or joined your newsletter database? ¬¬ What has been your customers’ or audience’s reaction to the work presented or exhibited? What feedback have you received? By asking these questions, your internal Strengths and Weaknesses will be revealed.
2.2. The External Audit The external audit is a thorough analysis of your external environment. These are factors over which you have very little control, but are important to consider as you plan your marketing strategy. There are a few models or tools used to analyse your external environment. A popular tool is the PESTLE which enables you to assess the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental climates in which you operate. You can use this tool to enable you to assess the Opportunities and Threats that face you as an artist or arts organisation.
¬¬ What is your financial situation, and what budgets are available to run the organisation and/or create work; what plans are in place to source funding or sponsorships? What income is expected? ¬¬ What staff do you have and what are their particular skills, as well as their responsibilities? Is this adequate or suitable for your needs? ¬¬ Where are you located geographically and how does this affect sales? For example, you may be a dance group in an inner city, which has more of a young urban population, how does this affect your programming and marketing?
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 19
T ool... PESTLE Analysis to Assess the Organisation’s External Environment
Political Factors Think about the local community, regional, national and global issues or events that are happening, or are about to happen, that may impact on your work. These could include: the way in which funding is done, arts and culture policies, human rights and international relations. For example, the national department of arts has altered its funding structures, and new lengthy processes are required when applying for financial assistance. These could reflect as “threats”. Conversely, local government may implement a long-awaited arts policy, which could be perceived as an “opportunity”.
Economic Factors Here consider again the local community, regional, national and global issues or events that are happening, or are about to happen that may impact. These could include the access to funding or capital, the world’s economic situation, taxation, interest and exchange rates, and consumer spending. For example, with the implementation of tax relief for donations made to the arts, you may find that there are many more companies willing to consider donating to the arts. This would be an opportunity.
Socio-cultural Factors In the context of the arts these include factors that influence or make up the cultural trends at the time such as age, gender, location, religious and cultural practices, social patterns, attitudes to arts and culture. For example, if there was a global wave of design interest in graffti art, inspiring trends in architecture, clothing or home décor, and you maintained/ran/were part of a graffiti artists network, you would look at this as a big opportunity to market your members’ work.
Technological Factors Increasingly technological factors are playing an important role in how we assess opportunities and threats. These factors take into consideration social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN, for example), mobile phone technology (such as Blackberry and its free messaging service BBM), new developments in technologies and consumer behaviour in relation to these technologies. Developments in mobile phone technology, especially in the context of Africa, have meant that more people have access to information. Smart devices, for example, enable more and more people to access the internet, bank on line, check their emails, and obtain entertainment (games, videos and music). This could be seen as a threat in that it diverts a target market’s potential spending away from the arts. However it could also be perceived as an opportunity in that the arts marketer can now deploy a variety of relatively inexpensive communication channels. Consider for example Twitter, and how you are now able to instantly inform many of your current and potential market about your up coming production, new exhbition, specials, news etc.
Legal Factors These include legislation and potential and actual changes that may affect you. For example, your government’s trading policy may affect how your craft is exported, or how your raw materials are imported. There may be legislation affecting the way in which you are able to sell to your consumer through contracts, or subscriptions. International policy may also play a role, for example the Nairobi Plan of Action, the Belgrade Declaration on the Status of the Artist and the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity.
Environmental Factors Environmental and ecological factors such as legislation, recycling and climate change may also impact on the way in which you market your art. Consider the relationship of the art or organisation to issues around the environment and how it could create opportunities such as developing programmes to support particular advocacy issues. For example, a pottery collective using a locally produced non-toxic environmentally friendly glaze, may want to lobby against legislation which favours bulk, toxic imports. Having an artwork that has integrity from an environmental point of view, may be perceived as an opportunity. You and your arts organisation will, in time, be assessed by how you approach these environmental factors from an arts perspective.
20 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
Competition Do not forget to assess the competition in the similar arts sector as your organisation. Ask the following questions: ¬¬ Who are my competitors? ¬¬ Are we competing for the same market? And if so, are our opposition/competition attracting our traditional audiences “over” to their side? ¬¬ How are they marketing their art or organisation? ¬¬ How is our art different from theirs? What is our “unique selling proposition”? ¬¬ What sets ours apart from theirs? Assessing the competition and current political, socioeconomic, technological, legal and environmental climate is key to planning. This helps when developing the marketing plan and its implementation.
SWOT Analysis Use a SWOT analysis to summarise the situation analysis, which you have done above. This is a useful method that gives you a quick overview of your organisation – which will illustrate your strong points or what is working well for the organisation and the areas needing improvement. It will also show you potential areas of growth and threats that could possibly jeopardise the success of attaining your organisation’s objectives. Try and list as many strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that you can think of. The tool on page 22 illustrates how to summarise your situation analysis into a SWOT analysis.
Example... Of a SWOT Analysis for Les Artisans, a Craft Gallery in Douala, Cameroon STRENGTHS (Internal)
WEAKNESSES (Internal)
What strengths does the organisation have?
Are there any areas within the organisation that are vulnerable or considered to be weak?
For example: The manager of the gallery is well-known and experienced and is currently head of the Crafters’ Network of Cameroon which enables Les Artisans to access quality craft from around the country. Les Artisans is located in the hub of the tourism area, which means the gallery is able to attract international visitors. There is a small coffee shop incorporating a reading room, which enables customers to spend more time in the gallery, which means staff have more time to interface with clientele.
For example: The gallery has limited space to display certain types of larger craft such as woven mats and wall hangings. There is limited parking, and the gallery is not on a main public transport route for local customers. Budget constraints mean that there are only 2 staff to support the curator and sometimes, when the gallery is full, visitors cannot be attended to adequately.
OPPORTUNITIES (External)
THREATS (External)
What opportunities can you foresee for the organisation?
What threats can you foresee?
Les Artisans has a good trade relationship with a number of galleries in Kenya and South Africa. Careful planning could ensure that the gallery work is exhibited there. The gallery’s new interactive website will offer virtual exhibitions online, thus opening up the internet for direct sales. New legislation is being mooted to halt cheap Chinese craft imports, which would open up new retail opportunities for Les Artisans’ traditional crafters.
22 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
With real and perceived political instability in Africa, the tourist market is unpredictable. Local customers are favouring cheaper imported functional goods instead of traditionally crafted items such as wooden bowls or meat dishes.
C ase s tudy... The Marketing Audit
By auditing their environment Editions Barzakh, Algiers, Algeria was able to understand its market better. Key objective: To establish a publishing company that publishes Algerian books for Algerian readers living in Algeria. “When Selma Hellal and I created our publishing house in February 2000, our project—naïve and clumsy in its business plan— was to publish young Algerian writers (novelists, short story writers, poets, etc.), to publish Algerian literature for Algerian readers living in Algeria. We conceived this project in a very particular context: that of Algeria at the end of the 1990s. At the end of ten years of political crisis, many Algerian authors had left the country, some moving to France and others to Arab countries. These authors were no longer published in their own country. Instead, they contributed to the success of European or Middle-Eastern publishers.” Sofiane Hadjadj The co-founders of Editions Barzakh, Sofiane Hadjadj and Selma Hellal, noticed a very important gap in the publishing sector in Algeria. As students in France, one in architecture and Arabic literature, the other in political studies, they were frustrated by the realization that all the Algerian literature they were reading was either printed in France if it was written in French or printed in Cairo, Egypt, if written in Arabic. So they decided that they had to do something about this. Their mission was to give pride of place to Algerian writers and to make sure that they could be read by as many Algerians as possible. They took the next step of analysing the environment in which they would be doing business, by conducting an audit of their external environment looking at publishing houses in Algeria in particular, and the literary environment as a whole. They followed up with an internal audit that consisted of looking at their strengths and weaknesses, as well as the opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis), and identified their target markets. As their publishing enterprise developed, they began collaborating with three French editors: Editions de l’Aube, Bec en l’air, and Actes Sud. They also began developing creative connections with other art forms, such as painters and sculptors through organising exhibitions. They would then publish the catalogue for the exhibitions. And, in tune with global trends in the creative arts, they saw themselves organising and participating in arts events that included book fairs but also intellectual and cultural encounters. Barzakh publishers has developed networks and exchanges with Arab, African and European countries, and fosters the local audience through discussions, poetry readings and art exhibitions. While collaboration in events is not the core business of Barzakh editors, the revenue from these events generated the funds to help the projects, such as publishing a particular author, which they liked the most. They felt that this kind of collaboration was important as a means of sustaining their core objective whilst allowing them to create and cultivate new audiences. This is a great example of how an organisation can attract different audience segments through seeking synergies across sectors. For the founders of Editions Barzakh, going through the process of doing an external and internal audit as well as a SWOT analysis put them at an advantage, and provided them with the knowledge to make informed decisions on how to design and implement their marketing plan. It also gave them insight on other opportunities for income generation that were available in the larger arts sector, challenging them to look at other ways of supporting their core business, which was producing the different genres of literature they were interested in publishing. www.editionsbarzakh.dz
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 23
3. Defining the Market: Who is the Market? Part of the analysis process of creating your plan is defining your target market. The target market is the end user, customer, audience, or consumer of your product. These are the people who buy the tickets to the concert purchase a painting from the gallery or volunteer to assist your organisation. They are essentially those who have an interest in or desire for your art and have the finances to purchase it, or the time and inclination to become involved as a volunteer.
Advice…
Target Markets also include Funders and Sponsors Arts marketers also need to consider their markets in terms of how they access funds and sponsorships. Efforts aimed at securing these are also driven strategically through marketing endeavours. Essentially you are selling your art or performance to these particular markets, and focus needs to be made on exactly how you will approach this. (For more information see the ARTerial Network’s Arts Fundraising Toolkit) Here are some examples of funding markets:
international level. This process of defining your market is called market segmentation. “Market segmentation is about clearly defining potential target markets so that the most appropriate and effective strategies (publicity and marketing) to reach those markets may be devised and implemented.” (The Artist’s Handbook. 2008) There are many ways to define your market, and many methods are used to do this. One of the simplest methods is by segmenting them as follows: ¬¬ Geographic ¬¬ Demographic ¬¬ Psychographic ¬¬ Behavioural
Geographic Using geographic segmentation, the market is divided into locations, the local community, city, region and country, or continent. For example, ARTerial Network has used geographic segmentation to identify it market as, “arts networks and organsiations in Africa.”
Demographic
Private sector sponsors: In order to attract the sponsors from the private sector to support your organisation, you will need to know, research and understand their needs and how they operate. You are selling your art or performance to a market of corporate representatives.
This divides the market into groups according to age, gender, occupation, income levels, cultural or ethnic background and education. For example an arts organisation that focuses on performances for children will segment its market according to specific age groups.
Private individual patrons of the arts: These are people who have disposable income to be able to sponsor art or part of art productions or shows. Think about how you would identify and sell to this market.
Psychographic
International donors/development agencies: There are many international donor- and development agencies that support the arts. How would you identify and sell to this market? Government agencies at different levels (national, regional and local): How can you identify and access funds from this market? What necessary documentation would be required to access these funds?
The market is relatively diverse, and often we find it intimidating trying to define to whom we should be marketing. By defining the market, you will be able to keep costs down as you are speaking directly to people who are interested in your product. For an arts organisation the market can be made up of individuals, community groups, educational institutions, arts networks, companies or businesses, sponsors and funders, as well as stakeholders and those involved in arts on a local, regional, national and 24 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
The market can be segmented according to attributes that relate to interests, activities and opinions. For example, adults who enjoy café society and hanging out with friends in trendy environments may be an ideal target market for a newly created gallery that incorporates a coffee shop and reading room.
Behavioural This way of segmenting the market is what traditional marketing finds the most useful. It is based on consumers’ knowledge of, attitude towards, uses for, and responses to the product. (Kotler et al 2003). For example, young men from the ages of 18 to 25 might associate contemporary dance with older females. It might appear to them to be too sophisticated . Your marketing strategy may then include programming breakdance, hip hop or urban dance (fitting into the contemporary genre) but without compromising artistic integrity, to appeal to this segment.
T ool... How to Identify Your Target Market
¬¬ Gather information about your existing customers through research. Speak to them, ask them to give you information about themselves through questionnaires, forums, one-on-one conversations with them or online surveys. (There are many useful free online survey tools you can use, for example www.surveymonkey.com). Some arts organisations like to use a sticker method whereby audience members are asked simply to respond to questions on a wallchart, using stickers given to them on arrival. ¬¬ Define your primary market – those who definitely use the product. ¬¬ Define your secondary market – those who may possibly use your product (For example, someone who is interested in the content of the production/art but is not necessarily an art lover). ¬¬ List the benefits your art product provides and who would seek that particular benefit. Ascertain who is most likely to need the product, as well as who would most likely want the art product. ¬¬ Gather information about your competitors. Who are they targeting? ¬¬ Choose the location of the market. ¬¬
Select your market’s demographics. Age, gender, occupation, income levels, cultural or ethnic background, language, education, marital and family status.
¬¬ Select the psychographics of your target market. Their interests, activities and hobbies, values and attitudes and lifestyles they lead. ¬¬ Select the behaviour of the market. How do people respond to the art product?
Examples… Of How Some Arts Organisations in Africa Define their Markets
ABIJAN, an association of artists in Cape Verde, defines its market as: Adult foreign tourists and Cape Verdeans from the Diaspora who are regular visitors to the islands. Greenarte, a strategic business unit of CEDARTE, a Mozambican non-profit organisation geared to support the craft sector, defines it market as: Visitors interested in purchasing souvenirs, and middle and high earning residents interested in quality crafts products produced in Mozambique. The Botswana-based SAUTI Arts and Performance Management Organisation manages, facilitates bookings and acts as publicists to performing artists. It also runs workshops, coordinates events in and around the city of Gaborone and supports other organisations’ efforts to create an artistic landscape in Botswana. SAUTI defines its market as: (a) Practicising artists who wish to engage management to handle their arts related administration either comprehensively or partially. Currently only artists above 18 years will be considered. (b) Lovers of art including individuals and corporates.
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 25
C ase s tudy... The Role of Market Research FTH:K is a young, ground-breaking theatre company that works in the field of Visual Theatre, based in Cape Town, South Africa. Without a dependency on any one language, its work crosses over cultural and linguistic divides and calls on audiences to “Listen With Your Eyes”. It has already won multiple awards, toured all over South Africa, Germany, Argentina, and the USA, and in only six years, has reached more than 47 000 people. Furthermore, FTH:K is South Africa’s premier deaf and hearing theatre company with the goal of integrating the Deaf into the performing arts world in South Africa. This aim is best illustrated through its unique Tell-Tale Signs programme which is currently training South Africa’s first generation of Deaf artists for inclusion in the professional performing arts industry. There is currently no other project like it (nor has there ever been) running in South Africa. FTH:K productions include the award-winning Benchmarks, Womb Tide, Pictures of You, GUMBO, QUACK! and Birds’ Eye View. Tanya Surtees, FTH:K’s Company Director, is a graduate of a three-year International Summer Fellowship Programme from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC. As a result of her training, she generated the following marketing tool for a South African environment.
Importance of Marketing Research The importance of getting information from and about your audience cannot be overstated. Why? Because in the arts we do not have the budgets the likes of Coca Cola that allow us to saturate the market with images, jingles, gimmicks, and products that make it impossible for the potential theatre-goer to ignore us. Generally, we are all operating on a shoe-string budget which means that we have to be very specific about where we spend our marketing budget, to whom we send what messages and when. Luckily, though, we are in an innately creative field and that means we can have fun getting the information that we need.
Knowing what you Want from your Audience and Why Step 1 is to work out what information you need, and by “you” I mean your organisation/group. Basically, why are you trying to get info from and about your audience base? How is it going to help you do what you do within your particular environment? At FTH:K we want to know a number of things from audience members. How old are they? How did they find out
about the show? Have they seen other FTH:K shows before? If so, which? What are their email addresses? Did they enjoy the show or not? Are they deaf, hearing or hard of hearing? These questions are specific to FTH:K – yours could be very different. ¬¬ How old are you? A 25-year old is more likely to respond to different marketing mediums to a 50-year old; a student is more likely to respond to a lower ticket price than a 48-year old; if our audience is made up of 90% pensioners, we know that we have to make a concerted effort to develop new audiences! The ages of audience members can have a significant impact on how you communicate to your audiences in future and what you choose to say. ¬¬ How did you hear about the show? We want to know which of our marketing efforts are turning people into paying customers, because those are the efforts on which we want to spend our limited time and resources in the future. ¬¬ Have you seen other FTH:K shows? We want to know how many people are “repeat offenders”. Are there trends between our different show audiences: does it seem that people who came to see QUACK! were also drawn to see Benchmarks but not Picture of You? If so, why? Are there themes running through these shows that clearly interest this particular audience group? If so, we will know to target them in future should we hold shows and events that touch on these themes. ¬¬ What is your email address? We want to be able to notify them of future shows and expand our database – one of your greatest assets as an arts organisation. ¬¬ Did you enjoy the show? Obviously you want to know if they did or didn’t, but more importantly, you want them to know that you care about what they think. ¬¬ Are you Deaf, hearing, Hard of Hearing? FTH:K’s mandate is to serve both the hearing and the Deaf communities, so we need to know whether we are doing that. If we have put initiatives in place to grow a certain audience, we need to be able to measure whether those efforts are successful or not. You might have similar audiences and communities that you serve and need to know how you are doing in your serving of them.
Front Of House: The First Point of Contact We have always taken great care in our Foyer Displays but over the past three years we have begun developing them almost as a science: balancing
the giving of information with the gathering of information. On one hand, you want your audience members to be able to read about the show, the people involved, what the media have thought about it etc. This means you have to ensure you have information to offer them that they can access with ease, so you have to look at how you lay out your information in the space and how you anticipate people will move between the bits of information. Crowd control, really. On the other hand, you want them to engage with you and offer information about themselves. If they like what you give them, they are more likely to give back to you. Remember, this is their first contact point with you and as such it can have an impact on how much they enjoy/dislike your show. If your audience walks into your space and feels welcome, engaged, and impressed by your organisation, you have primed them to enjoy the show as much as they possibly can (taking into account that the “show” and the “they’ in that sentence are obviously relative to quality and personal preference). One way of doing this that has proved very successful for FTH:K is a simple, cost-effective system that includes stickers, papers, pens and pencils at its base. Keep in mind that while it is relatively cost-effective, it is time-consuming as a process. Still, we find this time well-spent in terms of what we get back from the research.
