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INCREASING DEMAND FOR THE ARTS: THINK TANK WITH MARKETING MASTERS

PRECONFERENCE OF

THE NATIONAL ARTS MARKETING PROJECT CONFERENCE November 12, 2010

Report by Gerald Yoshitomi, MeaningMatters LLC

WHAT WE LEARNED AND QUESTIONS TO ASK OURSELVES AND OTHERS IN OUR ORGANIZATIONS

Organizations throughout the country, small and large, are increasing demand and income. Given the opportunity, we’re able to think creatively about new methods to further our

goals. There’s no single silver bullet, people have increased demand primarily due to

perseverance and hard work. To effectively increase demand, marketing must be at the strategy table, before programs

and formats are determined Who is responsible for developing contemporary, effective audience engagement

methods? It is marketing’s job to communicate the brand promise. It is everyone’s job to deliver on the brand promise.

Are we deploying people from all departments and at all levels in engaging audiences? What are we providing for the first time ticket buyer? Is there any kind of a first timers

guide or do we reach out via telephone or email in advance of their visit? Do we try to engage all ticket buyers and donors with engagement methods? If not, why

not? How inventive and creative are we in pricing to maximize revenue and impact? Both in

appropriately raising and lowering ticket prices. Do we do this based on reliable data? Does marketing do its homework before presenting new ideas in the organization? The recession is the time to reboot. Do it now.

BACKGROUND

On November 12, 2010, as a preconference session to the National Arts Marketing Project (NAMP) Conference in San Jose, California, NAMP convened a Think Tank with Marketing Masters on the topic of Increasing Demand for the Arts.

Earlier in 2010, Americans for the Arts’ National Arts Index, declared that: Demand for the arts lags supply. There were 3,000 new nonprofit arts organizations created during the 2007-09 recession years. Yet, attendance at mainstream nonprofit

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arts organizations continues a long-term decline. The population share attending museums and performing arts events decreased 19 percent and 22 percent, respectively, from 2003-2009.

While this might unfortunately reflect aggregate demand, there are many successful marketers, both young and senior masters, who are discovering, creating and deploying new ways to increase demand for the arts. Ten leading arts marketing practitioners from across the country were invited to share their breakthrough ideas and reveal the challenges they still face to increase audience engagement and ensuring expansion and stability in the arts. I continue to be influenced by the wisdom and commitment they each expressed. If they are our future, we are in good hands.

Many workshop participants were those who already think outside the box and are successfully working at their organizations to reverse patterns of declining demand. There were marketing and audience development professionals at an advanced level with ten or more years of experience, leaders at larger organizations, executive directors, as well as many newer to the field whose fresh ideas contributed much to the conversation. This provided an opportunity for people to think about big picture matters, as well as to become ready to deploy new tactical methods.

FORMAT

9:00 am - 12:30 pm - MASTERS’ BREAKTHROUGHS AND REVELATIONS Each Master explained successful audience engagement strategies and how they have increased demand at their organizations. The Masters also shared their future challenges and roadblocks they still faced. 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm - INTERACTIVE CONVERSATIONS Participants worked together in ten small groups, each with a Master, to brainstorm and identify solutions and innovations for each challenge. 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm - REPORT AND RESPONSE All participants joined together to share their solutions with the larger group and receive feedback.

MASTERS

Sara Billmann Marnie Burke de Guzman Matt Campbell

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Jara Dorsey David Harrison Nan Keeton

Kara Larson Matt Montgomery Jim Royce

Laura Sweet FACILITATOR: Jerry Yoshitomi

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS – Jerry Yoshitomi

From pre-workshop interviews with the Masters, it was clear that one of key methods of raising demand for the arts is to meet people/audiences where they are. Our audiences are knowledgeable and know what they want for themselves. To be successful, we must better manage relationships and people’s experiences. Many want to know more to connect with the art we’re presenting and producing. Often we underestimate the desire of audiences to “come along” with us. Our Masters demonstrated that it’s possible to balance a commitment to the art form and the needs of long-time patrons while also attracting new patrons. They talked about the importance of matching authentic experiences with the results of their re-branding campaigns. Overarching themes and through-lines from interviews/conversations with the 2010 Masters:

• The need to ask questions and test assumptions, data driven decision making. • Being audience-centric in our thinking, planning and execution. • The importance of being clear about who you’re trying to engage and why. • Understanding that it takes some time for new strategies to become rooted. • Importance of cross-department conversations and thinking. • Importance of real, authentic marketing efforts and the creation of engaging audience

experiences. It’s the role of marketing to communicate the brand promise to the customer. It’s the role of everyone in the organization to deliver that brand promise.

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• There’s a change in which marketers and marketing are viewed within arts organizations. The most effective organizations see marketing as a strategic tool and bring marketing perspectives and expertise to the strategy table very early in the planning process. They are not just given a product that’s already been selected and packaged that Marketing is expected to sell, but rather Marketing helps design the product.

MASTERS’ BREAKTHROUGHS AND REVELATIONS All comments below are in the first person from the Master’s point of view.

