Arts & Business

The arts are special
Create effective business communication content for arts & not-for-profits marketing - in a manner that suits you and your place in that world

No doubt current market conditions seem to demand compromise of arts business standards; to even tempt non-for-profits agencies into crass commercialism. But you can remain uncompromised and proud when your Professional Word partners help you to keep arts and non-profits business lined up with the passion and style that you feel happy and comfortable to own. Undermining the integrity, dignity and value of your arts or non-profit organization is not acceptable. The challenge is to keep heads high while getting our message across in the turmoil.

In using digital media you are not “flogging deals” - you “join” rather than hide

We believe arts business must adjust its marketing communication to fit the realities of how your customers and clients behave in a partly-digital market environment. Happily though, the emphasis is shifting to relationships and “sharing” services products and ideas. That is the arts and non-profits milieu.

Cost-effective and simpler marketing

The good news lies in the lower cost and reduced lead times in ecommerce methods, such as email, social marketing, electronic newsletters, online news articles and digital content downloads like e-books, mp3, mp4, and pdf. There are advantages in the new digital market that arts businesses can use to communicate their special value to customers old and new. An excellent example, albeit perhaps a larger organization than yours, is The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. It commenced its Digital Concert Hall (DCH) live concerts in January 2009.

We have a blog post about this new DCH development. Take a look for yourself, today. The new service from Berlin is a world treasure. It is terrific. We subscribe.

Notice how, as you see in the new site for the Digital Concert Hall, many ideas rush into your head? Ideas about how you can drive your business to speak for you, in a voice that enhances rather than diminishes your integrity as a business.

Professional Word is on your side. If there is a fight for attention out there, we will join with you in it.

“For arts related businesses: no disadvantages in the market place …”

That seems familiar. If you look at arts group web sites and newsletters, you sometimes find a kind of siege-mentality at work. But a “Poor us!” approach is not going to succeed.

Three of the possible reasons for negative attitudes among some arts-managers’

Search engines: Try out the key words you use in conversation about your area of interest and daily business. Result? Rarely do respectable ad-word ratings emerge - for words like culture, arts marketing, arts related company, arts, not-for-profit (!) craft work ….
Government support and encouragement? Neil McPherson, Director of this site worked 16 years with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (public taxes funded), and 10 years at the Australian War Memorial Museum – in communication, promotion and management roles; and added a year at WHYY -TV Philadelphia, on the PBS network. He can answer the question posed above, and has ideas about how to address them. We partner you on this too.
Does your country have a Government Arts & Culture Minister and National Arts policy? If so, you are another minority. Does your Arts Minister rate in the top ten Cabinet Member slots?

Professional Word will discuss these and other issues with you and provide information on effective communication strategies