Simple Stickers Firstly, decide what you want to know from your audience. Then, on a few big sheets of paper, draw a table that asks those questions in the following way: How Old Are You? 0 - 16
17 – 22
23 – 30
31 - 40
41 – 50
51 - 60
60 – 68
69 – 79
80 - 90
90 - 100
You can decide on the age brackets by asking yourself: what does it mean if they are in the first bracket and not the second? What attributes does each bracket carry with it that will affect how they will engage with you again as an audience member? All the questions you have can be laid out like this. How do they answer? You give them stickers that they stick in the box of their choice. Not only is this interactive, colourful and fun, but it also allows them to remain anonymous while at the same time allowing
them a peep into your audiences’ demographics themselves. All they need do is look up at the pieces of paper to see for themselves what the largest age group is in that audience – and people love it. How you give them the stickers is up to you. We always have programmes at our shows so we staple the stickers onto the inside of our programmes. If you don’t have programmes, perhaps you want to make little photostatted flyers to hand out, but you don’t want to simply give them a strip of stickers as people are less likely to engage if they are dealing with finicky bits of sticky paper. (A note: we tried to do this with racial demographics and South Africans found it very uncomfortable. So now, for the sake of our funders who want to know our racial count, we have someone counting heads in the corner and writing down their findings on a clipboard.) Besides your question papers, you can have a big piece of paper that says: Would you like to hear more from us? Or something along those lines. (I would avoid using words like “Mailing List” and “Database” as people don’t respond well to them – it makes them sound too much like a number in a system, when what they want to feel is that they are a part of something, a participant in an experience, a member of a club.) There people can write their names, email addresses and phone numbers (whatever data it is that you want from them) after the show. Make sure there are pens or pencils provided for them to do so or you will lose out. You want to make it as easy as possible for them to give you their information. Similarly, you can have a piece of paper that says: What did you think about the show? With a place for them to write their comments. I would suggest that you have one person as an example on all your pieces of paper: you can make up a person or use one of the cast members as an example. Fill out all the answers as if you are that person before the audience arrives (except their email and phone numbers; you can put the producer or company details instead) but be sure to make a mark on those dots so that you know not to include them in your calculations when you tally up the stickers at the end of the run. Email correspondence with Tanya Surtees: FTH:K’s Company Director www.fth:k.co.za
Example‌ Of a Marketing Research Questionnaire
Name of the Event/Exhibition: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Title (Mr/Ms/Dr): ___________First Name :________________________________________Surname:_____________________________________________________ Residential Address : _____________________________________________________________________________Postal Postal Code: ________________________ Postal Address: _____________________________________________________________________________________Postal Code:__________________________________ Telephone: (_________) ____________________________________________(Business) (_________)___________________________________________________ (Home) Mobile: __________________________________________ E-mail: __________________________________________ Website:_______________________________________ Marital status Male
Female
Married
Single
In a relationship
Age group below 18
18-25
Children: Yes
No
26-35
36-45
46-55
56-65
65+
If so how many? ________________ What are their ages? _______________________________________________________
Home language: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Occupation: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Interests, Hobbies and Sports: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How did you find out about the event/exhibition? Posters
TV interview
Flyers
Newspaper / Magazine article
Radio /TV advert
Newspaper/ Magazine advert
Websites
Radio interview
SMS Twitter Word-of-mouth
What made you attend this event/ exhibition? Someone recommended it It has artistic appeal
The promotion made it look interesting
I came with a friend Other:_________________________________________
How do you usually source your information about events? Posters Flyers Radio /TV advert Newspaper/ Magazine advert Radio interview
TV interview
SMS
Newspaper/magazine article
Word-of-mouth
Websites Facebook
Would you like to hear more from us so we can email you our newsletters ?, Yes
No
Any comments? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Tips… For Conducting Market Research ¬¬ Begin by asking your staff and stakeholders (board members, volunteers, funders, etc) their views and opinions. What works, what does not work, what additions or changes could be made to the product or programming or operational processes?
Now What? Through this analysis, and research you have gathered a sizeable amount of information. Now what do you do with it? All too often organisations get excited about the process of marketing, gather the information, with much enthusiasm, and it sits on a desk, unused. It is at this stage that the planning can begin, so avoid letting all this valuable information go to waste.
¬¬ Then ask your existing customers about themselves, their opinions of your organisation or art, how they access information about it, and about their needs and desires. (See the Tool on page 30). Use these opportunities to update your databases and segment your current market. For example if someone gives you feedback that their primary interest is music, ensure that they are on your database for music events. ¬¬ Check out similar competition: What are they doing? How different is their work to yours? Are you really competing for the same market? How are they communicating with their markets? Visit them and interact with them as a customer. Learn from their successes or mistakes. ¬¬ Assess what else are you competing against: could it be home entertainment, for instance? ¬¬ Join regional, continental, and international arts networks. There are many networks that are internet-based offering valuable information and ideas about target markets. Online forums, chat rooms and discussion groups will also provide opportunities for you. For example, the Kennedy Centre in Washington, USA, has an online arts management forum to which you can direct questions. Contact them on www.artsmanager. org. ¬¬ The internet gives you access to endless possibilities to do desk top research.
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 29
Section 3 In this section we look at how to set marketing objectives and design the strategic marketing plan by making decisions about the marketing mix: the art product and how it is positioned, its place and price, how to promote it and the people who represent it and finally how to budget.
PLANNING 1. Marketing Objectives and Strategies To create the strategic marketing plan you will need to first set your marketing objectives. These marketing objectives are the specific marketing targets you want to achieve in order to meet your organisational mission and goals. The strategic marketing plan encompasses all the decisions made as to how you will reach these objectives.
Marketing Objectives To set your marketing objectives (which are different from your organisational objectives) begin by creating a “mind map”. This is a visual diagram of your aims and objectives and will help guide you in making your marketing decisions. Write down your general aims as well as your specific objectives.
Example… Setting your Marketing Objectives using a Mind Map
Mind Map by a Small Independent Theatre Company
To create work that speaks to important socio-political issues, especially gender issues. To build visibility.
General Marketing Aims
To develop youth audiences.
To position the company as a leading theatre company in Africa.
To increase audience base.
To produce four major seasons of new scripts. To publicise these seasons using traditional media with a focus on digital media.
Develop a database of audiences.
Specific objectives To attend at least one arts festival in Africa. To tour to schools with dramatisations of literature studied at secondary levels.
To develop an institutional marketing plan to create visibility for the company, not only the work.
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2. The Strategic Marketing Plan The information you have gathered in the analysis stage of the marketing process, can now be used to create your strategic marketing plan with these objectives in mind.
Plan or Route Map
2.1 Writing your Strategic Marketing Plan
¬¬ Decisions about:
It is important that your strategic marketing plan is committed to writing, so that relevant stakeholders have access to the information that will ultimately affect the way in which your art reaches the market. The plan essentially looks at your current situation, your future destination or goal, and your plan or route map of how to get there.
Current Situation You have already established through your marketing audit what you current situation is. ¬¬ Vision and mission statement ¬¬ Situation analysis (internal and external analysis, the PESTLE analysis, SWOT summary) ¬¬ Market research ¬¬ Target market analysis
Destination or Goal These are your marketing objectives. You may want to list short term (1-2 year) and long term (3-5year) goals.
This is your action plan and will include activities to achieve the goals as follows:
• The Product: these could be decisions on your arts organisation or on your artwork, production, gallery, arthouse etc. and how you want to present yourself to the market. • The Place: the location of your arts organisation, event, artwork and distribution, which will include how the market will connect with your product, for example, an online ticketing system, or a table selling craft at a craft festival. • The Price and sales: Besides the cost of tickets for a show, a music lesson or a fine art piece, you will also need to take into account how the product will be sold - through a formal sales system, online or through volunteers. Will you need cash facilities or will you use credit cards? Perhaps you may even use a barter system where you exchange your work or performance for goods or services from your market. • The Promotion methods you will use to communicate to your market. Will you use a website, brochures. posters, radio advertisements, wordof-mouth, billboards, newsletters or newspaper editorial, for example? • The Positioning: What perceptions do you want to encourage or discourage about the product? How must people feel when they interact with the product? • The People: Who will be representing you? How will you train them, or communicate to them about the work? ¬¬ A timing path with responsibilities assigned to relevant staff. ¬¬ Budgets. ¬¬ Monitoring and evaluating processes.
32 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
C ase s tudy... MarketING PLAN
Below is a sample of a marketing plan summary from the Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON) based in Lagos that outlines the core elements of a standard marketing plan. Be aware that the example given does not begin to cover the intricacies and detail of a full marketing plan, it is a summary.
Background on Muson: The Musical Society of Nigeria was established in 1983 with the following objectives: ¬¬ To promote the understanding and enjoyment of classical music in Nigeria. ¬¬ To promote the performance of serious music (with emphasis on classical music). ¬¬ To promote the education of children in the performance and theory of music. ¬¬ To encourage the interaction of Nigerian and non-Nigerian musicians, and for this purpose to encourage foreign musicians to come to perform in Nigeria and vice versa. In furtherance of the above objectives, the Society is the proud owner of a multipurpose cultural complex, the MUSON Centre in Onikan, Lagos. This complex also houses the MUSON School of Music, a Government-recognised, diploma-awarding educational institution dedicated to the training of professional musicians. MUSON organises regular concerts, an annual Festival of the Arts and other programmes and events for its members and the general public. It recently established a Symphony Orchestra which is in the early stages of development. Business mission:
MUSON is in the business of providing quality musical education and entertainment.
Marketing Objectives:
To encourage musicians to perform and utilize the facilities available at the Centre. To draw audiences to events at the centre. To attract young musicians to the school. To attract the public use of the centre’s space for conferences, exhibitions, concerts theatre performances, weddings, product launches and seminars.
Situation analysis: Strengths:
Threats:
Well-funded organisation, unique offering, strongly networked, highly reputable, quality services. More competition in the market, quality of service compromised, inconsistencies in management. Can add further value to music education in Nigeria through strategic national and international partnerships. Is uniquely placed to house a musicology museum of indigenous classical and traditional music. A lot of new facilities offering the same services at competitive prices.
Competitive advantage:
Only musical society in Nigeria.
Target market selection:
Members, music students, youth, classical music enthusiasts, expatriate community.
Positioning:
Premium facilities and location, superior quality services.
Weaknesses: Opportunities:
Marketing mix: Product: Facilities for conferences, fairs, exhibitions, classical concerts, theatre performances, weddings, product launches and seminars. Place: The MUSON Centre complex. Promotion: Advertisements in print media, television, outdoor billboards and word-of-mouth Price: Depends on service rendered but upmarket pricing. Implementation:
Set financial targets based on previous year’s performance and annual projections. Improve on services through in-house training. www.m-u-s-o-n.com
3. Strategic Decisions: The Marketing Mix 3.1. Product “In order for a performing arts organisation to survive, it must both meet the current needs of its audience and assist in the development process that will cause audiences to seek and respond to a product that is closer to the director’s artistic vision.” (Kotler et al. 1997:17) “The single most important element of the organisation’s Marketing Mix is its offering. Marketing’s ultimate objective is to develop an offering that will satisfy the needs of one or more target audiences. Even the most creative and dramatic advertising cannot sell an audience on a fundamentally weak offering. Furthermore, a performing arts event is more than music or a performer, it is an experience. Customers acquire products or services, or seek experiences, for what these products or experiences can do for them. All aspects of the customer’s experience must be taken into account by arts managers. “ (Kotler et al. 1997:189) Michael Kaiser, President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, USA, at a master class in marketing at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town South Africa in February 2010, spoke about the importance of the product and especially in the case of arts organisations, the importance of programming in relation to attracting funding, which is essentially a marketing function. “What creates funding is the work.” Kaiser believes that the primary challenge facing arts organisations is the programming, ie.
The Product. Planning needs to take place well in advance with a minimum of three years preferably five years. “This builds investor confidence. This is what gives the arts organisation its identity.” Kotler et al (1997: 192-193) refers to the “Total Product Concept” which comprises: ¬¬ The core product, the actual art that is being presented and is directly related to the mission and objectives of the organisation. Fine art is the core product of an art gallery, for example. ¬¬
The expected product, which is the customers’ expectations “regarding the purchase and consumption of the product.” For example, visitors to an art gallery may expect to be given a catalogue, or at least have work titles, prices and some information about the artists displayed.
¬¬ The augmented product, which are features that move beyond the usual expectations. Examples of these could be a coffee shop in an art gallery, or opportunities to meet the artists in forum discussions about the work, or giving visitors a complimentary drink on arrival. The expected and augmented products are secondary to the core product but are just as important in terms of creating the experience that will ensure the audience’s satisfaction.
Advice… Some Ideas to Consider When Making Decisions about Product ¬¬ Artistic value and integrity. ¬¬ Programming – what are the short, medium and long term plans? ¬¬ The season in which the work is being done. For example, programmes for school children during the holidays. ¬¬ Themes – can the product be linked to any local themes? For example cultural high days, religious holidays, national holidays. ¬¬ Will there be refreshment facilities at the venue? ¬¬ Is there enough variety of products being offered to ensure repeat business? ¬¬ What other event can be organised to complement the product? A walkabout by the curator or artist? A scriptreading? A dance rehearsal? ¬¬ Is a programme or catalogue needed?
34 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
3.2. Place
And it also can be
The “place” refers to the location of the art product such as:
¬¬ The venues where customers buy tickets such as ticketing agents or websites.
¬¬ The theatre where the dance work or play is being staged.
Many arts organisations have existing premises from which they conduct their business, but most artists and smaller arts companies or organisations are constantly faced with challenges in deciding just where to present their work. In both instances, the marketer has to ensure that the “place” of the marketing mix falls in line with the overall mission of the organisation.
¬¬ The gallery, markets, shops or studio where the visual art and craft is being sold. ¬¬ The club, hall or stadium where the music concert takes place.
T ool... Checklist When Making Decisions on the “Place”
The Site ¬¬ In what kind of area will you be presenting, selling your art product? ¬¬ Do the aesthetics of the area match the product you are presenting? ¬¬ Are the ticket outlets accessible to the market? ¬¬ Does your market use public transport and if so, is the venue accessible to them? ¬¬ Does your market use their own transport? If so, is there adequate parking and are the costs in line with your own offering? ¬¬ How secure is the venue?
Venue ¬¬ Do the aesthetics of the building and venue match your product? ¬¬ Is it clean and well maintained? ¬¬ What condition is the building or the outdoor venue in, and does it suit your offering? ¬¬ Are the facilities suitable to present your art? For example, is the stage big enough for your musical? Are the walls high enough for your art? Is the stadium big enough for your music concert? ¬¬ Are the facilities suitable for the audience? (Are there suitable restrooms, refreshment stations, seats or stands for performances or space in the gallery to exhibit the work?) ¬¬ Is there access for the disabled? If not what plans have you in place to make it accessible?
Administration ¬¬ Does the owner or management of the rented venue have similar views about your work and how to promote it? ¬¬ What support will they provide for the marketing of your art? ¬¬ Are staff adequately trained to support your work? ¬¬ Are there opportunities to ensure staff are briefed about the product? ¬¬ Are the management trustworthy and reliable? ¬¬ What are the payment policies of the venue for hire, if they receive your sales? ¬¬ Will you be able to track sales and have access to sales information such as databases from your exhibition, show, concert or festival from the venue management? And the ticketing agent?
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 35
3.3. Price In today’s arts environment the artist and arts organisation are competing with a myriad other offerings from the many other art products available, with competitors such as home-entertainment, shopping malls, and cheap foreign imports. While price may play an important role in the customers’ decision-making, it is not necessarily the reason they will purchase the art or ticket, but if too high it may be the reason they don’t. Pricing decisions are important as they position (see the section on positioning) the product in the minds of your customers. If, for example, an established and highly recognised artist who has traditionally commanded high prices for his work, starts to sell the work at a low price, the perception could be created that the work is no longer of any investment value. Pricing the arts, especially visual art, is a difficult task for the marketer. For a theatre piece, one would have real costs such as stage materials, performers salaries, venue hire, director’s fees etc as a guideline for a starting price. With visual artists and crafters, while there are materials that need to be considered, for the most part the work is priced on time it took, status of the artist or what the market can expect to pay. Musicians on the other hand would look at costs for time, rehearsals, extra equipment needed to hire, and value of the gig. For instance, if it was a concert the fee may be higher compared to performing as background music for a function. There are a few ways to establish a price for your art: ¬¬ Cost-plus pricing which recovers most of the costs of creating the art (materials, labour and time) plus overheads (or administration) costs and a percentage profit. Cost of materials/to put on the show: 50 Overheads 20 Total cost 70 Profit desired 20% 14 Total price 84 ¬¬ Demand pricing is based on the level of demand made by the customers rather than the costs, of course costs would need to be covered by the price asked. The customer may highly value the art and is prepared to pay for it. The product here is priced for its perceived value. In South Africa, for example, where theatre ticket prices were kept low by policies of the state run arts councils prior to 1994, there has been a growing acceptance of paying higher ticket prices for musical theatre due to demand. ¬¬ Competitive pricing is based on the pricing of competitors. This is used when there is an established market price for the art product. If, for example,
36 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
there are many similar products available, prices will be comparable, But, if the product is unique, prices will not be decided on competition. Be sure if you are pricing higher than your competitors that you offer something superior to their offerings.
3.4. Promotion The promotion of the art product is essentially the way in which it is presented or communicated to the target market. When one talks about marketing, this is what usually comes to mind. However as we have seen it is vital to the organisation that the other elements of the market mix are considered to ensure a holistic approach to your strategy. What good is it if a superb traditional dance work at a community hall is priced so high, that the local folk cannot afford tickets. Or if you market an art exhibition as “hip, cool and happening” to a young audience and the experience of your product is “staid, boring and utterly uncool”. Your promotion campaign can include all or some of the following, which is often referred to as the Communications Mix. ¬¬ Advertising ¬¬ Public relations ¬¬ Publicity ¬¬ Direct marketing ¬¬ Digital marketing ¬¬ Sales promotion When creating your promotion or communciations campaign comprised of this mix, you will need to decide on what you want to say and to whom, that is, what segment of the market, are you aiming at. These would be: ¬¬ Customers (the people you have identified in your research). These may be on a database and easily accessed according to their demographics. You may simply have a list that describes customers such as women with young children, men and women between 20 and 30 years or elderly men over 70. ¬¬ Special interest groups. For example, if you were staging a show about gender issues, you may want to identify women’s groups as a potential market. Perhaps you are curating an exhibition of ceramics by people with varied physical challenges, then you may want to target organisations that have networks with similar people. Of course you would also need to ensure that the media and stakeholders such as staff, board members, volunteers, funders or sponsors and civic bodies connected to your organisation receive the information.
3.4.1 Advertising Advertising is any paid form of communication or representation of products and services that is aimed at customers taking some sort of action in response to it. Advertisements can appear in traditional media such as: ¬¬ Print Media • Newspapers (national, regional and free community newspapers that are distributed to suburbs) • Magazines • Arts journals • Programmes or catalogues
By using advertising, you are in control of the message and can determine that your target market will get to see or hear it, unlike publicity or public relations, over which you have little or no control. In the case of advertisements, “less is more” - do not try to cram in too much information, as it will become cluttered, unappealing and no one will want to read it. Decisions about the design and layout of your print advertisement should be in line with your overall objectives and how you want to be positioned. Does the look and feel of the advertisement communicate what you are selling?