Sara Billmann, Marketing & Communications Director University Musical Society (UMS), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor The newspaper in Ann Arbor announced they would print their last daily edition on July 23, 2009. UMS needed a strategy to send out information that previously had been covered in the Ann Arbor News. UMS applied to the EMC Innovation Labi to actively explore the use of social media and were funded. Their project used the book Groundswellii as a guide. They learned that advertising is “shouting,” and instead they wanted to use social media to create a two way pipeline, “concentrate on relationships, not the technologies.” UMS developed an organization-wide social media strategy focused on audience engagement and involved all levels of staff across the organization. One of the early questions was how transparent should staff be in the social media world? UMS wanted to create both on-line and on-land lobby spaces to encourage two-way communications under a project dubbed The Virtual Lobby. They invited current attendees to excite and engage their friends whom were new to the organization. They created many doors for people to enter the Virtual Lobby. As part of the project, they published an archive of UMS history, a database of all music ever performed at UMS, and then asked patrons to create small videos about how they knew/enjoyed a piece of music when it was performed. The Virtual Lobby website – www.umslobby.org – was created with Word Press and it’s been live since September 10, 2010. The site provides audience feedback and commentary following performances. A content plan includes blog posts every other day. The face to face version includes a post-it wall in the auditorium lobby with questions answered by artistic staff online after the show. It’s not yet integrated into the UMS website as the Virtual Lobby is seen as a conversation portal, not the official UMS website. The Virtual Lobby has changed the organizational culture and has increased the sense of pride by staff at all levels. UMS has received new contributions from the Doris Duke Foundation to work on the next phase.

Marnie Burke de Guzman, former Director of Marketing and Audience Strategies San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) My title, Director of Marketing and Audience Strategies, came from the desire to act strategically to create and communicate experiences for people. The Museum was stale and

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tired as it approached its 75th Anniversary. It was important to re-brand. It looked to increase the community’s emotional connection with audiences through works in the collection and resuscitate community pride in SFMOMA. We wanted to make it easy for folks to engage during a time when SFMOMA was going through a huge expansion phase. We worked with an ad agency, which provided pro bono services. The plan was to engage the “cultural pacesetters,” a demographic identified as 25-35 year olds. If we were able to attract the younger cultural pacesetters, we thought the pacesetters would then attract older cohorts. We wanted to be seen as a creative catalyst and it worked. The campaign brought an understanding that art is a part of our everyday life. SFMOMA identified members of the community who had large social media followings, such as an artist, a cellist, and owner of a well-known plant nursery. We deployed ads, street banners, asked artists to design t-shirts that were sold in GAP stores, and multi-channel depictions of connections between well known San Francisco-based individuals and iconic works of art from the collection that was on exhibition. During the exhibition, there were 75 seven and a half minute presentations by people in the community who talked about pieces of art they liked and why. We also distributed via email one fact a day about SFMOMA for 75 days before the anniversary, and had live projections of Facebook and Twitter in key spots throughout the Museum. This added live social media into the SFMOMA experience. What were the results? Membership has increased, growing numbers of email subscribers, Facebook (50,000) and Twitter (11,000) followers. SFMOMA is seen as social hotspot, cultural beacon and home of the muses. Key staff in the organization meet together to determine what the promises are to the audience and the role of each department (artistic, marketing, development, website, etc.) in communicating and delivering the brand promises. The institution is often at fault, not the marketing professional, when we lose participants for not delivering on the brand promises. If we lose them, it takes six positive experiences to get them back.

Matt Campbell, Director of External Relations Stanford Lively Arts, Palo Alto, CA We’re increasing demand through online methods to build relationships. Online is not merely a publishing platform. It’s important to talk with, not just at current and potential audiences. Stanford Lively Arts offers a greater variety of content online, cross referencing content as much as possible. Our previous website was pretty typical, everything above the fold, limited graphics and all static content. Now we allow for more leisurely browsing, use of thumbnail images on News, Upcoming Events and free events are given equal weight as paid events. Stanford is leveraging existing platforms (Vimeo, Facebook); the content is multi-purposed and repeated in many different places/ways. We’re focusing on aligning all communication tools and messages.

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We launched a “Get Us 1,000 Fans on Facebook” campaign. Our Facebook page is written from a personal point of view by those posting for Lively Arts, not the organizational voice. One method we use is to follow people on Twitter who follow competitors, as a strategy to increase audience. We send a monthly e-news to the entire email list. We are also now thanking audiences electronically immediately after events, offering additional special promotions and paying much more attention to website statistics to increase new and unique visitors.

