Returning Without Reverting

Over the last 18 months, arts organizations have been faced with scenarios we never could have imagined—and we know the uncertainty is not yet over. As arts professionals have needed to accommodate the ever-changing landscape, we’ve had the opportunity to let go some of our long-held practices and processes.

Tom recently wrote about his concern that our industry will “snap-back” to the way things were. I share these fears and want to take a moment to share the areas where we’ve seen real change that we hope will “stick”.

Defining Who We Are
Without the usual output of a traditional season over the last 18 months, arts organizations have had to focus on why they exist and why (and how) they remain important to audiences and, by extension, the communities they serve. In other words, organizations have had to turn their attention back to their brand, restating their mission and values, and retelling their institutional story to garner support from their audiences at this time. As we return to in-person presentations, we hope that arts marketers will take this moment to invest in the telling of their organizational story through their marketing in addition to selling each program or event.

Committing to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
In focusing on their mission and values, arts organizations have also had to look at who they serve and examine the institutional practices that make them less inclusive and equitable in terms of access. Taking a whole of organization approach means that companies are no longer thinking about access in terms of cheap ticket prices or one-off events. Rather, companies have been enacting structural changes and programmatic shifts focused on diversity and inclusion. We hope that arts organizations will continue to take their commitments to equity and diversity seriously, and ensure that these changes are embedded in institutional thinking and planning long term.

Putting Audiences First
In the absence of live performances to present and venues to run, arts organizations have become solely focused on maintaining relationships with their audience. And this period has been a time for us all to remember that audiences are a collection of people. They are not ‘subscribers’, ‘members’ or ‘patrons’, they are people who have also faced enormous challenges over this time. Tom has already written at length about how we might use the principles of trauma-informed care to ensure that we are taking our constituents’ experiences into account and intentionally using their perspective to inform the way we approach and communicate with them. We think that arts organizations should use the lessons learned over the last 18 months and focus more resources on building meaningful and impactful relationships with customers.

Communicating with Intention
To remain engaged with audiences in a period where we can’t gather, arts organizations have had to become more personal and intentional with their messaging. It’s a reminder that your customer’s relationship is with your company, not with your department, and every interaction with them needs to feel of a piece. We hope that arts organizations continue to work interdepartmentally to align all institutional messaging and campaigns, to better meet their audiences where they are at in their journey with the company.

Creating Communities
While arts organizations can only continue to survive if they invest resources in affirming existing relationships, building new relationships and making our organizations essential to the communities around them needs to remain a priority, especially as venues reopen and people may have relocated to or away from their area. Delivering true community outreach and engagement requires an investment of time and budget, so we hope marketers start thinking about moving budget away from large expenses such as glossy brochures and full page ads, and channelling these funds into internal roles focused on community outreach, events and partnerships.

Giving Audiences More Choice
Over the last 18 months, we’ve all had to become a lot more flexible. We’ve learned that arts organizations can be adaptable and the rules and timelines that were previously adhered to no longer need apply. Now is an optimal time to question how to make offerings to audiences more flexible, especially as their realities may have changed and circumstances remain uncertain. Arts marketers should be looking at alternative timelines for announcements and on-sales, alternative ways of packaging up seasons or offering memberships rather than subscription, and how to maintain some level of digital programming in conjunction with in-person events.

Working Collaboratively
Finally, one of the most noticeable changes we’ve seen within our clients, and that has been discussed in our monthly Roundtables, is the way in which the traditional silos between departments have broken down. Our marketing colleagues have found themselves working more closely with artistic and education teams to deliver digital content, development departments to support and deliver fundraising campaigns, and executive teams to deliver organizational messaging and provide a vital direct link to audiences. This is a big shift for a lot of arts organizations, and we hope that the openness between departments and interdepartmental strategy and execution continues well after we return to our venues.   

We’ve seen our colleagues and clients tackle enormous challenges over this period and make enormous organizational changes. Hopefully you’ve seen some of these positive changes take place in your organization. As you enter the next chapter and return to your venues (Delta variant willing), what behaviors will you push yourself and your organization to retain, and in which areas will you seek to further improve and invest more of your efforts?

If some of these new ways of working and interacting with audiences “stick” we believe that they will not only make huge impact for individual organizations but also help our industry meet our audiences where they are and return stronger than before.

Rani Haywood is the Vice President of Tom O’Connor Consulting Group. TOCG is a New York City-based arts consultancy offering strategy, assessment, executive search, and leadership coaching services to organizations across the US—all with a focus on audiences and revenue outcomes. For over fifteen years Rani has held senior marketing roles at an array of performing arts and cultural organizations in Australia and the United States, including at The Metropolitan Opera, Roundabout Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company.