• Billboards
The size of the print advertisement and whether it will be printed in black and white or colour, or the duration of the radio or television advert will be determined by your budget. Most media houses have representatives who can assist you with calculating costs and advise on how to spend your budget most effectively.
• Posters, flyers, pamphlets and brochures
Selecting the Media for the Advertisement
¬¬ Broadcast Media • Television • Radio ¬¬ Display Media
Or now more frequently in new, digital or electronic media such as: ¬¬ Email ¬¬ Websites/Internet ¬¬ Mobile Most arts organisations battling with budgetary challenges use advertising in a limited way. It is expensive and often the media most able to accommodate the budget is quite broad, and not ideally targeted. With large budgets, for example, artists could place advertisements in national glossy investment magazines attracting businesspeople to invest in art. Realistically the artist seldom gets an opportunity to advertise like this, and has to find other creative ways to do this. Television is also, for the most part, out of the budgetary realm of arts organisations, however a good publicity campaign could ensure that the product gets television exposure. (See the section on publicity on page 40).
The selection of media really depends on what you are selling and to whom you want to sell. Through your research you will know who your market is and in what media they obtain their information. If you were staging a music concert aimed at teenagers, you know that they would probably be getting their information online, via email or texting. Alternatively, an exhibition of music artefacts from traditional villages aimed at an older more discerning audience would be advertised in specialised arts pages in magazines. Most advertising agencies would agree that “frequency” of an advert is as important as “reach”, that is the number of times your target audience sees or hears the advertisement is as important as the number of people it reaches. Often, given the small budgets they work with, artists and arts organisations are tempted to have advertisements in many media but their budgets then only allow for one showing in the newspaper, or one flighting on radio. Rather focus your attention on a selected welltargeted media and have the frequency. Your message will then be noticed.
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 37
T ool... Creating an Advertisement
When creating your message for the advertisement whether it be for a newspaper or for radio remember to use the Five Ws (also known as the Five Ws and one H): What, Why, Who, How, When and Where to ensure that the correct information is included in your communication. For Example, A Traditional Music & Dance Festival in Cameroon What: Cameroon Festival of Traditional Music & Dance Why:
A celebration of our rich cultural heritage
Who:
Local and national lovers of music and dance
How:
Book @ 055 555 555
When:
14 March, 2011 at 11am
Where:
Botanic Gardens, Limbe, Cameroon
Inspired by www.baka.co.uk/press/limbe.html This information represents the basic information that should be used. Not all of it has to be used, so this advertisement could possibly end up with the following text: Cameroon Traditional Music & Dance Festival Celebrating the HeART of the Nation 14 March @ 11am Limbe Botanic Gardens For more info 055 555 555 In the case of advertisements, “less is more” – do not try to cram in too much information, as it will become cluttered, unappealing and no one will want to read it.
38 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
Posters
Tips…
Posters are large notices for public spaces informing the market of an event. It tells the audience what is on, where it is on and when it is on. Artists and arts organisations can use posters effectively to communicate with their market.
For Distributing Posters
Here are some simple guidelines for creating a poster: ¬¬ Use a size that is readable – for example an A2 or A1 sized poster is probably the best size for viewing and distribution. ¬¬ Keep the design simple and do not have too much information on the poster – remember for the most part people are either driving or walking past a poster and need to take in the information in a matter of seconds ¬¬ Design a poster that is eye-catching: look at the use of colour, images and the type-face (font) of the text on the poster. ¬¬ Ensure that you have included the following information: What the event is. Where it is. When it is - date and time. How to book and, if possible, a contact number, email or website address for more information. Adapted from ARTerial Network’s Arts Advocacy & Networking Toolkit. 2011: 55 Distributing these posters is key to effectively getting the message out. It is no use printing posters and only having them displayed on your own site.
Pamphlets, Flyers or Brochures Pamphlets, flyers and brochures should reflect the look and feel of the whole campaign. If people see a poster, advert, flyer, catalogue or any promotional material, they should immediately be able to associate these with the art being promoted. Pamphlets, flyers or brochures can be a really useful tool to attract the attention of your target market. They can also be distributed about 2 to 4 weeks before your event to similar venues as the posters, including places like tourist sites and information offices, airports, taxi ranks and transport hubs.
¬¬ Have a structured approach and plan to your distribution. ¬¬ Develop a database of key sites where the posters can be displayed, for example, shops, shopping centres, libraries, hairdressers, schools, college, universities, other arts organisations, ticketing outlets, community and civic centres, restaurants, etc. ¬¬ Collect the information about the display venue, get permission and develop relationship with a specific contact at the venue. Some arts organisations offer complimentary tickets to people who display their posters, or add them to the guest lists for launch or opening events, this way they can further develop the relationships with them and develop a core word-of-mouth network. Think how much information a hairdresser or barber can impart to customers over a few days after seeing your art! ¬¬ Erecting posters on street poles in targeted areas is a very effective distribution method. Check with your local authority whether there are regulations regarding this. They may have rules about the size of poster and the amount of information on it. In some cities, for example, posters are not allowed to have a ticket price, and they have to be a certain size. Obtain this information before you set out to design the poster. ¬¬ The timing for the display of posters should also be taken into account. Some local authorities would have regulations about this, so check with them. Ideally posters should be up and around venues about 4 weeks beforehand.
Tips… For Creating a Pamphlet, Flyer or Brochure
¬¬ Be clear on the message to be communicated. ¬¬ Keep the design simple and do not overload the reader with too much information. ¬¬ Use the “what, why, how, when and where” principle to ensure relevant information has been included. ¬¬ Provide enough facts and figures that can lend credibility to the information being communicated. ¬¬ Ensure there is a call to action, for example you may want the reader to buy a ticket, visit the gallery, join your organisation or become a volunteer. To do this explain exactly how these actions can be done. Give contact details, telephone numbers and emails addresses. Adapted from ARTerial Network’s Arts Advocacy & Networking Toolkit. 2011: 55
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 39
3.4.2. Public Relations Public relations is essentially the management of perceptions and relationships between an organisation and its staff (internal stakeholders) and its external stakeholders. It is the way in which you develop and maintain relationships. Public relations may require you to run media campaigns to enhance perceptions of your art or organisation, or to manage a crisis that may develop, for example. Internal stakeholders are those involved in the running of the organisation and could include ¬¬ Staff or artists ¬¬
Volunteers
¬¬ Board members External stakeholders are those who interact with the product or organisation from the outside and could include: ¬¬ Customers who buy your product ¬¬ Media ¬¬ Affiliated groups (for example, an art gallery may be associated with an artists’ network, or a theatre may have connections with a national actors co-op) ¬¬ Funders, sponsors and donors ¬¬ Suppliers of goods and services to your organisation ¬¬ Local, regional or government departments Here are some suggestions of activities to consider when using public relations to build relationships:
Internal: ¬¬ Briefing meetings to familiarise them with the product. ¬¬ Ongoing meetings to ensure communication channels remain open.
¬¬ Membership clubs whereby members get discounts, and other benefits such as watching rehearsals, or getting sneak previews of the product. ¬¬ Public profile events such as speaking at relevant conferences, presenting master classes or workshops. ¬¬ Involvement in arts networks (such as ARTerial Network), and other advocacy and lobbying organisations that continues to build profile for your own organisation.
3.4.3. Publicity Publicity is a media strategy used to disseminate information and is the marketing tool that is possibly the most often used by arts organisations and artists. Publicity in the media is, by and large, “free” (except that you need to have someone do the job) which is a big bonus for financially-strapped artists and arts organisations. It has wide reach, can be well-targeted and, if used creatively, can often be the main source of communication for artists and arts organisations. For the arts, publicity generally involves making decisions around media liaison and implementing them to ensure: ¬¬ Features, editorials, interviews and listings in magazines and newspapers. ¬¬ Features, mentions, discussions and interviews on radio and television or online; ¬¬ Presence through digital media. ¬¬ People are talking about the work Publicity is generally viewed as being more credible than advertising and other forms of promotion, in that the recipient of the message sees the information coming from a source other than the originator of the information.
¬¬ Previews of shows and exhibitions or presentations about the product. For example, invite offsite callcentre booking agents to a final dress rehearsal of a show, or invite volunteers to do a walk-about of the art gallery with the curator before the exhibition opens.
With publicity here is no guarantee that the information given to the media will be used. The media are under no obligation, whether you advertise with them or not, to use your story. You will need to develop messages and angles that will be deemed newsworthy or interesting. Don’t only think about the product but think about the other elements that surround it. A play for example, which deals with abuse and violence against women, does not only have to be featured in the arts pages of the newspaper. You could ask a respected spokesperson on the subject to write an opinion piece, which could mention the issues being dealt with in the play.
¬¬ Site visits by staff and family.
Publicity could take the form of:
¬¬ Swop a job for a day – let staff shadow or follow another staff member to experience that person’s job.
¬¬ Front page pictures
¬¬ Email or printed newsletters or displayed information on noticeboards. ¬¬ Online blog or forum in which they can voice their opinions or give suggestions.
¬¬ Incentive and awards programmes. ¬¬ Clubs or societies.
External: ¬¬ Publicity (see section on publicity) – this is a costeffective way to communicate with your customers and other stakeholders. ¬¬ Newsletters via mail or email. ¬¬ Open website forums for comments and suggestions. ¬¬ Functions and events such as opening nights for media and suppliers and funders, sponsors and donors. 40 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
¬¬ News stories ¬¬ Articles which feature on the opinion page of the newspaper ¬¬ Letters to the editor (the letters pages are often the most frequently read pages, after the front page) ¬¬ Photo essays ¬¬ Interviews on feature pages ¬¬ Reviews by arts reporters ¬¬ Live or pre-recorded interviews on radio ¬¬ Guest appearances on a television show
Media Liaison
Questions to ask:
The media provides a major way to get the attention of your target market and can be a useful way to communicate to specific segments within your target market.
¬¬ What do you want to say? Your main message and subsequent messages.
The “media” refers to: ¬¬ Print media (newspapers, magazines, journals) ¬¬ Broadcast media (television, radio) and ¬¬ Digital media (emails, websites, mobi sites, RSS feeds, blogs, podcasts, social networks like Facebook, Google+ and Twitter) To work with the media you will need to create a media campaign or a publicity plan which has: ¬¬ Objectives: what do you want to achieve through coverage in the media? ¬¬
A plan created by using the “what, why, who, how, when and where” research method.
¬¬ Why do you want to say it? Your objectives. ¬¬ To whom do you want to communicate? With which media will you communicate and to what target market? ¬¬ How will you say it? The methods that will be used to communicate the message. ¬¬ When will you say it? The time frame : the intended dates that the information will be released to the media. ¬¬ Where will you say it? In newspapers or magazines, on radio or television, or through social networks or blogspots? Adapted from : ARTerial Nework’s Arts Advocacy & Networking Toolkit. 2011: 46 With this plan you will be able to implement a publicity campaign.
T ool... Example and Template of a Publicity Plan for a Music Concert Objective: To encourage the sale of tickets by creating awareness of the music concert in the media and to enhance the other promotional methods being used to market the event. Action (What/Why?)
Method (How?)
Media (Who /Where)
Time Frame (When?)
Short 150 word diary information press release to be issued with photographs
Music and lifestyle magazines, TV programmes that need to plan in advance
3 months in advance of concert
General press release announcing the concert with details of the musicians performing to be issued with photographs
Newspaper entertainment editors, radio DJ’s and talkshow hosts TV programmes as a reminder
6 weeks in advance of concert
Send MP3’s (music in digital format) or deliver CD of music with press release
Email Hand deliver/courier
Radio DJ’s
6 weeks in advance
Follow up calls to media to ensure they have received the press release
Telephone
Newspaper entertainment editors, radio DJ’s and talkshow hosts TV
2 days after sending information
Upload information on these relevant websites
Online
Music, entertainment and events websites
4 weeks in advance
Motivate for interviews with lead singer and other band members
Email then call
Invitation to review/ attend the concert
Entertainment editors, relevant magazine editors, station managers
4 weeks in advance
Motivate for interviews with band
Email then follow up call
Radio stations
2 weeks in advance
Reminder about attending concert
Email or text message
Media who have applied to attend the concert
Day before
Host media
At media area at concert
Accredited media
Day of concert
4 weeks in advance
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 41
Developing Relationships with the Media It is important that someone is specifically assigned to be the contact point for the media within your organisation – this is usually the publicist’s function. An organisation may not have a dedicated publicist due to financial constraints, but should then identify someone to act in this capacity. If you are an artist working on your own, for example, perhaps you can barter your artwork for publicity services as it is difficult for artists to “self-promote”. Many artists would feel uncomfortable about calling up a journalist and asking for an interview. It is a lot easier if someone acts as your champion. Develop a database of key media people (these can be editors, journalists or reporters, producers on radio or TV or webmasters and editors of websites) who are educated and updated about the work your organisation does. In many countries there are agencies that compile media lists for sale, however, you can also research this information online, for example Wikipedia, on the internet, has endless lists of media as a starting point type in the name of the country followed by “media”. It is important that you continue to maintain good relationships with your media contacts. Get to know them by first name, go to their newsrooms, take every opportunity to engage with them giving them opportunities to look for angles to report on your work. Developing a relationship with the media is something which should be done simply as part of the organisation’s day-to-day operations and not tacked on to a specific campaign for a festival or music evening, for example. It should be established long before you begin a campaign. Adapted from ARTerial Network’s Arts Advocacy & Networking Toolkit. 2011: 46
42 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
Tips… On How to Handle the Media ¬¬ The job of reporters is to find a story, so they have a professional need to research and question information more deeply. Respect and understand this and develop personal relationships with your media contacts, which will enable you to have meaningful conversations and discussions around the issues that are important to your organisation. ¬¬ Act with integrity and be honest – a journalist can spot a lie, or “spin” a mile off. If you are honest about your success or failures, your frustrations and anger, hopes and dreams, they will be more inclined to want to work with you. ¬¬ Be efficient and timeous: if you say you will get information to a reporter at a certain time ensure you do so. ¬¬ Never beg: the media are not obliged to report on anything, so do not beg. If your story is newsworthy, it will be used simply on merit. The way in which the press release is written and the relationships that you have developed with the media and the manner in which you motivate for a story should be enough to ensure that they will be interested. ¬¬ Off the record: there is really no such thing as “off the record”. Be mindful of the things you say that could discredit your organisation. ARTerial Network’s Arts Advocacy & Networking Toolkit. 2011: 47
Press or Media Releases and Press Packs Press or media releases can be issued either at a press/ media conference or distributed to the media, preferably by email. At the press/media conference you should provide media with a press pack containing a press release, some images or photographs with suitable captions, a fact sheet, background information on the organisation and biographical information on the artists. These can be
printed and handed to media in folders or given on a CD or USB drive along with some branding or merchandise. It is also a good idea to create a generic press pack so that you always have something ready to give to the media if needed. This press pack could include a general press release about the artist or organisation, photographs, biographical information on the artist or history of the organisaton, and a fact sheet. This pack could also be used on your website so that media can access it online.
Tips... On Writing a Press Release ¬¬ Keep your press release to a maximum of 450 words. This will not only help you to focus on the most important points but also assist the editor or reporter to process the information. (Remember they get hundreds of emails a day from everyone wanting their information published). Of course if you have more to say, say it, but keep in mind the shorter and more concise the press release is, the more likely it will be published. Editors do not have time (or inclination) to wade through lengthy releases. ¬¬ Make it catchy, interesting and newsworthy. ¬¬ If you feel it necessary to expand with information about your organisation or other points, rather send a fact sheet as an accompanying document. ¬¬ Ensure that it is written in reportage style and do not use the first or second person (I/we, you/us) unless in a quote. Rather use third person narrative (he/she/they) or proper nouns (Mr/ Ms/Dr). ¬¬ Use the “what, why, who, how, when and where” method to write your release: • What is the story about? • Why is this event/show/art exhibition being done? • Who is doing it? • How is it being done? • When will public be able to see this art? • Where will they see it? ¬¬ Another method to use is the AIDA method: • Catch the reader’s ATTENTION in the first paragraph. • Create INTEREST in the ensuing paragraphs that will make them want to read further. • Encourage them to make a DECISION about something. • Finally give them an ACTION to carry out (For example, provide a booking number to book tickets or a website address for booking on line or more information.) ¬¬ Remember that often a sub-editor with no knowledge of the story may have to edit the press release and will start editing or cutting information from the end. So...ask yourself : Do I have the gist of the whole release summed up in the first paragraph? ¬¬ Check your grammar and spelling. It irritates editors if they have to correct a press release, and it is unprofessional on your part. ¬¬ Ensure your facts are 100% correct. Incorrect facts will discredit your organisation, and destroy the reputation you are trying to build. ¬¬ Don’t use jargon. Jargon is a word that can only be fully understood by the people within a particular sector, for example, theatres use the phrase “the theatre is dark” when it is closed or not used. ¬¬ Only use acronyms (abbreviations using the initials of each word in a name, for example: CCA for Centre for Creative Arts) once the full name or phrase has been written out. ¬¬ Only use quotations, comments or remarks by relevant and significant people. ¬¬ Don’t use bold type, italics, tabs and double spacing on email press releases. This can be done on printed releases that appear in press kits. ¬¬ Always have the media liaison person’s full name, designation, contact number and email address at the bottom of the press release. ¬¬ Don’t forget to date the release. Adapted from ARTerial Network’s Arts Advocacy & Networking Toolkit. 2011: 49 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 43
Example… Press Release This example shows how to structure a press release using the “what, why, who, how, when and where” and AIDA methods to ensure you have used all the necessary information. Note that after some of the paragraphs there is a reference to what particular part of the method is being used – these should not be included when writing your release. Press Release HIFA 2011 Come to the Engagement Party! ZIMBABWE: The Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA), one of Zimbabwe’s true artistic gems, takes place in venues in an around the city from 26 April to 1 May this year and promises a line up of fascinating theatre, dance, art and music. (This paragraph above describes the WHAT, WHEN and WHERE and gets the reader’s ATTENTION) HIFA began and evolved during challenging times, but such is the passion for the arts in Zimbabwe, that it not only survived but has grown in stature and today has a massive local and international following. HIFA aims to provide a platform for the local artistic community. This is an international platform where they are exposed to tens of thousands of Zimbabweans, and peers from around the region and world, as well as talent scouts and agents who flock to the Festival. During HIFA artists come together to share their knowledge, skills and cultures, and collaborate. (These paragraphs above describe the WHO & WHY and create INTEREST) The theme for this year is ‘The Engagement Party’. Festival-goers are encouraged to engage themselves fully, in art, culture and Zimbabwean life, throwing themselves into HIFA with the passion for enjoyment and celebration for which they are known. HIFA is a totally inclusive festival, with something for everyone - children, adults, the well-to-do, the struggling, the artist and the art lover, the conservative, the avant garde, the fun loving and the serious. Annually, the Festival creates employment for many hundreds of people, many of these are street youth and school leavers. There are also extensive outreach programmes that take art into the streets and into the high density communities. The Festival offers art in every possible genre and draws tens of thousands of high-spirited people together to celebrate art and life, in and around many venues including the Harare Gardens, the National Art Gallery, and on stages in Avondale - the 7Arts and Reps Theatres. (This paragraph encourages the reader to make a DECISION) The full programme with detailed information about shows, exhibitions and happenings, as well as dates and times, will be available in two weeks time on www.hifa.co.zw or call +263 4 300119 / 977 / 984 or email info@hifa.co.zw. (This paragraph above describes the HOW and encourages readers to take ACTION) -ends March 26, 2011 Issued on behalf of HIFA Rosie Mitchell Wild Imaginings 22 Hampshire Road Greendale Harare 0772 212 730 Skype rosie_mitchell rosie@wildimaginings.net www.hifa.co.zw
44 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
Tips…
Example…
On Writing a Biography
Of a Writer’s Biography Aher Arop Bol (Sudan)
¬¬ Keep it to one page – about 350/400 words maximum. ¬¬ Include some historical information (when you were born, grew up and studied, or learnt your craft). ¬¬ Include some philosophical information about your art – why you write, paint, act, dance, perform. ¬¬ Always end the biography with a reference to what you are currently doing. (For example: “Bol is currently residing in South Africa and studying for his LLB degree at UNISA. He runs a spaza shop in Pretoria, the income from which goes towards his university fees and to the support of his two younger brothers in Uganda.”)