Jara Dorsey, Community Outreach Specialist Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA Andrew Carnegie wanted the museums to be free, but the Museum eventually had to charge to pay for expenses. Our challenge was to increase accessibility for low-income people. In Pennsylvania, the ACCESS Card enables low-income residents to receive social service benefits, food stamps, etc. Families must meet federal government income guidelines. All states have a similar card, but with different names. The Carnegie Museums provided four $1.00 admissions per card, with multiple uses encouraged, compared to the $14 per person standard admission fee. I used demographics on race and income in our target communities to identify audiences. I also found many opportunities for external marketing partnerships including Department of Human Services, Pittsburgh Public Schools, YWCA, Housing Authority, Library Association, Autism Center of Pittsburgh, and Port Authority. Some have even developed into programming partnerships. We distributed a printed rack card at a number of partner venues throughout the community. We also learned that while there was strong impact from print pieces; 40 percent hear about the program through word of mouth. As such, we established a “tell a friend” campaign. We recognized the importance of meeting the low-income artist and audience where they live and made it easy for them to attend, over and over again. Results: Low income attendance has increased from 171 attendees in 2007 to 9,249 attendees in 2010, now at the rate of 2,900 admissions per month across the for museums. The Museums conducted a simple four question survey of ACCESS Card users to learn more about them. 46.7 percent have an associate degree or higher; 70 percent make at or below $25,000 per year; 83% are white; 16% are African American. We also conducted focus groups in August 2010 with low income families. These families have the same concerns as full-priced visitors. They want more “touchable exhibits” and for the Museum to be more kid-friendly. Many are repeat visitors. Perception of the program improved when they learned it wasn’t subsidized by federal or local government. Other benefits:

There was no cannibalization of the existing membership customer base. Program provides easily quantifiable results. Non-embarrassing method of redemption.

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Exponential growth in community partnerships/promotional opportunities. Greater heart-share within the community. Increase in donations from others.

David Harrison, Executive Director Parsons Dance Company, New York City We teach what we actually need to learn ourselves. Previously I was a marketing director. Now as an executive director, I do more marketing than ever before. Mission married to marketing makes money and meaning. I learned to market from the top down. Insert yourself (as a marketing professional) upward in the artistic and programmatic decisions of your organization. We knew that a brand is a promise. We asked ourselves what promises we were keeping. A fulfilled mission is about keeping promises. I learned that more mission equals more meaning and to market our mission all the time. I learned that value is not about price point. It’s about impact. Market what matters and sell what’s important. We had been offering a two-week summer intensive dance training program. The event sold out, meaning they had reached their earned income ceiling. So we added an additional one-week, master level workshop for creating new choreography by David Parsons. It was an exploratory experience that became a huge success, in 2010, we oversold by six people. We know that we must communicate our unique mission and differentiate ourselves from other dance companies. We stayed on mission, and attracted a new funder. We learned that people pay for what they value and that “popular” is not a dirty word. Attendees liked carte blanche access to Parsons Dance, enjoyed learning his repertoire and the technique, and enjoyed showing their skill to David. David now embraces that his work is “accessible”.

Nan Keeton, Director of Marketing, Communications and External Affairs San Francisco Symphony (SFS) Census data is important for mapping potential audiences; this data is free and widely-available. One of the SFS goals is to provide curriculum-based music education to all 1st-5th graders in the San Francisco Unified School District. However, there was a disconnect between the profile of the Bay Area residents and attendees of the symphony (23 percent of residents are Hispanic/Latino, compared to 4 percent who attend Symphony events). We wanted to be very strategic and systemic about reaching this population, and consultant Salvador Acevedo proposed a “celebration of the dead” campaign. SFS realized this might be a fit as they present many works by dead composers. Dia De Los Muertos is a Pre Columbian celebration right after Halloween, a day to celebrate family and ancestors. The Symphony embraced their musical ancestors (dead composers) and also added Hispanic composers.

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SFS created a one-day family matinee event. We used marigolds, altars, and other symbols from the Dia de Los Muertos cultural celebration. The altars were created by a wide mix of community groups and students. We engaged them in the process and they attended the event. Some of the altars took on social themes, such as an altar to those killed in bicycle accidents. For the 2010 event – 44 percent of the audience was new. We did a zip code mapping of attendees. Mission district (primarily Latino) in San Francisco resulted in the most attendees. We’re making a long term investment to have the SFS audiences mirror the Bay Area population. We invited the Latino community in planning (find people who are already committed to what you do) more than a one-day, one-time event and found champions in all areas of the organization. SFS connected with Latino Chamber of Commerce, professional leaders and others who are engaged in classical music. Some of these connections have now joined the SFS Board of Directors.

Kara Larson, former Director of Marketing Carolina Performances, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill The arts need to be more accessible to everyone. We create barriers to participation, even when the program is free, if people have to wait in line for many hours to access free tickets. Or, by making people come to the box office. We asked ourselves, how can we use price as a strategy for getting new people to experience the arts? When we have a “hit”, how can we use that enthusiasm to underwrite all the other work we do and engage new people? Can we let very enthusiastic patrons subsidize an art form and access for others? We also needed to know more about how to accurately predict demand for tickets. Dynamic pricing offers the opportunity to re-set pricing to react to errors in our predictions or unpredictable changes in the marketplace and a way of taking advantage of excess demand. Many organizations wait to raise ticket prices when 70-80 percent of the tickets have already sold at too low of price. On the other hand, how do we capture the value of ALL seats in the hall? We began to watch sales curves over time and isolate sell-outs. How do sell-outs differ? We used percent of time tickets were on sale as our metric. Dynamic pricing helps with engaging new audiences that are willing to pay for the experience. Sometimes raising the price is a better way to engage new folks than discounting.

