CONTEXT
The cultural sector’s epic and continuing struggle to compete for visitors, members and donations is admirable. It is also what has, in many cases, contributed to the building of the wrong kind of identity.
CHALLENGE
Instead of being able to demonstrate they stand for something, instead of being able to provide evidence they create unique, substantive and coveted content, the brand message behind most organizations in the arts and culture sector is weakness, desperation, and perpetually needy. This results from focusing their branding efforts on so-called “best practices”: advertising, blockbuster exhibitions, gala events, retail, and architecture. And also, maybe more commonly, by being almost exclusively dependent on the turnstile as a source of revenue and attention.
What are your values? How do you fulfill your mission? Do you stand for the diffusion of knowledge and culture or do you stand for blockbuster events and fancy venues for social gathering? Does your glittering architectural statement steal the show from what is core to your mission, your performance, the quality and depth of your experience? Can you persuade people that culture should be at the centre of their lives?
Success will elude organizations for as long as they persist in believing that meaningful marketing – communicating broadly and substantively – is unnecessary.
Whether you are a museum, zoo, or aquarium, an opera, symphony, or theatre, it is time to realize you live in a world where your locally-focused and superficial message gets drowned out. Those producing the right relevant content can rise above the din, transcend regional limitations and exceed their physical confines to become educational, arts and cultural leaders – if they are willing to reach out to and engage audiences on a broader scale and level, with unique, differentiated and valuable content. Content, that is, that positions them as thought leaders.
Most organizations want people to see them as leaders, and want the benefits that come from strong branding, but alas often without the hassle, without being patient, without looking beyond conventional tactics.
SOLUTION
It’s high time to communicate beyond your four walls. Cultural sector institutions cannot be recognized as impactful organizations until they make a better account of their public value and start telling people why they are important.
When people need – or want – to be engaged in thought-provoking and simulating conversations, it is the cultural sector that has to feed their interests, the organizations that should be actively positioning themselves as the place to interact with leading ideas. Do arts and cultural institutions have something worth saying, something worth listening to, and are they willing to reach beyond traditional means to do it? Those willing to lead will become a trusted and indispensable source of knowledge and imagination. Those will be supported…those will be valued. This requires that they augment their mission to include the transmission of their knowledge assets and content by any means necessary, as a key part of their branding process, and consequently expand their definition of key metrics like “membership” and “visitors.”
That’s what knowledge marketing can do.