Aher Arop Bol was born in a Dinka village in the Bahr el Ghazal region of the Sudan in 1983. He grew up in various refugee camps, after an attack during the Southern Sudanese Civil War separated him from his parents at the age of four. Displaced, Bol took refuge in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa. With a love for words and learning, he initially learnt how to read and write from carving letters in dust. At the age of seventeen, Bol began writing his debut novel, The Lost Boy, an epic quest for survival, education, family and meaning which has, since its publication last year received international acclaim. In The Lost Boy, Bol takes the reader with him as he, a child, flees war, and fights for survival with other ‘lost boys’ or jijamers – “those who break the bush”. The book later accounts how Bol’s odyssey culminates in him returning to his home village in 2003 and being unexpectedly reunited with his parents. Of this glowing tale of endurance, Jane Rosenthal of the Mail and Guardian writes: “This is a gripping read, not only for the high drama of Bol’s survival but also because he holds the disrupted story together with dignity and passion.” The Lost Boy has been exceedingly well-received and its publisher, Kwela Books, has been overwhelmed by requests for foreign, translation, film and television rights. Bol is currently residing in South Africa and studying for his LLB degree at UNISA. He runs a spaza shop in Pretoria, the income from which goes towards his university fees and to the support of his two younger brothers in Uganda. Bibliography The Lost Boy, Kwela Books, 2009 Accessed from Time of the Writer (Centre for Creative Arts) www.cca.ukzn.ac.za www.aheraropbol.bookslive.co.za
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 45
Press Launch/Conference A press launch or conference is an event to which media are invited where you present them with a idea of what it is you are doing. For example, you may have a press launch for a music festival. You would prepare something visually interesting, such as a video presentation or a short musical showcase as a sampling of what they would expect. Perhaps you would have a musician available to speak about work chosen, and a spokesperson from your organisation would give a overview of the festival. Press would be given press packs and interviews could be arranged.
Remember that media are constantly being asked to attend conferences and launches, the contents of which could have simply been communicated in a press statement. Make sure you have something important to say if you are organising a launch or conference. Does your organisation have news that is groundbreaking and newsworthy? This is a good opportunity for your organisation to engage with the media and development relationships, so use it wisely.
Tips… For a Press Launch or Conference
¬¬ Plan well in advance. ¬¬ Draw up an invitation list of relevant media personnel (invite reporters from other sectors where appropriate, for example, your event may deal with some important current political issues, so why not try invite relevant political reporters as well as arts journalists). ¬¬ Send invitations and follow up on attendance telephonically (and personally) to ensure you have the major press represented. ¬¬ Brief those members of your organisation that will be present so they know what is expected of them. ¬¬ Use a venue which is accessible to these journalists ¬¬ Prepare a press release and fact sheet. Make sure your staff has read and understood all the information going to the public. ¬¬ Decide whether you would like to issue the press pack on arrival or afterwards. Sometimes reporters like to read the release and fact sheet beforehand. ¬¬ Have a person welcome the media on arrival and introduce media to significant members of your organisation and any other important guests.. ¬¬ Ask the journalists to sign a register providing contact details to enable you to follow up with more information at a later stage. ¬¬ Start on time. ¬¬ Keep the launch or conference short and to the point. ¬¬ Allow for a Question & Answer session after the presentation and ensure this is well facilitated by someone who is skilled and prepared. ¬¬ Allow for some informal time, perhaps over refreshments, after the function for the journalists to interact with staff members from your organisation. ¬¬ Follow up with a thank you to those who attended and if possible, email them the information they received at the conference, so they have an electronic copy at their disposal. Adapted from ARTerial Network’s Arts Advocacy & Networking Toolkit. 2011: 51
46 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
Interviews The publicist should launch a campaign about six weeks before the start of an event, and then begin to set up interviews with relevant media once they have received the first batch of information about the product. In an ideal world, it would be best to launch something many months in advance, but that more than often is not the case. However for some monthly magazines or television programmes, you will need to start negotiations or conversations about interviews more than six weeks in advance. In South Africa, for example, as a rule, in order to get into a monthly magazine you will need to set up interviews three months ahead of your event. Some popular talk shows are also programmed months in advance. Get to know the deadlines for motivations and work this into your plan.
Tips… For Interviews ¬¬ Ensure you have communicated well with your media contact and that both the subject and the interviewer know exactly what to expect: date, time, venue and type of interview. Will it be live, or pre-recorded. Will they be photographed? What angle will the reporter be taking? ¬¬ Check that the approach by the media suits the subject, for example, be cautious about putting an inexperienced reporter with a demanding artist, who would not tolerate simplistic lines of questioning. ¬¬ Escort the subject to the interview to ensure that everything goes according to plan. Radio and television are especially dynamic, and anything can happen. ¬¬ Take a press release, fact sheet or background information so that the both the subject and interviewer can check facts during the interview.
Publicity Stunts A publicity stunt is an event or visual promotion of your art product which does not use mainstream media. It could be performers in a theatrical piece on global warming, all hugging trees in the city square during rush hour traffic, or a man reading a book on a traffic circle to promote a book festival. It is a matter of using the creative energy that artists have to generate further buzz or word-of-mouth, and media coverage. This is about thinking creatively and taking some risks. Consider how, with limited resources, you can best use the artistic talent at your disposal to create a happening for your product. A Flash Mob is a new name for something that artists have been doing for ages to promote themselves. It is now being used with great success by mainstream business to promote brands, worldwide. A Flash Mob usually takes the form of performers doing something unusual in a public space. For example, a group of choral singers may be dressed as construction workers, and will seemingly be “working” on the street, suddenly in a planned, orchestrated and
choreographed moment they start to perform, and draw in other “construction workers” in the vicinity who down tools and join them. At the end of the performance, the company or organisation gets to promote its brand or event by handing out flyers, making an announcement.
Listing Services and Public Service Announcements Many tourist or civic organisations as well as magazines, newspapers, radio and TV stations, and websites have free listing services for the arts. Research these in your own town and get them on your media database. If you have a specific interest product for example, you are hosting an “Environmental Awareness” art exhibition, you may need to do research to find these specialist listing services.
Photography Many publicists will agree that some of their best publicity campaigns have been because of the strong images they have had to work with. The media thrives on photographs. A good picture attracts the attention of the reader, draws them into the story. This visual angle could mean a front page picture for your campaign.
Tips… For Good Publicity Photography ¬¬ Take clear tight shots, focusing on the person and people in the shot rather than the background. ¬¬ Be creative with angles - take the photograph from above or below or from the front or the side, not always straight on. Don’t always centralize the subject matter. ¬¬ Be aware of the use of colour in the photograph, and its impact - single bright colours often make a striking impact, but be careful not to have too much of the same colour in a photo. ¬¬ Be adventurous with depth – don’t have people standing in a line, get some standing in the front close to the camera and others further back. (Many bands do this with great success). ¬¬ Play with long lenses – with blurred backgrounds or wide-angle lenses if you can. ¬¬ Encourage the subject to “play”, have fun and be relaxed on the shoot. No one likes to look at a grumpy face in a photo. ¬¬ For visual art and craft, don’t simply photograph the work, do some with the artist if possible. ¬¬ While it is always a good idea that musicians have their instruments in a photograph or for them to be photographed in action, you may want to consider doing a more stylised set-up on an interesting location. ¬¬ Dancers don’t always need to be photographed on stage – try photographing them in other spaces such as an abandoned building, on the beach, in a garden or on a roof top. ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 47
Building a Database
3.4.4. Direct Marketing What is Direct Marketing? Direct marketing utilises various tools such as direct mail, telemarketing, e-mail marketing and word-of-mouth, and offers arts marketers a more personal form of promotion than traditional advertising, as you are able to deliver customised messages directly to select target groups and audiences. Due to the collaborative nature of arts transactions, it is important for arts marketers to build continuous, long-term relationships with their customers. Since traditional advertising messages are broad based in order to appeal to diverse (mass) audiences, it cannot establish a one-to-one relationship with specific groups/ individuals. (Hill et al. 2003: 192) Typically, people respond better and more frequently to messages directed specifically at them. However, it is important not to rely too extensively on direct marketing as this can prevent arts practitioners from broadening their audiences. Arts marketers must thus find a good balance between direct marketing tools and other forms of marketing such as electronic marketing, and publicity. (Bernstein et al. 2007: 109-111) With direct marketing you, as the originator of the communication, have access to the response from your target market: it could result in a sale of an artwork or ticket, a reply to an invitation to an exhibition opening or an enquiry. Direct marketing is usually cheaper than advertising with more effective and measurable results. The message can be delivered quickly and at the same time, you are able to further develop the relationship with your customer.
When planning a campaign, you need to know to whom you will be communicating. So deciding on who these people are is key to how you will communicate with them. Creating a well-targeted and accurate database is vital, as it will give you information about the market for both current and future marketing campaigns. For arts organisations and even individual artists building a database is a fairly easy task. It can be as simple as capturing information about the visitors to an exhibition, or as people make bookings online, on the telephone or at a box-office. By recording the customers’ interests on the database, you can then choose to only communicate to them on relevant events making your communication more personal and direct. There is little point in sending an email about a jazz concert to a customer who has no interest in jazz; it will only serve to irritate him or her in this information overloaded world in which we live .
Maintaining the Database Maintaining this database is vital to the success of your ongoing direct marketing campaigns and the continued relationship you have with your customer. Databases become out-of-date very quickly, and must be updated as you get feedback on outdated, incorrect or altered information.
T ool... Template of a Database in a Table Format for Music Organisation that offers Traditional Music, World Music, Jazz, and POPULAR MUsic First Name
Last Name
Telephone
Mobile
Email Address
Traditional
World
Jazz
Popular music
Ogave
Ndoro
055 555 555
085 555 555
Ondoroo@examplemail.com
Yes
No
Yes
No
Karozi
Nyeko
055 555 557
085 555 557
nyekok@ examplemail.com
No
Yes
Yes
No
Shalja
Nairn
055 555 558
085 555 558
nairns@ examplemail.com
No
No
Yes
Yes
48 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
Telemarketing
Newsletters
Telesales is a direct marketing tool in which a salesperson telephones an existing or prospective customer to encourage him or her to buy a product or service. Telemarketing can be extremely effective when working with an existing customer base. For example if you have a database of customers who have block booked seats for a theatre performance, make telesales calls to this database for the next show you are staging.
Newsletters are an excellent way to communicate directly with your current market. A newsletter could be printed but preferably emailed making it cost-effective to get information directly to them. Link your newsletter to the organisation’s website, so that people will also be able to subscribe to it from there.
Cold calling, or calling an unknown potential customer is much more difficult, in that you have first to introduce the product, then try to sell the product to them. For cold calling, try to develop interest group lists that may have synergies with your product. For example, if you are doing a music concert with a celebrated dub poet, you may want to connect with relevant Rastafarian communities in your region. Telesales can be an easy way to get repeat business, but be aware that there is widespread cynicism as they are often associated with scam or fraudulent calls.
Tips… For Telesales
¬¬ Have an objective. What is it that you are selling and why? For example, I want to sell 500 seats for the four previews of the holiday season children’s theatre show. Or I want to sell ten artworks in this exhibition to local businesses. ¬¬ Ensure your database is easily accessed with the relevant information. You don’t want to be calling someone about a traditional dance show, when in fact they only like music.
Tips… For Creating a Newsletter
¬¬ When creating your newsletter keep to a recognisable format. Layout and design should be standardardised. ¬¬ Use images to illustrate the message. ¬¬ Keep it to a maximum of about 350 words, as people no longer have the time or inclination to read lengthy letters – we have all started to think in sound bites (short batches of information, for example, as in mobile texting). ¬¬ Create a time plan as to when newsletters will go out and stick to this plan so your existing customers can depend on receiving regular information. ¬¬ It is useful to invite feedback and comments from your readers. With email newsletters, this is as simple as a click on a hyperlink, but with printed newsletters ,this would need to be in the form of a reply slip to be sent back to you. Adapted from ARTerial Network’s Arts Advocacy & Networking Toolkit. 2011: 52
¬¬ Prepare a script as a guideline, but don’t read it. Use it to direct the conversation. A telesales person who reads the script sound unauthentic and disconnected to the product he or she is selling. ¬¬ Have a smile on your face, it helps to make you sound friendly and connected. ¬¬ Introduce yourself and the reason for your call immediately. ¬¬ Get to the point. In today’s world, everyone thinks in sound bites, and people don’t have time to listen to long-winded explanations. ¬¬ Use some time to discuss how they enjoyed the last exhibition, artwork, show, film or concert. ¬¬ Listen to them and engage. ¬¬ Give them something to which they can commit to close the “deal”. For example, “We are offering existing members of the art society an opportunity to renew at a 25% discount if they sign up now. Would you like me to renew this for you right now?” ¬¬ Close the deal and ensure the necessary administration is carried out efficiently.
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 49
“Word of mouth is a key influence in peoples purchasing decisions, often more (Bernstein et al. 2007: 111 – 114) influential than all other marketing efforts combined.” Word-of-Mouth Businessdictionary.com defines word-of-mouth marketing as the “oral or written recommendation by a satisfied customer to the prospective customers of a good or service. Considered to be the most effective form of promotion….” Word of mouth is often the “x-factor” of promotion in that sometimes an art event or product will simply capture the imagination of the target market and set people talking, buying art or tickets, creating a ripple effect and demand that no amount of advertising could match. Getting people
Tips… To Stimulate Buzz
¬¬ Word-of-mouth can only work in your favour if people have had a positive experience of the product: ensure that your give them this positive experience whether it is the outstanding craft on exhibition or the great service offered by a gallery guide, all touch points of the product must make people feel good. ¬¬ It is important that people get to see, buy or experience your artwork and talk about it in a positive manner. For theatre shows, look at ways in which you can encourage people to attend a performance early on in the season – this could be done by offering discounts for previews, or for galleries by getting interest groups to visit in the first few days of opening. By getting people in early, you will be able to generate conversations. ¬¬ Be on constant look out for opportunities where the message can be delivered in informal situations – on buses, at bus terminals, taxi ranks, community events and gatherings. Ask volunteers, friends of your organisation and other stakeholders to talk about their experience. ¬¬ Look at ways in which the message can be delivered in forums such as blogspots or websites, using Facebook, Twitter and other social media. ¬¬ Keep in touch with your customers through the various communication tools you may have – email newsletters, Facebook, Twitter for example. ¬¬ Make your customers feel like they belong to your organisation, or if you are an artist working on your own, make them feel special, like they are part of the “inner circle”.
50 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
to talk about your product is one of the most effective ways to sell. Arts marketers can really embrace this method of promotion now with digital devices such as smart phones and tablets and with more people using social media to communicate to friends and family, the customer plays a very important role in marketing the product on your behalf. Think of ways of how you can create the buzz about your art.
On Site Promotion Look at ways in which you can further promote the product at the chosen venue. Some arts marketers like to have posters, pull-up banners, or pop-up displays featuring the company logo and/or information of the event taking place. This means that the audience or visitors are immediately exposed to the “brand” as they walk into the venue.
C ase s tudy... Direct Marketing
The Visual Arts Network, South Africa (VANSA) combined a number of direct marketing tools for a nation-wide campaign VANSA incorporated a number of direct marketing tools in their effort to market the “two thousand and ten reasons to live in a small town” project. The aim of the campaign was to recruit artists to submit proposals and build skills in proposal writing through workshops. ¬¬ E-mails and monthly newsletters were sent out through the organisation’s extensive database to create awareness and solicit responses. ¬¬ Word-of-mouth was generated through the proposal writing workshops held nationally. The workshops were well attended and the organisation received positive feedback from participants thus generating positive buzz about the project. ¬¬ Closer to the submission date telephone calls were made to key individuals reminding them of the project and generating more word-of-mouth. ¬¬ Reminder emails and SMS’s were sent to key individuals providing on-going communications about other up-coming events to maintain their interest. www.vansa.co.za
3.4.5. Digital, New or Electronic Media Digital, new or electronic media are interactive tools of communication using the internet or mobile devices such as smart phones, electronic tablets (for example, Ipads) and other hand held devices that are becoming more and more mainstream to how we receive and obtain our information. This is called digital, new or electornic marketing. It is an area that arts practioners need to observe closely, understand and begin to use, as it is developing swiftly. If you are unable to keep up with the changes taking place, you may find yourself in a promotional desert, relying on traditional media (newspapers, magazines, television and radio) for communication. As the younger (and older) generations become more comfortable with receiving and obtaining their information from digital media, they will begin to demand to be communicated to in this way. The great news for the arts is that anyone can now create and share information inexpensively just by accessing the internet and using mobile devices. Decide what formats are appropriate for your needs. Whatever you choose, must be maintained and updated to remain fresh and relevant. Out-of-date news and information creates the impression that no-one is paying attention. Digital media offers the arts marketer the benefits of being able to interact more directly with the customer, with the prospect of direct messages coming from the consumer straight to the desk of the marketer, who can follow up and engage immediately with the customer. Digital, New or Electronic Media may include amongst others: ¬¬ ¬¬ ¬¬ ¬¬
Email Websites - including Social Networks, Blogs, RSS and Wikis Mobile - including Texting, Mobile Applications and .mobi sites Podcasts
Websites
An email is electronic mail in which messages are exchanged across the internet or computer networks.