Matt Montgomery, Director of Marketing & Communications Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston On St. Patrick’s night 20 years ago, young men dressed as Boston police officers entered the Gardner Museum and in 45 minutes committed the FBI’s largest property theft case, stealing art by major artists. This event has plagued the museum for over 20 years. Press coverage was serving as a distraction with books on the topic, a major motion picture, and even an episode on the Simpsons (which reached 5.694 million viewers on FOX-TV).

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The Museum became better known for the heist, than the great things taking place now. The story never translated into increases in attendance or contributions. The story was often sensationalized and used for writers, movie makers, new reporters, etc. I wanted to figure out a way to embrace and use the enormous press coverage to highlight the good work taking place at the Gardner Museum, correcting misconceptions about the art heist, and to frame the press coverage to highlight the great work being done now. The Museum made the head of security the official spokesperson for the heist, with the Museum Director only speaking about the museum, paintings, fundraising, and its building expansion. We controlled the visual images. Interviews took place only in the court yard, not in front of the walls where the paintings had been stolen. The Museum only provided b-roll for local TV news outlets and declined participation in stories that wouldn’t tell the entire story of the Museum. We created a sold-out public program “setting the record straight” on the theft and broadcast the program live on our website. A one-hour program on NPR’s On Point led to increased website traffic on all parts of the museum’s site, and set records of our highest web traffic all year. A twelve-page article in Boston Magazine resulted in minimal coverage of the theft. We successfully turned a negative perception into an increase in demand.

Laura Sweet, Vice President of Marketing & Communications Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, St. Paul, MN We worked with Fallon Worldwide to change the way we talked about the organization. We looked to move from all the text we were employing to a simple image. The Obama presidential campaign logo was inspiration. The Ordway wanted to be known for more than just the titles on the stage, and heighten the fact that we are a nonprofit organization serving the community. We hoped to focus on multi-generational and younger audiences and reach both cultivated and latent theatre goers. Through internal discussions, surveys and focus groups, we discovered the words and images we want to associate with were related to social value, advocacy and joy. Eighteen percent of people see “joy” as a social value. We elevated joy as a basic human need and promoted it far and wide as a primary value of the Ordway and aligned our programs with it. We shaped messaging about what people could expect. Our summer Thursday programming included opportunities to explore and experience dance in a joyful way. At these events, we captured many new potential audiences, established the Ordway as a place for dance, and filled a time when we don’t usually program events. Another goal was to attract a more diverse crowd. We have begun to engage community based caterers, florists, and other vendors that reflect the new diversity we are seeking in our audiences.

Jim Royce, Director of Marketing and Communications Center Theatre Group, Los Angeles

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Recessions are good for business, they make us think deeply, and re-position our businesses. It’s an opportunity to re-think key words and values, to better understand how people externally think about us and find a fresh, vibrant elevator pitch. We asked ourselves, what is our new value proposition? How is the organization relevant from day to day? How clear are we about what we do? This exercise enabled us to manage distractions and take away anxiety. Where do we want to be when the recession ends? Remember that 89.9 percent of the population is still working. And, in ordinary times there is a steady 4.5 percent unemployment rate. We decided to re-think customer relationships and bring the current customer closer. We didn’t waste time chasing those who are uninterested. iii We asked core customers to say what is the most valuable of all things we do. We ranked responses by frequency, and notated what ideas were most prominent. We then used these Key Words in determine placement of Google ads. We also created a word cloud of these values and used a variety of type sizes to position what we wanted audiences to know about us. Word of mouth marketing is about real people and why they talk about you and your stuff. Give people a reason to talk about your stuff and make it easy for that conversation to take place. (see Word of Mouth Marketing Associationiv.) Engage people in creating their own messaging for their friends and family. Sometimes fans turn into Mavens – they love to talk about what the organization does. They like to be informed and need to be “fed” information that they can share and spread excitement. How can mavens be identified and cultivated? We looked at the attributes of different buyer groups. The Occasional Buyers can’t always be counted on to spread information. They come a few times, but may be gone for years at a time. They move in and out of the organization’s community. We maintain periodic communication with this group. We communicate more regularly with frequent attendees. The Newbie (first time buyer) has no brand experience. Their concerns are basic needs - where to park, what to wear, etc. It’s a very different experience than mavens or fans. We send them newcomer information. We filter social media conversations into the customer relationship management system. Key words help with this, and with attracting new attendees. It’s important to have post-event communications to track what happens after the show. Where and what are they commenting on their experiences? We get a 45-50 percent response rate on post-event surveys. Purpose is to get people to form their thoughts so they will talk about the event through their own channels. We post feedback – good and bad – to acknowledge controversy and warn people.

REPORT AND RESPONSE FROM INTERACTIVE CONVERSATIONS IN RESPONSE TO CHALLENGES FOR THE FUTURE PRESENTED BY THE MASTERSv

Sara Billmann: Ways to engage 25 – 40 age group.vi “Forget about them, and wait until they’re 40.”

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“Get them when they’re young students.” Stop complaining about what the schools don’t do and own the solution for reaching students.

