The dynamics of arts marketing

Arts marketing is a complex activity embedded in the political, socio-economic and technological contexts where the arts sector is situated. At the core of it there exists the firm belief of arts practitioners and marketers in the aesthetic, cultural and educational values of the arts and their efforts to widely disseminate these values.

Its practitioners must be proactive and capitalise on the rapidly changing social and technological environment and habits of cultural consumers

In the first phase of arts marketing in the 1980s and 1990s the idea of marketing was introduced and explored. The main challenge for the arts sector, mainly non-profit arts organisations and activities, was how to blend the sectoral belief in the non-monetary, aesthetic values with the notion of marketing that had developed in the commercial environment and relied on the idea of consumer sovereignty. This tension was often noted as ‘production orientation vs. market orientation’. Instead of simply embracing market orientation, the arts sector managed to advance its own understanding of marketing via various strategies:

• Modifying and upgrading various auxiliary services while being careful about making core artistic services market-oriented.
• Regarding marketing as the second interface where the arts organisation and its audience interact outside the theatre auditorium or gallery space.
• Stressing the importance of nurturing a long-term relationship with the audience.
• Focusing on broadening the audience base and diversifying its profile.

The second phase came in the late 1990s, when the Government’s cultural policy called on the arts sector to take a more active approach to address social issues and prove its values by demonstrating its contribution to social inclusion and cohesion. As we know, cultural policy plays a significant part in shaping the environment of the arts sector by influencing the discourse of arts subsidy and its rationale. The emphasis on social value sparked debate in the arts sector as many commentators saw this as an instrumentalisation of the arts. With no clear conclusion drawn from the debate, arts organisations began expanding their education, outreach and community-oriented activities, though many believed this was what they had been doing anyway.

While adapting to the changing policy environment by strengthening its ties to education and outreach activities, arts marketing faced theoretical and conceptual challenges. Previously it had been concerned with the way in which arts organisations could be market-oriented while protecting their artistic vision, which left little room for discussion of a social agenda. Some theorists suggested that the arts sector should embrace ‘social/societal orientation’ (changing people’s behaviour and improving their wellbeing via marketing). However, this did not sit very comfortably, perhaps because there was little consensus on whether the arts should actively pursue social aims and to what extent they could do so. Although the change of government, and thus change in cultural policy, has meant that the social agenda is currently less emphasised, the questions raised above continue without definite answers.

The third phase came with the rise of digital technologies, online communications and active consumers (so-called prosumers). So far these trends and their implications for culture have been discussed in the context of media industries such as TV, film and new media. In the field of the arts and arts policy, however, the scope of discussion has been limited to how arts organisations can use digital technologies, online spaces and social networks for marketing and audience development. Like the first phase of arts marketing, the discussion tends to assume production orientation, broadly implying that the core knowledge of the arts is produced by professional arts practitioners while prosumers would be invited to enjoy, appreciate and disseminate this knowledge.

In trying to adjust to the new media environment by introducing online platforms to widen the audience base and deepen their engagement, arts organisations are likely to undergo a complicated process of transformation, the nature of which we have yet to explore. For instance, the key public cultural institutions in London, such as the National Gallery, the British Museum and the National Theatre, are questioning how to extend their public cultural service remit to online spaces, how to balance the physical or offline with online services, what kind of relationship to establish with online audiences, and how their authoritative voice, derived from existing expert knowledge, can coexist with cultural content generated by the audience. (For more on this read the key questions for the Creative Futures Symposium held by the Cultural Institute at King’s College London.)

The newly evolving dynamics in the relationship between arts organisations and their audience in the age of digital and online communications tend to further complicate the role of arts marketing as an interface where that relationship can be defined. If arts marketing wants to play a part in defining the new identity and role of arts organisations, its practitioners must be proactive and capitalise on the rapidly changing social and technological environment and habits of cultural consumers to imagine new possibilities in the relationship with audiences both online and offline.

Hye-Kyung Lee is based in the Department of Culture, Media & Creative Industries at King's College London.
www.kcl.ac.uk/cultural

Comment from Deborah Bull

Marketing has become ever more integral to the process of making and disseminating art despite the inherent tension between the aesthetic and commercial imperative. Technological developments offer an opportunity for arts marketing professionals to further support organisations in exploiting new and emerging mechanisms for engaging audiences and deepening relationships.

This article and the short summary on CultureCase are designed to provide an entry point into Hye-Kyung’s research for arts and cultural professionals. CultureCase aims to make academic research accessible to those people who can benefit from it the most.

Deborah Bull is Director, Cultural Partnerships, King’s College London.
www.kcl.ac.uk/cultural

A copy of the full academic article is available here.