It is vital that artists and arts organisations have a presence on the World Wide Web, the collective name for all the publically accessed websites. This is the way in which business, especially the marketing of business, is being conducted
Tips… For Using Emails to Market ¬¬ Having a good email database for your stakeholders is important. Ensure when gathering information about your market and developing your databases that you capture their email addresses. Remember to ensure that the people you are communicating with have given you permission to email them. ¬¬ Designing captivating email newsletters with links to your website will enable you to enhance your communication with your stakeholders, get their interest and stimulate sales. ¬¬ Be sure not to overload your database with information, so that your communication begins to feel invasive. Too many emails every week could feel like “spam”. Some arts organisations decide on the number of email newsletters they will send and keep to this in order to avoid overloading their markets with information. ¬¬ While it is generous of arts organisations to share information and databases, be cautious when sending out emails from other organisations to your stakeholders as it increases the load of information being sent, adding to the clutter.
A website is a compilation of web pages on the World Wide Web, that may include text information, images and photographs as well as other digital accessories such as videos, podcasts, RSS feeds (see page 53) and links. A website is hosted by a server and is accessed through a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) via the internet or a LAN (Local Area Network). . You need to decide if you need a website, or just a webpresence. You may not need to create a website but rather a webpage, that is easily searchable with basic information about your art product or organisation and contact details. By using a free service you can have a web-presence with a web page without cost and this is a good first step before becoming burdened with a full website. Some free hosting sites include www.wordpress. com or www.blogspot.com. The website can also be the “place” where your customers purchase the product. Artists can choose to have virtual galleries and facilities for customers to buy online. Arts organisations can have online ticketing facilities where the ticket can now be printed by the purchaser in the comfort of the office or at home much like an airline ticket is purchased. This ticket is then scanned on arrival at a venue.
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Tips… For Developing Relationships with Customers on your Website
¬¬ Ensure the content and look and feel is interesting and engaging, and that your branding is in line with your marketing objectives. ¬¬ Make it as simple and uncomplicated as possible, so that it is easy for visitors to navigate the site. ¬¬ Create an icon link to Facebook, Twitter or other social networking pages which will enable visitors to communication directly with you and express their own opinions about your art or organisation. ¬¬ Invite visitors to register on the website so you can use this information for any direct marketing. ¬¬ Ensure there is an email facility that enables customers to email directly to you. ¬¬ Create a contact page which had all your contact details: a contact name, telephone number and email address.
T ool... How to Set up a Website Step 1- Register a Domain Name Before you even begin designing your website you need to register a domain name, which is what you site will be called, for example www.arterialnetwork.org. You need to make sure that no one has already registered the name you want to use. You should research this process and be aware of important precautions as well as the correct steps to take when registering. Keep the name short and simple, and easy to understand. If you cannot afford or are not ready to register a domain name you can of course use many of the free websites like www.wordpress.com or www.blogspot.com or yourname.freewebsites.com. This means you will have a name like projectname.wordpress.com or yourname.freewebsites.com or you may wish to just use a Facebook Page or Group to begin with.
Step 2 – Select a Web Host A web host is a company that provides space on a server they own or lease for use by their clients as well as providing Internet connectivity. Most Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) offer web-hosting services. You will need to open an account with a web host/ ISP so that your website can be housed on their server.
Step 3 – Design your Website Decide on what information you would like on the site, and how you would like to keep this information up to date. This will help you make decisions about the look and feel of the page, and what links you will want to have. For example, as a crafter you may want a home page that has links to a pages with examples of your craft, biographical information on yourself, price list, a map of directions to your studio, contact page and a “contact me” email link as well as other links to websites of other craft-related websites. For many arts organisations, and individual artists, the cost to use a professional designer may be prohibitive, but if you do not have the budget there are many ways of creating the site yourself. Daniel Piechnick of www.websitesetupguide. com or www.weebly.com offers the layperson some useful tutorials for setting up a website.
Step 4 – Build Visibility Now the website is up and running, much of your marketing endeavours will or should revolve around this vital promotional tool. There are many ways in which you can build the visibility of the website, for example: ¬¬ Link your site to a search engine such as Google. (Go to www.google.com/services). ¬¬ Use meta data and tag your images (See www.marketinggeeksinc.com/get-better-seo-by-tagging-your-photos-andvideos/). ¬¬ List the website on online directories or relevant websites. ¬¬ Use Twitter to drive people to blogs or articles on the website. ¬¬ Have a RSS feed (see page 53 on RSS feeds). ¬¬ Allow people to join a mailing list and to subscribe to news updates. ¬¬ Run online competitions, take surveys and get people to comment on issues or vote, encourage comments with your moderation – this all helps create interactivity and community. ¬¬ Send out email newsletters which have links to articles on the website. ¬¬ Use the website address on all your promotional material. See Poetry Africa’s blog on www.poetryafrica.wordpress.com for an example of how to create interaction on a free webpage. 52 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
Social Networks A social network is a website or platform that creates networks of people or organisations that share similar interests and activities, for example, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, MySpace, LinkedIn. You can start up a social networking page to connect you with your audience. Social networking sites are constantly bringing out new applications (apps) and you would need to keep yourself open to new developments. Facebook, for example has a music “app” called BandPage, a service from RootMusic. com. Artists are able to market their songs, videos and tour dates using this “app”, and in 2011 had 250 000 artists and 30 million active users monthly. This just shows the power and reach of the social networks and how especially useful they can be for artists. For an extensive list of social network websites go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_ websites Most social networks have easy instructions for signing on and are simple to set up. Don’t be afriad to “play” around on the internet and see what networks would best suit your needs. Facebook Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and other Harvard students, Facebook, with 800 million users, is by far the largest of social networking sites. Facebook enables people to connect globally with friends, family and business associates. As arts marketers, you cannot afford not to be part of this phenomenon. You can join Facebook by creating a Profile page that includes information about yourself, status, friends, photographs, notes, groups, news and wall posts. Users are able to search for friends, groups and pages through a search engine on the profile page. By posting information on Facebook you will be able to keep people up to date in real time of events, happenings, news and other relevant information. Users are also able to create groups and pages. Groups include anything from people, organisations, musicians, artists, performers, and hobbies and interests and can be public or private. Individuals can use the events feature, which allows users to organise events, gatherings or meetings and also has a “reply to this invitation” option. Groups enable people to have discussions and debate around topics of relevance. For organisations, businesses, celebrities, and bands to communicate information in an official, public manner to people who choose to connect with them, there are Facebook Pages. These are similar to profiles but Pages can only be administered by an authorised representative. Pages enable organisations, through various applications, to communicate with their audiences, and develop new audiences through friend recommendations, news feeds and Facebook events. To create a Facebook profile or page go to www.facebook. com
Twitter Serving a similar purpose to SMS or texting, but on a free and much more public platform. Twitter is a social networking and microblogging tool (see Blogs) in which messages or “tweets” of only 140 characters can be sent, to people that have chosen to follow you from the Twitter. com website. Twitter is an immediate way in which you can communicate with your current and potential market. Create a link by using the Twitter icon on your website to encourage visitors to sign up to your Twitter account. This will enable you to communicate with your stakeholders in a fun and interactive way. People following you on Twitter can send direct messages to your account giving you immediate feedback, and you can grow interest not only about your product but about other matters concerning your art. For more information go to www.twitter.com. Blogs A blog is a website or part of a website that is usually interactive and written by an individual on a particular subject. It is the easiest way for smaller arts organisations or indvidual artists to create a web presence. It is free, and you can drive people to your blogs via email, Twitter and other digital media. Blogs can be very personal in that you are able to use commentary and opinion in a way that cannot really be done on the website, which is more formal. Today the power of blogging is profound. In 2007 Godin (2007: 78) reported that there were 80 million blogs tracked by www.technorati.com. In 2011, this had increased to 130 million – some 50 million more in four years. He says “What makes blogs a lot more interesting than the many other personal publishing platforms that came before…is that blogs are connected, tracked, indexed and spread around..The easiest way to understand blogs..is to understand that they (finally) connect three real desires: to hear our own voices, to be heard by others and to hear what the crowd thinks.” There are many blogging platforms on the internet, you will need to search around to choose one. Ones commonly used are www.blogger.com, www.tumblr.com or www. wordpress.com. For an example of an arts blog see ARTerial Network’s on www.artsinafrica.com RSS (Real Simple Syndication) Feeds By having a Real Simple Syndication (RSS) icon on your organisation’s website the person browsing it can subscribe to a “feed” by clicking on this icon. This starts the process in which updates are fed back to the subscriber’s email address, in other words they choose to receive the updates from your website. Wikis A Wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of multiple interlinked web pages. Setting up your own wiki allows other people to add and edit information about your organisation. When someone is searching for information on the internet using a search engine like Google or Yahoo, invariably the search will lead to a wiki.
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The originator of wikis Ward Cunningham called wikis “The simplest online database that could possibly work.” www.wikihow.com explains that a “wiki is a revolutionary Web-based application that allows a group of users to set up pages, and allows people to edit it and contribute to it within the web browser. It’s a fascinating technology that has become very popular both on the Internet and inside organisations. Since the editable articles are generally available to anyone through the World Wide Web, wikis are also becoming more important to business operations as well.” To start your own wiki go to www.wikihow.com/Start-aWiki.
Mobile Mobile media refers to SMS’s (Short Message Service) or text messages, MMS’s (Multi-media Message Service) or multi-media (simple images, graphics or videos), mobile applications (known as apps) and websites formatted for mobiles (called .mobi sites) that are transmitted to mobile devices. Texting Wikipedia reports that there are over 2.4 billion active users of SMSing. Texting is a very useful tool to use to remind existing customers about your product through messages about forthcoming attractions, dates to remember, booking opening dates, gallery walkabouts etc. Ensure that when you obtain your customer’s mobile number, to get permission to text them as unsolicited texting can be very annoying. Check local legislation as in some countries unsolicited mobile marketing can be lead to a fine from authorities. ‘‘The SMS is the best alternative to hard copy invite card, it is cost effective, saves on the expenses that you would have incurred if you are to distribute the invite cards by hand. People respond to SMS’s instantly. Bulk SMS services help us in reaching out to more people at a lesser cost.’’ Ato Arinze, Sculptor, Lagos, Nigeria. “Africa is noted as having an extremely high penetration of mobile phone users making mobile marketing an extremely cost-effective method requiring minimal effort to initiate a campaign.” (Michael, A. Salter, B. 2006: 57-58). For example, mobile phone subscribers in Nigeria have grown from 50, 000 to well over 62 million mobile lines in 2010, and this was made possible by deregulation and competition among the big communication companies like MTN, Globacom, Zain (now Airtel) to mention a few (WINGS, Issue 4, September – November 2010). Mobile Applications (Apps) A mobile application is software that can be downloaded from an “App” store such as iTunes or Android Market Place, onto a mobile device to enable the user to access a catalogue of information that is automatically updated. For example, an App for a festival would have a database of events and schedules, which don’t require going on line to access. The App could also have a booking facility.
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Example… Mobile Application Bozza – Introduction Accessed through a mobile application, Bozza is a mobihood - a mobile neighbourhood where communities can tell their stories from the inside out. Focused on contextually relevant madefor-mobile content, Bozza is about self-expression and enabling friends and communities to see and share life through local music, videos, photos, myhood (the m- commerce platform) and more. The word “bozza” is slang in South Africa for “boss” and is often used to describe someone who owns his/ her dream, overcomes obstacles no matter what and is in control of their life. Bozza is a Pan-African company based in Cape Town.
Background Most individuals in Africa engage with digital communication, information and entertainment through their mobile phones. Content drives the uptake of technology; yet despite the global increase and focus on the value of content, there continues to be a lack of locally generated, contextually relevant content for the African market. The Bozza market likes to explore, interact, participate and be entertained by hyper-localised content whether it is video (e.g. Bollywood, Nollywood) music, stories or information. As a mobihood, Bozza aims to create a platform for African content (visual, audio and text) by an African market. While fulfilling the needs of the consumer, Bozza simultaneously creates a sustainable business environment for emerging filmmakers, artists and local trade who have formerly been restricted by geographic and socio-economic boundaries.
The Result Bozza is a mobihood that addresses the needs of the audience, providing premium content that is relevant, experiential, interactive and free. Accessible through a mobile application, Bozza includes hyper-localised mobile news channels, local video, music and written word content, relevant third party content (news, gossip, weather, horoscopes etc.) and a market place called myhood, where users and traders (formal and informal) can advertise their goods. This is a platform for communities especially those involved in music, film, video, art or poetry and other creative industries to share their creativity and earn revenue. Email: wozza@bozza.mobi Facebook: http://facebook.com/beBozza Twitter: @BozzaTime For more information / register: http://bozza.mobi
.mobi Sites .mobi sites are websites that have been adapted or designed for viewing on mobile devices. .mobis are simpler versions of websites and are easier to navigate on a mobile device than websites. As more and more people are using smart devices and tablets, it is worth considering having a .mobi site. For an example of a .mobi site go to South Africa’s National Arts Festival site on
Podcasts This is similar to a blog but can be either audio or video. You can upload videos and audio clips (interviews with artists, virtual tours of a gallery, music or performance clips for example). Visitors to the website can click on an icon which will download the podcast enabling them to view or listen on their computer or smart device. Look at www.badilishapoetry.com for some examples of poetry podcasts.
http://m.nationalartsfestival.co.za
C ase s tudy... Promotions using Electronic or Digital Marketing Tools
The GoDown Arts Centre, based in Nairobi, Kenya, is a not-for-profit entity that has a number of residential visual and performing artists groups, all occupying a common space. It serves as a place where creative ideas can be generated, mingled and cross-referenced. The GoDown Arts Centre promotes professional development through training workshops that are held throughout the year, while creating an environment for innovation and collaboration between artists. The present space occupied by the GoDown is a renovated 10,000 square meters warehouse with studios, rehearsal and performance spaces. The GoDown also has an exhibition gallery where exhibitions can be shown, and meetings or performances held. Judy Ogana, General Manager of the GoDown Arts Centre, says they make use of digital marketing tools frequently in promoting their events and programmes through their e-newsletter, e-flyers and email. They also use the GoDown Facebook page. They started sending out weekly e-newsletters in 2006. Slowly they grew the menu of their e-presence by sending out weekly e-flyers (in 2007/8) and set up Facebook and Twitter accounts two to three years later. Judy says that this has definitely improved awareness of the GoDown especially with people who are interested in the development of the sector. Due to the frequency patrons are able to follow up our activities, which go beyond public events, and include workshops, residencies, for the Godown and users of the space. It has made information sharing easier too, but Judy is confident that it has increased sales. It is easier for people to get information on their public performances, so that has been an advantage. Each performance or exhibition carried out at the GoDown is supported with a direct marketing campaign. For example, the photo exhibition “Kenya’s Nubians” was promoted by e-flyer for a week and half before the event, carried in the newsletter the week leading to the opening and celebrated during its run with mention in the newsletter the week after it opened. The GoDown has a database that is frequently updated. The database members receive a weekly e-newsletter and programme specific e-flyers according. Setting up a website apparently has been arduous and regular updating of the website is equally difficult as this has to be done by an external resource person and requires a financial commitment each time there is a change or addition. So while the website looks good, at present, it doesn’t change enough, according to Ogana, to be as effective as it could be. (See the section on creating your own website and how you can create your own webpage which can be regularly updated at no expense.) GoDown uses Facebook, has a Blog page and some staff also Tweet. Judy believes that Facebook has helped relations with patrons as there is an instant, easy, friendly communication and feedback mechanism. With Facebook, they post activities and events: specific events that have a young urban target (eg the Battle of the Bands Rock concert) have greatly benefitted from presence on Facebook. Other events, less so. Website: www.thegodownartscentre.com E-mail: info@thegodownartscentre.com
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C ase s tudy... Digital Marketing ARTZERO, an art group, practicing in the City of Lagos, Nigeria share their successful digital marketing approach
About ARTZERO ARTZERO Group is the biggest art group in the country, with 120 registered members. It was founded in 2002 by eight young artists with the sole aim of creating a platform where members could promote and exhibit their works as well as network within the Lagos art circle. After their first exhibition in 2004 they saw the need to expand the activities of the group, thereby inviting more artists, particularly much younger artists to join and participate. They created a bigger exhibition known as Art on the Mainland - a flagship show, and annual exhibition, which has grown to become the most popular art event in the country. Other programmes are ARTZERO Bi-monthly Art Discourse, Lagos Interactive Artists, Lagos Artbazaar. (a miniature art sales), and occasional events such as private art salons and workshops. The essence of the group is to bring art closer to the masses, and to give young artists opportunities to showcase and popularise themselves.
Utilising online resources The growth and development in technology is the best thing to happen in modern times, it saves time and money. According to artist, Ato Arinze, one of the founding members of ARTZERO, technology encourages and supports a stress-free approach to marketing if you know how to utilise it to your advantage. He says that they make use of bulk sms services frequently, it saves cost, and one can reach a diverse group of people within a second. They also utilize social networks like Facebook, in advertising and marketing their programmes, events, products and services.
Impact of technology The impact of various technological tools on Ato’s art practice personally as well as ARTZERO as a group has been quite positive. He explains: ‘‘All through 2010 all my business transaction was with my mobile phone. My strategy is simple, usually a combination of the internet (email) with the mobile phone - I normally forward pictures of works I have for sale then later conclude the transactions with my phone.’’ (Email correspondence with Ato Arinze, 22 January 2011) www.artzerogroup.com
3.4.6. Sales Promotions Sales promotions are promotional tools used to drive early or immediate purchase of the product. Here are some ideas: ¬¬ Two-for-one tickets or buy one get one free. ¬¬ Discount coupons. ¬¬ Free programmes or catalogues with a ticket. ¬¬ Discounted meals or drinks at the theatre restaurant, or a venue nearby ¬¬ Early booking discount. ¬¬ Samples – for theatres this could be a free ticket as a way to encourage new audiences. For musicians this could be a shortened version of music produced on CD or online. For artists it could be prints/postcards of artwork. ¬¬ Free merchandise (T-shirt or CD) with the sale of the art. ¬¬ Buy the artwork and receive a discount on future works from the gallery. Kotler et al (1997:338) says that there are three elements to sales promotion: ¬¬ Communication – they grab the attention and give information that will hopefully lead to trying the product. ¬¬ Incentive – they incorporate some concession or incentive, the core benefit, that is of value to the customer. ¬¬ Invitation – they have a distinct invitation to engage in the transaction immediately.
The marketing challenge is to design an incentive that attracts the target audience and serves the organisation’s long-run interests (Kotler et al 1997: 339)
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C ase s tudy... Sales Promotion The National Arts Festival of South Africa has recently launched a new sales promotion ArtBucks, which encouarges audiences to buy tickets and provides benefits for loyalty. It also helps to further develop the audiences’ affiliation with the festival.