Focus on lifestyle and not age. Success of a “girl’s night out” program. What brand(s) out there are really successful in reaching this demographic? Apple. Apple

spent a lot of time researching what kind of product might be interesting to the age bracket. Need for more research in our organizations and develop a meaningful program for this group.

Importance of being authentic in voice and messaging. Focus on social experience first. Atlanta Opera took a “field trip” to the Atlanta Braves

game where opera singers sang the National Anthem. These efforts can take up to 5 years to work. Be patient. Marnie Burke de Guzman: Ways to reinvigorate brand using online and on-site approaches.vii Customers expect a seamless experience between online and onsite communication. Humanize the experience you’re offering by using mavens across the different channels of

the organization. Stanford Lively Arts did a “Why Go Live?” campaign. Invited people to share personally

meaningful experiences with live performance. Used stories in promotional materials, programs and website. Also asked artists to share via videos.

Highlight place-based and sensory-based experiences San Jose Jazz & Festival leveraged social media to offer and test new ways to engage

people. Dance mob training video distributed through social media went to 300 people. They learned a dance that was spontaneously performed on stage at the festival and a recording was posted on the San Jose Jazz Festival website.

Paramount Theatre in Austin, TX produces a summer classic movie series, with tailored events that take place before the movie. They created an “ambassador program” where they chose five random people to promote the series for them from applications they received. Gave each “ambassador” a $500 voucher to attend movies and get free popcorn.

Be authentic and real.

Matt Campbell: Ways marketing and development can complement each other without stepping on any toes?viii After-event follow-up email – Video tape the artist backstage to capture what was

meaningful for them in the performance. Tidbit from the artist about why your patrons should support your organization.

“Super Donors” – Donor salon or reception. Meeting with key group of your best donors for “insider” information. Why the artistic director chose the shows he/she did. Solicit input on what they want to see in the future. Information only, no “ask” at this gathering. Jazz Arts Group has a group like this called “First Circle” for the top 100 donors.

Study lapsed donors to find patterns. Reach out to certain groups and invite them to become re-engaged.

Jara Dorsey: Ways to build the case for discounted admissions programs.ix Suggest organizations adopt a program similar to the ACCESS program that allows full

access to those who are underserved.

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Understand how your organization values serving underserved populations. This kind of program can shrink price barriers. Street team concept that can promote organization/programs. Use of Girl Scouts as a

strategic partner. Linking to a larger program like ACCESS can increase programs legitimacy with legislators

and policy makers. David Harrison: Ways to capitalize on the pop dance phenomenon?x Based on information from a producer with Dancing with the Stars, their TV audience is up

to 30 million viewers, but they have trouble filling their 700 seat studio. Create Tweet Seats. Use seats at the back of the orchestra. People can get up, go to

bathroom, use phone to text and tweet, get a drink, etc. Gives audience control over their experience.

We need to get more comfortable about handling negative comments about shows. Importance of being authentic and transparent in our marketing. Market according to values, not according to demographics. Market the experience.

Build long-term, deep relationships with current audiences. How do we reward our most loyal customers?

Nan Keeton: Ways to engage non-traditional audiences, especially bi-lingual audiences?xi Profile student musicians in local paper in their native language. Assemble a community advisory committee. This group will help your organization create

authentic, valuable experiences for diverse communities. Change the make-up of the Board of Directors, and staff. Especially the hospitality staff.

Require some staff to be bi-lingual. Kara Larson: Ways to monetize demand and align pricing with value of particular seats and events.xii Use data to inform how you price events. Dynamic pricing can help correct the course when you’re wrong about sales trends,

misdiagnosis of demand for the tickets. Figure out the effect this model could have on the bottom-line, relationships with patrons,

before opening the conversation with leadership. Organization staff has to embrace this process across the board. If you find yourself using dynamic pricing all the time, you don’t fundamentally

understand what value your audience places on your events. Signals that a change needs to happen earlier in the process.

Matt Montgomery: Ways to shift perception of museum during a major construction effort when programming is reduced. Create deeper awareness of the broad range of programming.xiii Does it matter that “everyone” knows about all of the curatorial programs? Create niche messages to target specific audiences. Start outreach and meetings with local community groups and neighborhood associations Many programs are strongly rooted in the history set by Isabella Gardner’s original goals

and interests. Consider ways to re-tell that story in a new way.

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Jim Royce: Ways to segment your audiencesxiv Use of database and survey data. Both helps to identify different kinds of groups. Follow-up after events. Send thank you emails. Kiosk or ipad in lobby with link to online

survey tool such as www.PollEverywhere.com Customer service – treat everyone equally. Say hello to everyone, whether new or a

maven. They may not consider themselves as new. Include a map with parking lots/facilities designated and a restaurant guide.

Consider a nice packaging for tickets. Consider earmarking $.25 from each ticket purchased toward the packaging, to make it feel valuable and create anticipation for the upcoming experience.

Barriers – What prevents people from attending? Importance of creating “portal” in the barrier. Price, communication, perception, organizational systems, cultural issues, identity.