How it works: Festival-goers can log onto the website and sign up for ArtBucks on www.nationalartsfestival.co.za/page/artbucks and they will receive an ArtBucks card. For every ticket to a Festival production purchased at a Festival Box Office, audience members who have signed up qualify for 20% of the value back as ArtBucks credits. At the end of the Festival they receive an email detailing the credit accumulated. They can then choose one of two options - either roll these ArtBucks over to next year’s Festival and obtain discounts on ticket purchases to the value of the credit; or donate these credits to the National Arts Festival Arts Encounter project which enables disadvantaged people to attend the festival. The Festival has, through its partners, lined up a range of discounts and special offers that can be used outside of festival during the year. It offers buy-one-get-one-free offers at some of South Africa’s leading theatres; invitations to red carpet opening nights and sneak previews to theatre shows. The National Arts Festival has also further developed this incentive by working with sponsors who will also provide benefits to ArtBucks cardholders. www.nafest.co.za
T ool... Checklist for Decisions on Promotion
Advertising
Direct Marketing
Print: Newspapers/Magazines
Newsletters
Radio/TV
Telemarketing
Online
Word-of-mouth
Posters
Digital Marketing
Pamphlets, Flyers or Brochures
Publicity
Website
Press launch/conference
¬¬ Social Networks
Press releases
Interviews
Photography
¬¬ Blogs
Listing Services/Public Service Announcements
¬¬ Wikis
Publicity Stunts
¬¬ RSS Feeds
Sales Promotions
Podcasts
Discounts
Mobile
Sampling
¬¬ Texting/MMS ¬¬ Apps ¬¬ .mobi
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3.5 Positioning How you define your product and the overall public perception of the art, artists or arts organisation, in relation to your competitors, is referred to as positioning. For example, are you an artist who sells your art via an agent to exclusive international galleries, or do you sell your work from a studio at home? Are your goods packaged in expensive boxes with labels and branding, or do you wrap them in brown paper? Are you a youth music organisation working in an inner city community or are you a jazz band that plays for major international events? Artists and arts organisations develop their identities fairly quickly. This identity is called the “brand”. We all know brands well. There are some brands with which we like to associate ourselves, and others we don’t. There are certain images that come to mind and promises that are made when we think of a particular brand. Corporate marketers spend billions a year branding and rebranding their products and managing these public perceptions. Cashman (2010 : 58) explains: “It is not what you do with the product but how your message is interpreted in the mind of the prospective consumer i.e. how your product is perceived and rated in the mind of the consumer in relation to other similar products.” “In essence, the brand is an expression of the organisation’s vision, and it creates a promise (this is what you will get from X). The most successful brands are the ones that articulate this promise clearly and deliver the promise each and every time that the visitor comes into contact with the organisation.” (Maitland, H. 2003)
C ase s tudy... Brand Identity Herman Niebuhr, a Johannesburg-based Visual Artist, has worked on developing his Brand Identity. The core product: oil paintings that are done in a traditional language. He produces traditional-looking cityscapes, which upon closer inspection are not what they seem to be; there is uneasiness about them. He is a realist and is classically trained and uses that language to look at contemporary subject matter. Place and environment: his work is carefully positioned between the Everard Read Gallery, one of the oldest and most successful commercial galleries in SA, and an avant-garde contemporary art market that is more radical, edgy, challenging and ahead of its time; a market for which he personally sources his venues of choice. Communication: Herman has a website, a Facebook page with his website linked to it, a blog, a media database, an invitation database, he produces his own press releases, posters, postcards and catalogues to describe and publicise his work – he also invites people to his studio to close the gap between his work and its consumers.
Maitland (2003) says that the brand identity comes from the core product, the place or environment in which the art exists, the behaviour of the people representing the art and the way in which this is communicated to the public.
Behaviour: He is very careful not to bombard people with emails and updates about his work but will send one invitation to the people on his database and one reminder thereafter - though he is more proactive with the media database where he sends his press releases and follows up with calls to make sure that they have received his correspondence.
The way in which your art is priced would also form art of the brand identity.
(Skype interview with Hermann Niebuhr, October 2010)
As an artist or arts organisation you need to be clear on how you want to position yourself and how you want to be perceived. The arts, unlike a commercial product, is forever changing and evolving, and sometimes these identities start to formulate themselves. Ensure that your brand continues to deliver on its promises.
Website: http://www.niebuhr.co.za E-mail: info@niebuhr.co.za
Here are some things to consider: ¬¬ Brand Attributes: What is your offering and what are the benefits to the customer? For example: “We offer finely crafted traditional indigenous woven goods, made from high quality reeds, by members of a women’s empowerment collective. These goods are highly collectible because of the scarcity of traditional weaving skills.” ¬¬ Consumer Expectations: What are your customers’ expectations? For example: “Customers expect quality craft, which is rarely seen these days. They want to be able to meet and interact with the weavers and have personal dealings with them.”
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¬¬ Competitor attributes: What features and benefits do other brands offer consumers? “Our competitors don’t work as collectives from one studio, woven goods are sourced from villages with no quality control. They are able to produce more variety than we do.” ¬¬ Price: How do our prices compare to your competitors’ prices? “Our prices are higher as we use better more difficult to source material, and we have overheads for the studio, however the price offers customers an assurance of quality.” ¬¬ Consumer perceptions: How do the consumers perceive the quality and value of your brand? “Customers consider their purchases as investments in artwork, and value the personal relationships developed with crafters.”
3.6 People The people who represent you or your art are a vital part of the marketing mix. We have all been in situations where our experience of an artistic product has been tainted by the way in which a person representing the product, whether it was a ticket seller, usher or gallery owner, has treated us. Ensure that the people representing you have been trained well, and that they are equipped with the relevant information about the art, and that they have appropriate skills through training to best serve your work. Front of house staff in galleries, theatres and complexes or even small studios should have an understanding of the art being presented, and it would certainly help if they were passionate and enthusiastic about the work. Most of us have had experiences where a salesperson has really been enthusiastic about the product and has managed to “up-sell” us something we did not originally set out to buy! Enthusiasm is contagious.
Tips… For Creating Enthusiastic People ¬¬ Involve staff in some of the processes of creating the art. For example, let them watch a dress rehearsal, or watch the sculptor in action, the craft been set up for exhibition, costumes been made. ¬¬ Give them a script of the play to read. ¬¬ Suggest similar work they can see on DVD. ¬¬ Let them bring family to see a final dress rehearsal or meet the artists. ¬¬ Swop jobs for a day – where a person shadows or follows another person for a day and vice versa. ¬¬ Ask them for their opinions about the art and encourage debate and discussion about it.
C ase s tudy... Marketing Mix for a Craft Organisation: GREENARTE, sustainable handcrafts made in Mozambique Greenarte is a strategic business unit of CEDARTE, a Mozambican non-profit organisation based in Maputo geared to support the craft sector, through capacity building of the artisans, technical assistance in product development and innovation, marketing and market access activities and promotion of sustainable use of resources. CEDARTE’s Greenarte brand represents products made from sustainable, renewable and recycled materials. The logo of the brand takes two very important elements, a vase, which is a signature product of CEDARTE, and a tree, wood being the primary material for Mozambican crafts. The green leaf amongst the brown ones signifies CEDARTE’s commitment to promote sustainability in Mozambican crafts. The mission of Greenarte is to bring together a wide and distinctive range of handicrafts from different parts of Mozambique to the global market. Ranging from Maconde art from Cabo Delgado, to the intricate sandalwood sculptures from Maputo, we chose products from individual artisans as well as artisan groups with a focus on enterprise building, sustainability and community development. All products are proudly handmade in Mozambique. Greenarte has four main areas of activity, namely: ¬¬ Handicrafts Retail shops with a business model of Franchising with the aim to spread the Greenarte’s retail shops around the country. So far, Greenarte is operating two shops in Maputo, one at Maputo Shopping Center and the other one at Shopping Mares. The two shops are positioned for the segment of high end. ¬¬ Global E-Commerce of handicrafts with two platforms, newsletter and website. ¬¬ Handicrafts Corporate Gifts, partnering with the private sector businesses to satisfy their needs on corporate gifts. ¬¬ Handicrafts Exports. Greenarte supplies to dedicated and loyal importers in various quarters of the world, with more significance to US, Europe and China.
The Marketing Mix
Product: Greenarte retails and exports Mozambican craft products made from a wide variety of materials, ranging from wood to palm and cloth. Statues, baskets, mats, clothing and furniture are sold through the retailed outlets. Orders for events such as weddings etc, can be made through the outlet as well. Price: As Greenarte has a wide range of products, retail prices can range from a minimum of 80 MT (2.5 USD) for items such as earrings and up to 35,000 MT (approx. 1000 USD) for articles of furniture. The markup of the products for retail is 75%, followed by a 17% addition for VAT. Place: The retail outlets are located at the Maputo Shopping Complex downtown, and at the Super Mares shopping mall in Costa do Sol. Both of the locations are easily accessed by public transportation. Promotion: The business is promoted through electronic newsletters, emails and Facebook, and well as printed materials such as flyers. Positioning: A wide variety of Mozambican crafts are represented by Greenarte and the products retailed range from easily affordable items to higher-end. People: The staff of Greenarte include four trained sales clerks and six other marketing and administrative staff. www.greenarte-moz.com ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 59
C ase s tudy... A Marketing Campaign for the Sauti Za Busara Music Festival run by the NGO Busara Promotions in Zanzibar, East Africa Profile of Busara Promotions and the Sauti Za Busara Festival Busara Promotions was set up as a cultural NGO in
Such opportunities are rare in Zanzibar, and these
Zanzibar in 2003. Its main event each year is the Sauti
events play an essential role in maintaining peace
Za Busara Music Festival, a popular festival bringing
and stability, building intercultural understanding
people together in celebration of music from Eastern
and respect. Furthermore, in Tanzania more and more
Africa and beyond. The event attracts audiences from
local people of all ages are now finding ways to earn
all walks of life, all ages and backgrounds. More than
a creative living throughout the year, in music and the
5,000 people attend each day of the festival, out of
performing arts.
which around 70% are from East Africa, 10% from other parts of Africa and 20% from Europe, North America and elsewhere.
There are of course many challenges faced in organizing a festival of this size in Zanzibar, not least in the area of fundraising, sourcing quality technical equipment and
The Marketing Approach: Building Relationships at
technicians, limitations of venues, relations with local
Multiple Levels
political and religious fractions, developing training
Keeping the event accessible to the local people in Zanzibar is a priority, so admission is free for everyone until sunset. After then, daily tickets cost 1,000/-
opportunities for staff and crew, addressing needs of donors and sponsors and catering to requirements of more and more international visitors.
Tanzanian shillings (around 50 p) for Tanzanians and
The Festival is a shared experience between visitors
15,000/- Tanzanian shillings (£7.50) for international
and locals – promotional strategy.
visitors.
A critical factor for its success is that the festival is a
More than 40 groups participate in the festival each
shared experience between visitors and locals. Local
year, of which 30 are from East Africa and 10 from
people are more confident in their culture and the fact
other parts of the Africa and the Diaspora. Upcoming
that it must be special, because visitors come from all
and established groups are showcased, acoustic and
over the world to see it. International visitors know they
electric, including different styles of indigenous music
are experiencing something authentic and unique, as
such as ngoma, taarab, muzikiwadansi, mchiriku, bongo
they enjoy African music under African skies, shoulder
flava, Afropop fusion and more.
to shoulder with African people.
Artistic and technical workshops and seminars are a
Benefits Derived from the Festival
key element of the festival, aimed at musicians, media
The festival brings a significant boost for the local
professionals, arts managers, technicians and cultural
economy. Government statistics show the number
workers from the region. These workshops aim to
of visitors to Zanzibar in the month of February has
build knowledge and skills for the long-term cultural
increased by more than 400% since 2003.
benefit of East Africa. During the 2009 Festival for example, training workshops were provided for twelve technicians from Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda in stage lighting and sound engineering.
International visitors to the festival spend their money in ways that have a noticeable impact on ordinary people. From hotel and restaurant workers to drivers, fishermen, market traders, artists, sellers of
The Festival has grown but retains that essentially local
handicrafts, many people benefit. In Zanzibar, cultural
flavour for which it is identified – its brand identity.
tourists boost the grassroots economy far more than
Sauti Za Busara has evolved over the years, bringing in more ‘international’ acts, but retaining its essentially local flavour. It provides a platform for local musicians
the “all-inclusive” package tourists who pay everything upfront in Europe and spend their holiday in the swimming pools and bars of the island’s beach resorts.
to experience music from other parts of the world,
Sauti Za Busara festival is an excellent example of an
whilst introducing East African music to visitors. In any
event designed to develop, in both locals and visitors,
society this kind of interchange is vital to the health and
an appreciation of the uniqueness, wealth and diversity
development of musical styles.
of music of the region. It shows there is beauty in
Festivals bring people together in celebration and unity, regardless of their political and religious differences.
60 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
traditional music, with employment and income to be gained in sustaining it.
The Director of Busara Promotions, Yusuf Mahmoud
Promotional Strategy
shares with us how the concepts discussed in this
Every year we print 18,000 posters, aimed at the
toolkit have been utilized in the Festival’s marketing
populations of Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam, Arusha,
campaign.
Mwanza, Nairobi, Mombasa, Kampala and other towns
Marketing and Promotion of the Festival So many wonderful arts events happen around the world every day; often the only thing that lets them down is
in the region. We start to distribute these six months before the festival, increasing distribution as the festival gets closer.
the small audience. It is very disheartening for a music
Targeting international visitors, we print 60,000
or dance group, however good they are, to perform in
postcards, with a similar but different design.
front of a handful of people – especially when it is in a
Typically we start distributing these nine months
large venue.
ahead, via stalls, hotels and restaurants, tourist shops,
Organisers of events have to juggle with a variety of tasks, and even more so in the African context:
international trade fairs, music concerts and other arts and cultural festivals.
building relationships with donors and sponsors,
Our research shows that visitors obtain their
sourcing public address systems, sound and lighting
information from the following sources:
equipment, managing crew and volunteers, sorting
Word of Mouth
51%
Radio
46%
Posters
41%
Billboards
30%
TV
29%
Adverts
23%
Articles
18%
If people don’t know your event is happening, they won’t
Internet
17%
show up and all this hard work can be in vain. You will
Postcards
17%
still have to pay the artists, the venue and equipment
9%
licenses and permits, sending invitations to VIPs, venue arrangements, including FOH (front of house) and backstage, dressing rooms, printing and selling tickets, travel and accommodation. We can be so caught up in all of this that we don’t find the time or resources to promote our event properly.
hire and you might not have the funds to pay the bills.
Sponsorships and Funding
Marketing should always be your priority when
For the past few years, the main commercial sponsor
organising events. From the very initial stages of
for the festival paid printing costs for posters and
planning, until long after the last person has left the
postcards, of course with the benefit of including their
venue.
logo. This helps us, but can also bring complications. It
You must include costs for marketing in your plan – say around 10% of your event’s budget is a fair allocation. You could decide to tender the job out to an external organisation, or do it yourself. From experience it is
can take months mutually to agree on artwork with the marketing department of a big organisation. If later you change sponsors, you may be forced to change branding designs and colours to fit with a new company.
better to be in control; it is your event and you have a lot
Building relationships with corporate sponsors can
to lose if no one shows up.
be challenging and time-consuming, but worthwhile
Your financial resources are probably limited, so you should first think very carefully about who your primary target audience is and how to best reach them. Also consider well before starting design work – the best marketing is that with strong, clear and consistent branding. This includes choice of images, logos, type fonts and colours. For information to be included on posters, in most cases the fewer words the better. Next time you are driving past a poster, check it out. If your
in terms of building sustainability and a local sense of ownership of your event. Naturally, commercial sponsors are looking to maximise their visibility at your show, even if they are only contributing a fraction of the budget costs. This can be counterbalanced in your favour, for example bringing extra exposure that you wouldn’t normally be able to consider, such as street signs, billboards, newspaper, TV and radio ads, or other marketing benefits.
attention is grabbed and you can quickly get a sense
Keep a Database of Contacts and do Research
of what the event is, where and when it is taking place,
Keep a database of useful contacts. It was very exciting
then the poster has done its job.
in 2004 when we had 3,000 people on our mailing list.
In marketing Sauti Za Busara music festival, our job is enormous and the opportunities are endless. Our main target audience is the population of East Africa, but we also need to attract international visitors.
Five years later, after researching the internet and magazines, attending other festivals, presenting at conferences and events, networking with artists and promoters, our address book has grown to 38,000. Be
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 61
sure, however, not to add people to your address list
and keep them updated when things are happening.
unless you are sure they will be interested in receiving
Advertising is expensive, but if your event is considered
your information. Email spam is annoying and will not
to be of public interest, you may get coverage for free.
earn you any friends.
All this takes leg work and time, but the good news is it
Use the Internet
doesn’t have to cost big bucks.
Thanks to the Internet, these days there are more
Find innovative ways to market your event; don’t forget
ways to market your product(s) worldwide, effectively
to use tried and tested local ways.
and cheaply. Building your own website is increasingly important, or at least to be visible on Myspace or Facebook. Make time to keep your web presence regularly updated.
We are all in a highly competitive market, so the more innovative your marketing the better. Don’t forget there are also tried and tested local ways of doing things. For example, I know a musician from Zimbabwe
Busaramusic.org now receives more than 8,000 hits
whose music is banned on state-run media. He is
daily, rising to 18,000 around festival time. We keep
very successful at selling and distributing his CDs
check on the countries these hits are generated in, as
throughout the country on the local daladalas.
well as which pages people are looking at. We now have an online chart updating every minute with the top 10 festival artists generating interest. Today the No 1 position is held by Bi Kidude from Zanzibar, and six of the Top 10 visited groups in the Busara chart are from Tanzania. Build and maintain relationships with the media
In Zanzibar the most effective promotional medium is the garibomba – a car that drives around the populated areas, with MC and megaphone. The trucks and speakers are bigger these days, but the system still works if you want to get the crowds to your gig. Yusuf Mahmoud Director, Busara Promotions
Don’t forget to build relationships with editors of
www.busaramusic.org
TV and radio stations, newspapers and magazines,
May 2009
62 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
T ool... Template to Create your own Strategic Marketing Plan
Executive Summary
Provide a summary of the Strategic Marketing Plan
Description of the art product or service
I/We offer …..
Vision Statement
My/Our vision is…
Mission Statement
My/Our Mission is…
Overall Objectives
My/ Our Overall Objectives are…
Analysis of current situation Internal & External (SWOT/PESTLE)
Internal Strengths and Weakness are… External Opportunities and Threats are...\ Current Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental climate is…
The Target Market
My/Our target market is…
Marketing Objectives
My/Our Marketing Objectives are…
Product Decisions
The Product is...
Place Decisions
The Place is…
Price Decisions
The Price is…
Promotion Decisions
I/We will Promote it by…
Positioning Decisions
My/Our Brand Identity is…
People Decisions
The People who represent us will be…
Action Plan
The detailed of plan of how the above will be achieved. (See Section 4)
Budget
The detailed budget to achieve these objectives. (See page 63)
Monitoring and Evaluating
The plan of how the marketing activities will be monitored and evaluated. (See Section 4)
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 63
4. Budgeting Once you have your plan in place, you will need to budget and assign costs to the activities or actions. The budget is a financial picture of your arts project and you may have to adjust your plan so that it fits into this financial picture. The budget should show income and expenditure, and is a tool to plan and manage finances. The budget shows the decisions you have made in the planning of your project, and cannot be drawn up until you have a project description and a clear idea of the actions the project needs. Every budget has a time-frame. Some expenses might be needed at the beginning of a project while others might be needed later. Sometimes a project has money to start with, but sometimes fund-raising or income-generation has to happen first. The budget is a way of monitoring your project. Check the original budget with how the money is being used as the project happens. At the end of the project, compare the original budget with what was actually spent and gained. This information (variance) should help with future planning.
4.1 Building a budget – some central steps Expenditure: ¬¬ Imagine implementing your action plan step by step. Write down the cost of every action or item needed. ¬¬ Find out the real costs. Investigate. Get quotations. ¬¬ Show how costs are calculated in a broken-down or detailed budget. ¬¬ Check if your items are absolutely necessary (“nice-tohave or have-to-have”). ¬¬ Remember costs of accounting and auditing if necessary. ¬¬ Group items into categories that make sense and help to make reading the budget easier. ¬¬ Calculate the figures more than once. Get someone to check your sums.
Income: ¬¬ There might be different kinds of income from different sources. ¬¬ There might be some costs to raising money, and these should be recorded under expenditure. ¬¬ Be realistic and show how you have calculated figures in a broken-down budget. ¬¬ Add the figures more than once. Get someone to check your sums. ARTerial’s Arts Advocacy & Networking Toolkit: 2011:86
64 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
Example‌ Of a Budget for a Visual Artist
Income Artwork sales
Budget
Actual
Balance
100000
102000
2000
Teaching adult classes
20000
24000
4000
Children’s workshops
30000
29000
-1000
Guest lecturing
10000
14000
4000
Articles and reports
Expenditure Materials Salaries
10000
8000
-2000
170000
177000
7000
Budget
Actual
Balance
20000
19000
1000
100000
101000
-1000
Rent
5000
4000
1000
Electricity
2000
1900
100
Travel
1000
1100
-1000
Administrative costs
2000
2100
-1000
30000
29000
1000
1000
500
500
161000
158600
600
Expenses
Budget
Actual
Balance
Advertising
Marketing* Delivery and transport *Marketing Budget
10000
9500
500
Website
2000
1000
1000
Internet service provider
1000
1500
-500
Press conferences
1000
1100
-100
Publicity materials
7000
6600
400
Newsletter
2000
2500
-500
Marketing research
2000
2500
-500
Photography
1000
800
200
Exhibition catalogues *Total Marketing Expenses
4000
3500
500
30000
29000
1000
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 65
Section 4 You have thus far, critically analysed and researched your marketing situation, made decisions about the marketing mix which are in line with your objectives, devised a marketing plan and created a budget. Now we will look at ways to implement this marketing plan, and how to implement a communication or promotional plan. Finally we will look at how to monitor and evaluate these plans.
ACTION 1. Implementation and Action “A brilliant strategic marketing plan counts for little if it is not implemented properly.” (Kotler et al. 1997: 451) Drawing up an action plan is the key to implementing your strategic marketing plan. It takes the strategy and translates it into action. In many cases you may find that you will need to write a few plans: an overall business plan, a marketing plan and a promotion or communication plan. By writing up these action plans you will have documents, which can be used not only as the guideline to how you will sell your art, but also as a supporting document when approaching funders, donors and sponsors. This will demonstrate that you have a vision and businesslike approach to your work, instilling in them a sense of confidence in your product.
“While strategy addresses the what and why of marketing activities, implementation addresses the who, where, when, and how. We define marketing implementation as the process that turns marketing plans into action assignments and ensures that such assignments are executed in a manner that accomplishes the plan’s stated objectives.” (Kotler et al. 1997: 451) Your action plan should detail the activities that you will need to undertake to achieve your goals, as well as the target market, resources needed, responsibilities and a time frame with provisions been made for a report back on these activities.
T ool... Template for a Strategic Marketing Action Plan
Activities
Resources needed For example, staffing, printed material
Responsibility Assign each action to a specific person
Time Frame Give reasonable time frames to carry out each activity
Report back
Objectives: General (Long term) What activities do you need to do to achieve these goals? Specific (Short term) What activities do you need to do to achieve these goals?
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 67
T ool... Template for a Communication or Promotion Plan
To whom are you communicating? Describe your target market
What are you communicating? The message
Why are you communicating this? Your aims and objectives
How will you do this? The methods of communication. Eg. Advertising, website, publicity
Where will you do this? The place / location where the message will be delivered
When will you do this? The time frame
Young adults between the ages of 18 and 29
This is THE music event and experience of the year, and you will be sorry if you miss it!
To sell tickets and create a buzz about the event
Publicity: Short diary release
Magazines
3 months before
Social media
Facebook page
Ongoing begin 6 weeks before
Internet/mobile
Ongoing begin 6 weeks before
Posters
On lamposts, clubs and bars
4 weeks before
Flyers with transfer tatooes with concert dates
Distributed at clubs and bars
4 weeks before
Advertising
In youth sections of newspapers
4 weeks before
Publicity: Press conference
At main club in town
3 weeks before
Publicity: Press Release
At press conference to media
3 weeks before
Publicity: Interviews
Radio and TV
1 week before
Publicity stunt: Flash Mob
At a youth event
1 week before
68 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
2. Monitoring and Evaluating You will need to monitor and evaluate the marketing plan to assess what has been successful, what has been unsuccessful and what lessons you can learn from these. Monitoring and evaluating is essentially checking on the activities that you have set out, with time frames, responsibilities, whether these have been achieved and how successful the achievement was, or whether they were not achieved, and the reasons for both. By assessing this you will be able to adjust your plan accordingly so you continually strive to attain your overall objectives and your marketing objectives.
2.1. Monitoring Monitoring is a process of gathering information as you proceed with your plan, so it needs to be built into your marketing planning and should start when your begin implementing the plan. The marketing plan needs to be monitored on an ongoing basis. This will help to guide management to see if the plan is working, and can help to detect problems and prevent these developing into disasters. Monitoring also helps with evaluation, as information and data are collected as you work through the plan, which can be used for assessment. As we know, arts projects are dynamic and your plans will more than likely change and develop as your progress, so be open to altering plans and make adjustments as you see necessary. You will need to gather the information before, during, and after the project. Be sure to monitor both your internal working plan and external environments. Funding policies, for example, may change which may mean that you will have to adjust budgets, which would impact on your marketing strategy. Information to consider gathering: Aims and objectives Be sure that you are clear as to what you are doing and why. For example: “We aim to improve sales of artworks over the tourism season. Our objectives are to invite and involve tour guides and tour operators, run workshops for tourists, and to run a publicity campaign in the media.” This will help you in defining your targets or desired achievements. Resources People involved and the skills they have, equipment and materials needed and budgets and expected costs. Activities undertaken List the various activities undertaken to market the project, time taken, concerns and issues that arose. Include for example, the promotional activities undertaken such as advertisements and where these were placed, publicity and the value in terms of space in print or on line or duration on radio or television achieved, poster distribution, number of Tweets, hits on website or
Facebook, redemption of sales vouchers, discounts etc. Audience Quantitative information about how many attended, who they are, where they live, how they bought tickets or heard about the event; and Qualitative information such as how they reacted to the art, did they like it or not? What were their “feelings” about the work? Sales Information on the number of artworks, tickets, programmes or merchandise items sold. Where were these sold? Opinions from other sources Ask staff and other stakeholders for their feedback.
Methods to Gather Information You can use a variety of methods to gather your information. Here are some suggestions: ¬¬ Questionnaires and surveys given to stakeholders to complete, or online. ¬¬ Interviews or focus groups: asking key people to contribute to discussions on the marketing process. ¬¬ Case studies – personal reflections of particular successes or failures. ¬¬ Data: sales, audience figures, duration of events etc. ¬¬ Visitor’s book – for comments, suggestions and ideas. ¬¬ Photographic records or video footage of the event with audience interaction or reactions. ¬¬ Observations of activities and their efficacy.
Tips… For Monitoring
¬¬ When planning ask whether the activities are in line with the objectives, and continue to ask as you implement. If it is not serving the objective – stop, reassess and create a new action. ¬¬ When actioning these activities do progress reports that are concise, constructive, realistic and honest. ¬¬ Constantly check that you are working towards the original goals. ¬¬ Ensure that people responsible for the activities have implemented the action in the time frame planned. ¬¬ Monitor stakeholder reactions to your art product.
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 69
2.2. Evaluating Evaluation is an assessment of the work done based on the information gathered through the monitoring process, and is usually done on completion. It is important to evaluate how well your strategies have worked, as marketing is dynamic and evolving all the time. Evaluation verifies what has been achieved, and should be an objective analysis of the plan, so that you are able to identify what changes need to take place to further enhance and develop the strategies for the future. Evaluation helps to identify the successes and failures and by identifying the reasons for both, you may be able to replicate successful activities and avoid failed ones in the future. Evaluation can also serve to build stakeholder confidence and motivate staff and management.
Once you have gathered the information through the monitoring process, you will need to begin evaluating it by asking questions: ¬¬ Did you achieve aims and objectives and the targets set out? ¬¬ What was the audiences reaction to the work? ¬¬ How did staff and other stakeholders feel about the work? ¬¬ How successful was the campaign? ¬¬ What elements were unsuccessful in trying to achieve your objectives? ¬¬ Were cost kept within budget?
The Evaluation Report Writing the evaluation report is important as it completes the cycle of the strategic marketing process. The information you have monitored and evaluated needs to be shared and discussed with relevant stakeholders and plans then implemented for future campaigns. This helps to build institutional or organisational memory as you will now have guidelines for the future.
T ool... Writing an Evaluation Report
Executive Summary Begin by summarising the overall evaluation report and include information about the stakeholders involved in the evaluation.
Methodology Discuss how the project was evaluated and the methodology used.
Project Description Describe the overall project and the marketing approach taken and plans created.
Aims and Objectives The aims demonstrate the purpose and reasons for the plan. The objectives are the specific goals you set out to attain.
Inputs These are resources that were needed for the marketing plan.
Activities List the activities undertaken to market the project, time taken, concerns and issues that arose.
Outputs and Outcomes Include information about outputs (tickets and artworks sold, attendance figures) and outcomes (these are the effects the project has had on the stakeholders).
Discoveries and Revelations Things these were successful, unsuccessful or unexpected in terms of the original objectives.
Conclusions or Lessons Learnt How and why the objectives were met and what lessons were learnt for future marketing plans.
Recommendations What changes or additions can be made for future marketing.
Appendices Include background information on your organisation, advertisements and publicity cuttings, income and expenditure budgets and examples of methodology used (eg questionnaires).
70 ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT
T ool... Template and Example of Evaluating Marketing Success for AzoDance Contemporary Dance Company in Bamako, Mali
Objectives and Activities for Year 1 Objectives: Develop strategic partnerships with 2 other dance companies in Mali
Yes
No
Comment Successfully met with 2 other companies and we have agreed to share skills, choreography and information
✔
Develop strategic partnerships with 3 dance companies in other African countries
✔
Only managed to develop 1. Will need to network more to find other like-minded companies to collaborate with
Create 4 new works
✔
Only managed to create 3 new works as, choreographer took ill for a month
Stage 3 local seasons
Held good seasons with well-received works and positive audience feedback
✔
Perform at 5 festivals - 2 in Africa and 3 international
✔
We only managed to get funding for 3 festivals and did not go to any international festivals
Develop new audiences through outreach programme
✔
Invited people to attend rehearsals and meet the dancers – signed up for our newsletter and as supporters
Obtain national media exposure
✔
We managed to get good national coverage on TV, radio and in print with extra coverage on international websites
Activities: Visit 10 schools with dance programme using funding from education department
✔
Visits to schools proved excellent and were well received – have set up a database of schoolchildren interested in dance and will use this for relevant dance seasons
Create press packs for distribution for each season and in preparation for festivals
✔
Created generic ones and used for all seasons and festivals with specific press releases for each season included
Distribute publicity packs to local and national media as well as relevant international media
✔
Obtained good coverage locally, nationally and internationally on websites
Develop database of media for publicity campaigns
✔
Assigned one staff member to research and a strong database has been created
Hold weekly classes for adults
Develop database of current audience
✔
✔
Not enough interest from local adults – will need to do more direct marketing to encourage uptake
Research was done during all seasons and we now have a database of 3000 people Adapted from Dickman 2000:156
ARTS MARKETING TOOLKIT 71
C ase s tudy... Strategic Marketing Plan CEDARTE is a Mozambican nonprofit, non-governmental organisation established to promote the sustainable development of Mozambican crafts. CEDARTE developed a two to five year strategic plan, which incorporated their marketing plan. This is an extensively edited (and in some sections hypothetically created) version of their strategic marketing plan.
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Budget
This five year strategic marketing plan is meant to be a communication tool that dissects the vision and strategic marketing intent of the organisation.
For the implementation of the strategic marketing plan, CEDARTE requires approximately USD $500 000
The Organisation
¬¬ Marketing Programme – Communication and Networking $200 000
CEDARTE is a Mozambican nonprofit, nongovernmental organisation, which was established in late 2006 as an answer to the need for empowerment in the crafts sector. The crafts sector has enormous potential to effectively contribute to Mozambique’s national strategy for economic and social development.
The Market for Mozambican Crafts Recently the demand for Mozambican crafts has grown, and demand is greater than local production capacity. While there is enormous potential demand for crafts – both international and national there are constraints that hinder the sustainable growth of the sector.
CEDARTE’s Areas of Strategic Intervention or Focus As CEDARTE developed it organisational strategy the external environmental analysis permitted the identification of intervention opportunities, and the internal analysis allowed for the establishment of intervention priorities. Marketing Access and Communication and Networking programmes were identified as both priorities and opportunities for the organisation within this process. ¬¬ Marketing Programme – Market Access Stimulate the commercialisation of Mozambican crafts, both in-country and internationally. ¬¬ Marketing Programme – Communication and Networking Contribute to the improved visibility and increased awareness of Mozambicans, on the one hand, and international buyers, on the other hand, about the potential of Mozambican crafts, promoting the smoother working of the sector through networking and advocacy.
Implementation Strategy CEDARTE’s global strategy to implement these programmes will be outsourcing and cultivation of partnerships and collaboration with other relevant players.
¬¬ Marketing Programme – Market Access $300 000
2. INTRODUCTION Potential of the Crafts Market There is a tendency for growth in markets for cultural products on a global level. According to a UNESCO4 study, the world market for cultural products in 1998 was valued at USD 387 billion. Mozambique has excellent, and in many cases unique, natural resources for crafts production. Traditionally, the country is home to talented artisans in various types of crafts. This means that Mozambique has comparative advantages that are worth exploring. It is known that exports are valued at more or less USD 0.5 million per year. One of the challenges is to map and quantify the economic activity of the sector. Crafts is a value-added industry that is unique because it has two dimensions, economic and cultural, and brings with it the ideals and aspirations of a population. Actually, crafts, beyond the economic value that is associated with them, can help develop the self-esteem of Mozambicans.
3. VISION, MISSION, VALUES & OBJECTIVES Vision We want to be Mozambique’s principal centre of reference for knowledge and promotion of the national crafts sector’s development.
Mission We want to bring the spirit and beauty of Mozambican crafts into people’s lives on a global level through the promotion of a healthy and competitive business environment in the crafts sector, implementing sustainable initiatives of marketing, product development and innovation, training, advocacy and knowledge management, thus contributing to an increase in income for Mozambican artisans and their communities.
Values ¬¬ Promotion of fair trade ¬¬ Artistic and cultural preservation ¬¬ Sustainable use of resources ¬¬ Commitment to disadvantaged communities ¬¬ Non-discrimination of beneficiaries ¬¬ Transparency and Honesty
6. Programme for Institutional Development of CEDARTE Objective: Guarantee the existence of internal working conditions that help CEDARTE realise its mission and the sustainability of the organisation.
4. STRATEGIC ANALYSIS
¬¬ Organisational Sustainability
4.1 External Analysis
¬¬ Results-oriented
Mozambique’s economy has grown at an impressive rate over the last few years, averaging around 8% per year from 1992 to 2003. In 2004 and 2005 there was growth of 7.2% and 7.7% respectively. In 2006 the growth was 7.9% and the growth forecast through 2009 is 8% per annum. Inflation has decreased from the high rates of 60% at the end of the 1990’s. The consumer price index, despite an increase to 11.1% in 2005, had an annual average of less than one digit in the previous period. For 2006 the estimate was for less than 10%. The country has been at peace for a period of nearly 15 years and is politically stable, having gone through several democratic elections. All of this has contributed to the increase in international confidence and an improved reputation, resulting in an increase in direct foreign investment, especially in capital-intensive industries. Mozambican entrepreneurs, despite the constraint of access to credit continuing to represent one of the principal obstacles to development, also have been investing in various areas of the economy, above all in micro-businesses and SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises).
Strategic Business Objectives Over the next two to five years CEDARTE will focus its efforts on six programmes that have the principal objective of contributing to the increased competitiveness of Mozambican crafts through initiatives of marketing, including market access, training and capacity-building, product innovation and development, product diversification, increasing the sector’s production capacity, and promoting partnerships between the various players. These six programmes are:
1. Training and Capacity-Building Programme for crafts entrepreneurs Objective: This programme is meant to contribute to the increase in quantity and quality of Mozambican crafts production through continual training and skills development initiatives.
2. Programme to Promote the Sustainable Use of Resources Objective: A programme to facilitate artisans’ continual access to sustainable raw materials and other resources, including financial resources.
3. Product Development, Innovation and Design Programme Objective: The objective is to contribute to the innovation and increase in commercial appeal of Mozambican crafts products.
4. Marketing Programme – Market Access Objective: A programme whose purpose is to stimulate the commercialisation of Mozambican crafts, both incountry and internationally.
5. Programme for Marketing the Sector, Communication and Networking Objective: The purpose of this programme is to contribute to the improved visibility and increased awareness of Mozambicans, on the one hand, and international buyers, in the other hand, about the potential of Mozambican crafts, promoting the smoother working of the sector through networking and advocacy.