Create ways for people to socialize as a part of the experience. Younger audiences tend to want to see other young folks, not older folks. Older folks don’t care if younger audience members are present.

85 percent of first-timers won’t come back if you don’t do anything for them. If you can get them back within twelve months, you have a good shot at building a deeper relationship with them.

Churn can result in connecting with new people. Pay attention to what the first-timers do. Mathematical connection with music, and may be a way to connect with new audiences.

These folks tend to be logical thinkers. Authorize and empower staff to “make things right” with ticket buyers who complain

about the experience. We have the luxury of being provocative, daring and “on the edge” in the arts world and

can create authentic dialogue from those experiences.

Laura Sweet: Ways to align programming with vision and fulfill brand promises.xv Conversation about ways to link and learn from sports marketing professionals. Sports marketing supplies access. People believe they “might be able to do that.” Create

videos/conversations to help people relate to artists. What is the “human drama” behind the arts performance? Link to human-interest stories,

like sports do. Use technology to provide access. Sports us camera shots to help fans feel like they are

“part of the action.” Get people “up close and personal.” Print trading cards for artists and programs.

Create a card that captures their desire to experience joy. Capture social value and arts entertainment value. Use extra capacity of seats to our advantage.

KEY TAKE HOME MESSAGES: WHAT WILL YOU DO AS A RESULT OF THIS NEW INFORMATION?

Humanize the visitor experience Continue to market popular events Participation and humanization are key; release control of brand to whom love you most

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Take chances and don’t be afraid to fail Set up internal systems Humanize with multi-channel integration and meet audience where they are Take the time to plan for these strategies Engage community and use established networks Emphasize the social experience Don’t abandon long-term goals Okay to be informal Data dictates strategy Audiences can smell in-authenticity Harness social value Look for paths through barriers Engage audiences on their terms Move focus from stage to audiences Thank patrons, not just donors Identify audience’s needs, wants and create emotional ways to meet them. Create access to artistic development process Work on strategy, not tactics Mission matters Do homework before presenting new ideas. Need to look at barriers beyond price. We are in the entertainment business. Examine data and target messages appropriately Use connection with audience to help them connect better with the work. Re-scale pricing to increase revenue Better reporting We are running businesses Authentic buy-in Help people talk about your stuff Dynamic pricing will allow wildest fans to support work Recession is the time to reboot Constant authentic engagement all the time Using data to drive strategy and decisions Use fans to engage more people Communication is still key Listen to the audience, they matter Incorporate joy into the brand

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PARTICIPANTS

Fname Lname Title Company City ST

Anna Ables Director of Public Relations and Marketing The Theatre School at DePaul Univ ersity Chicago IL

Lauren Ancona Manager & Marketing Technology Opera Company of Philadelphia Philadelphia PA

Brookly n Barbieri Marketing/PR Associate Austin Theatre Alliance Austin TX

Cindy Behrmann Director of Dev elopment Chan Centre for the Performing Arts Vancouv er BC

Jenny Bilfield Artistic & Ex ecutiv e Director Stanford Liv ely Arts Stanford CA

Sara Billmann Director of Marketing & Communications Univ ersity Musical Society Ann Arbor MI

Rebecca Bolden Ex ecutiv e Director The Philadelphia Singers Philadelphia PA

Erica Bondarev Director of Marketing & CommunicationsUniv ersity of Mary land Clarice Smith Performing

Arts CenterCollege Park MD

Cry stal Brew e Director of MarketingAdrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of

Miami-Dade CountyMiami FL

MarnieBurke de

GuzmanDirector of Marketing & Audience Strategy San Francisco Museum of Modern Art San Francisco CA

Sonia Caltv edt marketing Director Community Music Center San Francisco CA

Matthew Campbell Director of Ex ternal Relations Stanford Liv ely Arts Stanford CA

MaureenCappon-

Jav eyDirector of Marketing San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art San Jose CA

Theresa Chipp Secretary Carson Valley Arts Council Gardnerv ille NV

Harley Christensen Dev elopment Director San Jose Jazz San Jose CA

Lauri Cielo Director of Programs & Communications Historical Society of Pennsy lv ania Philadelphia PA

Joseph Clifford Director of Audience Engagement Dartmouth College Hopkins Center for the Arts Hanov er NH

Anne Coates Vice President Alliance for the Arts New York NY

Martin Cohen Principal Consulting Serv ices for the Arts Philadelphia PA

Robin Conklin Marketing Director Clarence Brow n Theatre at Univ ersity of Tennessee Knox v illeKnox v ille TN

Melissa Cooper Programs & Planning Coordinator Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance Philadelphia PA

Tammy Cornett Director of Marketing & Donor Relations Center for the Performing Arts & Conferencing Board Richmond KY

Mary Costa Assistant Director of Marketing Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts New York NY

Eddie Cota Marketing & Ev ents Manager Lev itt Pav ilion Pasadena Pasadena CA

Terry Dav is PR Specialist Univ ersity of New Mex ico Public Ev ents Albuquerque NM

Jara Dorsey Communtiy Outreach Specialist Carnegie Museum of Art Pittsburgh PA

Rachel Dukeman Administrativ e Director International Performing Arts for Youth Philadelphia PA

Kelly Dy lla Director of Audience Engagement Pacific Sy mphony Santa Ana CA

Katherine Eckstrand Director Center for the Performing Arts & Conferencing Board Richmond KY

George Ev ano Director of Communications Oregon Bach Festiv al Eugene OR

Jennifer Falk Director of Marketing ArtsBoston Boston MA

Christy Farnbauch Audience Engagement Strategist Strategic Links, LLC Hilliard OH

Julie Fry Program Officer The William and Flora Hew lett Foundation Menlo Park CA

Iv an Fuller Bare Bodkins Theatre Company Sioux Falls SD

Natalie Garcia Marketing Manager Aly s Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center Birmingham AL

Lara Goetsch Director of Marketing & Communications TimeLine Theatre Company Chicago IL

Jami Goldstein Vice President Marketing Greater Columbus Arts Council Columbus OH

John Graulty DeanMerced College Div ision of Fine Arts, Humanities

and Social SciencesMerced CA

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Robert Hackett Marketing Manager Oregon Shakespeare Festiv al Ashland OR

Glenn Hare Director of Marketing and Communications Brooks Center for the Performing Arts Clemson SC

Dav id Harrison Ex ecutiv e Director Parsons Dance Company New York NY

Natalee Hill Communications Manager Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia Philadelphia PA

Rebecca Himberger Associate Director Attack Theatre Pittsburgh PA

John Hirv ela Director of Marketing & Communications Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Washington DC

Ly nnHobeck

BatesCultural & International Sales Manager Sarasota Conv ention and Visitors Bureau Sarasota FL

Allison Housew orthCommunications and New Media

ManagerWoolly Mammoth Theatre Company Washington DC

Zoe Jackson The Museum of Modern Art New York NY

Marguerita JohnsonDirector of Marketing & Audience

Dev elopmentGreater Pittsburgh Arts Council Pittsburgh PA

Leslie Johnson Marketing Coordinator Parker Arts and Cultural and Ev ent (PACE) Center Parker CO

Kitty Julian Director of Marketing Carnegie Museum of Art Pittsburgh PA

Nan KeetonDirector of Marketing, Communications

and Ex ternal AffairsSan Francisco Sy mphony San Francisco CA

Kory Kelly Director of Marketing & Communications Actors Theatre of Louisv ille Louisv ille KY

Michael Kilgore V.P. of Marketing Dav id A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts Tampa FL

Jennifer Lamont Marketing Coordinator Palm Beach County Cultural Council West Palm Beach FL

Diane Landry Director of Marketing National Arts Centre Ottaw a ON

Kara Larson Director of Marketing Carolina Performing Arts Chapel Hill NC

Dav id LeShay Director of Communications Theatre Dev elopment Fund (TDF) New York NY

Rob Maguire Marketing & Sponsorship Director Saskatchew an Jazz Festiv al Saskatoon SK

Diane Max w ell Director of Marketing and CommunincationsMontalv o Arts Center Saratoga CA

Shannon McClure Director of Marketing & Public Relations Lied Center for Performing Arts Lincoln NE

Nicole McLuckie Communicaions Manager Arts Club Theatre Company Vancouv er BC

Matthew Montgomery Director of Marketing & Communications Isabella Stew art Gardner Museum Boston MA

Rebecca Mott Marketing Manager Philagrafika Philadelphia PA

Lisa Niedermey er Virtual Project Manager Jacob's Pillow Dance Festiv al New Britain CT

Rebecca Ohm Marketing & Communications Coordinator South Milw aukee Performing Arts Center South Milw aukee WI

Shay ne Olson Marketing Director Music@Menlo Atherton CA

Cathy O'Neal Communications Coordinator Lev itt Pav ilion Arlington Arlington TX

Kirsten Park Director of Marketing Pioneer Theatre Company Salt Lake City UT

Kate Patterson Manager of Public Relations San Francisco Arts Commission San Francisco CA

Lucie Pay e Director of Marketing & Communications San Jose Jazz San Jose CA

Caitlin Perkins Program Manager Philagrafika Philadelphia PA

Elise Proulx CFO Litquake San Francisco CA

Joel Rainv ille Marketing Coordinator Ordw ay Center for the Performing Arts Saint Paul MN

Selina Rajani Communications Manager Vancouv er Opera Vancouv er BC

Jennifer Richards Dev elopment & Communications Manager Fairmount Park Art Association Philadelphia PA

Geoff Roach Chief Ex ecutiv e Officer San Jose Jazz San Jose CA

Donald Roeseke Administrativ e Assistant The Rockefeller Foundation New York NY

Jessica Rosenberger Pittsburgh PA

Phil Rosenthal Director of Marketing & Communications UCLA Liv e Los Angeles CA

Stev en Roth President Independent Marketing Consultant Weston MA

Jim Roy ce Director, Marketing, Communications & SalesCenter Theatre Group of Los Angeles, Inc. Los Angeles CA

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My thanks to Christy Farnbauch of StrategicLinks for producing the outstanding notes that served as the Foundation for this report. i “Looking for ½ baked ideas, and failure was okay" ii http://www.amazon.com/dp/1422125009/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=4236745705&ref=pd_sl_43n4pz69qg_e iii Jerry Y – What would you say to someone who hasn’t purchased a ticket yet? Circa Theatre in New Zealand gives golf pencils and index cards for people to answer and then post these messages on their website. iv Principles of Word of Mouth Marketing – 1) Be interesting. 2) Make people satisfied. 3) Earn trust and respect. 4) Make it easy to talk about.