The reforms in registration and licensing of businesses will be a strong incentive for CEDARTE to create programmes that aim to increase formalisation of the crafts business, including attracting new investors to the sector, eventually people that are not artisans. The Made in Mozambique strategy, in conjunction with the strategy to promote exports of hardwood with value-added, creates a space for initiatives that broaden the internal market in addition to the establishment of partnerships with the Government, with the objective to increase the presence of Mozambican crafts in general, but especially those that use hardwoods, in the international markets. Internally, the excitement generated by Made in Mozambique requires a strategy to divulge the potential of the sector. Educational programmes on the radio and TV could have an important role in increasing the interest for the sector and for its products. The implementation of the SADC Commercial Protocol regarding the simplification of customs procedures will result in increased competition, but also an increased opening of markets in the region to Mozambican producers. A Marketing Plan that includes tailored product design for this type of event, interventions so that street markets and fairs can be adequately structured, and a strategy for distribution in South Africa
would be a potential response that CEDARTE could give to take maximum advantage of this opportunity. It is estimated that in 2004 close to 470 000 foreign tourists visited Mozambique. Most of the tourists are from the SADC region. Over 45% of these tourists are South Africans (in general there is the perception that South African tourists spend very little in Mozambique and almost don’t buy crafts, but perhaps this is the result of the positioning of Mozambican crafts in relation to the tourist market rather than the design and type of products, prices and commercialization methods). There is still a reduced number of intercontinental tourists. Regardless, for this number of visitors, if we assume that each tourist spends at least USD 10 (there are countries for which the average is $100) on each trip to Mozambique, we can say that there is potential revenue of more than 4.7 million Dollars this year. If we consider the Mozambican Government’s predictions that 4 million tourists will visit yearly by 2005, by this time crafts revenues from the tourism segment could reach USD 40 million. But the challenge here is large, as it is necessary to design the right products and organize the sales processes so that tourists are enticed to spend money on crafts. The external analysis showed that the general environment was favourable for the development of initiatives that can catapult the crafts sector to higher levels than are currently seen, both in terms of the level of internal commercialization as well as the level of exports. The growth trend in the Mozambican economy, the increase of tourism and the opening of international markets for handmade products are the principal variables that reinforce the idea that it is necessary for CEDARTE to have a strategy for improving the competitiveness of Mozambican crafts and to transform crafts into a true economic activity.
Analysis of Stakeholder Expectations As part of the analysis, a survey was done regarding the expectations of CEDARTE’s stakeholders to determine the needs in the sector and identify some of the intervention opportunities for the organisation. As a final component of the external analysis, the crafts industry value chain was examined to determine in which stages CEDARTE should concentrate its efforts. The mission and strategic objectives established in this plan were strongly influenced by the analysis of stakeholder expectations.
An interesting fact is that the majority of stakeholders agree with the analysis conducted by CEDARTE’s team regarding the principal constraints in the value chain, namely, the issue of market access difficulties, weak management competencies, the insipience of production capacity, and the lack of financial means to finance production. The stakeholders think that capacity-building initiatives in business management, technical assistance and capacity-building in product development, support for access to financing and the more frequent promotion of local fairs should be the most immediate goals for CEDARTE.
Identification of Value Chain Intervention Opportunities for CEDARTE The constraints the sector faces throughout the value chain are enormous. This is explained by the fact that it still emerging as an economic sector. During many years, crafts were considered to be a hobby and not a proper economic activity, with potential for generating revenue. Despite the efforts of Aid to Artisans and other crafts support organisations in the last eight years, there are still many obstacles to overcome. CEDARTE’s analysis indicates that it would not be sufficient to intervene in just a few areas of the value chain, leaving others aside, because the business flow would not be coherent. Obviously an intervention throughout the value chain brings an enormous challenge to CEDARTE in terms of management and resources. Only a rational strategy and the establishment of partnerships will permit this intervention to be successful. One of the strategic partnerships par excellence will be Aid to Artisans, which has a very strong domain in the realm of international marketing (buyer linkages, participation in international fairs), design and product development, and training (with an international MRP – Market Readiness Programme greatly respected on an international level). The CCDI – Cape Craft Design Institute, a South African NGO based in the Western Cape, will also be an important knowledge and implementation partner in exploring together the potential of the regional market and knowledge exchange between artisans from Mozambique and the Western Cape. Other knowledge and implementation partners will be approached during the five years of this plan.
• Stakeholder Groups: ¬¬ ¬¬ ¬¬ ¬¬ ¬¬ ¬¬ ¬¬ ¬¬ ¬¬
Artisans Exporters Donors Microfinance Institutions Internal Distributors Foreign Importers Implementation Partners Knowledge Partners Government
4.2
Internal Analysis
CEDARTE, being a recently created organisation that is in its structuring phase, has needs that make an institutional development strategy necessary from the beginning, considering the fact that the external analysis showed unequivocally that the Mozambican crafts sector needs the intervention of an organisation like CEDARTE.
The principal weaknesses reside overall in the human resources limitations in the various intervention areas in the internal value chain, in the weak management systems and processes, in the still incipient financial structure and others. This strategic plan should delineate a clear strategy so that CEDARTE can acquire the essential resources for correctly taking advantage of the existing opportunities. However, despite being a new organisation, it is composed of Aid to Artisan’s previous personnel, who are very experienced in the sector and have good relationships with the various stakeholders, such as government entities, donors, artisans, exporters, knowledge partners and others, together with the fact that they have constructed a solid group dynamic and shared values during their time at ATA, an advantage that should be explored for the creation of intensive growth strategies after the third year of the plan, since in the first two years it recommends institutional development initiatives and consolidation of the activities currently underway in the value chain that need improvement. At any rate, considering the sizeable work that the sector hopes to receive, it is clear that CEDARTE should focus on some areas and grow gradually. Even in terms of geographic coverage, despite being an organisation with a national scope that the sector needs in almost all areas of the country, segmentation should be done carefully. One of the ways to broaden the scope will be to establish strategic relationships with other organisations, such as ATA and other implementation partners, like NGOs and CBOs (Community-Based Organisations), be they local or on a provincial or district level.
4.3 Activities to be Realised to Take Advantage of Strengths and Weaknesses The strengths identified were CEDARTE’s team’s in-depth knowledge of the sector (some of them have worked for over five years in the sector), the good relationship with principal donors, experience in project management, and knowledge of the national and international markets, and the good relationship with the majority of the stakeholders in the sector. The principal weaknesses include human resources limitations, as CEDARTE’s team is small, the poor preparation of staff in project monitoring and evaluation, the weak geographic presence of CEDARTE on a national level, little knowledge about alternative marketing strategies (E-commerce), low internal capacity for developing marketing plans, and poorly developed inventory (data base) of producers, products and clients.
5. The Target Market CEDARTE primary focus is on establishing markets for crafters in the formal craft retail and wholesale sectors, and as such the marketing endeavours will point to how these can be developed on local, national, continental and international levels.
6. Marketing Objectives Market Access Objective: To stimulate the commercialization of Mozambican crafts, both in-country and internationally.
Expected Results Essentially it is expected that local and international crafts commerce will increase to accumulated levels of USD 1.4 million and USD 1.2 million respectively, by 2011. Principal Activities and Projects ¬¬ Organisation and promotion of more frequent local fairs, taking into consideration the need to gradually make these fairs self-sustainable. ¬¬ Investment promotion for the establishment of galleries and retail crafts stores, including the realization of a pilot Project for the installation of at least one shop/gallery, as a franchise in Maputo. ¬¬ Promote the participation of Mozambican crafts in international fairs. ¬¬ Prioritize market niches and define goals to reach them in the 5 years of this plan.
Marketing the Craft Sector, Communication and Networking Objective: To contribute to the improved visibility and increased awareness of Mozambicans, on the one hand, and international buyers, in the other hand, about the potential of Mozambican crafts, promoting the smoother working of the sector through networking and advocacy.
Expected Results: Through education, advocacy, partnerships, and communication initiatives, it is expected that Mozambicans will have a greater appreciation of Mozambican crafts products. The increased presence of Mozambicans in local fairs and the respective increase in the consumption index will be one of the most visible symptoms of this evolution. The initiatives foreseen in this plan are expected to impact on customs procedures at national borders for tourists who want to take crafts products out of the country, as this is one of the constraints that affects tourists’ inclination to purchase.
7. The Action Plan The external operating environment, stakeholder, and internal analyses made it possible to prioritize CEDARTE’s intervention opportunities for the organisation’s Strategic Plan leading to these marketing priorities. The definition of the organisation’s mission
provided a clearer orientation about what CEDARTE should do in the next five years. As such, the logical framework (a project management tool) summarises these marketing programmes, the expected results and the activities and projects that should be realised in order to reach the desired impact of this plan.
Detail of Action Plan and Expected Results Marketing Programme – Market Access Goal Timing Objective, Activities and Expected Results Objective
Indicators
Stimulate the commercialization of
Number of active buyers linked to
Mozambican crafts
companies that are the target of
2 years
5 years
10
15
6
18
30%
75%
USD 400k
USD 1400K
Cedarte’s programmes Local crafts commerce increases
Number of local fairs organized and realised with facilitation by Cedarte % increase in the sales volume at fairs
Expected
organized and realized with facilitation
Results
by Cedarte Sales volume at fairs organized and realized by Cedarte 1-2 years
More frequent organisation and promotion of fairs that will gradually be self-sustainable Elaboration of Marketing Plan
1-2 years
Promotion of the creation of
1- 2 years
companies/agents for internal commercialization Activities
3-5 years
Establishment of innovative shops and galleries as national points of sale – pilot project with at least one shop/ gallery as a franchise in Maputo Promotion and/or reorganisation of
3-5 years
physical ales spaces in the main streets Promotion of creating local fairs that
3-5 years
are not limited to crafts Expected
Increased international commerce of
Sales volume of export companies in
Mozambican crafts
partnership with Cedarte
Results
USD 370K
Number of commercial crafts events in
USD 1200K 6
which Mozambique participates Promotion of linkages between artisans
1-2 years
and exporters Promotion of more visits by current Activities
1-2 years
international buyers Elaboration of a Marketing Plan Promotion of the participation of Mozambican crafts in specialised international fairs
1-2 years 3-5 years
Detail of Action Plan and Expected Results Marketing Programme – Communication and Networking Goal Timing Objective, Activities and Expected Results
Indicators
Objective
Contribute to improve the visibility and functionality of the crafts sector
Expected
Increased visibility and awareness of
Results
Mozambicans about crafts
2 years
5 years
% increase in Mozambican visitors to local fairs
30%
75%
% increase of local fairs that have a positive evaluation of Mozambican crafts
70%
80%
% increase in Mozambican visitors to local fairs
30%
75%
1-2 years
Advocacy with the government to increase the perceived value of the sector
1-2 years
Conception of crafts diffusion and training programmes in schools- pilot project in Maputo Activities
1-2 years
Establishment of partnrships for TV and radio progarmems to increase awareness about the sector
3-5 years
Lobbying of MEC – PIREP for the inclusion of crafts subjects in the primary school, professional and art/ trade school curricula Expected
Improved image of awareness about
Results
Mozambican crafts
% of visitors to local fairs that have a positive evaluation of Mozambican crafts
Conception and implementation of a
70%
80%
1-2 years
crafts portal 1-2 years
Lobbying with LAM and other airlines to include Mozambican crafts in their Activities
inflight Establishment of partnerships to edit
3-5 years
an interior design magazine 1-2 years
Edit and distribute a map with the location of crafts sales points stories and product images Expected
Facilitate customs for crafts project
Results
products at the borders
Activities
Advocacy with customs ad government
Number of border posts with information available about customs procedures for crafts
15
20
1-2 years
to better apply and divulge customs laws for crafts products Distribution of information about
1-2 years
customs laws for products Expected
Network of partners established and
Results
strengthened in the sector
Number of memoranda of understanding (MOU) established with partners
5
15
Creation, update and sharing of a
1-2 years
stakeholder database for the sector Conception and editing of a newsletter
1-2 years
Consolidation of a partnership with ATA
1-2 years
to strengthen Cedarte’s institutional development Activities
1-2 years
Identification and establishment of partnerships with a network of knowledge institutions
3 – 5 years
Promotion of regular regional workshops with the diverse players in the sector Advocacy for the creation of a type of
3- 5 years
crafts council
8. Budget
10. Evaluation
For the implementation of the strategic marketing plan, CEDARTE requires approximately USD $500,000
Evaluation will be determined largely by the information, monitoring and evaluation system defined in the scope of the institutional development strategy, contained in this Strategic Plan.
¬¬ Marketing Programme – Market Access $300 000 ¬¬ Marketing Programme – Communication and Networking $200 000
9. Monitoring The Strategic Marketing Plan execution will be monitored in the sense that there will be permanent assessment of the activities and of its environment with relation to the objective, results, activities and means projected, with the goal of maintaining it updated, keeping in mind the influences of the development processes of the sector and of the operating environment. For the financial partners and various interested parties, monitoring of the Strategic Marketing Plan is guaranteed through the dissemination of annual operational plan reports. Equally, the right is foreseen for the financial partners and other interested parties to continually exchange information relative to the report contents and provide support in their elaboration. Internal and external audits will allow for controls to be perfected, guaranteeing that financial and operational management are increasingly transparent and rigorous. In practical terms, the areas to be monitored include the progress in implementing the Strategic Marketing Plan, or its annual operational plans. The instruments to be used will be interim reports (monthly or quarterly); annual reports; and all of the documents that permit progress observation.
In the organisational structure a monitoring and evaluation unit is foreseen so that internally the organisation can have knowledge of the exact situation of all projects and develop knowledge about the successes and lessons learned. A periodic and continual mechanism for evaluation and verification of the level of implementation of the Strategic Plan will be established. In effect, the specific topics to be approached will come out of the implementation of the Annual Operational Plans, in accordance with the strategic programmes. The evaluation reports should be material for discussion and analysis with the beneficiaries, implementers and financial partners, with the ability to respond to the issues inserted in the information, monitoring and evaluation system, to be defined in the scope of the operational plan. Two evaluations during this plan will be essential, an intermediate one and a final one. It is expected that resources can be mobilised to hire external evaluators for the final evaluation. The intermediate one should involve other staff members beyond the monitoring and evaluation unit. www.cedarte.org.mz
3. REFERENCES & ADDITIONAL READING Books The Artist’s Handbook: A Guide to the Business of the Arts. 2008. South Africa: Africa Centre. Bernstein, J. S. 2007. Arts Marketing Insights. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons. Brennan, R. Baines, P. & Garneau, P. 2003. Contemporary Strategic Marketing. Palgrave, Macmillan. Cashman, Stephen. 2010. Thinking BIG! A Guide to Strategic Marketing Planning for Arts Organizations. England: Arts Council England. Chong, Derrick. 2010. Arts Management. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Cutlip. SM, Center AM, Bloom GM, du Plessis DF. 2007. The Essentials of Effective Public Relations for SubSaharan Africa. South Africa. Dickman, Sharron. 2000. What’s My Plan? A Guide to Developing Arts Marketing Plans. Surry Hills NSW: Australia Council for the Arts. Dickman, Sharron. 1997. Arts Marketing – The Pocket Guide. Kew: Australia Council for the Arts. Du Plessis, N. Kwao-Sarbah, D. & Versfeld, S. 2011. Arts Advocacy & Networking Toolkit. Cape Town: ARTerial Network. Flanagan, N. & Finger, J. 2003. The Management Bible, Zebra Press, South Africa: New Holland Publishing (South Africa) Pty Ltd. Godin. Seth. 2007. Meatball Sundaes: How New Marketing is Transforming the Business World (and How to Thrive in It). London: Piatkus.
Steidl, Peter & Hughes, Robert. 1999. Marketing Strategies for Arts Organisations. Strawberry Hills: Australia Council for the Arts. Wilson, R. & Gilligan, C. 1997 Strategic Marketing Management: Planning, Implementation and Control. Butterworth Heinemann.
Journal Articles Maitland, H. 2005. Visual Arts: Tapping the Potential. Journal of Arts Marketing Issue 19 – October 2005 Marketing and Touring: A Practical Guide to Marketing an Event on Tour. Matarasso, F. 2000. Creating Value: An introduction to evaluating community-based arts projects originally published as ‘Did it make a difference?’ by Arts & Business, UK. Osborne, D. 2007. Arts Development Program Evaluation. Prepared for Arts Victoria Shapiro, J. 2006. Monitoring and Evaluation. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen. Johannesburg The MUSON Festival Journal. 2008. Objectives, GDU (Nigeria) The South African Craft industry Report. 1998. Wings, Issue 4, Sept–Nov, 2010
Websites/Online African Arts Institute: www.africanartsinstitute.org.za (Accessed August 2011) Aher Arop Bol: www.aheraropbol.bookslive.co.za. (Accessed September 2011)
Hill, Liz, O’Sullivan, C. O’Sullivan, T. 2003. Creative Arts Marketing. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.
Art Zero Group: www.artzerogroup.com (Accessed May 2011)
Joffe, A & Newton, M. 2011. Arts Fundraising Toolkit. Cape Town: ARTerial Network.
Sauti Za Busara Music Festival / Busara Promotions: www. busaramusic.org. (May 2011)
Kaiser, Michael M and Engler, Paul S. 1995. Strategic Planning in the Arts: A Practical Guide. USA: Kaiser Engler Group.
Business Arts South Africa: www.basa.co.za. (Accessed August 2011)
Kotler P & Scheff J. 1997. Standing Room Only: Strategies for Marketing the Performing Arts. USA: Harvard Business School Press. Kotler, Philip , Brown, Linden, Adam, Stewart and Armstrong, Gary, 2004. Marketing 6th ed . NSW: Pearson Education Australia. Kotler, P. and Keller, K. L. 2009. Marketing Management, 13th Ed., Prentice Hall. Lamb, Jr. W. C. 2000. Marketing. Oxford University Press. Michael, A. & Salter, B. 2006. Mobile Marketing: Achieving Competitive Advantage through Wireless Technology, Butterworth-Heinemann-Palgrave-Macmillan.
Business Dictionary: www.businessdictionary.com. (August 2011) Cameroon Festival of Traditional Music and Dance: www. baka.co.uk/press/limbe.html (Accessed August 2011) Centre for Creative Arts: www.cca.ukzn.ac.za. (Accessed August 2011) Cedarte: www.cedarte.org.mz. (Accessed November 2011) Chamberlain, D, Llewellyn, M & Hotson, M. Monitoring & Evaluating Your Arts Event. Why Bother? A Book of Ideas. (Online) Available: www.voluntaryarts.org/uploaded/ map1079.pdf (Accessed August 2011) Corporate Eye: (July 2008) www.corporate-eye.com. (Accessed September 2011)
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Editions Barzakh: www.editionsbarzakh.dz. (Accessed November 2011) Facebook: www.facebook.com. (Accessed June 2011) FTH:K: www.fth:k.co.za Greenarte: www.greenarte-moz.com. (Accessed September 2011) The GoDown Centre: www.thegodownartscentre.com. (Accessed May 2011) Herman Niebuhr: www.niebuhr.co.za. (Accessed May 2011) Janti B: www.jantib.org. (Accessed August 2011) Limbe Festival: www.baka.co.uk/press/limbe.html. (Accessed August 2011) Maitland, H. 2003. www.heathermaitland.co.uk. Extract from The Marketing Manual, Arts Marketing Association (Accessed July 2011) Marketing Guru Blogspot: www.marketing-guru.blogspot. com. (Accessed August 2011) Muson: www.m-u-s-o-n.com. (Accessed October 2011) VANSA: www.vansa.co.za (Accessed August 2011)
Email Correspondence Herman Niebuhr: www.niebuhr.co.za. Ato Arinze: 22 January 2011
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