FULL DESCRIPTIONS OF CHALLENGES AS PRESENTED BY THE MASTERS vi Many performing arts organizations struggle to bring in the post-student, pre-senior audience -- those who are under 40, young professionals. This audience often seems fickle and unable to commit, and are generally less loyal than older audiences. They are also diverse in and of themselves -- some have kids, while others are still single; some are settling in while others still have big student loans. How do we attract this audience as a way of both building new audiences, but also of building new donors and board members? vii After more than 10 years in SFMOMA’s “new” Yerba Buena location, and with the opening of the de Young Museum (2005) and California Academy of Sciences (2008) in Golden Gate Park, the museum needed to reinvigorate its brand and create a more emotional, community oriented relationship with its audience. In visitor research, SFMOMA learned that the audience thought of the museum primarily as a venue for special exhibitions. How could SFMOMA use the its 75th Anniversary to revitalize its relationship to the community and prepare for a significant expansion of the museum’s facility? viii Many of our best patrons at the box office are also among our most generous & dependable donors. How should we best leverage this dual relationship to maximize both earned & contributed revenue? How do we make our communication with these super-constituents as seamless as possible (i.e., how NOT to make it seem like a "dual" relationship to them?)? Can we integrate marketing & development messages without dis-incentivizing the philanthropic impulse? Where to draw the line between subscriber benefits & donor premiums? Is a marketing $ & a development $ of equivalent value to the organization? If not, should we do something about that—and if so, what?

Bil Schroeder Marketing Director South Coast Repertory Costa Mesa CA

Garland Scott Head of Ex ternal Relations Folger Shakespeare Library Washington DC

Alison Segura Outreach Coordinator Lev itt Pav ilion Pasadena Pasadena CA

Ky le SemmelPublications & Communications

Manager/Interim DirectorThe Writer's Center Bethesda MD

Camille Spaccav entoDirector of Audience Dev elopment &

CommunicationsMann Center for the Performing Arts Philadelphia PA

Cathy Spieth Ex ecutiv e Director El Camino Youth Sy mphony Palo Alto CA

Jane Stojak Dev elopment Officer International Performing Arts for Youth Philadelphia PA

Laura Sw eet VP Marketing and Communications Ordw ay Center for the Performing Arts Saint Paul MN

Andrea TichyManager of Public Relations & Special

Ev entsThe Theatre School at DePaul Univ ersity Chicago IL

Mariv i Valcourt Marketing Manager UCLA Liv e Los Angeles CA

John Van Heest Public Relations Manager The Wilma Theater Philadelphia PA

Ann Welch Brookly n NY

Sharon Yazow ski Ex ecutiv e Director Lev itt Pav ilions, National Office Bev erly Hills CA

Gerald Yoshitomi Chief Know ledge Officer MeaningMatters, LLC Port Hueneme CA

Terri Zimdars Marketing Director Mingei International Museum Encinitas CA

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ix Low-income discounted admissions programs are relatively unproven and unheard of. How do you build the case to your organization for its effectiveness and necessity? What are potential barriers to success and how can they be overcome? How do you profit from a discounted admissions program for low-income audiences in terms of marketing/promotion? x Many of us in the dance community are mystified by the explosive popularity of television programs such as "So You Think You Can Dance," "Dancing with the Stars" and "America's Best Dance Crew." What lessons can concert dance companies learn from the pop dance phenomenon, to help us attract, retain and engage audiences? xi As marketers look to increase demand, how can they address outreach and engagement to non English-speaking or bilingual audiences? At what level does the organization provide resources to support this new audience? xii How to use enthusiasm for your popular programs to underwrite other mission-driven events; we will discuss ways to implement dynamic pricing (and simple revenue management) on a shoe-string budget, including ways to convince the box office, CEO, others about the importance, and fairness, of monetizing demand. xiii Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is known as a place where "nothing changes" but we are a vibrant institution with programming in five cornerstone areas. How can we shift this perception especially as we enter a year where programming is reduced during construction? xiv How are arts companies segmenting their audience's experiences and speaking to each segment in a variety of clearly understood voices? We can't talk to mavens with the same voice we use to attract newbies. We can't speak to occasional buyers as if they should know us better. Each major audience segment comes into our events with different experiences and expectations. What are you doing to keep conversations appropriate and informative across all your various audiences, including those who have NOT YET attended your company's events? And when they do attend, how are you measuring their first time experience. xvThe Ordway Center for Performing Arts went through a comprehensive re-branding initiative lead by Fallon Worldwide-- resulting in our simplified vision 'joy.centerstage.' How can our programs be best aligned to this unifying vision, and how best can we fulfill our brand promise?